SUPPLIED PICTURE
Joanna Harries is reconsidering her decision to spend a year in Mumbai.
December 01, 2008
SONYA FATAH, THE TORONTO STAR
MUMBAI–When Joanna Harries was deciding whether to head to India or Pakistan after learning she had been selected for the Acumen Fund’s year-long fellowship program, she opted for India.
“I said `no’ to Pakistan because I figured it would be a dangerous place for a woman,” the Toronto native said.
The irony of that decision isn’t lost on her.
Harries, 28, arrived in Mumbai two weeks ago. She was at a reception at the Cricket Club of India in the south of the city when the news of the attacks reached her. “There was absolute chaos. Everyone was stranded in south Mumbai and wanted to get out. There were 10 to 12 people in each cab, and we knew that bombs had gone off in some cabs but we couldn’t do anything.”
She and her colleagues made it to the safety of their homes in the northern suburbs, but the experiences of that night and the past few days have left her rattled.
Harries, who worked as a brand manager with Unilever in Canada and the United States, was married last year but didn’t want to pass up the Acumen Fund opportunity, so she and her husband are spending the year apart. Acumen, which also operates in Pakistan and Africa, is a non-profit social venture fund that invests in “sustainable and scalable” businesses to tackle poverty.
In Mumbai, Harries has been working for DIAL 1298, a private ambulance service operating in a city starved for good public medical care. During the three-day siege in Mumbai, DIAL 1298 played a significant role in aiding government, police and hospital officials.
Its 51 ambulances, half outfitted with state-of-the-art advanced life support, some charged by solar panels, scurried from location to location ferrying hostages from the city’s two premier hotels.
“I spent the night in the call centre just watching and trying to be helpful, talking to blood donors, and watching what was going on, on television … I don’t know how to evaluate what has happened. In Canadian terms, this number of deaths never happens.”
These are days of second thoughts. She says she feels fine, but she is questioning whether being in Mumbai, away from a new spouse and the safety and security of home, is a smart decision.
Her family in Toronto is deeply concerned about her safety. Although they understand her reasons for being in India and taking on the fellowship, they would be happy if she returned home to Canada, Harries said.
“I’m going around talking to many people – Indian and otherwise – to see what they think. I feel safe in my apartment but I don’t want to spend the rest of my year here holed up in there.”
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