Home Sweet Home

I flew in late last night... or rather, early this morning. It's nice to be home... took a nice, hot shower on my bare feet, drank from the tap without a worry, and slept in my bed at my parents house. It was awesome. The air is clean here, but it's too cold to inhale it! I was looking forward to cold weather, but it's pretty dang cold - perhaps I was really looking forward to coolER weather. Then I drove back to Philly all by myself - no taxis, no auto rickshaws, no bike rickshaws, and no Super Mario Kart style driving. Seriously, in many of the areas we frequented, it was like that. No lanes, well, in some parts lanes didn't matter... and lots of weaving in and out of other cars. Good thing I played a lot of Super Mario Kart Wii before I left - it was a good warm-up. I've got a backlog of posts I need to put online - it's all in word format right now. I'll also be adding in some photos and videos to give more color. I'll send an update post after I've updated everything - probably in the next couple days. Can't wait to share the experience - it was awesome!

Day 17 - Heading Home

Right now, according to the interactive journey map on the seatback in front of me, I am somewhere over Kazakstan. I’m still about 2517 miles from London which is where I have a 2 hour layover. His flight was delayed so hopefully I’ll be able to catch my connecting flight. This plane is much more comfortable than the one I flew to India on. Much more comfy…
So at the airport this morning, it was really odd. First of all, it seemed like a totally different place than the one that I came out of 2 ½ weeks earlier. It seemed newer, more modern, and more “civilized”. Having now traveled domestically in India, it was interesting to see international travelers and the process versus that of domestic travelers. So at the airport, as I’m sitting there, I met a guy who works in the fashion industry – a very nice man who travels to India pretty frequently. So as we are talking, in front of our row of seats forms the line for gate 9 – the flight that is going to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I wish I got a photo of this, but I thought it might not be such a good idea.

So the announcement is made, and a line of men push and shove together in front of our row of seats. It was all men – no bags in hands (well, a handful had a plastic shopping or small duffel but they were asked to go towards the end of the line of men) – dressed simply and some a bit scruffily. No words spoken – just a tight line of mostly Indian men. My fashionista friend explained that this was human trafficking. These men have signed a few year contracts to work on construction projects in Saudi Arabia. Once they arrive there, their passports are confiscated until their contract is complete. They are given an income but living standards are very poor and probably are not treated very well. It seems exploitative, but at the same time, it’s probably providing a necessary income. It was sad to watch this line of men. After the men were all aboard, a handful of women and other much nicely dressed and proper looking men joined the fleet. It was a crazy and scary scene. I just sat there staring. I felt like I had stepped into slave times – pile the working men into the back. In our 2.5 weeks in India, human trafficking referred to women and children forced into the sex trade. Seeing male trafficking was eye opening.

Okay, signing off until I hit home. Can’t wait to be back. And can’t wait to share more about the trip after I’ve had time to digest it all.

...interestingly, later in my flight, I picked up my old Time magazine from October that I had packed in my carry-on, and there was an article about construction projects in Saudi Arabia - sounds like they are doing some big development projects there... interesting...

Day 16 - Back to Delhi

We had an early flight this morning and arrived back in Delhi. We were both pooped so we went back to Wilson and Peru’s place and took a nap. I was not happy to have to wake up from that nap. We visited the house that Jane and her team had spent the last 3 months, then went to KFC for lunch – yum, and then Jane and I hit the metro “downtown” and hit the markets and shops. Ate dinner at Subway (we both miss American food), and then grabbed an auto rickshaw (our usual mode of transport in India) to our friend Robin’s place. Robin and I worked at Lincoln together, but he now works for Ashoka (another cool organization that supports social entrepreneurs) in Delhi. Jane and Robin went to middle and high school together. It’s a small world. Anyhow, it was really great to see Robin, and see another side of India – he lives with other expats in a more expat’ish area. Really great to catch up… and in India of all places!
Oh… and Delhi… Delhi is very dusty.

1) Bathroom door in the KFC. What does this mean?
2) A Trenton, NJ sweatshirt for sale at a stall in the market!
3 & 4) This is the area where Jane and team stayed... very dusty...

Day 15 - Hope Foundation Mumbai

Jane and I visited a government school where the Hope Foundation has created a tutoring program for at-risk kids (defined as those likely to flunk out of school or be left behind) and built a computer lab for the students. We also visited a separate vocational computer training lab. The programs focus on education, but Joseph Dsouza stressed the critical piece of the puzzle – building motivation and leadership within each student. Most of the students their program reaches to are those with less educated parents and/or those with less parental support from a motivational support and leadership development side. They see that being critical, especially with the children and students they are reaching out to. Hope Foundation worldwide is an international charity that changes lives by harnessing the compassion and commitment of dedicated staff and volunteers to deliver sustainable, high-impact, community-based community-based services to the poor and needy. The India operation's mission is simple: to bring hope to those with no hope.

In the afternoon, we headed to Dharavi – the largest slum in Asia. Inside this slum, there are actual industries - very hard working, mostly men. Some come from rural villages and work and live in the “factory” slum in tiny rooms in poor conditions. We wandered through and saw the recycling industry – fascinating! It’s surprising to see and hear that recycling is all done there because there is trash everywhere! We also learned that there is a method to the madness. In slums, you’ll often see what looks like trash on roofs. Those are actually out there for a purpose – it’s part of the drying process that takes places before the plastic can be crushed and melted to be recycled. They recycle boxes there and create ones that can be used again. They recycle used oil/tin cans, clean them out, reshape, and sell them for usage again. They make paint. They recycle aluminum. They build machinery that they use within the slum and export elsewhere. They produce shoes. They make wallets – last month – they were making Gucci wallets – yes, Gucci. They sew clothing and bags. They manufacture leather – pluck hairs, hang and dry it, etc. They make puff pastries. I’m sure I missed other things they do. All of these “industries” are done in tiny, poorly ventilated rooms. Men are crushing metal without goggles or gloves. Men are melting paint and other toxic things in small rooms converted into furnaces – the ventilation is literally the crack b/w the roof and the side wall. While all of this work is being done, children are playing just outside in the alleys.

Out of respect for the hard-working people and families in Dharavi, I don't have any pictures to share of Dharavi, but I pulled one from the internet. It was an eye opening experience to learn about, visit, and see the slum. Here are a few quotes I pulled from others who have spent time there.

"Ramshackle corrugated tin, plywood, plastic, pukkah bricks, sheets of asbestos, sweat, toil, people and garbage make Dharavi, just like piles of earth, sand, clay and other materials make ant hills. Dharavi and many other slums like it are nothing but human ant colonies built by legions of our urban poor. They are places which are at same time sombre, moving, joyful and interesting .Push and pull factors, bring people from our villages here everyday in search for something better. They settle here much to the neglect of our apathetic eyes. But under the squalor is great spirit and ingenuity. I went looking for this spirit in this place most people refer to as ‘Asia’s largest slum’ but I would prefer to call the ‘Heart of Mumbai’."

Here's a link to this guy's blog who I pulled that quote from. His descriptions and pictures are pretty much what we experienced. http://trivialmatters.blogspot.com/2006/03/shadow-city-look-at-dharavi.html

National Geographic also did a piece on Dharavi as well: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text. They describe it as: "a teeming slum of one million souls, where as many as 18,000 people crowd into a single acre (0.4 hectares). By nightfall, deep inside the maze of lanes too narrow even for the putt-putt of auto rickshaws, the slum is as still as a verdant glade. Once you get accustomed to sharing 300 square feet (28 square meters) of floor with 15 humans and an uncounted number of mice, a strange sense of relaxation sets in—ah, at last a moment to think straight." I grew up with a yard the size of an acre and that still wasn't enough room to kick a ball around on. Sharing it with 17,999 other people? I can't even imagine!

After that, we met up at Esther’s and we all went out for a really nice dinner at Asura (I was feeling a little guilty after having just hung out in the slums; but it was our last night there). It was this totally hidden restaurant from the street, but once you enter, you realize how fabulous this place is. It faces the beach and ocean. ‘twas very nice and delicious.

Day 14 - Mumbai: the Beach!

Esther took a day off today to play with us. Thanks Esther! We had a nice brunch at the Grand Hyatt hotel – it was lovely, although it may have made us sick. It was definitely a contrast to what we’ve been eating, living, and doing. Did some shopping - we found a great clothing vendor... we had a little fashion inside his tiny sales/storage/office/changing room.

Then we headed towards the beach where we sat outside on the porch of a coffee shop. The weather was pretty nice so that was good. It was neat to see a different side of India. More public affection between men and women. Friends hanging out on the beach. People jogging too! And of course, there are always the poor. As we walked along the shore, we got a snapshot of a homeless dog sleeping next to a homeless man. And then Esther spotted an empty auto rickshaw and jumped in. :)



The rest of the day was not so pleasant for either of us – I’ll spare you the details.

Day 13 - Mumbai: Churchgate & Elephanto Island

We arrived in Mumbai last night. Esther picked us up from the airport and we went to "The Camp", a local restaurant that apparently, she and her friends frequent. They are buddies with the staff there. It was delicious... Here's Esther's place - very nice place!

This morning we went to work with Esther – she’s interning at the International Justice Mission – another amazing organization seeking to make public justice systems work for victims of abuse and oppression who urgently need the protection of the law. It is an international organization working in local offices globally, freeing girls that are sex trafficked, fighting for a widow’s land rights, and fighting other injustices through legal actions.

After visiting the office, we headed towards Churchgate, at the southern tip of Mumbai. This is also the area where the terrorist attacks took place just a couple of weeks ago. We took a local train that was ridiculously packed full of people. Women and men sit in separate cars – luckily it was mid-day so the womens cars were not too bad, but the mens cars – it was crazy. People were squeezed in, hanging out the doors. I can’t even imagine what it’s like during rush hour. Lining the train tracks were slum dwellers. Tents and shacks where people live and play, all running along the tracks.


We arrived at the Churchgate train station and started wandering towards Churchgate and the Taj Hotel, where the attacks took place. The hotel is still closed. As I stared at the building, the image of the building on fire from the news broadcasts was engraved into my mind. It was a surreal experience.

We then hopped onto a ferry that took us to Elephanto Island. We didn’t actually know much about this island, but Esther had mentioned it, so we just went for it. It was a relaxing 1 hour boat ride out there, filled with views of oil tankers – lots of them. We hiked up some steps (sadly the biggest workout we’ve had), took some pics by some cannons, made friends with some Muslim men who wanted to take pictures with us, maneuvered around some sort of animal poop which was everywhere, saw a couple of monkeys, and then headed back down towards the ferry to go back towards land.

This boat made us think of...
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip, That started from this tropic port, Aboard this tiny Ship.
The mate was a mighty sailin' man, The Skipper brave and sure, Five passengers set sail that day, For a three hour tour. A three hour tour.
The weather started getting rough, The tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, The Minnow would be lost. The Minnow would be lost.
The ship's aground on the shore of this, Uncharted desert isle, With Gilligan, the Skipper too, The Millionaire and his wife, A movie star, ( and the rest ) the Professor and Mary Ann, Here on Gilligan's Isle!

After getting off "Gilligan's Island" and arriving back at Churchgate, we walked towards the market and down to Café Leopold where 7 people had been shot and killed. We were not planning on eating there, but our curiousity led us there. We were surprised to find it open so soon after the incidents, and were encouraged by the full house there. Everything seemed normal - crowded with both Indian and non-Indians alike, resilient and proud to be there, showing their support and saying through their actions that terrorism will not bring us down. We were hungry - we decided to sit down. As we looked around, we noticed right next to our table was a pillar with a bullet hole in it. Then we looked around more and you could see some broken glass, bullet holes in the ceiling, and then under the glass table mat was a small card for visitors to donate money to the families of the 2 waiters of the Café who were killed in the shootings. There was a sense of sadness but a sense of unspeakable pride and resilience. We wandered the streets for a little bit after our meal there, and then jumped into a taxi for a short trip (distance wise) but took a good two hours to get home. We’ve become accustomed to the traffic but 2 hours was way more than we expected. It was a nice drive up though – we drove along the river – reminded me of driving along Riverside Drive in NYC or along the bund in Shanghai.

Inside the Leopold Cafe


What's that?

Day 12 - Leaving Bangalore... Technology woes...

Bangalore is a really neat city. I wish I had more time to explore it. It is a very modern city. The weather there is beautiful. There is plenty of green... the skies are blue. After playing with the girls and a delicious breakfast - we've been so spoiled these past few days (thanks Jenny and Ashwin!) - we headed out to the shops down the street. Then, we met up with one of my colleagues from Lincoln who happened to be in Bangalore for work. I wish I could expense my trip! We met him at this beautiful palace - literally... a palace... Leila Palace. We had a wonderful lunch there - I even had a BEEF hamburger and french fries. Delicious!

We headed to the airport later that day to catch our flight to Mumbai. First off, the Bangalore airport is beautiful! What a difference from the other airports we've been through recently... actually, it was nicer than a lot of American airports too. But with a nice, modern, clean airport comes tighter security reliant on technology, and a stricter adherence to "the rules". Here we are outside the airport, traveling "in style".

So about a month ago, I had lost my wallet in my apartment complext. It was returned less than 24 hours later - cash gone but everything else there - but it was suggested I still cancel my cards... just in case. So, I did. I was a litte concerned about matching cc #'s with the e-tickets, but we didn't run into issues in other cities prior to Bangalore, so we prayed it would be okay... BUT... we hit a roadblock today.

It didn't matter what I said. The rep at the counter just did not understand - ok, maybe he did understand, but he was not helpful. I'm usually pretty patient and calm but when it comes to things being "right" vs. "wrong", pride sometimes takes over and the stubborn side of "I am right" comes out. All my travels in Asia should have taught me that the customer is never right and that whatever the situation, it is OK (even if it really is not). For example, in China, if the waitress brings me out a dish that I did not order, the response from her would be: "Oh, but that's ok. This is really delicious." You just kind of have to go with it... So anyhow, luckily, a nice woman stepped up - much better customer service skills - took us aside, and went through the process of cancelling our old ticket and repurchasing with my new card #, BUT, she needed the CV code from my old card. How would I remember that?! The card's been destroyed - why don't they get it?!

We realized we weren't going anywhere without the old CV code. We suddenly remembered that we might be able to salvage the old card info in our email inbox. We are excited! The airport has wifi - yay technology! We try to connect on my laptop... but no, the network is so slow that I can't load my gmail. So there we are, sitting on the airport floor with our bags, praying for a solution! We ask to call the cc company, but they say there is not outside line. I try to call on my cell but it doesn't work either. We're going to miss our flight if we don't figure this out NOW - we check the screen - thank God - our flight was delayed. Suddenly, Jane remembers that, against traditional security wisdom, she wrote down my cc info in her trusty notebook. As frustrated and annoyed as I was, God once again reminded me that He is in control. Perhaps this was a lesson in patience... and a lesson that I am overly reliant on technology (I mean, I have a separate pouch in my bag for cords and chargers). Good 'ole pen and paper wins the game.

Day 11 - Wayanad

Everywhere we’ve gone, people have told us about Kerala and how beautiful a place it is. Today we went to Wayanad, a district in the northeastern tip of Kerala – a 5-6 hour drive from Bangalore. We left at the crack of dawn with our Profugo family to explore the area that their first center of development will be based.

1st stop: Shreyas - a social development organization focused on uplifting the poor and marginalized. They are one of the leading NGOs in South India for the development of marginal farmers, tribal, women, children, and senior citizens. We learned about their business model, their areas of research, their strategies, and the impact they are making. They take a "participatory approach" - people-led, people-based and people-centered. People are the subject and goal of development and not its means. In their site they describe development as "not only people having more but being more. It is a process of human becoming, where there is due respect for nature and life." They currently have 2,858 self-help groups catering to the needs of 46,646 poor and marginalized families in South India. Shreyas has been around since the late 70s. It was almost overwhelming to see how far a reach they have in terms of actual lives they have/are changing through the broad scope of services and training and programs they provide. Pretty amazing.


2nd stop: World Vision - an international humanitarian organization that focuses on children, families, and communities living in poverty and injustice. Having participated in different WorldVision programs in high school and college - we used to do the 30 Hour Famine in youth group where you fast for 30 hours and fundraise money for impoverished children and their adopt-a-child program, and a friend of mine used to work for them in their NYC office. Anyhow, in the Wayanad office, they focus on children and child development. They are also doing some work with women, providing microloans. It was neat to see and hear about the work World Vision is doing in India from folks who are on the ground working directly with them versus reading about the work in annual reports and websites. It was neat to hear them talk about their approach, which is about transforming the environment that the child lives in. It's not just about "adopting-a-child" and giving them money to afford an education. It's about transforming the living situation.

3rd stop: RASTA - Rural Agency for Social and Technological Advancement - an organization addressing the problems of rural communities, focusing on women, indigenous communities, small and marginal farmers related to agriculture deterioration, rural unemployment, food security, technology gaps in rural development, backwardness of women and tribal communities, water and sanitation, conservation of ecosystems, health and decentralized governance. This was the first organization we had met that was focusing on sustainability - technologies and strategies for promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly living, right here in India.

The couple who started the organization live very simply. They were amazing - openly sharing their life stories. Both highly educated people who have chosen to live in this very rural and poor area, living a simple life style, and dedicating their lives to the people around them. Their campus spans over 5,000 square ft, consisting of an administrative office, training and meeting halls, guest rooms, mushroom spawn production laboratory, bio-control laboratory, a community seed bank, a village telecentre, a skill training work center, an audio visual unit, two dorms of 20 beds one for men and another for women. They even have a rainwater harvesting system. Really neat to see people focused on seeking and utilizing innovative strategies that are both Earth friendly, sustainable, and effective for helping the poor and marginalized. Oh, and small minor fact - one of the women we met there, also the founder, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize among other awards. We wandered around the campus for a little bit. Then we headed on our 5 hour journey home. Our driver was CRAZY. All of us were praying that we'd get home safely. Seriously, this guy was weaving in and out, stopping abruptly constantly... thank God for getting us home safely.

This bat was zapped to death - gotta be careful when crossing electrical wires. Here I am trying to make friends with a calf.

Despite the crazy driving, we had a lot of fun on this roadtrip to Wayanad. It was educational, informative, eye-opening, and inspiring. Talking to and seeing the passion of people who saw a need and did something about it and are now impacting the lives of many is amazing. It also allowed us to spend quality time with the Koleths and their very adorable girls, and see the area that Profugo will be launching. Hopefully we'll be able to help! Thank you guys for everything.