Attempt at Web Chatting...in Chinese.

My parents are headed to China and had some questions re: luggage limitations and such, and well, the design of the airline's website is pretty bad... no way to find the answer, so we decide to try the web chat option...  it's really not all that funny... but we found it entertainingly annoying. I'm happy that I still remember some Chinese from college (the rents had to help some...)... although it didn't quite help all that much anyways. My questions are in purple bold... their responses in blue. I took out some of the larger grids that they included in their response...

虚拟客服 08-30 00:50：亲爱的wang，中国南方航空欢迎您！请问有什么可以帮到您？
wang 08-30 00:50：what is the domestic flight luggage weight limit?
虚拟客服 08-30 00:50：很抱歉，虚拟客服暂还不能识别您的问题！您是要咨询“机票预订、酒店预订、度假预订、机票变更、机票退票、机票验真、办登机牌、行李查询、促销活动、明珠会员、投诉”的任一问题类型吗？建议您输入对应的问题类型进行查询；或者点击南航网站的“在线客服”链接，等待客服人员为您解答，谢谢！
wang 08-30 00:51：can i write in english?
虚拟客服 08-30 00:51：很抱歉，虚拟客服暂还不能识别您的问题！您是要咨询“机票预订、酒店预订、度假预订、机票变更、机票退票、机票验真、办登机牌、行李查询、促销活动、明珠会员、投诉”的任一问题类型吗？建议您输入对应的问题类型进行查询；或者点击南航网站的“在线客服”链接，等待客服人员为您解答，谢谢！
wang 08-30 00:52：wei shen me ni bu neng cha xing li de wen ti?
虚拟客服 08-30 00:52：很抱歉，虚拟客服暂还不能识别您的问题！您是要咨询“机票预订、酒店预订、度假预订、机票变更、机票退票、机票验真、办登机牌、行李查询、促销活动、明珠会员、投诉”的任一问题类型吗？建议您输入对应的问题类型进行查询；或者点击南航网站的“在线客服”链接，等待客服人员为您解答，谢谢！
wang 08-30 00:55：国内的行李超重费用是什么？
虚拟客服 08-30 00:55：收取超重行李费，南航会为您填开超重行李票。超重行李费率为每公斤按超重行李票填开当日所适用的经济舱票价的 1.5%计算，以人民币元为单位，尾数四舍五入. 美加航线超额行李收费标准：/ 中国-欧洲航线超额行李收费标准：
wang 08-30 00:57：我需要中国国内行李费用。
虚拟客服 08-30 00:57：1.旅客免费随身携带行李：持头等舱客票的旅客，每人可携带两件；持公务舱或经济舱客票的旅客，每人只能携带一件。上述每件物品的体积不得超过20x40x55厘米，总重量不得超过5公斤。/ 2.免费托运的行李限额：（1）一般航线持成人票或儿童票的旅客，每人托运行李免费额为：头等舱40公斤，公务舱30公斤，经济舱20公斤。
按全票价10%购票的婴儿旅客托运行李免费额为10公斤。/ （2）中美、中加航线采用计件行李规定，经济舱免费行李额2件，每件不超过23KG（50磅），且每件三边之和不超过158CM（62英寸）。/ 3.行李超重的收费：对于超标的托运行李，南航会收取超重行李费，并为您填开超重行李票。/ 超重行李费率为每公斤按超重行李票填开当日所适用的经济舱票价的 1.5%计算，以人民币元为单位，尾数四舍五入。（美加航线超额行李收费按另行标准）
wang 08-30 01:03：如果我的行李是25公斤，请问超重费用是多少？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:03：收取超重行李费，南航会为您填开超重行李票。超重行李费率为每公斤按超重行李票填开当日所适用的经济舱票价的 1.5%计算，以人民币元为单位，尾数四舍五入。
美加航线超额行李收费标准：/ 中国-欧洲航线超额行李收费标准：
wang 08-30 01:10：我有Economy 中国国内机位。 请问第二件行李多少线？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:10：通过南航预订了酒店后，没有入住时，被称为NO SHOW。如果在酒店登记的实际入住人姓名和预订时的不一样，也可能会被认为NO SHOW。当出行计划有变，需要取消预订或者更改预订，请提前通知南航即可避免NO SHOW。
wang 08-30 01:12：你好奇怪。 你为什么听不懂我的问题？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:12：很抱歉，虚拟客服暂还不能识别您的问题！您是要咨询“机票预订、酒店预订、度假预订、机票变更、机票退票、机票验真、办登机牌、行李查询、促销活动、明珠会员、投诉”的任一问题类型吗？建议您输入对应的问题类型进行查询；或者点击南航网站的“在线客服”链接，等待客服人员为您解答，谢谢！
wang 08-30 01:15：超过一件免费行李要付多少钱？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:15：打印行程单不收费。如果您需要报销凭证，请在航班起飞当天（航班起飞时刻前）到机场的南航电子商务柜台索取电子客票行程单即可用于报销。
wang 08-30 01:22：从上海到郑州。有两件交寄行李。第一件行李是免费。请问第二件行李需要付多少钱？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:22：免费随身携带的手提行李：持头等舱客票的旅客，每人可携带两件；持公务舱或经济舱客票的旅客，每人只能携带一件。上述每件物品的体积不得超过20x40x55厘米，总重量不得超过5公斤。
wang 08-30 01:24：你的中文有问题。
虚拟客服 08-30 01:24：答案
wang 08-30 01:30：哎呀。酸了。你浪费我的时间。 我不要跟你讲话了。给我别人的电话好吗。请你选比你聪明多的人。
虚拟客服 08-30 01:30：“值机”即“办理登机手续”，是指：您购票成功后，凭有效证件在机场出发大厅办理乘机手续，领取登机牌以确认您的机上座位。/ 1、登机手续的办理可通过机场柜台或自助值机设备办理、网上办登机牌、短信办登机牌。/ 2、各种方式对应的办理时间要求也不相同：/（1）机场办理时间要求：不同的航线和机场停办登机手续的时间不同，一般是在飞机起飞前30分钟，部分机场为45分钟或一个小时。所以建议您在旅行前，查阅好相关信息，预留充分的时间办理登机手续。如有疑问，可咨询始发当地机场。/（2）网上、短信办理：网上、短信办登机牌可在航班预计起飞时间前一天的14点至航班预计起飞前1小时办理（部分城市可提前办理）。如您采用此种方式办理登机手续，请确保您的城市已开通此功能、并在相应时间段内。详情请进入 http://airport.csair.com/cki/app 查看。
wang 08-30 01:36：经济舱第二件大件行李收费多少？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:36：南航网上订票系统票价限制条件如下：/ 标签名称 旅客使用条件： 销售时间段/ 头等舱；免费变更、退票；航班起飞前 / 公务舱；免费变更、退票；航班起飞前 / 商务行；免费变更、退票收取5%的退票费；航班起飞前 / 旅行家；变更收取10%的变更费，退票收取20%的退票费；航班起飞前 / 快乐飞；购买后不得变更，退票；航班起飞一天前
wang 08-30 01:39：经济舱交运第二件行李收费多少？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:39：南航网上订票系统票价限制条件如下：标签名称 旅客使用条件： 销售时间段 / 头等舱；免费变更、退票；航班起飞前 / 公务舱；免费变更、退票；航班起飞前
商务行；免费变更、退票收取5%的退票费；航班起飞前 / 旅行家；变更收取10%的变更费，退票收取20%的退票费；航班起飞前 / 快乐飞；购买后不得变更，退票；航班起飞一天前
wang 08-30 01:40：你还在吗？
虚拟客服 08-30 01:40：恩？干吗…来个我擅长的话题吧，比方说：买机票？查里程？办登机牌？要不就说特价促销行不行？
wang 08-30 01:44：我的妈妈说： forget it. 真是的。你得用功多努力学系。你需要很多帮忙。 难道一位外国人的中文比你的好。丢面子吧。再见。
虚拟客服 08-30 01:44：答案
wang 08-30 01:49：谢谢。不好意思打扰你的时间。
虚拟客服 08-30 01:49：不客气！感谢您的咨询，南航祝您生活愉快！

Supporting EMC

So I've gotten some emails re: how to support EMC and the work they are doing. Beyond the Horizons is a nonprofit that was set up a few years ago to support their programs, more specifically their school but also other projects that EMC has. Kris, the current school administrator of the Emmanuel School is from Maryland, and I believe his friends had helped set this nonprofit up so that folks like us can support the children that are part of their programs. Kris is Aunty Premila's son-in-law, husband of Kavi (who I believe was mentioned in the blog). So the two of them and their precious and beautiful little girl moved to Calcutta after the passing of their father, the founder of EMC and Calcutta Samaritans, to be part of EMC's work. Indeed an amazing family! The website for that is: http://www.beyondthehorizon.us/Home.asp

You can also support the microfinance work that EMC is providing to their communities. Prana International was set up by Amit and Jill who live in the Philadelphia area. They are the ones who introduced me to EMC 2 years ago right before my first trip to India. Amit grew up in Calcutta and is very familiar with EMC as he grew up with folks from EMC and served there as well.

You can read up on Prana and more on the microfinance work being done with EMC, and support them financially as well here: http://www.pranainternational.org/support.html

If any problems, just let me know and I can reach out to the appropriate folks. THANKS!

Calcutta Day 13/14 - August 9/10 2010

We had a long layover in Dubai.  We took a four hour city tour which was nice.  We also met a man from Saudi Arabia and had a nice conversation with him over lunch about everything from social justice issues to investment banking and finance, to burying people upon their death, to the meaning - or rather, the meaninglessness of life, to our past President Mr. Bush, and to racial profiling.

Grace feeding the (stuffed)
camel at Dubai Museum

Tammy kissing the (stuffed) camel

On the flight back from Dubai to JFK, I was watching a documentary by Madonna "I Am Because We Are", which shares about the lives of the many orphaned children in Malawi due to the AIDS pandemic.  Anyhow, I loved how the movie described the interconnectedness of us all, as a global community.  As I was listening to the narration, I felt like it was speaking the thoughts in my mind and heart, so I scribbled them down quickly and am sharing them here.

I AM BECAUSE WE ARE:

• it's about seeing the world as one unified whole. It’s an understanding of the interconnectedness between every one of us. And there’s no difference b/w the children of Malawi, Phillipines, of... (not enough time to capture the countries mentioned but you get the point).  We are all children of the world and we are all responsible for them.  
• It makes a seed of sillyness of anyone who thinks they are better or separate than another. 
• When you dehumanize the other, inexorably you are dehumanized.  You need the other person to be all they can be in order for you to be all you can be.  And when you do think that way, the things we can solve together are beyond imagine. 
• And that way these problems become our problems, and the solutions involve all of us in the issue.
• What we have in common is more important than our differences.
• There are ways for each of us to contribute.  You need to find your own way.  Understand how interconnected we are. 
• We live in a world where we have choice.  The choices spin out of control...for the world together that solves problems and finds a path to peace.
• It will take courage and resilience
• Take great comfort in knowing that people are the same everywhere. We all bleed the same color.  We all want to look after our children. And we all want to love and be loved.

See y'all in America!

Calcutta Day 12 - August 8, 2010

Rob left us last night.  Grace and I were pretty sad.  We truly have become a tight team in our short time working together.  We are so thankful for that.

Today is Grace and my last full day.  Our flight leaves first thing in the morning tomorrow (Monday).  We had the privilege of joining our friends and family at church again.  Once again, all we had to do was wake-up and walk downstairs.  How convenient.

During the worship, Shajan slipped me a note asking me to say "something" to the congregation.  Uhh...  something about...  we've been asked to say stuff on the fly a lot the past couple weeks but this was in front of an entire congregation, some of whom had no idea what we were doing and such. Nonetheless, whatever I said I cannot recall, but it really is easy in some sense to get up and say something because EMC truly has blessed us in allowing us to work with them.  Everyone we met was and continues to be an inspiration.  We will really miss them.

After church, Shajan and Aunty Premila and family invited us out to lunch.  Truly a treat for us!  It was fun meeting their families and getting to know them more intimately.  

Grace and I then ventured back via metro to attempt some shopping.  We didn't have time this trip to get small gifts and such for friends and family so we were hoping we'd be able to get a little something.  I love the people of Calcutta.  They are so eager to go out of the way to help.  Granted, we never succeed in locating where we are attempting to based on the help of the kind people, but the extra effort they go to to help us is so appreciated.

We met up with Kavi, Aunty Premila's daughter for tea/coffee at night by the Y.  It was great to get to know her more as well.  Afterwards, we offered to take some things back to the US for her, so we went back to their home to grab it.  I felt kind of bad popping in so late.  But again, another treat being able to spend more time with Kavi and Aunty Premila.  Aunty Premila is learning Bengali so we came in as she was completing her Bengali homework!  I don't know why, but it was inspiring for me to see this amazing woman who does so much running an organization that touches so many lives... for her to make the time to study was really inspiring.  Hopefully next time I go to India, I'll also have some Bengali down and we can have a conversation in Bengali!  I just need a Bengali teacher now - let me know if you know anyone who can teach me!  

Someone we did not get to meet in person this trip, and someone we will not meet until we get called to Heaven is Mr. Pavamani - Aunty Premila's late husband, Kavi's father, the founder of EMC, the mentor and inspiration of so many people that we met working with EMC these past couple weeks, and the heart and soul of EMC that continues despite his physical presence not being there.  Despite not having met him in person, we truly feel we did actually meet him.  His spirit lives in in the lives and of the projects of EMC.  We heard so much about him and saw so much of him through the people we met, people who's lives have completely changed as a result of his encouragement and support.  I feel him and his spirit already even though I've never met him in person.  God had greater plans for Him, and I know that one day I'll get to meet this wonderful man, a true servant that loved and lived the gospel.  

Sad to leave our friends and family in Calcutta but I know I'll be back soon.

Calcutta Day 11 - August 7, 2010

Our time in Calcutta is quickly winding down.  We went to Flury’s again for breakfast, and then trekked successfully via metro to Freeset, another amazing organization that is helping women gain “freedom” at many levels from one of the largest red light districts of Calcutta.  I was excited to see Kerry and Annie who started this organization years ago, moving their young family from New Zealand to the red light district of Calcutta.  It was great to see some of the same women who were there 2 years ago and continue to work at Freeset, and not back in the sex trade.  It is always such a pleasure to meet these beautiful women who have experienced or are working towards full “freedom” and seeing the joy in their faces.  Mina, one of the ladies I had met upon the last visit, a beautiful woman who was one of the first women to come and work for Freeset years ago, someone who has grown to be a leader of this organization - a true inspiration to all, and as Kerry and Annie shared - is the visionary driving Freeset -- I had the privilege of seeing her at the office again.  She sternly looked Grace, Rob, and I straight in the eyes telling us to share about Freeset and the work they are doing.  The economy has hit them as well, as there are less buyers of their bags and tshirts.  Less purchasers means less work needs to be done, and therefore less work for the women to do, and less income for them.  They've had to decrease hours that the women work, close shop on certain days since no work was coming in.  Pray that business would come.  Share Freeset with others you know.  If you need to order tshirts or bags and such, especially for groups or conferences, please consider Freeset.  Mina has set the goal - freedom for 10,000 girls from the red light district of Calcutta.  She is the visionary.  We need to help her and Freeset achieve that.  

 

Riding the metro back was quite an exciting time.  Poor Rob was surrounded, up close and personal with several other Indian men, with his face stuck a centimeter or two from a man's armpit.  I couldn't stop laughing.  Sorry Rob... sometimes all you can do is laugh.  :)

Then, poor Rob got stuck waiting for Grace and I as we got our eyebrows threaded.  The sign outside said "Ladies Only".  Poor Rob.

Calcutta Day 10 - August 6, 2010

Today we visited the Emmanuel School, a school offering the highest level of education in India for the poorest of the poor.  See my post from 2008 to learn more: http://tamstergk1.blogspot.com/2008/12/day-6-calcutta-samaritans-emmanuel.html. (Actually I just looked at that post and there is not all that much there but something).  We did not have formal observation sessions and work, but we wanted to visit the school to help round out our experience in looking at EMC’s various educational programs.  We had already interacted with several of the students outside of the classroom so it was neat to see them in their uniforms in the classroom.  It’s amazing how much a uniform erases social boundaries.  You almost forget what these kids go through every day in their lives outside of school when they are on school grounds and in the classrooms, wearing uniforms and socializing with their peers.  Some of these kids go home to a small room where 8 or so family members reside, studying under a blanket using a candle as light.

I had bingo card/"chips" duty.

After school we participated in Javeen Jyoti’s Youth Fellowship.  That was a lot of fun.  Reminded me of the good ole youth group days.  Teenagers are all the same wherever you go.  Different backgrounds, different circumstances, but teens are teens.

During the day we stepped out to visit Connexions, EMC’s program that is supporting families in the slums by creating jobs for women to sew, stitch, craft, create blankets, bags, clothing out of recycled Saris, and cards as well.  It was neat to see the work that is going on there to empower these women in the slums.

At the end of the day we rushed back to the office to try to grab some time with EMC’s leadership, who I’m sure I’ve talked about before – just amazing people who are so gifted and on a daily basis pour out their love and energy to the many people they serve through their ministries.  A brief unscheduled on-site wrap up ended up running much longer than anticipated, but I’m happy we had the opportunity to share in greater detail the work we’ve been doing, and highlight some of our early thoughts and ideas. Their eagerness and affirmation was encouraging, and I pray and hope that we will be able to do a good job providing realistically implementable ideas and suggestions that empower the teachers and staff to do their work more effectively, beyond the wonderful job they are already doing to change and impact lives and communities.  We have quite a bit of homework to do but we are excited that they too are excited.

Calcutta Day 9 - August 5, 2010

After a delicious breakfast at Flury’s, we headed to the office to continue our work with EMC. A crow kindly wished Rob a good morning and personally bonded with him by generously plopping some lovely excrement on his shirt. How nice of the bird. As Rob calmly asked us for a wet wipe or some sort from Grace and me, he described that it looked a bit like curd…or perhaps it was curry? Either way, how wonderful.

Rob working with Subhasis on
microfinance software tool

Organizing our thoughts w post-its

We are done with observations so had a bit more flexibility this morning as our first meeting was not until 10:30. Rob and I spent some time with Subhassis who runs EMC’s relatively new microcredit program. When I came last year, this program was only a couple of months old, so while it is still in its early phases, it was neat to hear how at EMC’s microcredit program has indeed grown and is impacting women and families. Rob spent much of the day with Subhassis lending his experience in microcredit while Grace and I continued to process some of the observations we had captured from the visits. We had a short debrief meeting with Ilora who heads up the NFE programs to share the process we took as well as some high level observations and thoughts. We feel like part of the EMC family – greeting friends who work there, wandering into and out of others’ office. They have truly treated us like family and I am so grateful for that.

We went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner tonight – it was pretty good. Bengali’s love their Chinese food. It’s got hints of Indian spices in it and I’d have to agree it is quite tasty! Rob and I were the only Chinese people in the room. Afterwards we went to Barista coffee shop to get some work done. A productive and enjoyable day and evening.

Oh, and we also tried some street food today.  We had some that others had bought for us in the past, but this time we bought them all by ourselves. Delicious and interesting.

Calcutta Day 8 - August 4, 2010

We started off our morning by me locking Grace in our room. She harrumphed in the corner praying incessantly for Tammy to realize that she had locked her in. See, once we are inside the room, we lock from the inside; but once outside, we lock from the outside and set a padlock on the locking bracket. I’ve actually been doing that quite a bit – closing and bolting the door without locking lately as I go and fetch water from a nearby bath while Grace fills up water in our bathroom, but this time, well, I wasn’t thinking. I left earlier to get Rob, and Grace was to meet us downstairs after filling up a bucket of water (in prep for the lack of water in the evening). I totally did not realized I closed the door behind. After wondering why she was taking so long, I went upstairs to get her, and realized enroute that I had closed her in. WOOPS!

Afterwards we were enroute to EMC where we were to jump on the school bus with the older children (7-18) for the NFE program. With these older kids, it felt more like a traditional school, with teachers that were exceptionally engaging and animated. The morning assembly which included praise time, skit, games, prayer, etc., was awesome. The children and teachers were so excited to be there, singing loudly and lifting up His name with so much joy. We then observed their classes, and helped take class and some individual/small group pictures of the students. We play whatever role we can do support them, whether that be consultants observing their programs and identifying opportunities to improve, teachers and past students with ideas and activities, adults who help correct the student’s English classwork, interrupters who wander in and out of classrooms to observe, photographers (Rob is the professional with a nice camera and we are his assistants) to capture precious moments and memories for ourselves as well as the teachers and children, or simply as friends and supporters of the program and love the teachers and children. We are happy to support them however makes the most sense for them.

We headed back to EMC with the children on the school bus and then went up for a quick lunch, followed by our debrief meeting and discussion with the teachers of the program we had just observed. We are so thankful that again, the discussion went very well. We are always cramming to debrief our own observations of what we saw and heard, and preparing our questions and such for the teachers tends to happen on the fly despite the fact that we’ve said a couple times that we need to prep before hand. Oh well. Thankful that it all works out in the end. Our session with the teachers actually went way over time today, so we felt bad about that but they seemed to enjoy the session, and we definitely enjoyed our time with them. What an amazing group.

We are never really sure where these discussions will go since we have to translate questions and answers, and given our cramming and limited prep, it truly is by God’s grace that we were able to have such productive meetings. The teachers in all of our meetings this past week have expressed their gratitude in the work that we were doing for them. Honestly, we’ve shared this with them, but I hope they realize just how much they are teaching each of us on our team and how much they are inspring us by their lives and their love and compassion for these children and the communities. What a blessing it has been for us.

Celebrity photographer Rob
to give you a sense for how he is
able to captivate audiences.  This pic is with
CSS clients but you can see how they are truly captivated by him.

So what’s next for us is to compile our observations, summarize them, and do some brainstorming and research around what we might be helpful to support them. We are thinking both of the short term and the long term. The short term being activities, games, and teaching strategies for the teachers based on what we observed and discussed. The long term being what tools, resources, and potential seminars we might prepare and build for future engagements. I’m excited to bring others here to see, participate, and support EMC. I hope that Grace and Rob will come back with me too – it’s been cool to see Grace grow more comfortable in this environment, and it’s so neat to see her bring her experience and knowledge from her teaching experience to the table. And Rob's insight has been really great, and he also serves as photographer to capture and captivate these children and teachers. That's what you get for bringing a nice camera.

Tomorrow we meet to look at the microfinance work that EMC is doing. Hopefully we’ll be able to help support them in that vein as well.

So after we finished up this evening, we decided to hit KFC for dinner. So we walk in, stare at the menu for a couple minutes trying to decide what to order, and a manager or someone comes over and asks if we want to take a tour of their kitchen to see how they make their chicken. Just for kicks we say yes, and into the back door we go, put on a hair net/cap, and he shows us how to properly wash your hands because there is bacteria everywhere, then shows us where the chicken is kept and at what temperature, where it’s deep fried and how, and even the walk-in fridge and freezer where certain products are kept. It was quite entertaining. Anyhow, after getting my chicken, there was a small piece of hair on it, but whatever. It’s probably cleaner and more hygienic than most other KFCs in the US. Hilarious.

Then Grace and I decided we’d attempt some laundry by hand. I think we need more practice. Well, at the least we’ll have some clean pants and tops. They may be a bit crunchy due to left over suds (remember that daily water problem we have, well, yeah… limited water), but at least they’ll smell nice.

Alright, gotta to get some work done in prep for tomorrow. Goodnight.

Here's video from the group assembly time at Creek Road today with the older kids.

Calcutta Day 7 - August 3, 2010

Today we went to EMC’s project at the New Market slum community where they provide a variety of services, including medical care for soon-to-be and new mothers, food and feeding programs for babies and young children, social work and counseling within this community, microfinancing, and the NFE program for the children of this community.  We focused again on the NFE, spending the morning observing the children and teachers, and the afternoon meeting with the teachers of this program.

Sharing pics/videos of
the children in 2008.

I had the opportunity to visit this project 2 years ago and meet these beautiful and talented children – very good dancers – and it was so great to be able to see some of the same faces.  Faces of children who have grown, who have become better dancers, and are more educated than they were then.  The older children asked me to share the videos and pictures I had taken on my last trip, which I’m thankful I carry my laptop everywhere because they really enjoyed that.  I captured another video of the kids dancing and singing so I look forward to showing that to them the next time I come, hopefully in the near future.

Youngest class - 3-5 year olds inching
forward, eagerly wanting to learn!

So in this small community center that comprises of 2 small rooms joined by a doorway, these teachers are able to hold non formal school for 4 separate levels.  The youngest children, age 3-5 occupied the small room that was also full of crates of supplies and other items.  When it’s not being used as a classroom, it’s also used as the microfinance repayment center, health clinic, and focus group room among other things.

3 separate classes in this room.

In the other small room, 3 separate classes were taking place at the same time.  In one corner was class 1 for ages 7-9, another class 2 for ages 10-13, and another corner were the kids who were the kids who EMC had helped prepare and enroll in formal schools and had come to do homework and such.  The school that they attended goes from 6AM to 10AM!  So they joined us after they were done.  To give you a sense for how large this room was – imagine the length of an average twin bed – 5 lengths by 2 lengths – that’s my approximation.  I’m bad at estimating but that’s what I’ve got in my mind.  Anyhow these students were just so thirsty for knowledge.  They were inching forward to answer questions and learn, and even asking for homework! 

The truly inspiring teachers
performing a skit to start the day

After school ended, one of the teachers took us to go purchase some Indian spices which was around the corner from the community center.  Not sure how we will use them just yet but we are eager to try!  Then we auto rickshawed it to EMC office to meet with the teachers we were observing this morning.  We had a great discussion and conversation.  We are learning by trial how to best guide these discussions, but at the end we have gotten quite a lot of invaluable insights.  Despite some language barriers, we are inspired by these teachers that we are meeting, who have dedicated their lives to this community.  We are learning about their lives and their commitment to this community.  Each of the 5 teachers we met today had been working in that community for 10-20 years. They’ve seen so much positive change over the years.  One teacher was sharing that when they first started in that community 18 years ago, the stench was so rancid and the sight such an eyesore that they found it difficult to bear.  They shared that the community has changed so much since then. Honestly that thought they had 18 years ago was not all too different from the our reaction when we first visited it last week.  I cannot even imagine, and I am so inspired by these women who despite that, continued to love this community and serve them.  I have so much to learn from them.

After our meeting, we saw one of the girls from the rehab center step out of their door (which is in the room next to ours), and Grace and I happily jumped at the opportunity to say hello.  They invited us in and we had a little dance party with them.  Twas a nice work break.

We’re back at our place now.  Had a delicious Indian dinner, ice cream cone at McD’s, and then back to our place for our nightly ritual of searching for water to fill our buckets with.  We go from shower to shower, faucet to faucet, turning nobs hoping something will drip, but usually to limited success.  Thankfully we were able to fill up a bucket and a half and we are now clean!

Alright, we have a very early day tomorrow visiting another NFE for the older children.

Calcutta Day 6 - August 2, 2010

Grace and I began our morning with our morning ritual. Narration by Grace: Grace’s alarm goes off. Grace awakens and holds the alarm closer to Tammy’s ear. Tammy remains motionless. Grace gives up and hits snooze. 10 minutes later the alarm goes off again. Repeat cycle. But today, Tammy actually stirs, looks at Grace, says I heard it, and then goes back to sleep. A few minutes later, she finally gets up. Then we eat our breakfast consisting of PB or cheese crackers (thanks Walmart in PA) and granola bars, and pop our malaria pills and vitamins.

After getting ready, we began our hike to EMC where we were beginning our first set of “official” observations. Grace’s backpack in tow (my bookbag goes everywhere with me but I didn’t bring it this time because I already had a large pack – totally regret that now as my shoulder bag is totally falling apart… but luckily Grace has hers too!) packed with a laptop, post-it notes (I live off of them), markers, camera and video, notebook and paper, and materials gathered from Ilora. Least to say, it was heavy but we were ready for the trek to the office. Figured we start sweating when we walk without a heavy bag so we’d be drenched by the time we got to the office. Thankfully, on our walk there, a vehicle started honking at us. That’s nothing abnormal here in Calcutta, so we moved out of its way, but then some familiar face began talking to us out the window. It was a bus headed to EMC with children and teachers aboard! We jumped aboard and were happy to get a ride there! So this bus goes into the slum and street areas to pick up the children for the NFE.

We spent the morning observing the younger children, ages 4-7, at the NFE program at their home office location. It was so fun to see these young precious children smile and laugh and learn their animals, their colors, their numbers, their letters. It was so encouraging and inspiring to see these teachers put their full energy into loving these children. They were so full of energy, pouring out their every bit of energy and love onto these children. I would have loved to have them as teachers.

The NFE takes a very holistic approach to helping these children. In addition to traditional education, they also take care of their basic health and hygiene care. A doctor is there to look at children who are ill, and the teachers and staff take each child, comb their hair, wash their faces, brush their teeth, and teach them the importance of hygiene at the same time. And the way the teachers taught, with such enthusiasm – so fun!

I love post-its.

Afterwards we headed into the office to debrief our many pages of notes that we had captured, post-it noted them and all that fun (yeah… I love post-its). After another delicious lunch provided by the EMC cook, we met the teachers we had observed in the AM. They told us afterwards that they were kind of intimidated and scared of what we were going to ask but I think they were quickly put at ease. We had a great conversation and discussion and got some good takeaways for our team to build on. We have quite a bit of homework to do, but that was expected. Anyhow, we had a great time with these lovely ladies. They are indeed amazing women who love.

After debriefing with our small team, we headed to dinner at a pizza place. On our walk to the pizza place, the three of us walked right next to a dead cat with its guts hanging out. Grace wanted me to blog about it since its very much on my mind as she says she has to process the scene. I’m trying to forget about it – rather I have forgotten about but she wants to talk about it, so I’m going to talk about it on my blog hoping that will be sufficient for her. Anyhow, the pizza was so good, although whenever I travel internationally, I’m never really sure if it’s truly that good or if it’s just that I’ve been deprived of it for a bit.

We are headed to EMC’s NFE at New Market tomorrow. We’ll update you on that later. Goodnight!

Calcutta Day 5 - August 1, 2010

All we had to do this morning was wake up, get dressed, and walk downstairs to the common room where Church is held every Sunday. It was a fun gathering of new and old friends, many of which we had just met yesterday. What’s really neat about the Church is that they bring together the people from EMC’s different ministries, so the women we had met yesterday who were undergoing / underwent addiction rehab, children from the children’s homes and Emmanuel School, as well as other staff from EMC. It was such a blessing to be able to come together as part of this family.


Afterwards, Himadri had wanted to take Rob, Grace, and I on a short trip to a few different sites around Calcutta, Bangal, etc., so they came to pick us up and off we went. Oh, while we were on that trip we found it today is “Friendship Day”. So to all my friends, I’d like to wish you “Happy Friendship Day!” Subaijt who works at CSS and has been Rob’s colleague the past week joined us for the trip, and off we went. We visited the first church of Calcutta, the Serampore College, Hazi Muhammad Mohsin Estate. It was nice to get out of the city and see some more rural areas, the Ganges, etc.

Asking for directions from
random man brushing teeth

Sharing the road with friends.

Mohsin Estate

Meeting more friends
(and doing a photoshoot for them) 

Rob making new friends. 

We then went to Himadri’s house where his lovely wife had made a delicious authentic Bengali meal for us. It was delicious! Although the typically meal time is around 10 or 11pm, so, Rob, Grace, and I sat at the table and ate as the others observed! So very thankful for their hospitality and their love for us. We left with a Punjabi outfit from our friends at CSS. Can't wait to wear it!

We are now back in our room. We have a busy week that officially begins tomorrow with our first field observation. We are so thankful that we had a few days to acclimate to Calcutta, see some different areas, and already see different ministries and meet new friends. Until tomorrow… or the next time we have wifi…goodnight.