a full weekend...

just finished a couple short bucket-fulls of laundry. i'm becoming an expert in handwashing clothes. granted i emerge from washing and wringing out clothes completely soaked... in sweat... but nonetheless i have improved. the first time that i did it this trip, i didn't wring out my clothes fully, which resulted in clothing that needed to be washing all over again a couple days later as the wet humid rotten smell overtook my "freshly cleaned" clothing... it made our entire room smell musty... and there we were trying to figure out what was causing the new found stank in our room.

so we now teach english and computers, which i find quite funny... and fun. oh, and i also started teaching someone chinese today too. i don't know what i'd do without google... and the lovely people who put up all sorts of resources on the web... because before attempting to teach, i'm scouring the net for lesson plans, proper grammar, language arts terms that i should know but don't, and just ideas for teaching. i find that i'm literally re-teaching myself grammar so that i can somewhat act credible when we teach. english was never my forte... oh well... so we continue.

this weeekend we played with the boys who live downstairs. really great boys... they love phase 10, as does jane, so they were playing for a couple hours... while i worked up a sweat playing soccer, cricket (yes i learned, although my swing is a mix between golf and baseball), volleyball (with a clothesline as our net), and basketball (with the hoop being a spot on the wall), all in a tiny space at the entrance of the building. it was super hot but we had a lot of fun. then we got to break bread with the kids, which is always nice...

church this morning, then doing some stuff in a coffee shop, then off to aunty's to hang out with the girls... her daughters and another girl who we've befriended who is temporarily staying at aunty's. it's so nice to just live life with the family. i love... fun times... delish food... aunty made the best pumpkin pie and banana bread. kid you not that pumpkin pie was probably one of the best i've ever had, and i've had some good pumpkin pie... i also tuaght my first chinese lesson today too to her daughter...

my secret fears are all coming out... i consider myself pretty brave and somewhat 'ballsy', but let's face it... i'm just a big baby. i'm terrified of bugs... don't like lightning... don't like fire or even lighting matches... and the reality of being in countries such as Asia is... you really can't avoid creepy crawlies, and most stoves and ovens and such require turning on the gas manually and then lighting it with a match. i mean, i'd get over the fears and suck it up when necessary... but, man to have to change the gas tank in the kitchen, attach it all, and relight it up, to have to light an oven... it's not easy for me. luckily i've had people around who can help with that, but gosh i wish i could just get over those things and enjoy fire! and those other things... i think i watched too much rescue 911 as a kid.

...not ready to start a busy week... but can't wait for the team to get here in a couple more days!!

living in the land of silence...

As I thought about those women in that community that were being oppressed by culture and tradition… God put Psalm 94 in front of me. These verses seemed so relevant:

v 17-24

“if the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.”

God I pray that you'd come to the help of these women and that these women would come to know and seek Him. Similar to this song, these women are living “in the land of silence.” Wicked rulers… frame injustice by statute… band together against the righteous… condemn the innocent… God I pray that you would become their stronghold… that you would become their rock of refuge… because it is only through you will they find a life that is worth living, life giving, full of peace, joy, and purpose.



Join us in praying for this specific community that we are working in... that these women would be filled with hope, that God has not forgotten them, but that God has given them a life, skills, talents to emerge from their poverty and be agents of change in their community and in the world.  

crossing streets

crossing streets in kolkata is like a game of capture the flag... when you are going in to enemy territory nearing the opponent's flag and base, weaving in and out of people, jumping forward in confidence and then even a small hesitation leads to an all out retreat, and finally, you just decide, heck let's go for it, and you go in, hoping you'll successfully get the flag.  If not, well, you're frozen.. or dead... squashed.  That's what it's like, especialy during rush hour.

I have to admit, it's improved drastically on the major roads, even just this past year, but some side roads, buses and cars just zoom down and it's hard to get across the road.  when you see an opening, you shimmy your way over.  any hesitation will force you back to the sidewalk where you came from.  only those who are bold, those who courageously call out in the name of... their hand... as they hold their palm up at cars tellibg the cars that you're walking and you'd better wait for me to get across... will get across.  alternatively  the technique i try to adopt is to follow closely alongside another brave soul and use them as a a buffer, protection from the incoming cars.

pavement dwellers

Our daily commute entails a 20-30 minute walk down a very busy street, full of the sights, sounds, and smells of people, vehicles, and small shops and stalls. It’s not the vehicles that stop you in your tracks, but the faces of men, women, and children who call the streets their home who pierce my heart… men and women, grandmas and grandpas, children, and even little babies, sleeping, playing, studying, and living life on the streets… not that this makes the situation better, but I’ve grown accustomed to the site of homelessness in America, where we see mostly men sleeping on sidewalks, over gutters, or on benches. It doesn’t lighten the situation, but it’s a more familiar sight than seeing babies crawling and sleeping on dirty streets.

on our daily commute, every evening they sit there on the sidewalk and prepare for the night ahead, in the morning we sometimes find them still passed out and other times they are back to sitting or sweeping their little home, i.e. the street that I walk on and the small area that they sleep on. a couple times i saw a young girl squatting in her family's area reading a workbook, like she was doing homework.

it's a scene that would be unacceptable in America. yet it's sad how easily even this site of street families can so quickly feel normal. As if seeing several families and individuals living life on the streets daily… as if there being a community of people who lived a similar lifestyle should make it seem more ‘okay’ in my heart… is my heart becoming hardened? Are my eyes just adjusting to the “new normal” now that I’m in a new foreign city? But then I think of God… He sees it all, and I don’t believe He feels any less compassion on His children living on the streets simply because there are many in the same boat.

In America, there are plenty of homeless, but many of them are invisible. They may live in shelters or they may live on the streets under bridges and overpasses or in parks. Police will hunt them and shoo them out of the public eye. But in Kolkata, they are very visible, and quite frankly, hard to miss, even if you have heart of stone and veiled eyes. If you don’t see them sitting or laying on the street, they’ll be sure to come up and be in your face and beg or try to sell you something.

We’d never survive a night on these streets. Cockroaches and other creepy crawlies, rats, dogs, even cows, huge crows flying and pooping everywhere, animals defecating, food waste and other trash thrown all over, cars and trucks blowing black exhaust from their tailpipes, loud honking horns all day and night… it’s hard enough just walking down the street let alone sleeping. Yet families do it every night. If it rains, some set up a tarp and hold it down with a brick or two. If it doesn’t rain, they just sleep out in the open on the sidewalk. it's hot out so no covers, no mosquito nets, no nothing to keep out the many elements. While many of these children do not attend school, there was one evening where I saw a young girl, probably about 12 years old, sitting with her family on the sidewalk in her school uniform with a notebook out doing her homework. EMC has programs for streets kids but at the end of the day the families must agree and the child must want to attend. And while you’d think the parents of course would send their children, but for many of these families, survival is their first instinct and educating their children may not be.

inspiring hope into the hopeless

this is a question we are facing.  how do you change communities where the socio-economic/-cultural/-historical and some political strongholds are so strong that it keeps the people and the community from developing and progressing?  it's a problem that we are immersed in.  in this particular community, women are telling us that there's no point in thinking about the future, they laugh when we push them to tell us their dreams, they scoff when we ask them what they hope for their children.  they are defeated... subordinated... powerless... hopeless.  and it's easy to leave those conversations feeling like the situation is indeed hopeless.

but it's not.  as we brainstorm how to empower these women more holistically so that they truly have a say in the family, so they have a hold of their family's finances, so they have the real opportunity to stand up for themselves, for their children, for their community... we can come up with post-it notes galore of ideas... we can research to death best practices and analogous situations... but at the end of the day, the only solution for restoring hope is in Him... in Him alone.  people need to know that He has not given up or forgotten these women and these poor and dirty slums... that there is hope in knowing Him... and that He has given each of them the skills and talents and gifts and a life to live and thrive in their community and in our world.

but how?  how do you restore people's worth.  how do you convince them that they are beautiful, that they are valuable, that they have much to give, that they can dream for themselves and for their families.  how do you convince them that just one of them needs to take a stand for all the women in the community.  how do you tell them that moving out of their community and running away is not the solution?  how?  how do you tell them about Him in a religious and very traditional community that may react negatively towards the Gospel?  it must be lead by Him.

restoring hope in the hopeless... the defeated.  we believe it's possible because of what He has done for us.  but it's going to be hard. it's going to take time.  and it's going to take commitment.  this is nothing new, even though it feels impossible.  in every major milestone in history, someone had to take a stand and lead and be criticized and persecuted for real change to happen... Civil Rights, women's rights, women going to school, even title IX.

the easy thing to do would be to leave the community because of the challenges, but we're in the business of loving His people and helping them break free from poverty.  but poverty is not just an economic problem... rich people can still be poor... poverty encompasses multiple dimensions including physical, spiritual, mental, etc.  breaking free from poverty requires a holistic look at these dimensions and developing and growing those capacities... and so... back to the question... how do we restore hope and dignity in those who are hopeless... we will continue to pray and ponder and brainstorm... and we welcome any ideas and feedback!

computer class

we were asked to teach an English conversation and computer literacy class.  what qualifies us?  well, we can speak English and we know how to use computers.  that's it and that is all that is needed.

we had our first class today...  it was super fun.  the teachers and staff who are taking part in these training really enjoyed themselves and seem to have learned quite a bit too.  for many if not all, it was the first time they had ever been on a computer.  can you believe that?  they did splendidly well.  they were super cute... i was explaining the computer mouse and how you move it to move the cursor on the screen... and the next thing i see... one of the staff raising their mouse up in the air, hoping it would move the cursor!  i'll need to explain better next time. super cute nonetheless.  the class was an hour but most stayed nearly an extra hour just to practice typing and playing solitaire (to practice mouse click, drag, drop skills).

i'm looking for recommendations for good typing tutor software (free or cheap).

my mom is supper woman!

we're doing well in kolkata but our days have been packed. things are quite busy so haven't had a chance to update or even reach out to awesome supporters... but that is on the to do list for this weekend... in addition to catching up on many emails. sorry!

too tired to pull a post together right now so i'm sharing a string of emails among my immediate family the past day and a half...  i'm not sure why i'm sharing it but for whatever reason, as i lay inside my mosquito net with our lights off, i'm finding entertainment in this string... so, simply for that reason am i sharing it.

Email #1: Mom sends email with subject line "verizon hd box" to the family yesterday
Hi,
I installed the box for basement with tech support last nite and finished the one upstairs this morining by my self. Its not hard but just need a push to complete the process and it was not bad

Email #2: I respond to mom's email:

wow. nice mom. maybe you can find a technology support job somewhere! haha.

Email #3: Dad responds to the string:

supper woman

Email #4: Brother responds to string:

haha you mean super, not supper. sheesh maybe you are in china too long now.

Email #5: Dad responds:

i am either in china for too long or hungry

Email #6: Moms response:

dad means that I am the woman serve him supper. sorry I quit my job for now so help yourself. ha ha ha

dosas at Aunty's

we went to Aunty's after Church today where we had the privilege to just live life with Aunty.  She is such an amazing woman, and to be able to see her at her home, as an Aunty, as a mother is just such a blessing.  Her eldest daughter who just had a medical procedure done was resting at home, so we got to spend time with her as well.  i feel like i'm slowly getting to know the entire family... so sweet.

i helped aunty make dosas.  it was kind of like making pancakes...  yum.

lesson learned - wring out clothing well before hanging

It’s Saturday… and it feels like a normal Saturday. We slept in a bit this morning, ate our peanut butter nutella with sliced bananas on toast and our maxim 3-in-1 coffee, just took our time to get ready… read a bit… spent some time with Him… and then headed out. We hit up New Market and wandered the stalls for some Indian clothing. We sweat so easily that it’s just not possible to keep doing laundry at the rate we are, and secondly, I dress like a sloppy American so hopefully this will help us blend in a bit more. I love that we can purchase something and then go upstairs and have it altered right there, for like a fraction of the time and cost than in America. I mean… shortening sleeves of a shirt and keeping the embroided cuffs, and cinching in the sides of the shirt cost me less than $0.50 US. Afterwards, we wandered over to the backpacker area and had a quick lunch at this street stall that has yummy kimchi’ish dishes… kimchi fried rice.. kimchi noodles… ratatouille… etc. Jane and I actually ate here a few years ago upon our first visit to India. It was delish although super spicy!

After our sweaty market shopping, we headed to the complete opposite shopping experience – a high class shopping mall. We wanted some AC… now we’re sitting on the top floor (6th floor), at the Coffee Bean drinking an iced cappuccino and eating pound cake. Yum. Well, it’s not really all that yum as it’s a bit stale, but it’s just nice to not be wandering around sweating, and sit in air conditioning. It’s a bit sad that this makes us happy, but it does. Sorry.

Continuing my post that I started earlier… we ripped out the post-it notes to accompany our coffee, stale yet addictive pound cake, and debriefed our meeting yesterday with CSS. Oh man we used up nearly a full pack of post-its! Lots of observations and takeaways from yesterday. We kept getting stared at… with our macbooks sitting out, yellow post-its all over the table, and well, two foreigners I guess would cause a stare anyways. After a fruitful meeting, we wandered a bit more, and then grabbed a bite at the mall food court, picked up some groceries down the street, and then headed back to the apartment.

Our room has been a bit stinky the past few days and we couldn’t figure out why… until today… I am learning how important it is to wring out your clothes as much as possible before hanging them to dry. I wrung them, but perhaps not enough, and then hung them in our other bathroom which is hot and musty… then moved the clothing into the bedroom the next day… the result… stinky! So, I just spent the past couple hours rewashing and wringing clothes out. Wow – what a workout! My fingers are so sore from wringing! good thing I live with someone who has much experience hand washing clothing… a good teacher indeed. I appreciate washing machines and dryers so much.

css... pizza hut... bieber...

we visited our friend Himadri today who started CSS India over 23 years ago. I love that man! He is such a humble servant with a brilliant business mind yet full of compassion, fully focused on Him. I’m always inspired by our conversations. The past couple times we’ve met, I’ve gotten to know this wonderful man and hear his testimony and why and how he’s done what he’s done… but this time, we went to him with specific questions to learn from him as we look at some of the challenges we are facing with our microfinance program… and to hear and see how he has built and lead CSS India… all I can say is wow. We learned so much about microfinance itself, and are inspired by his approach. We have some learnings to take back to EMC, and while it’s not as easy as copying and applying Himadri’s model, his approach and mentality has got us thinking. Still much research to be done, but really great insights and best practices learned today.

Topped off our night with a date a Pizza Hut. We needed it after a busy week. Our brains are on overdrive. we pigged out… it was awesome. and all for $4 or so each. Added plus was the American pop music playing in the background. Justin bieber was on at one point and I was reminded of our flight to India just over a week ago.

I’m a bit ashamed to say this… but I was never a bieber fan, but on the flight to India, I watched 3-4 hours of bieber… baby baby baby… yes 3-4 hours. But let me explain myself. We were on an older plane so I couldn't start the movies whenever I wanted to, and nothing else interesting was on that I could just start following along mid-movie, and I admit, I was a bit curious about all the craze, so I tuned into his movie. And then I kind of got hooked, partly because of how entertaining it was to see how hooked these teenage girls were to him in the movie… and well, so then I kind of wanted to see the beginning of the movie and they just cycle through on repeat. And so, I watched the whole movie all over again. Secondly, it was the most brainless movie I could watch and multitask to. Excuses aside, he’s pretty talented I must admit. And yes I was singing his songs the next couple of days. Although his song quickly left my brain and was filled instead with other wonderful noises, like the sounds of honking horns of all pitches and volumes, some piercing, some like a baby duck’s quack.. and now… there seems to be a cricket somewhere in or near our room chirping the night away. Goodnight!

community matters.

the good couple of days… busy… interesting… challenging… Yesterday we visited another project community to collect loan repayments from women receiving our microloans. This community is a smaller-scale red light area.

As we observe the process, as we notice things from yesterday’s community and today’s, we can see how a sense of community and cohesiveness with your neighbors can bring peace and hope and the confidence that life can be better. We saw that today. Poor but more organized. A more cleaned up slum but a slum nonetheless. Women who shared, laughed, talked with each other. Women who were confident, eager to pay, full of questions, loud chatter and debate, ending with smiles and a nod.

Yesterday – a bit more disorganized, messier, loud, an overwhelming amount of stuff going on. Less chatter among the loan recipients. Less organization. Less smiles. Less laughter. The difference? The environment and the community. Here, castes seem to still play a role in dividing this community. It echoes of the racial divide we still, although much diminished, have in America. Even within the poor, there are levels of poverty, levels of status, roles assigned based on your status… even today. Women are less empowered in this community as their husbands and sons run the businesses, despite the loan coming under the wife’s name. Research shows that when women get loans to care for the money, they are more responsible and put the money to use in a smart way that helps the family. But if the women are simply intermediaries… channels… they aren’t really all that empowered, are they? Perhaps there’s some more respect given to the women, but I’m not really sure yet. We have yet to come to a conclusion on that although hopefully the next few weeks of interviews and observations and research will tell. Hopefully we’ll get an honest and true view of reality in that community. Our thoughts? If not financially, how else can we empower these women to be leaders in their families, in their communities? How else can we get them to take a stand and take ownership of their lives? How do we change mindsets that have been reinforced through culture and years of history… of how “life has always been”?

my first successful shower in days...

Today we accompanied our loan officer to receive repayments in one of their project communities. We're doing some observations this week to get a better grip of what's going on, learn the process, and get a feel of stuff.. The community was filled with noise cuz a wedding was going on right next to the community center wall where childrens' programs were going on and where loans were being repaid. Saw some teachers I got to know last year... super sweet to see them again. Although the language barrier will always be a bit frustrating... need to get my bengali better.

Constant sweating. I mean, I drip.

Today I took my first complete non-bucket shower! For whatever reason the past few days since arriving, either I begin with shower not working or I start taking a shower, I get just wet enough that I can’t just put my clothes back on, and then the water cuts and then I continue with the bucket… and Jane, for some reason, has successfully had full showers all these past few days. Well, today our fates swapped, although I think Jane diagnosed that during certain hours, it does not work so we’ll just have to keep track of those hours. it felt good to shower.

a slight.. major.. name mix-up. oops.

A good first day at the office. Still getting settled, prepping stuff, running errands – got a 3g usb stick so we can get online more easily and have our team calls (yay!). oh, allowed the sales guy at vodaphone to take a photo of me on his cell phone (cuz we needed a passport size photo to get a sim card for the usb stick so he graciously just did it for me since they were closing… but who knows where my face will now be floating around… he seemed like an honest lad). What else… missed my American staple McDonalds and got permission from Jane to eat at McDs for dinner...had a Maharaja Mac and fries (yum!)… oh, and found out that the man who Grace and I love from EMC who makes amazing food that we ate almost everyday for lunch last year and has the best smile who we used to call “Mr. ” cuz his name starts with a K… well, we found out that the man we called Mr. K is not Mr. K but Mr. D! Mr. K is actually the other cook who is also super sweet and has a great smile… I can’t believe we’ve had it wrong this whole time. And even today I was all happy to see him and called him Mr. K. How embarrassing. Neither speak English so no wonder they just smiled and thought we were weirdos…

hot sweaty mess... always..

I kept waking up last night cuz I was paranoid about mosquitoes, and rightfully so because I got bitten a couple times. Boo… just one mosquito can ruin a night of sleep. The mosquito net is going up! It’s not even that bad, but I can’t stand those buggers.

We had an awesome morning at Jeevan Jyoti Fellowship. The electricity was down for much of the service so no fans which means me dripping sweat, but that didn’t stop everyone from praising their hearts out. The Indian pastor was super charismatic, hilarious, and right on point. It was such a blessing to see friends and familiar faces and some of the children at the service. Such a joy to see how the children have grown and matured. It felt good that some remembered me and my name... although kind of embarrassing on my part as I couldn’t recall all of their names. Can’t wait to spend more time with all of my EMC family in the next days and weeks.

Aunty took us out to lunch after Church, and then we parted ways. We’ve been wandering the Park Street area in search of a SIM card and internet cards, and yes, wifi (which I should have learned from last year that it’s hard to come by here… and as a result of constant searching was dubbed the name tammy ‘wifi’ wang from ms. Na), but have thus failed. Instead, we went to a coffee shop that GNa and I frequented last year and have now hopped over to sit in KFC. This is the KFC that our team last year was taken on a “Guided Kitchen Tour” where we put on little KFC hats with stocking net and wandered through the back and upper floors of the KFC. It was pretty interesting… we are now hearing the staff doing group cheers and morale type of chants in the back. I love it! It’s like a little family back there.

We wandered a bit before heading back to the flat… found a grocery store – yes a real grocery store!!! Grace and I failed at locating one last year. We almost failed again this year, as one guy we asked thought we were looking for pizza hut (bizarre is supermarket in Bengali), which we did find to our happiness, but we met success this time. Then we had to walk forever back.. once again a hot sweaty mess, glistening, dripping, all of the above. Mosquito net is up and off to bed.

Off to Calcutta

this morning jane and I hopped a flight to Calcutta. Twas sad to leave the team and Sangita, the children, and the women from the community. After we said our goodbyes, the cab drove down the street/driveway to the gate. Sitting all along the drive way were the widows that are part of the project. Seeing their smiles, their waves, seeing familiar faces that had pinched my cheeks and squished my face with their wrinkled and worn hands the day before at the medical clinic, was heart wrenching. Those beautiful faces will always be engraved on my heart.

Off to Calcutta. Upon arrival Shajan and his wife Anita picked us up. So nice to see familiar faces – my Indian family. They took us over to the flat we’ll be staying at, and it is so wonderful!!! Aunty and our friends at EMC put so much thought and effort into our accommodations. Flowers, a “welcome back” poster from the boys downstairs, a fridge stocked with eggs, milk, water, fruit, bread, and everything! It is so nice! Our place is so much bigger than we ever expected – 1 bedroom with 2 twin beds for my roomie and me, an all purpose room with a twin bed, dining table, and a separate kitchen and a little balcony. They delivered us some yummy lo mein and chilly chicken for dinner and everything! TOO MUCH! We are being spoiled. It is good to be back in Calcutta. The smells and noise come along with it but it is familiar and I welcome it, or, rather, it welcomed me. ☺

Sangita - build it and they will come

This morning we packed up the van and headed out to Sangita Charitable Trust, an organization a couple hours outside of Chennai that serves widows and orphans. The North Coast Calvary Chapel (NCCC) team that we’re tagging along with was helping out today with a Medical and Eye Clinic that Sangita was organizing.

400-500 paper tokens were given to village leaders, who then distributed them to people in their villages who were most in need of medical care. Most of the people were widows, who Sangita serves in other capacities already. So in the morning, as we got ready to serve with Sangita, we saw people coming into the gates from the front entrance via public bus, some from auto rickshaw, and then many others who walked 1-4km through the back fields to reach Sangita’s property. Some could not walk and were carried in and out of a rickshaw. Villagers came in droves, friends and family from the same village. Watching them walk towards us through the fields was surreal. It reminded me of the movie “Field of Dreams”, only it was not baseball players, but people, mostly women, mostly older in age, faces worn and wrinkled but with smiles that revealed missing, cracked, and dirt stained teeth, wearing beautiful Indian saris, some wearing sandals but many without shoes at all, and some with long branches as walking sticks. Women come dressed in colorful and beautiful saris and men with plaid skirt-like wraps and wife-beaters, bringing nothing but that paper token, despite knowing they may have to wait for hours before seeing a doctor and going home. Some came with a dirty bottle of water, but most did not. No snacks, no food, just that paper token.

Once the doctors and nurses were ready and the people arrived, our team got to work. Villagers impatiently waited in line to trade their paper token for a slip of paper with their name and age that would later be used as their “doctor’s orders” / prescriptions slip. They then took that paper and waited in the waiting area, i.e., the walk/driveway within the gates of Sangita, the curb, the grass, the dirt, until they were called to see the doctor. Some of us spent time just talking to people… well, perhaps talking to them is an overstatement since none except one spoke English. It was a combination of shaking their hands, smiling at them, nodding and smiling at whatever they were saying, and trying to find whatever you could to make conversation with hand motions and the 2-3 words I sort of learned that morning. I spent quite a bit of time with the women waiting – we had so much fun! We laughed together, attempted to converse, got my cheeks squished and squeezed by old women, and…. I think I may have agreed to marry this old lady’s son. I’m not really sure but I think just may have. Clearly I had no idea what I was saying, nor what they were saying, but whatever, it’s nice to be able to commune with these women. I also think I committed to getting 2 nose piercings too (my parents would kill me if I did!). I wished I could speak some Tamil, the local language in that area, but you realize that just by being there, touching their shoulder, their leg, shaking a hand, smiling, laughing, speaking gibberish, nodding along when they speak back in Tamil, and just by reaching out and sitting with them means a lot… a mutual exchange of love and care.

After they come out from the clinic, with their doctor’s notes and meds in hand, the joy on their faces is indescribable. It’s as if they just found new life because of these pills. No matter how long they journeyed or how long they had to wait (some for almost 6 hours outside in the heat without food or water), they left joyful, returning the way they came. Those unable to walk were carried onto rickshaws. I helped two elderly women enter the fields, holding their hand and arm as they stepped down the 2 foot curb and into the fields. One was wearing sandals, the other was not. The resilience of people, the strength and joy, the camaraderie, friends supporting friends, journeying through life together.

It made me sad and helpless when women would give me the universal sign that they have no food and are hungry… what was I to do? And then back a the guesthouse about 50 feet away where our team rested and hung out was air conditioning, cold refreshing bottled water, and our huge lunches, many of which still had so much good food leftover that would go to the trash.
And then a touching moment. As people were getting antsy and trying to push into the door and see the doctor, some of the team decided to sing and dance for those who were waiting. Super cute! And then an old lady and man joined in as well!

After all that, the kids came home from school, and we played like crazy children with these precious little ones with way too much energy. We attempted to organize a soccer game but that was an utter failed attempt. Nonetheless, the kids had fun. The team had fun. I was pooped! But the kids were super cute. I got to know some of the older teenage girls, some of whom had been at Sangita for 7+ years! We did some small group English teaching, and then off we went to board a local public bus back to our hotel. Now that was a fun experiene for us, and the added plus is that we survived to tell the tale!

Chennai - a run in with security

I started my professional photography career today on a borrowed camera. I’ll explain at a later date. I want to say I’m impressed with my photography skills, but I secretly admit that it was simply the camera that was good…

In the afternoon we headed to a super nice mall where Willie’s youth team was hanging out. Today was their off day, as we head down with them tonight to a smaller town outside of Chennai where we’ll be working with a ministry that serves widows and orphans. Well, we nearly didn’t make it down to Sangita because we were almost detained by security. The super cool kiddies… as the 3 of us walked toward them in the center of the mall, they started a flash mob like song and dance. The 2 security guards just looked on from the side, seemingly entertained, not stopping anyone. Then, a man in a suit comes over, all serious, questioning Willie about who gave us permission to do this… and then when we said we were leaving, he said we can’t just leave… anyways, brief drama, lesson learned, and off we went back to the guesthouse to catch our van down to Sangita.

Great kids, great fun, exciting and memorable moments. Makes me miss high school.

Enroute to India 2011

Well, somehow I finished the packing and got on a jetplane to India this morning… I say somehow because since coming back from East Asia a month and a half ago, life has been all over the place – physically as well as mentally. Thankfully, despite forgetting some things, I am now in India. Over 24 hours of travel today…

A few highlights/memorable issues from the travel today:

1) flight from Newark to London, we found ourselves in the last row against the body of the plane. Surprisingly I kind of liked that spot. I mean, our backs were to the bathroom but it’s nice to not have anyone sitting behind you. You don’t feel bad about reclining and the seats were actually quite comfy. Back row economy seats… almost like those 1st class individual cubbies… sort of.

2) we flew into Delhi International from London but had to catch a bus to get to the domestic airport. Once we figured out which bus to get on, with the help of some kind samaritans, we loaded up our heavy luggage (we’re bringing a bunch of school supplies and such) and sat down, then found out we had to pay. But we didn’t exchange money yet. The last thing I wanted to do was to get the luggage back out of the crammed bus… so thankfully a kind man spotted us money. We had a feeling he must have had daughters – he definitely felt bad for us… anyways a nice man that we ended up paying back with US money cuz the exchange was not open at the domestic airport. Truly a good man who took care of us. We are now facebook friends! Haha…

3) our final leg of the trip: domestic flight from Delhi to Chennai. By this point we were both exhausted by lack of sleep and the mere fact that our bodies thought it was the middle of the night. I slept most of that leg but I awoke at one point to a plane with white vapor rolling into the cabin. It was quite thick… looking a bit smoky. I wasn’t sure what to think. When I first awoke, I did wonder if we were going down, but then the plane was oddly silent and seemed like it didn’t matter to anyone else. Least to say we’re still not sure what that was but our guess is some kind of humidifier or air conditioning or something?? We survived.

We are in Chennai for a couple of days to hang out and serve with Jane’s boyfriend’s youth mission team who are serving with a couple of organizations in and near Chennai. It’s a nice warm-up to Calcutta.