Calcutta Day 4 - July 31, 2010

After a great night of rest, we woke up this morning to a loud knock on our door. It was the friendly security guard who tries to act all serious, but then after getting what he needed from you, he smiles, exposing his missing tooth, and nods his head. I can’t help but smile at him. Aunty Premila and Shajan were calling from EMC to check up on us and see if we wanted to visit some of their ministires today. Originally we were planning on having a low key day – catch up on email, find wireless internet (still unsuccessful), and continue organizing the information we’ve gathered re: the Non Formal Education programs and prep for the upcoming week; but He had other plans for us, and we when He opens the door, we are learning to walk through it.

We walked over to EMC’s office, not exactly sure who we were meeting – Aunty had told me over the phone but the connection was not very clear. I knew we were meeting people for lunch and then meeting some children. On our way to EMC, we came across a flooded street that most were just walking through with rolled up pants. We were not too excited about that given the contents of what we typically saw on the streets during our walk, so we hailed a rickshaw, driven… walked by foot by a man. Poor guy carrying two heavy American girls, who schlepped right through the water without question, like the other folks.

We arrived at the office, and ran upstairs to meet our new friends who are part of the addiction rehabilitation program that EMC runs. It was such a blessing to meet these wonderful women, some of whom were relatively new to the program and others who had been there for a few months and were now clean and completely transformed and ready to go back home. They told Grace and I that we were such an encouragement to them, but I wish they truly knew how much they encouraged us and blessed us by the journey they have been on, and the one that they are on now. I know that He has something great in store for them, and it was just so amazing today to see part of the work He’s doing in their lives.

    

 

We then jumped into a car to well… honestly we were not sure until we arrived at their rescue and rehab home for boys at risk, some rescued off the streets, others with addictions to various substances, some with abusive parents, the list goes on. We went up the stairs to meet this group of 22 young men, ranging in age from 6 – 17. To think what some of these children have been through… The boys performed some songs, martial arts, a magic trick for us, and we introduced ourselves to them, and taught them a new game – one that Grace and I are quite familiar with – American football. We had brought a Nerf football with us from America, and were excited to have the opportunity to introduce this game to the boys, although it ended up being more like European handball. Nonetheless, we all had a great sweaty time!

Soccer with the boys at Andoloy.
Foul captured on camera?  Oops.

Afterwards a handful of the boys who attend the Emmanuel School accompanied us in a taxi - all 7 of us in a taxi – to another home for children at risk, mostly girls of all ages and boys under the age of 12. The boys had to practice their singing for Church. These boys all spoke English very well, and you could tell how smart and bright they are. We spent time getting to know the girls and boys, interacting with them, talking, playing games, and finished off with an intense game of soccer of course. It was so great to be able to spend an afternoon with these boys and girls, and to see them at ease with us. I wish you all could meet these children, hear some of their stories, and see who they are today and who they are growing up to be.

It truly felt like we had been embraced as part of large loving and caring family, and it was such a privilege that I am so thankful for. I am looking forward to seeing some of them at Church tomorrow.

Off to sleep. Goodnight.

Attempts at teaching the boys American football..ended up more like European handball.

Calcutta Day 3 - July 30, 2010

Himadri with 3 of CSS's clients

We were picked up this morning by staff from CSS India to head out to their office in the outskirts of Calcutta. 2 years ago, I also visited CSS India, so I was eager to see the founder Himadri and catch-up. I was excited for Grace to meet another amazing man – just a normal man, a humble man, changing the lives of 24,000 individuals and their families. Today was also an opportunity to see our 3rd teammate Rob who has been working with CSS the past few days to help them implement a new software program to support their operations.

CSS is a microfinance organization that has grown to 24,000 loans, 95% of which are to women. The organization has taken the profits from their work to build and continue to support 2 orphanages – a boys home and a girls home. Many of the children are kids of the clients that CSS’s microfinance serves. Some kids have parents, others have single parents, grandparents, and others have none. It’s sad to see these precious, beautiful faces who have gone through so much. For those whose parents are still alive, I could not fathom the thought that the parents would opt to send their child to an orphanage in order for them to have a better life, albet it is true, but must be so difficult.


We visited the 2 homes where the children put on some short performances which were beautiful (and we also had to put our own horse and pony show on too.. which American children are not raised to do… and therefore was not so beautiful), and play with the kids. I left the girls home a sweaty mess as I played some soccer, volleyball, badminton, duck duck goose, and monkey in the middle. I had visited both of these home on my first visit 2 years ago, and it was really neat to some of the same faces that had grown taller and older.

We also had the opportunity to visit some of CSS’s clients and the projects they are running and growing as a result of the loans they have received. One woman had a snack stand, another a couple of sewing machines, farm animals, crops of fruits and veggies, stitching, and others. It was neat to be able to interact with them – language was a bit difficult – but being able to even give a thumbs up and them nodding in response and smiling was a pretty neat feeling. Himadri helped interview the clients and it was neat to hear how they’ve been able to build up their businesses and support their families through a simple loan.

After we made it back to the Y, we hit McD’s for a McMaharaja burger (chicken bigmac), fries, and soft serve. I was disappointed that they don’t have applie pies here – in East Asia, the apple pies are still served fried increasing the taste tremendously. Oh well.

 

When we finally made it back to our room, we once again had some water problems. Innovation took over as we tried to problem solve how to get water. We’ve captured the drama all on my flip cam so I’ll post it on the blog. It’s probably (guaranteed to not be) not all that entertaining for you but it was for us. Do us favor and turn off your shower while your shampooing /lathering and save that water.

Calcutta Day 2 - July 29, 2010

We managed a wonderful mosquito-free night of rest last night! This morning we trekked back to EMC where we met with the head of their informal school program, Ilora. We had a good discussion on their programs and the concepts they are teaching to the many children and families they serve.

Day-by-day, we grow more comfortable with the sounds and smells of Calcutta. The way we increase our comfort levels is to look past the discomfort, pretending it is not there. It means holding your breath as you walk past areas filled with trash. It means trying to muffle your ears to silence the honking vehicles around you. It means walking at NYC speeds, weaving in and out of people to pass through the challenging traffic and stench. We are so used to putting up our blinders and ignoring the difficult stuff. Unfortunately, this also means that when so many people suffer in poverty, beggars, lepers, people with missing limbs, children, a young baby watching over his baby brother sleeping on the sidewalk, at all hours of the day, congesting the already congested streets and sidewalks and alleyways, we also walk right past them, as if they did not exist; or as if we walked past them faster, they would somehow disappear, if not off the street, at least in mind. It makes me sad and angry, not sure how best to feel or respond, especially when the challenge is so large.

On my partner in crime here in Calcutta… it brings me great joy to see Grace growing more and more comfortable in this environment. Not to say that it is easy for me at all, but I think having been here before I had real expectations about life in Calcutta. I think for me part of my discomfort was in seeing her frustration, so personally, I am really thankful for your prayers. During our meeting this morning, it was also really neat to see Grace in her element, as we spent a good amount of time talking about early education, a topic she is expert in. I think we are both getting our heads around the huge tasks we have at hand, but we are looking forward to it.

Alright gotta get to sleep. We have a relatively early start tomorrow as we trek out to the outskirts of Calcutta to visit CSS India, a microfinance program.

Calcutta Day 1 - July 28, 2010

Grace and I arrived safely in Calcutta today. Got through immigration, waited foreve to get our bags, and headed outside of the airport to find old friends from EMC waiting for us. It was so great to see Shajan and Proshanto again, and really nice to see familiar faces after a long flight.

They took us to our YWCA hostel-like place where we began to unpack and took a short nap before heading back out to EMC for a working lunch with Aunty Premila, Shajan, Proshanto, and Ilora who runs their non formal education program (which is what we will be focusing much of our time on). We are happy to have a bed to sleep on, AC, and a bathroom (despite its current dysfunction... read below).

We had a great conversation and discussion over lunch, and then we managed to successfully wander back to the Y, and then began our long adventure to find a grocery store to buy some twine, water, and tp. Thank goodness for the handy pocket Hindi/Bengali dictionary we had... although it didn't really help all that much because we never eneded up finding an actual store. So, we moved onto the next adventure, which was to find wifi so we could connect with y'all. I thkn we wandered for a good hour before we finally ended up at a coffee shop which we were told would have wifi, but at the end did not, so we just sat there, cooled down under teh ac, had a drink and a bite to eat, and then maneuvered our way home. Hopefully we'll do better tomorrow with internet access.

All we wanted to do upon our return was to shower and sleep... but, the water wasn't working... and well, we're pretty filthy. We wait, hoping it will turn on periodically, but never did. I was talking to another girl in the hallways from the UK who was complaining about the lack of this basic necessity, and it really made me think. I mean, being the comfortable American I did somewhat agree, but then, it also made me think. Yes it was absolutely annoying that there was no water. Luckily we have plenty of baby wipes from target in the US that we coul use to mop ourselves up if we really had to... but let's face it. Our world is facing a major global water crisis. Many people in our world do not have access to water and baby wipes would definitely not be an alternative. Can I not survive one night without water? I truly am privileged, so fortunate that I do not even understand what fortune means and therefore cannot appreciate the many blessing that I have been given. So, who am I to say that it's messed up thtat I can't have water for one night when so many in our world hardly ever have it.

Despite that, I went to find another bathroom and to our surprise there was water. 2 bucket fulls in hand and I returned to our room for a good 'ole bucket splashing bath. 2 bucket fulls and a short walk down a hallway. I could not imagine what people, usually women and girls, who have that responsibility of walking for miles to fetch a lot more water than I was carrying, and walk it back to their comunity. Oh man, it's these simple creature comforts that have truly made me not understand what true suffering is. This was an inconvenience, but I would be just fine wihtout it. Can I not even endure an inconvenience for a day?? Not even a day... a night?

Anyhow sorry for my rambling. My blog is for those random rambling thoughts that go on inside my little brain, and so, if you want to read it, so sorry.

Alright so we are both clean. We've set up our mosquito nets to ward off any potential blood sucking friends (honestly have not seen 1 mosquito in our room yet though but just in case). In one hour last week, I got 22 bites so I am not risking it, espeically with some mosquitos carrying diseases that would not be good to have. So we're all set up. Grace is resting happily in her net (I think she's dreaming of this moment all day).

Looking forward to more fun tomorrow. It feels good to be back in Calcutta. It is not an easy city to be in because the poverty literally smacks you in the face...everywhere you go...the sight... the smell... But that is why we need to be here. Grace describes the sounds as a "symphony of horns" as cars, motorbikes try to zoom around foot traffic and other vehicles constantly honking. It's literally constant. Anyhow, tomorrow we meet with the head of the NFE programs to begin undrestanding how things are operating today and where there may be areas to improve and build upon. Until tomorrow... goodnight from Calcutta.

Here's a short clip to give you a small feel for the "symphony of horns".  This clip was taken on a Saturday evening, so it will only give you a small glimpse into our daily commute.  The streets are typically MUCH busier with human, vehicular, animal traffic on weekdays.

Calcutta Day 0.5 - July 26-28

The adventure has begun! This will be my 2nd trip back to India and Grace's 1st. As I write, we are some 40,000 feet above ground on our flight to Calcutta. I was planning on getting some sleep on this leg, but I happened to come across the World Cup final replay on teh tiny tv screen in front of me. Despite my love for soccer, I actually missed most of the game so I'm happy to finally watch the full 90+.

So since I'm awful at updating my blog, I wanted to quickly share how the preparations for India has been like. This trip came together somewhat late for various reasons, making it a bit more stressful on our end as we tried prpeare with such little time. But I realize that even if we had more time, we would never fully be prepared for what we will see and what we will do. With EMC's feedback, we've built a high-level framework to structure the workstreams we think we will be focusing on, but the how of tackling those workstreams are quite fuzzy, and quite frankly, the framework we've layed out will probably change once we meet with EMC in person in just a few hours. But, such is the case in life in general. that's why we need to fully depend on Him, and my prayer is that He would teach us and challenge us on tha tduring our time in Calcutta.

Even in just the preparations leading up to today, I'm amazed by how smoothly things have seemingly just fallen into place, from raising funds and gathering support, to our transportation to JFK and giving us the rest and relaxtation we needed before embarking on our journey. Seeming coincidences and occurrences that could not have been orchestrated by human minds if we even tried our hardest to. It's these things falling into place that continues to give me the assuracne and confidence that He wants us in Calcutta for His purposes, despite our gameplan still being a bit cloudy. We honestly do feel the support of your thoughts adn prayers, and are encouraged by our friends and family journeying with us virtually through your support, thoughts, and prayers.

We boarded teh first leg of our flight from JFK to Dubai with nervousness and a feeling of homesickness (we're both the baby's in our families), but also confidently trusting Him and His plans for this journey. 14 hours later we arrived in Dubai where we were unexpectedly presented with 2 food topions in the terminal we were in - Cosi or Burger King. Following our BK feast, a couple of laps of the airport to work off the grease that was coating our arteries, we sat down for some coffee and a nap, and boarded the flight that we are now on enroute to Calcutta. Spain just scored in overtime and clock is winding down as I write.

I'll do my best to update my blog throughout our journey. Talk to you more in Calcutta!

Celebrating a Generation of Love

This post is in memory and in celebration of my “second” grandmom. Well, she’s not my direct grandmother on my mom or dad’s side. She’s my cousins’ grandmom who I’ve known since I was a child. She was someone who always had a smile on her face, and would ask about you no matter how little you might have thought of her. She showed her love in her smile, in her affection, in her cooking. While I’m sad that I won’t see her at future family holidays and get-togethers, I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to have her in my life, and I’m thankful that she is no longer suffering and that she is saved and that I will see her in Heaven one day.

At her memorial service on Saturday, I could not help but be proud and in awe of this generation of men and women who went through so much and did so much for future generations so humbly and with such humility. They are a generation that knew more about the American dream than any of us do today. Grandma Teng, as well as my own grandparents worked hard to raise a their children in a way that prepared them and gave them the possibility of having that American dream, for better or for worse. And once their kids were grown, some chose to come to America, others chose to stay in Taiwan, and once their kids had kids (my generation) of their own, many of our grandparents came over to America as well to care for their grandkids as their own children continued working towards that American dream. Achieving it was a family affair that crossed generations. It started with that generation – my grandparents and that of grandma Teng, planting the seed and painting the vision of the American dream in the hearts and minds of their children. Their children became citizens, and then that generation studied hard to gain theirs as well. I am fascinated that in both my grandfather and grandma Teng’s eulogy, there was mention of attaining their American citizenship – something that had significant personal meaning. For my grandfather who’s English was limited to “Hi how are you” and “I love you”, studying for that citizenship test was no easy feat, but one that he would be sure to conquer. The American dream meant something to them. It was a point of pride and success that I take for granted every day, and something that I am thankful to have privilige of. (please note all of this is based on my own personal perception and observation of my grandparents so don't take these thoughts as their true feelings – one day I will have to interview them).

Their generation also knows and lives community, whether that be in China, Taiwan, and now America. I can’t speak for their time in China and Taiwan, but seeing grandma Teng and my grandmom’s friends from their church chatting with each other, linking arms, half in supporting balance, and going to the bathroom together, to their commitment to their bible study group, and finally to where they have chosen to be buried when their time to be called Home happens. Grandma Teng was buried next to her community of friends who have passed, including my own grandfather, and also with those who have yet to pass but have purchased plots there. It is both reassuring to see the commuity that exists even upon one’s phsycial death on earth, and gives me hope in how that community continues and is perfected in our heavenly bodies. Their physical bodies are in community at the gravesite, giving those of us who are still on this Earth comfort knowing they are fine; but also reminds us that our spiritual beings live in community among other believers and our heavenly Father in heaven.

Honestly, I never thought too much about that generation because there is so much that I just don’t know about. Sadly it is sometimes too late to fill in the details and understand the journey they’ve lived. All I see is the short time that I’ve been old enough to remember and observe. But even in that brief time, it has been a privilege, and continues to be with my surviving grandparents, to get to know these amazing people who know so much more than we give credit for, especially as they age and require more support that can feel seemingly frustrating and time consuming. They don’t receive the respect or the dignity they deserve, and we owe it to them. Go and love them.