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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Ok, other random thoughts that keep trickling in as I try to focus on building the brand identify of the org... man I have major add... this oil spill. Why is it taking so long to fix the problem? Can you imagine these poor animals who call that body of water their homes? Can you imagine yourself swimming in a pool of oil? or the communities who live along the coast there... Oh man... makes me cringe.
I picture the movie Apollo 13 where they guys are in the room trying to figure out a solution to the shuttle's problem. Come 'on guys and gals... you can do it. We've got to figure this out... I wish I could add more value than my useless thoughts but perhaps a word of encouragement. Keep up the good work... now solve the problem. You can do it. We're counting on it.
Listening and working to my iTunes. My mind usually compartmentalizes the music as background noise, but these words caught my attention... from the song "Every Breath" by Gateway Worship's Living for You album.
Lord, You’re so amazing to me, how can I find the words
To convey what Your love means, I’d give all I have and more
In the times I am weak, You come rescue me
Through the words that You speak over me
From the depths of my soul, Lord, I want You to know
That this life that I live is for You
Every breath, Lord, all that I am
I want my life to bring You glory
Every moment, with all that I have
I want my life to bring You glory
Yesterday was a gorgeous day... and God knew I needed a gorgeous day, and scheduled activity I was pre-committed to... flag football. So great to be outside running around. After some Rita's, I got home and jumped on my bike for a quick ride to the art museum. My all time favorite place to "hide" and seek inspiration and have alone time with big papa is at the Lincoln Memorial in DC. It's not that far away, but by the time I'd make it down there, it'd be too dark to sit there and ponder, so I resorted to the Art Museum steps instead. Too bad I didn't have a bike lock with me - I ended up sitting at the bottom of the steps to watch over my bike.
Anyways, unfortunately it was also pretty late in the day and getting dark, so I couldn't stay too long, but it was nice to get away and have some alone time with him. He put some Psalms in front of me which was pretty encouraging. I'm sitting here doing some work in a Starbucks, and the Hiding Place song just popped into my head and I couldn't help but look up the lyrics. Here's part of it that I'm chewing on.
I have found myself a hiding place
I've found myself a secret space
In the refuge of the Father's care
In the cleansing blood of Jesus there
...
And though my fears may overwhelm me
And troubles they surround
Though the wind rise up to take me
My hiding place is already found
I found myself a hiding place
I found myself a secret space
In the shelter of Almighty's love
In the safety of the Savior's arms
Why do I so stink at updating my blog. A lot has happened, but I guess what often brings me to write is when I'm frustrated or just wanting to get lots of thoughts and feeling off my chest, without actually having to talk to anyone about them. I guess it takes the place of having a physical pity party for myself and bringing those around me down with me. That would be a pretty pitiful party after all.
But before I blab away, a few updates on life in general, and I want to wish my best buddy Goldie a very happy birthday. She passed away a few years ago, but her place as my doggy sister will never be replaced. I miss you Goldie and I wish I could give you a big hug.
What else... I officially left my job on Feb 10, 2010. It was the day of the massive snowstorm here on the east coast, so my last day ended up being celebrated inside my apartment, packing and figuring out how to get myself to Boston for the start of StartingBloc where I was leading the Social Innovation Competition the next day.
Since leaving, it's been a whirlwind, and I mean that literally... starting in Philly, trekking up to Boston for StartingBloc, flying back to NYC(which was a nightmare in itself as I was booked on the wrong flight and just barely made it back to NYC) to catch a flight to Vancouver to meet my brother and soon to be sister-in-law and her family for some Olympics and Whistler skiing fun, then back to NYC for more SB. After making my way back to Philly for a weekend, trekked back up to NYC for more SB planning, back to Philly to pack for the annual ski/snowboard trip, fly to Utah for a week in the mountains with awesome friends, fly back to Philly and that night head right back up to NYC for SB Institute. Woh, i'm tired just thinking about those few crazy weeks.
Then focusing more on EdGE - building it out, but then also working on a couple of side projects which became quite the time commitment. Snuck out to LA for the !deation conference in LA, hung out with my good sista Jane, and met up with some old friends and family. Projects I've been working on or am working on... SB of course. Another was focused on the hunger crisis we face in Philly and has wrapped up. One that's still open keeps me running back and forth b/w NYC and Philly a lot... too much... Also starting a project focused on the city of Philly itself, while trying to build out the brand identity of this all and how to run a business and all that stuff that I'm clueless about. Ack!
I am tired and frustrated and... hrmm... this past week in particular... very "pouty". i feel like a spoiled child that just wants her way, but i also want what my big papa wants for me. but gosh, sometimes its just so hard to understand the why... and the how... and it just does not feel good to feel stuck in a rut. i thought this was for Him but why this rut and confusion and frustration now. i know He's teaching me and trying to change me and make me the person He's created me to be, but it's just so hard to understand and be patient and see through that. I just want an answer now. I just want the wrong doors to close and the right doors to open. I know he knows best. I say I trust him, but do I really? why is this so hard. i say this is for him, but is it really? Man it is so hard. I want His plan for me, but He's showing me the idols in my life that I need to get rid of, but it's so hard... it's so ingrained in who I am and how I operate and how I think.
Praying over my favorite song by everybody duck... that it wouldn't be nice words in a song but that i could pray this honestly and let go fully of any plans of my own, even the plans that are hidden in my own heart.
Use me here, where I am
I'm not gonna pray anymore that You'll change Your plans
despite my fear I place my life in Your hands
the future can wait, tomorrow might be too late
Jesus, use me here
I lay my heart's desire at Your feet, oh Lord
take all my hopes and plans and all my dreams
blinded by triumphs of tomorrow I've let sin control today
so many drowning within reach, father it's time You heard me say
Use me here, where I am
I'm not gonna pray anymore that You'll change Your plans
despite my fear I place my life in Your hands
the future can wait, tomorrow might be too late
Jesus, use me here
I tell myself I want to know Your will, oh Lord
still I confess I've had plans of my own
but from now on I pledge to listen to Your will and to obey
no matter what the future holds, I'm gonna live for You today
Use me here, where I am
I'm not gonna pray anymore that You'll change Your plans
despite my fear I place my life in Your hands
the future can wait, tomorrow might be too late
Jesus, use me here
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.
