India!

Six Days in Southern India.

This was my third visit to India and every time it never ceases to overwhelm. The first day we were in port I was recovering from being really sick so I didn't leave the ship. The second day we went on a trip called Child Labor in Rural India. We first visited a school for children who used to worked in the quarry near by. The kids were really really cute and loving. When we got there they were all lined up to give us flowers and welcome us. We played with the kids for a while and even though there was a language barrier we taught them duck duck goose, and played jump rope. Afterward the kids sang us a song and performed a little dance. Leaving was difficult knowing what the children would go home to. Some of them were orphans, some still probably worked in some capacity and others probably walked for miles to return home.

The next day we rode out to a rural village. The drive there was difficult because we were in a big bus and the road was washed out or didn't hardly exist at all. When we reached the village some people we out to greet us and we were taken around the village to see the hospital, silk weaving huts, homes, ect. We interacted with the people in the village who were all open and friendly having us there. The trip was really educational and we learned a lot about human rights issues in rural India. The organization we went through was called RIDE-Rural Institute for Development. RIDE's goal is to help people to help themselves to improve the quality of their lives. Since RIDE began its work in 1984 the organizations approach has received around a central concept of self-help - that people can not be developed but that they can develop themselves. RIDE's activities include programs for children, women and for the general rural poor population. rideindia.org

We returned to the ship tired and dirty but inspired. The next morning we left again for a Dalit overnight trip. This was my second going on this trip. I went as a student in the spring of 2006. The trip really impacted me and I went home and ran a fundraiser for a Dalit village. While I was on the trip one of the people from the village were the funds went came and thanked me. He said the women in the village had started a micro-lending program and had saved money from the investments and had made the small amount of money grow and were soon buying dairy cows with the money. It was wonderful to hear and it was really nice to see my friend Dr. Henry who runs the Oneworld Education Trust and the Delta School of Nursing for Dalit girls.

The day started with a visit with nursing students that came from Dalit communities to study nursing after grade school. They were between 17-22 years old studying nursing for three years. The girls were all shy and giggly and did several performances for us to welcome us. It was nice to see women that have struggle because of their background succeed and show pride in their achievements. The nice thing about both the organizations we visited on the two trips was that they were NGO's for and by local peoples that know the issues in their communities and sacrificed to stand up for what they believed in.

In the evening we drove to the village we were to stay for the night and walked around the area. They was a very long and in depth performance organized for the villagers and us. I was asked to go to the front and be welcomed to the village and receive another gift from the leader of the village and Henry. The night closed with a little reflection session and mediation. We spent the night on the floor of the community hall. The night sky was lite up that night by a huge storm with thunder and lighting. It was peaceful to try and fall asleep to even though we were lying on a concrete floor. The night passed and we woke up early the next morning to walk around the village and meet some of the families and visit their homes. We were shown around and the people were so proud to show off their homes. Even though they had very little they had such pride in what they had and were happy to share it with us. It was a wonderful trip.

The afternoon we got back from the village we went to Spencers Plaza to pick up some things. We went to a craft market where they sold fair trade items. That night we ate a an amazing Indian restaurant called Bowls. It was the best Indian food I have ever had a it cost only about two dollars a person. The final day Tommy and I walked around a found a local area street market where we bought some fabric and shirts. We also got Tommy's haircut at a local barber we found on the side of the road. We had a intense, profound and meaningful trip to India.

India.