This past week has been better than last. The first highlight I want to share is about when the volunteers sat for tea with Dr. George; the intent was for us to ask as many questions as we wanted, the conversation was very moving and inspiring. We asked him questions about the financial crisis that The George Foundation is struggling through. With his explanation I now more fully understand the nature of this school and its mission. The reason for why they have not received any funding from donors or sponsors is because unlike most education programs for the underprivileged especially here in India, this school has as its mission, to provide a high end education for their children. To run this school the way he believes it should be run, they need $250,000 a year. This includes clean and comfortable living conditions, nutritious food, above all a good education with all the necessary materials and a good salary for qualified teachers, and finally an occasional day in the city or an ice cream sundae once a month for the children.
The responses to most of their proposals have been criticisms about how they are wrongly expecting people to give money so that the children at Shanti-Bhavan can live luxuriously.
From my experience living with these children, it is impressive to see their level of commitment to their education and above all, their way of upholding the good values and ethics that they have been taught here. Even though they live away from home, this school has formed them into well-educated, well-mannered and good-hearted creative thinkers. The students in the 11th grade are smarter and better informed about world issues than I was in high school. What is most impressive is that before Shanti-Bhavan these children were playing in dumpsters during the day, and at night many of them were sleeping in a room where their parents raped them or their brothers and sisters. “They too”, explained Dr. George “are entitled to as good an education as you and I received, even if they were born into such harsh conditions”.
I am often reflecting and thinking about Nicaragua; of how I myself am from the second poorest country in the western hemisphere and there too exist extremes cases of poverty and children that live in broken homes where rape and violence mark their lives. I think that this experience it India is helping shape my views about how those who suffer from such difficulties can also succeed and help, as educated citizens to make their country a more humane and just place. I am certain that I want to take part in making that happen in Nicaragua and though I have not formulated concrete ways of doing so, I trust that I am forming a strong base in my mind and heart through this experience to be able to transform these words into actions.
I know the term idealism may come up after reading this…it can be a flaw off course but I think it all depends on how you approach it. The NGO that I am proud to be a part of today is called “Artists Striving to End Poverty”. Will we put an end to poverty? No we will not. But is it a great thing to try and mitigate it child by child if you are inclined to do so? A million times, YES.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
CHICKEN ON THE WEEKENDS! YESS!
My first weekend here was great and using the Internet was glorious; it definitely mitigated my Internet withdrawals. Hosur which is the near by town is not a place that would appear on a Rick Steves book or on a Lonely Planet but it had internet and good food, which is just what we were looking for. We took the bumpy Shanti-Bhavan jeep with Ragu (the driver), with Ms. Beena (the vice-principle), a couple of the teachers and the volunteers. We used the internet for a while and then we ate at a great restaurant. I had “chicken 65”…don’t ask what was in it …I have stopped asking what kind of things I’m eating here, its much better that way...but it was actually amazing
The second day, Sunday, was an adventure. We went back to Hosur to watch a Tamil movie in the movie theaters. We took the local bus from the street just in front of Shanti-Bhavan. The bus was pretty run down but luckily the stop was the first one and we got to sit down. As we stopped in all the villages we picked up tons and tons of people, eventually there were people hanging out the doors. It’s the way buses work in Managua too, but it certainly is a different experience when you are INSIDE the bus rather than observing from a distance while you are in a comfortable car, with A/C. I loved it though. It is not customary to give your seat to the elderly or mothers with children, since the bus is usually packed; there is barely any room to move. I ended up holding a baby that some women was trying to carry in the middle passage way as she struggled to hold on to the metal railing above her head; I appreciated how she trusted to hand her baby over to a foreigner past the language barrier. I felt comfortable among a group of people that at first sight seem to be from a different world unrecognizable from mine.
The Tamil (one of 16 official Indian Languages) movie was insane. There are really no words to describe it. I doubt anyone would consider it a “good movie” but it certainly triggered all sorts of feelings and reactions. It was 3 hours long and there were two intermissions during the movie. The one thing I did get from it is that people here are more or as obsessed with movie stars as people who look forward to their daily searches in the Perez Hilton website.
On the way back from the movie we witnessed a procession of people who were piercing their mouths and cheeks with foot long steel bars. They had a person holding the steel bar on each side for it not to move too much. One of the teachers we were with, Nirmala, explained that it is a Hindu tradition practiced once a year. People, who are suffering from a particular malady at home or are living through difficult times, pierce their mouths as they pray to the Gods that they mitigate their suffering. There might have been about 100 people in the procession and it was in one of the villages near to Shanti-Bhavan. The women were carrying clay pots with fire coming out of them and they were adorned with beautiful white and red flowers. Others held the metal bars on each side of the person of those who were sacrificing their comfort and offering their pain; these seamed fearless, confident, and in complete devotional prayer as if no other human were around them. It was a very powerful sight.
The second day, Sunday, was an adventure. We went back to Hosur to watch a Tamil movie in the movie theaters. We took the local bus from the street just in front of Shanti-Bhavan. The bus was pretty run down but luckily the stop was the first one and we got to sit down. As we stopped in all the villages we picked up tons and tons of people, eventually there were people hanging out the doors. It’s the way buses work in Managua too, but it certainly is a different experience when you are INSIDE the bus rather than observing from a distance while you are in a comfortable car, with A/C. I loved it though. It is not customary to give your seat to the elderly or mothers with children, since the bus is usually packed; there is barely any room to move. I ended up holding a baby that some women was trying to carry in the middle passage way as she struggled to hold on to the metal railing above her head; I appreciated how she trusted to hand her baby over to a foreigner past the language barrier. I felt comfortable among a group of people that at first sight seem to be from a different world unrecognizable from mine.
The Tamil (one of 16 official Indian Languages) movie was insane. There are really no words to describe it. I doubt anyone would consider it a “good movie” but it certainly triggered all sorts of feelings and reactions. It was 3 hours long and there were two intermissions during the movie. The one thing I did get from it is that people here are more or as obsessed with movie stars as people who look forward to their daily searches in the Perez Hilton website.
On the way back from the movie we witnessed a procession of people who were piercing their mouths and cheeks with foot long steel bars. They had a person holding the steel bar on each side for it not to move too much. One of the teachers we were with, Nirmala, explained that it is a Hindu tradition practiced once a year. People, who are suffering from a particular malady at home or are living through difficult times, pierce their mouths as they pray to the Gods that they mitigate their suffering. There might have been about 100 people in the procession and it was in one of the villages near to Shanti-Bhavan. The women were carrying clay pots with fire coming out of them and they were adorned with beautiful white and red flowers. Others held the metal bars on each side of the person of those who were sacrificing their comfort and offering their pain; these seamed fearless, confident, and in complete devotional prayer as if no other human were around them. It was a very powerful sight.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Kids Rule!
I’m falling in love with all these children. At Shanti-Bhavan they do not only learn about math and science and spelling and social studies…they learn about solidarity, about wanting the best for the other and about serving those who need help. In my math class, I do contests up on the board in which they race to answer a problem; whoever is quickest wins a candy…CANDY is like GOLD to these children. Anyways, I make sure that those who don’t win, go up to the board twice or three times so that eventually everyone ends up with a candy…they encourage that. Instead of doing the usual “haha, look I got a candy, and its red”, these children say “Miss Blue Jay, (Oh yeah side note: they switched my nickname from JayJay to Blue Jay, because “I’m pretty like a bird”…random I know, BUT SO SWEET, and they say Genvi occasionally) “Miss blue Jay, let Nithya go to the board again so she can get a candy too!!” It’s nice to be surrounded by a harmony among so many people, and young people in their formative years. I have never experienced such harmony.
I have had the best time teaching dance here! These kids can SHAKE IT! I have proposed the principle to do a show sometime in the next couple months and then another one in December before I leave in which all my dance kids (KG through 8th) perform for the school. Currently I’m choreographing dances for them to JT’s Lovestoned, Bob Sinclair’s Rock this Party, Christina Aguilera’s Candyman, and Letter to Cleo’s I Want You To Want Me. =)
For the 6th 7th and 8th though, Francesca and I are co-teaching an “artistic expression” class in which we are dealing with the idea of “opportunity”. We share our stories, they share their stories…and we create non-verbal expressions of our stories, either through dance, acting, or Improvisation. The students this week were really cooperative and seem to be enjoying the class even though its not that conventional.
So there are 5 volunteers here right now. Two of them are recent high school grads that are just helping out for a month in the “physical education” arena, then there is Frannie and I and then there is Suparna (Indian origin, hence the name). She is really, really cool, native Bostonian, lives in New York and is currently applying to grad school. New great friend, and she is here till December too, which is awesome! Then in the next couple weeks, 3 more arrive, Derek, Nicole, and Nick. Suparna knows them and she says they are really great, so I’m excited to have more people here.
Then there are the resident teachers, 11 of them. The school, which is privately funded by The George Foundation, is going through an financial crisis and so there have been cuts in pay in the last couple of years, forcing teachers to leave. From 22 teachers there are now 11 doing the same amount of work. They are selfless and loving and the most inspiring people I’ve met. They have left lives behind in the cities and have dedicated themselves to teaching these children so that they have a future. Their answer for why they haven’t left is most often: “I wouldn’t leave these children for the world.” We often see Dr. George walking around who is currently working relentlessly ot find sponsors and partners. This man who was born and raised in India then went to the US for college and basically conquered the software industry becoming one of the top 15 business entrepreneurs in the US according to Forbes Magazine and Business week. After he made his millions, he founded The George Foundation and has since dedicated himself alleviating poverty in this area of Tamilnadu.
I miss all of you and I hope life is beautiful for all of you right now. Thank you for reading this! See you in a week.
Shanti,
Genevieve
I have had the best time teaching dance here! These kids can SHAKE IT! I have proposed the principle to do a show sometime in the next couple months and then another one in December before I leave in which all my dance kids (KG through 8th) perform for the school. Currently I’m choreographing dances for them to JT’s Lovestoned, Bob Sinclair’s Rock this Party, Christina Aguilera’s Candyman, and Letter to Cleo’s I Want You To Want Me. =)
For the 6th 7th and 8th though, Francesca and I are co-teaching an “artistic expression” class in which we are dealing with the idea of “opportunity”. We share our stories, they share their stories…and we create non-verbal expressions of our stories, either through dance, acting, or Improvisation. The students this week were really cooperative and seem to be enjoying the class even though its not that conventional.
So there are 5 volunteers here right now. Two of them are recent high school grads that are just helping out for a month in the “physical education” arena, then there is Frannie and I and then there is Suparna (Indian origin, hence the name). She is really, really cool, native Bostonian, lives in New York and is currently applying to grad school. New great friend, and she is here till December too, which is awesome! Then in the next couple weeks, 3 more arrive, Derek, Nicole, and Nick. Suparna knows them and she says they are really great, so I’m excited to have more people here.
Then there are the resident teachers, 11 of them. The school, which is privately funded by The George Foundation, is going through an financial crisis and so there have been cuts in pay in the last couple of years, forcing teachers to leave. From 22 teachers there are now 11 doing the same amount of work. They are selfless and loving and the most inspiring people I’ve met. They have left lives behind in the cities and have dedicated themselves to teaching these children so that they have a future. Their answer for why they haven’t left is most often: “I wouldn’t leave these children for the world.” We often see Dr. George walking around who is currently working relentlessly ot find sponsors and partners. This man who was born and raised in India then went to the US for college and basically conquered the software industry becoming one of the top 15 business entrepreneurs in the US according to Forbes Magazine and Business week. After he made his millions, he founded The George Foundation and has since dedicated himself alleviating poverty in this area of Tamilnadu.
I miss all of you and I hope life is beautiful for all of you right now. Thank you for reading this! See you in a week.
Shanti,
Genevieve
T-E-A-C-H-E-R
When I first grabbed the teacher edition of the text book to start my lesson plan, it took me back to elementary school when the “teacher book” was this sacred thing WITH ALL THE ANSWERS…it was now on my left hand, oh and on my right hand CHALK. It took me a few days to get used to the idea, but I like it now.
An aspect of teaching here is that these children don’t only ask for our attention as teachers, these children need affection and a lot of it. Some of these children have always been deprived of care and affection in their homes, many of them are children that are mistreated or raped by neighbors of family members when they are at home. Others naturally require affection from the teachers because they miss their families being away from home. A lot of them are faced with the dilemma of missing home because they love their parents but feel bad because they prefer being at Shanti-Bhavan where they actually have food to eat.
From the minute I introduced myself, Sumith, my new friend in the 4th grade, not only received me with arms wide open, he grabbed on to me and didn’t let go. The boy who is a menace in the classroom, constantly asks me to sit next to him during meals, wants to be holding my hand all the time and gives me this adorable puppy face whenever I say I can’t or when I ask him to settle down or be quite in the classroom. I could say he is a bit manipulative, since children unintentionally often are, but I don’t think that is the case with Sumith.
My biggest challenge thus far has been my voice…these children are really loud and although my class is disciplined, I still have to project my voice for 20 children for 8 hours every day…the nodules in my vocal cords that they discovered this summer are probably a bit bigger after a week here. I am trying my best to breath with my stomach and not into my shoulders and I’m doing some muscle relaxation exercises at night, lets just hope this serves as a way to learn how to talk instead of a path towards no voice at all…
The food is not my favorite. It is not bad at all its just that its traditional southern Indian food which is spicy and mushy most of the time... anyways I’m getting the hang of it and trying to eat a little more each day. Tea time at 3:30 pm is something everyone looks forward to all day. They give us volunteers a spoonful of PEANUT BUTTER! =) The creamy, flavorful spread is quite the commodity among volunteers; among all the spices, rice, lentils, mushy vegetables, and more rice, peanut butter all of sudden tastes just as good as a large King Crab at the Fisherman’s Wharf in my favorite city ;).
Colors!
When I imagine Africa I always think of orange and red skies for some reason, maybe because of movies or my own silly dreams of dancing with an African tribe or riding in a safari…anyways, my point is, the skies here in India are a beautiful array of purple and lavender, its magical. I go on runs every afternoon at 6 pm when the sun is setting, its when I decompress, probably my favorite part of my day; well and when I teach my dance classes off course =). The climate here is perfect! I thought it would be either hot or rainy but to my surprise it is a perfect 75 degrees during the day and then it drops at night to an awesome 70 degrees. It has sprinkled some water in the afternoons but nothing big. Apparently because we are so inland, the monsoon rains lose their force on the western coast and never reach the middle plateau.
Fun Fact:
There is a particular gesture Indians do with their heads. I just recently found out from Dr. George’s son Vivek (who hangs out here on the weekends) that it means like an “uhum uhum”, or a “yes I understand”. Anyways, it’s this head bopping thing from side to side. They look like those bopper head figurines people put on car dashboards, quite peculiar and very unique in comparison to your usual western nod.
An aspect of teaching here is that these children don’t only ask for our attention as teachers, these children need affection and a lot of it. Some of these children have always been deprived of care and affection in their homes, many of them are children that are mistreated or raped by neighbors of family members when they are at home. Others naturally require affection from the teachers because they miss their families being away from home. A lot of them are faced with the dilemma of missing home because they love their parents but feel bad because they prefer being at Shanti-Bhavan where they actually have food to eat.
From the minute I introduced myself, Sumith, my new friend in the 4th grade, not only received me with arms wide open, he grabbed on to me and didn’t let go. The boy who is a menace in the classroom, constantly asks me to sit next to him during meals, wants to be holding my hand all the time and gives me this adorable puppy face whenever I say I can’t or when I ask him to settle down or be quite in the classroom. I could say he is a bit manipulative, since children unintentionally often are, but I don’t think that is the case with Sumith.
My biggest challenge thus far has been my voice…these children are really loud and although my class is disciplined, I still have to project my voice for 20 children for 8 hours every day…the nodules in my vocal cords that they discovered this summer are probably a bit bigger after a week here. I am trying my best to breath with my stomach and not into my shoulders and I’m doing some muscle relaxation exercises at night, lets just hope this serves as a way to learn how to talk instead of a path towards no voice at all…
The food is not my favorite. It is not bad at all its just that its traditional southern Indian food which is spicy and mushy most of the time... anyways I’m getting the hang of it and trying to eat a little more each day. Tea time at 3:30 pm is something everyone looks forward to all day. They give us volunteers a spoonful of PEANUT BUTTER! =) The creamy, flavorful spread is quite the commodity among volunteers; among all the spices, rice, lentils, mushy vegetables, and more rice, peanut butter all of sudden tastes just as good as a large King Crab at the Fisherman’s Wharf in my favorite city ;).
Colors!
When I imagine Africa I always think of orange and red skies for some reason, maybe because of movies or my own silly dreams of dancing with an African tribe or riding in a safari…anyways, my point is, the skies here in India are a beautiful array of purple and lavender, its magical. I go on runs every afternoon at 6 pm when the sun is setting, its when I decompress, probably my favorite part of my day; well and when I teach my dance classes off course =). The climate here is perfect! I thought it would be either hot or rainy but to my surprise it is a perfect 75 degrees during the day and then it drops at night to an awesome 70 degrees. It has sprinkled some water in the afternoons but nothing big. Apparently because we are so inland, the monsoon rains lose their force on the western coast and never reach the middle plateau.
Fun Fact:
There is a particular gesture Indians do with their heads. I just recently found out from Dr. George’s son Vivek (who hangs out here on the weekends) that it means like an “uhum uhum”, or a “yes I understand”. Anyways, it’s this head bopping thing from side to side. They look like those bopper head figurines people put on car dashboards, quite peculiar and very unique in comparison to your usual western nod.
Finally! Shanti-Bhavan.
Lalita Law, the head principle of the school and her driver Ragu (yes I also thought pasta, when I heard the name) finally picked us up at Kamat’s Hotel Mayura. We drove for about 2 hours southeast to get to Shanti-Bhavan. On the way, I was impressed to see that on the outskirts of Bangalore there is a long strip of urban development where Intel, Google and a whole bunch of international consulting firms are shooting up 20-story high, glass windowed buildings. I guess that’s the “Silico Valle of India” people talk about.
Anyways, for the more exciting part, once we drove past urban world we had to drive past three villages. These were small, poor and very traditional villages where the men wore rags as underpants tied up sort of like dipers and the women wore their beautiful, bright colored Saris. No one wore shoes! Off course I had to ask Lalita hoping I wouldn’t be inappropriately crossing any cultural boundaries with the question. (At Shanti-Bhavan we are encouraged to ask anything we want which is great! “We are here to bring our perspectives and they are here to give us theirs…it’s all about sharing”). She explained that in the Hindu tradition, wearing shoes represented being disrespectful to their land, the land from where they came from. A lot of farmers in the rural areas of India suffer from foot infections due to the practice. And also because of this belief, when you enter someone’s house in the city it is polite to take your shoes off because otherwise it would be disrespectful to the household. It was amazing to see these villages and its people.
But it was even more amazing to arrive at the school. The campus/land is beautiful, very green, with flowers and palm trees and bushes all over the place, but oddly grown on an intense orangish-red colored soil that looks more like clay. They showed us our rooms, which are located in the “guest housing building”. The room was simple, a great size and clean, and the bathroom luckily had toilet paper (which I have learned to APPRECIATE!) and a western shower-head, AMAZING!
We then walked around the campus and met some of the children who were So DELIGHTFUL and very excited to meet us. From the initial introduction one of the 12-year old girls heard my name and said (as she placed her forehand on her forehead, bending her neck back): “Oh no no, I will call you JJ”. Hahaha! I knew the whole Genevieve (French accent) thing would throw them off. But let me tell you, their names although they ring like melodies, will be so difficult for me to learn and remember. Examples: Bhuvaneshwari or Chandrachekar or Yesashwini…yeah try that.
We had some chai tea which by the way has changed my life forever! So good! And then we sat down with the vice principal and Lalita to work out our teaching schedules. I find out in the first two minutes that I will be teaching 4th grade…at first I thought oh okay, English and dance to fourth grade. OH NO, 4th grade! Like all of it! So I see my schedule and from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm I will be teaching math and science and reading comprehension and spelling and creative writing, etc. to the 4th grade. And then I will be teaching a dance class after school to children from Kinder Garden through 8th grade. Basically in our very typical Nicaraguan slang “me van a sacar el jugo”, literal translation: they will sqeeze out the last drop “of my energy”. But those of you who know me well know that, I AM SO EXCITED, I gotta let this energy out some how right?
I think that what will be most important will be being not only a teacher to these children but a mentor and someone they can trust and rely on for love and understanding.
Anyways, for the more exciting part, once we drove past urban world we had to drive past three villages. These were small, poor and very traditional villages where the men wore rags as underpants tied up sort of like dipers and the women wore their beautiful, bright colored Saris. No one wore shoes! Off course I had to ask Lalita hoping I wouldn’t be inappropriately crossing any cultural boundaries with the question. (At Shanti-Bhavan we are encouraged to ask anything we want which is great! “We are here to bring our perspectives and they are here to give us theirs…it’s all about sharing”). She explained that in the Hindu tradition, wearing shoes represented being disrespectful to their land, the land from where they came from. A lot of farmers in the rural areas of India suffer from foot infections due to the practice. And also because of this belief, when you enter someone’s house in the city it is polite to take your shoes off because otherwise it would be disrespectful to the household. It was amazing to see these villages and its people.
But it was even more amazing to arrive at the school. The campus/land is beautiful, very green, with flowers and palm trees and bushes all over the place, but oddly grown on an intense orangish-red colored soil that looks more like clay. They showed us our rooms, which are located in the “guest housing building”. The room was simple, a great size and clean, and the bathroom luckily had toilet paper (which I have learned to APPRECIATE!) and a western shower-head, AMAZING!
We then walked around the campus and met some of the children who were So DELIGHTFUL and very excited to meet us. From the initial introduction one of the 12-year old girls heard my name and said (as she placed her forehand on her forehead, bending her neck back): “Oh no no, I will call you JJ”. Hahaha! I knew the whole Genevieve (French accent) thing would throw them off. But let me tell you, their names although they ring like melodies, will be so difficult for me to learn and remember. Examples: Bhuvaneshwari or Chandrachekar or Yesashwini…yeah try that.
We had some chai tea which by the way has changed my life forever! So good! And then we sat down with the vice principal and Lalita to work out our teaching schedules. I find out in the first two minutes that I will be teaching 4th grade…at first I thought oh okay, English and dance to fourth grade. OH NO, 4th grade! Like all of it! So I see my schedule and from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm I will be teaching math and science and reading comprehension and spelling and creative writing, etc. to the 4th grade. And then I will be teaching a dance class after school to children from Kinder Garden through 8th grade. Basically in our very typical Nicaraguan slang “me van a sacar el jugo”, literal translation: they will sqeeze out the last drop “of my energy”. But those of you who know me well know that, I AM SO EXCITED, I gotta let this energy out some how right?
I think that what will be most important will be being not only a teacher to these children but a mentor and someone they can trust and rely on for love and understanding.
Friday, August 1, 2008
~Car Trouble~
Hola!!!!
Im still in Bangalore...only for a couple more hours, but you know how I was supposed to leave for Shanti-Bhavan yesterday? Well their car broke down, so i leave today instead. Im so happy to be going to the school. The city of Bangalore in overwhelming though I am very happy I witness city life before I go to the country side.
A couple anecdotes of our last day in Bangalore. So yesterday we visited the Maharajah's palace in Bangalore. Wow, a site for sore eyes. It was a beautiful building made out of light brown colored stones. But the inside was mind blowing. At the entrance their was the head of AN ELEPHANT mounted on the wall, an elephant that was once probably 8 feet tall, MOUNTED ON THE WALL! Every door and wooden beam was made out of teak wood and the walls were adorned with intricate designs made out of 24 K gold. Inside patios were embellished with Chinese imported tiles. The kitchen was actually located some 20 ft behind the castle since the servants "are not supposed to be under the same roof as the Maharajah". Funny part of the story: the "tour" was very sketchy...I asked the nice tour guide if we could take pictures of the castle and he quickly answered: "NO NO MEN WITH SHOT GUN!" I was like: oh, sorry...and thinking to myself WHAT THE F&%^??? And, then when he is guiding us through the inside of the castle he proceeds to offer to take a pictures for us with our camera! As i say NO WAY! Francesca gets excited, hands him a camera and grabs me to pose for a picture inside of the exotic ball room. My face on that picture is epic, I have this petrified look thinking so guard with a shotgun was going to walk by the window and shoot the guide and both francesca and myself. Anyways, sounds scary but in the end it was pretty hilarious.
Going to this castle and then driving through the streets of Bangalore was emotionally exhausting. But it is a reality not only in India but everywhere in the world, that some of us live comfortably and with luxuries while others beg on the streets. I think the reason why im here in India and why im engaging in this journey of teaching these children for 5 months is because for some time now i have been asking what my purpose is...and maybe i wont find the answer just yet, or maybe its a question that I will ask always...but being aware of the different realities of people, i think it was my purpose to be here right now.
I read something really beautiful on a book about Shanti-Bhavan and i want to share it with you:
The poor people in the village, especially women, are my window to India. They reveal what life is like for most people on this planet, far out of sight of modern day prosperity. This disconnect is too profound for me. On day I am under the bright neon lights of New York City and just a day or two later I am among people who cannot afford to buy candles. In the simplicity of those rural folks I have found order, in their beliefs I have found faith, and in their misery I have found compassion. The richness of ordinary day to day life comes from their hard work and the caring they show for other members of their families even on the face of adversity and suffering. Still the joy that i derive from my work among these people cannot offset the burning anger within me for all the social injustice, hypocrisy and avoidable suffering.
-Abraham George ( The man who founded the school Shanti-Bhavan)
I can't wait to meet these children!
Im not sure how often I will be able to use the internet after today, but i will try my best to see you all here as much as i can.
Thank you for caring,
With love,
Genevieve
Im still in Bangalore...only for a couple more hours, but you know how I was supposed to leave for Shanti-Bhavan yesterday? Well their car broke down, so i leave today instead. Im so happy to be going to the school. The city of Bangalore in overwhelming though I am very happy I witness city life before I go to the country side.
A couple anecdotes of our last day in Bangalore. So yesterday we visited the Maharajah's palace in Bangalore. Wow, a site for sore eyes. It was a beautiful building made out of light brown colored stones. But the inside was mind blowing. At the entrance their was the head of AN ELEPHANT mounted on the wall, an elephant that was once probably 8 feet tall, MOUNTED ON THE WALL! Every door and wooden beam was made out of teak wood and the walls were adorned with intricate designs made out of 24 K gold. Inside patios were embellished with Chinese imported tiles. The kitchen was actually located some 20 ft behind the castle since the servants "are not supposed to be under the same roof as the Maharajah". Funny part of the story: the "tour" was very sketchy...I asked the nice tour guide if we could take pictures of the castle and he quickly answered: "NO NO MEN WITH SHOT GUN!" I was like: oh, sorry...and thinking to myself WHAT THE F&%^??? And, then when he is guiding us through the inside of the castle he proceeds to offer to take a pictures for us with our camera! As i say NO WAY! Francesca gets excited, hands him a camera and grabs me to pose for a picture inside of the exotic ball room. My face on that picture is epic, I have this petrified look thinking so guard with a shotgun was going to walk by the window and shoot the guide and both francesca and myself. Anyways, sounds scary but in the end it was pretty hilarious.
Going to this castle and then driving through the streets of Bangalore was emotionally exhausting. But it is a reality not only in India but everywhere in the world, that some of us live comfortably and with luxuries while others beg on the streets. I think the reason why im here in India and why im engaging in this journey of teaching these children for 5 months is because for some time now i have been asking what my purpose is...and maybe i wont find the answer just yet, or maybe its a question that I will ask always...but being aware of the different realities of people, i think it was my purpose to be here right now.
I read something really beautiful on a book about Shanti-Bhavan and i want to share it with you:
The poor people in the village, especially women, are my window to India. They reveal what life is like for most people on this planet, far out of sight of modern day prosperity. This disconnect is too profound for me. On day I am under the bright neon lights of New York City and just a day or two later I am among people who cannot afford to buy candles. In the simplicity of those rural folks I have found order, in their beliefs I have found faith, and in their misery I have found compassion. The richness of ordinary day to day life comes from their hard work and the caring they show for other members of their families even on the face of adversity and suffering. Still the joy that i derive from my work among these people cannot offset the burning anger within me for all the social injustice, hypocrisy and avoidable suffering.
-Abraham George ( The man who founded the school Shanti-Bhavan)
I can't wait to meet these children!
Im not sure how often I will be able to use the internet after today, but i will try my best to see you all here as much as i can.
Thank you for caring,
With love,
Genevieve
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
