"In a gentle way, you can shake the world." -Gandhi

I'm tempted to steal him

I am in love with the slums! So SO SO in love! As I said in my last entry, there is an Italian run NGO that works with the children in one of the slums near the river. It is based in a large one room "club" behind one of the nearby temples and serves as an activity and education center for the kiddos around it. The children are so quick to laugh and play and never have less than oodles of energy (we had a dance party last week and I had to take a 2 hour nap to recover). They live in a community that I have only ever seen in movies: the little tents that line the rail-tracks. The families live so close to the tracks that when trains pass by, everyone must quickly get up from whatever work they are doing outside (cooking, washing, bathing) and must press themselves up to their homes so the train doesn't hit them as they pass by. I experienced this once myself as I walked with a couple volunteers along the track. Even though I was safe where I was, if I straightened out my arm it would touch the train. I couldn't imagine living that close to something so dangerous.

I am extremely impressed with the NGO and the people who run it are absolutely wonderful individuals. I am encouraged and excited to continue serving there! And I have made this little friend name Raki. She's my dance partner and likes riding around on my shoulders.

As for Mother Teresa's, well let's say my stomach is getting stronger. Working in the medical dispensary has made me so thankful for my own health, education, and access to closed toed shoes. Seriously... I won't elaborate but we regularly see living things where they shouldn't be, or appendages that are the wrong color, or even sometimes bones... like in real life... I have seen a toe bone just chillin, being a toe bone... Basically I am learning how to not be a weenie in order to treat really gnarly wounds. The more I volunteer, the more my respect for this organization grows. Mother Teresa started something that was hard. A lot of the people are SO hard to love and I don't mean that to sound pious or holy or whatever. When Mother Teresa wanted to serve the poorest of the poor that was a promise to everyone and anyone... even people who cheat the system and try to take advantage of the organization, its medical care, its services, and its general giving nature. 

I've had numerous conversations, with both Indians and foreigners, about a thing called the "scarcity mentality" which is seen in any country or area where lots of poverty and need exist. According to this, people fight to provide for themselves because there are not enough resources (money, water, food) to go around. If they don't fight for it, then they will not be taken care of. This is the mentality in India and I see it in both obvious and subtle ways. It's obvious in the salesmen and taxi drivers who continually charge

foreigners too much because they know we can afford it and typically we don't known local market prices. It's more subtle in things like overly pushy crowds, or harsh words, or the way people behave towards each other, children, and street animals. Gentleness isn't very widely practiced here. That's an understatement. If India had a word, it's opposite would be gentleness. Kolkata is loud and in your face all the time. Gentleness is so needed here because of the possibilities is has. Above all it can change hearts. After all, that's how God won me over in the first place, with gentle reminders that He loved me. I think a lot of the hurt in this place could be healed with gentle words and promises to take care of each other instead of looking out for oneself. When Jesus said "Love your neighbor as yourself" this is what He meant.

That pretty much wraps everything up for now, except one very very very AWESOME announcement. When I was home for Christmas my darling mother hooked me up to speak at Glenn Marshall Elementary school in Richmond. After hearing about my water project in Udaipur, the 5th graders pledge to raise enough money to fund another system! I am STOKED to announce that they reached their goal and raised almost $600 in just three days. Way to go guys, I am beyond proud of you and when I heard the news I literally started crying. In public. It seems like I will be able to install so many more systems than I originally thought, that I will probably have to leave for Udaipur within a month to get everything done. This is not a bad problem to have :) I cannot be more excited!

Oh one last thing.....One of the sweetest parts of my week is Hindi lessons! My teacher is this adorable Bengali woman who claims her students are the joy of her life. I am obsessed with this lady who is helping me understand the world of words around me. And each session comes with a delicious assortment of teas! 

A lot of sad things have happened at home these past couple weeks. A beloved professor and friend (who read this blog regularly) passed away which was difficult because of the huge impact he made on my life and walk with God. Then a couple days later, so did a high school classmate of mine which shocked the whole Madison Central family. Keep my loved ones at home in your prayers and also myself for being far away and not being there to celebrate their lives. They were two amazing people and the world is a little less bright because they aren't here.