For the past week in Atlanta, I unpacked bags, did several loads of laundry, and then repacked my suitcase...but this time with long skirts, sweat pants, scrubs, and medical supplies... for Kenya. Looking back on the last 6 weeks in India, my heart is still heavy and feels somewhat tied there...as though India anchored my heart to its people. Reflecting on my trip has unveiled haunting memories and horror stories that were hidden in my heart, and I found myself breaking down in uncontrollable sobs at random times during the past few days. I have come to realize that doing research on human trafficking is one thing, but seeing it and holding it in your arms is another. My mind often trails back to the many faces of the men, women, and children I met, wondering where they are tonight, and where they will wake up tomorrow morning.
I recently learned that prostitution was legalized in South Africa for the world cup, and so I have been praying for and thinking about the 100,000 prostitutes that were flown into the country for this event. An organization called Exodus Cry created a 30 day prayer guide to lift up the victims, and if you are interested in participating for the last few days of the World cup you can find the guide right here: http://www.exoduscry.com/downloads/south_africa_prayer_guide_print.pdf.
The Nutrition program in Birla Slum for the teenage girls and women (who were forced to partake in child marriage around the age of 12) is going well! I received news that they have had the first two meetings, and the girls seem excited to participate. They will receive the first of their monthly hygiene packs (with soap and feminine pads each month, a new toothbrush and toothpaste every 3 months) this coming week, as well as have a health lesson on "5 keys to healthy diet," teaching them about the importance of nutrition. I will hopefully be skyping the 26 girls in the program once I return to the US again...
For the next three weeks, my family will be serving at a mission hospital in Kapsowar, Kenya. I will be working with my Dad in the hospital most of the time, as well as making several trips to a nearby orphanage called Kapchesewes to play and do crafts with the 35 children there. We have been to this village on two trips before, so the familiar faces make me feel like I am coming "home" in some ways.. I am currently sitting in a missionary Guesthouse in Nairobi that my family has stayed at on all 4 of our previous trips to Kenya--we are even sleeping in the same room for the 4th time haha! It is 12:15am right now (7 hour time change from the US) and our flight to El Doret leaves tomorrow at 8:15, and then we have a two hour bus ride after that, so I'm going to scoot to bed and crawl under a mosquito net.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Bloom.
On Wednesday afternoon, I hopped on the bus to Birla slum, huddling with Elyssa (the student from UGA) under our rain jackets as water poured down outside. We jumped over puddles and sludged through manure and mud, led down winding paths by the man who runs the “medical clinic” in the slum. We weaved down narrow alley ways between cinderblock walls, over streams of sewage, under ropes and hanging clothes, finally arriving at a steep set of stairs that led up to the “clinic”, or more explicitly, a 15 by 15 foot room with a metal closet that had a few sheets of pills. I stood outside, watching the storm rage over the slum, and looked down three stories below as 60 children between the ages of 1 and 7, scurried up the black staircase, clenching metal cups in their tiny palms. The kids gathered on woven mats on the floor in the room , waiting patiently for their milk and vitamin mix that they received every Monday and Wednesday. One girl who was older than the others came over to the edge of the stairs and said, “Hi. What your name?” She shifted the baby on her hip and waited for my response. “Hello. My name is Emily. What is yours?” She smiled and said, “Em-lee. My name Seneha (Sin-eh-hah).” As we talked, I found out that the 10 year old girl brought her siblings to receive the vitamin mix each week, but since she was over 7, she was not given the nutrition mix. When asking the man who ran the clinic about the older children, he said that there was simply not enough money to give the mix to anyone else. Troubled by this reality, my heart was heavy for this precious young girl who was still growing and needed good nutrition to develop properly, and I began to pray about how I could help.
That night, I lay in bed wondering how to reach out to the teenage girls in the slum. My thoughts wandered to the many chapters and powerpoint slides from my Developmental Psychology class last semester at Vanderbilt--where I learned about the body’s critical development periods and the importance of having vitamins during children’s early years in order to be healthy. If the body did not have a strong foundation for growth, it would suffer serious consequences later on, especially during pregnancy. How could the young girls in the slum receive the crucial vitamins they need? What if there was a nutrition program for teenage girls? What if the girls were able to come for an hour each week to receive the milk and vitamin mix as well as learn a lesson about health and hygiene? What if they were given soap and a toothbrush and toothpaste and feminine pads on a monthly basis? I prayed for discernment and shared my thoughts with Elyssa that night. What if we put together a year long health curriculum and program for 20 teenage girls? The next day, we mentioned the idea to the man who runs the clinic, and he said that if we put together a program and provided the funding, he would be willing to administer the lessons and distribute the vitamin mix as well as hygiene supplies. He said that around 10 girls would attend the first few weeks, but the class size would probably grow as the year went on. My mind racing, I went home that afternoon and began planning and organizing and dreaming about the possibilities. Using a health curriculum made by the World Health Organization as a basis for our program, I began to draw up outlines for physical, mental, and spiritual health lessons tailored towards teenage girls. And within hours, Elyssa and I had put together a one-year plan for teaching young girls alternating lessons about health, hygiene, & nutrition and then character development, also supplying them with basic hygienic supplies to practice what they were learning in class.
This past Monday, the clinic had its first meeting for young women…and 26 girls showed up. I was back in Bangalore, preparing to leave to come home, but Elyssa called to tell me the news about what a success the first day had been. Tears poured from my eyes as she told me about the girls’ excitement, and their eagerness to learn, and how readily they drank the milk and vitamin mix. Though I am back in the US, I am finishing up the health curriculum and emailing it over to the clinic coordinator in the next few weeks, and I’m already looking forward to my first skype meeting with the girls in the program!! We are calling the class “Bloom Nutrition Program,” in hopes of coming alongside these girls as they bloom physically and spiritually, blossoming into healthy and beautiful young women.
That night, I lay in bed wondering how to reach out to the teenage girls in the slum. My thoughts wandered to the many chapters and powerpoint slides from my Developmental Psychology class last semester at Vanderbilt--where I learned about the body’s critical development periods and the importance of having vitamins during children’s early years in order to be healthy. If the body did not have a strong foundation for growth, it would suffer serious consequences later on, especially during pregnancy. How could the young girls in the slum receive the crucial vitamins they need? What if there was a nutrition program for teenage girls? What if the girls were able to come for an hour each week to receive the milk and vitamin mix as well as learn a lesson about health and hygiene? What if they were given soap and a toothbrush and toothpaste and feminine pads on a monthly basis? I prayed for discernment and shared my thoughts with Elyssa that night. What if we put together a year long health curriculum and program for 20 teenage girls? The next day, we mentioned the idea to the man who runs the clinic, and he said that if we put together a program and provided the funding, he would be willing to administer the lessons and distribute the vitamin mix as well as hygiene supplies. He said that around 10 girls would attend the first few weeks, but the class size would probably grow as the year went on. My mind racing, I went home that afternoon and began planning and organizing and dreaming about the possibilities. Using a health curriculum made by the World Health Organization as a basis for our program, I began to draw up outlines for physical, mental, and spiritual health lessons tailored towards teenage girls. And within hours, Elyssa and I had put together a one-year plan for teaching young girls alternating lessons about health, hygiene, & nutrition and then character development, also supplying them with basic hygienic supplies to practice what they were learning in class.
This past Monday, the clinic had its first meeting for young women…and 26 girls showed up. I was back in Bangalore, preparing to leave to come home, but Elyssa called to tell me the news about what a success the first day had been. Tears poured from my eyes as she told me about the girls’ excitement, and their eagerness to learn, and how readily they drank the milk and vitamin mix. Though I am back in the US, I am finishing up the health curriculum and emailing it over to the clinic coordinator in the next few weeks, and I’m already looking forward to my first skype meeting with the girls in the program!! We are calling the class “Bloom Nutrition Program,” in hopes of coming alongside these girls as they bloom physically and spiritually, blossoming into healthy and beautiful young women.
Monsoons and “missing yous:” Last Week in Goa Part 1.
My last week in Goa was drenched…in heavy rains, with sheets of water that swept over the rolling hills and waves that crashed into the coast just 60 meters from our guesthouse…in sweat that poured from my body in the thick and muggy air…in tears of joy and frustration and heartache. In the mornings, I tutored children at preschools and met with principals and teachers. The little children were a handful—over 60 munchkins that screamed, kicked, cried, sang songs, jumped around, and pretty much did anything and everything but sit still. The hours from 8:30 to 12:30 were a test for my patience, and filled with countless silent prayers for stamina and grace, for focus and energy to teach and love these kids, for humility to serve the teachers in whatever way I could.
Each day, after eating a plate of rice and chicken masala or dahl fry (both curry-like sauces) with my hands, the afternoons were filled with jewelry making, stitching, and nutrition programs. I bought over 50,000 beads in Bangalore and carried them to Goa for the girls to begin making some bracelets I designed. Sitting crosslegged on the floor of the aprartment, I watched the women smile and laugh, threading beads onto string and then wear them on their wrists, exchanging Hindi and English words and teaching each other to count to ten. In Hindi, counting from 1 to 10 is: “Ek, do, ti, char, panch, che, sath, art, no, duhs.” As Friday afternoon came to a close, I glanced around the room and was overcome with the sweet sight… the 8 precious women gathered on the floor around me had become friends and sisters over the past few weeks, and my experiences with them were so dear to me. As they were about to leave, Deepa called me to the balcony and pointing to three boys playing cricket in the dirt below, said, “mine.” Her young sons waved up at me, and she asked, “Teacher—you coming Monday?” With tears building in my eyes, I shook my head and said, “No, sister. I am leaving tomorrow.” “No, teacher! Stay!” She grabbed my hand and spoke quickly to the other girls in the room in Hindi, and she must have told them I was leaving because they exclaimed, “No, teacher! When you coming back?” I told them I would try to come next summer, but I wasn’t sure. I hugged each girl goodbye, and whispered, “yadhara” (miss you) to each one…until Suman walked up to hug me for the last time. She was a 16 year old orphan, and I had grown the closest to her during my time there… as I wrapped my arms around her, I felt hot tears welling in my eyes and had to force myself to let go of the precious girl, “Bye, Teacher.” Her big dark brown eyes glimmered up at me, and I struggled not to burst into tears as I told her, “No, Suman, I am not teacher. I am your sister.” Pointing to myself, I said “dost” (sister in Hindi), and her face lit up as she laughed and said, “Oh teacher!” and hugged me one last time. She slipped on her flip-flops and looked back at me and waved as she walked out the door, and I felt like she had hooked my heart with fishing line and was pulling me with her. I was quiet as I packed up the bracelets the girls had made and lifted my backpack onto my shoulders, glancing back at the oven I had bought which was sitting in the corner of the kitchen, and imagined a baking sheet with cookies inside. I uttered a soft prayer that the oven and 8 baking sets would be used, and that the woman who committed to selling some biscuits in her shop in Baina would be able to one day. Stepping into the hall, I locked the door to the apartment for the last time…this summer, but hopefully not forever.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Nutrition and programs in Goa :).
Back in Goa again :).
I flew to Goa with two UGA students on Saturday, and we have been preparing the programs for the team of 18 girls from the US that are here to volunteer for the summer. The girls arrived late last week, and their joy and energy has boosted my spirit so much! Their hearts for the people here and the encouragment they have offered has been tremendous--they are such a blessing! I am realizing more and more the importance of fellowship and the power of groups that come together with one purpose, one mind, and one heart to serve. The potential impact is infinite if we live and work together as one body.
For the past few days, the two other volunteers and I have been meeting with the preschool teachers and leaders in the commnity to understand the current programs and see how we can best serve them. Though I will only be in India for the next week, I am trying to lay the foundation for sustainable programs that can be started with an initial boost of volunteers, but that will continue to be successful and effective without outside support.
My heart feels the most excited for the Nutrition Program. One of the men who works with the preschools has had some basic medical training and he leads a clinic in Birla slum twice a week. On Mondays and Wednesdays, he teaches a health lesson and then gives out vitamin supplements mixed with milk to over 60 children (ages 1 to 7 years). Each week, he has to turn children away because of a lack of funds... he also used to do the nutrition program in Baina slum but has had to stop that program because of a lack of mone as well. It only costs $10 a day to feed the vitamin mix to the 60 children, and so I am looking for ways to support the program coordinator so that he can continue to expand the ministry. I am also talking to the coordinator to try to start a nutrition program for teenage girls, especially the ones that are at risk for pregnancy... he says that there are girls who would come for a health lesson and vitamin mix if there was funding, so I am praying and thinking about ways to make the nutrition program a reality for these young women. I brought a nutrition curriculum to India as well, so we are looking to teach the lessons (with the 18 volunteers) to the younger children that come to the clinic on MOndays and Wednesdays.
The possibilities are endless and exciting in Goa! Each meeting and each person we talk to, there seems to be another opportunity to help and nationals willing to oversee programs. We are praying for wisdom and humility to address the needs of the people here the best that we can, recognizing that we can only do so much and need to establish focused goals for the programs, in order to ensure their impact and sustainability. I am trying to wake up each morning with a grateful heart, remembering that each day is a gift and a chance to love and serve everyone I come into contact with. The importance of working as a team is becoming more and more evident as well, as I am inspired by the passions of the volunteers and the Goans that are our new friends--and as I am once again reminded of the value of human life, the unique skills and talents that each person carries with them, and my heart longs to appreciate and celebrate each person I meet.
I flew to Goa with two UGA students on Saturday, and we have been preparing the programs for the team of 18 girls from the US that are here to volunteer for the summer. The girls arrived late last week, and their joy and energy has boosted my spirit so much! Their hearts for the people here and the encouragment they have offered has been tremendous--they are such a blessing! I am realizing more and more the importance of fellowship and the power of groups that come together with one purpose, one mind, and one heart to serve. The potential impact is infinite if we live and work together as one body.
For the past few days, the two other volunteers and I have been meeting with the preschool teachers and leaders in the commnity to understand the current programs and see how we can best serve them. Though I will only be in India for the next week, I am trying to lay the foundation for sustainable programs that can be started with an initial boost of volunteers, but that will continue to be successful and effective without outside support.
My heart feels the most excited for the Nutrition Program. One of the men who works with the preschools has had some basic medical training and he leads a clinic in Birla slum twice a week. On Mondays and Wednesdays, he teaches a health lesson and then gives out vitamin supplements mixed with milk to over 60 children (ages 1 to 7 years). Each week, he has to turn children away because of a lack of funds... he also used to do the nutrition program in Baina slum but has had to stop that program because of a lack of mone as well. It only costs $10 a day to feed the vitamin mix to the 60 children, and so I am looking for ways to support the program coordinator so that he can continue to expand the ministry. I am also talking to the coordinator to try to start a nutrition program for teenage girls, especially the ones that are at risk for pregnancy... he says that there are girls who would come for a health lesson and vitamin mix if there was funding, so I am praying and thinking about ways to make the nutrition program a reality for these young women. I brought a nutrition curriculum to India as well, so we are looking to teach the lessons (with the 18 volunteers) to the younger children that come to the clinic on MOndays and Wednesdays.
The possibilities are endless and exciting in Goa! Each meeting and each person we talk to, there seems to be another opportunity to help and nationals willing to oversee programs. We are praying for wisdom and humility to address the needs of the people here the best that we can, recognizing that we can only do so much and need to establish focused goals for the programs, in order to ensure their impact and sustainability. I am trying to wake up each morning with a grateful heart, remembering that each day is a gift and a chance to love and serve everyone I come into contact with. The importance of working as a team is becoming more and more evident as well, as I am inspired by the passions of the volunteers and the Goans that are our new friends--and as I am once again reminded of the value of human life, the unique skills and talents that each person carries with them, and my heart longs to appreciate and celebrate each person I meet.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Singing. And the Future.
Each Sunday, Steph and I, along with some of the other people here long term, lead songs for the kids at Latha and Suresh's. In the laughing and dancing and singing with about 80 children for about 20 mins each week, I have felt such a joy and zealousy for the future, hope for this precious younger generation. They are passionate, excited, thankful, eager to learn, and challenge me with their faith and selflessness... these are the same 220 children that come for dinner and tutoring during the week, and they are a gift. Their smiles and "Hello Auntie"s are like a candle in my heart, a fan to my flame, a reason to press on... it is for these children that my spirit starts to flutter in my chest---it is for their lives, their education, their protection, their growth, their future that my blood pressure rises and I have a burning desire to fight. It is this generation...the younger generation...our generation that can stop the cycle, that can end the sex-slavery.
Once the girls are sold and trafficked, they are swept away--caught in the current, sucked down by the undertoe, and trying to pull them out is like trying to rescue a swimmer in a storm...its like fighting against an entire ocean that is crashing and swirling and ripping them from your grasp. But if we can protect the girls on the front-end, stop them from being sold in the first place, help them get an education and a way to support themselves, giving them hope and a reason to believe in themselves------then, we can change the future... of the entire world.
Bread Baking to media making to picture taking… sure why not?
Rahab’s Rope operations in India have taken a major shift in the last month. In the four weeks that I have been here, the organization has decided to transition its major programs to Vasco de Gama, essentially closing down the training center in Bangalore and moving everything to Goa. As far as the women who have been participating in the program in Bangalore, Rahab's Rope is helping one of their best sewers to start a training program of her own, giving her the sewing equipment she needs to teach classes to women about 2 hours from the city. The other women in the jewelry and sewing programs have been with Rahab's Rope for years, and the organization is trying to help the girls stand on their own two feet and support themselves, because there are so many other commercial sex workers that need help and could be enrolled in the programs.
Doors have continued to fly open in Goa, and its been an adventure to have the opportunity to help Rahab’s Rope establish its first prevention programs, since its previous focus has been aftercare.
1) By investing in two preschool ministries in slums on the coast, Rahab’s Rope is working to combat sex trafficking on the very front end. Children from these two preschools have a 100% rate of entering Standard 1, and for the past 6 years, there has not been a single drop out. In the preschools, the children are supported by caring teachers, taught the importance of education, learn discipline as well as basic academic skills, and are better prepared to enter the government schools by the time they are 5 years old. Rahab’s Rope has committed to funding several students tuition, paying for breakfast/snack programs to ensure the children are getting at least one nutritious meal each day, supplementing the pay of at least one school teacher, and funding programs for the Sunday school.
2) Tuition is the Indian way of saying “tutoring,” and Rahab’s Rope is currently organizing a Tuition Program for Teenage Girls in Birla slum who have dropped out of school. During three-hour lessons, the girls will re-learn material they either failed or missed while they were in school, receive a nutritional snack, engage in fellowship and devotion, and be encouraged and supported on a personal level. The goal of this program is to reach out to the girls who have the highest risk of becoming prostitutes through protection and prevention, keeping them out of the slums during the day and helping re-enroll them in school so they can continue with their education.
3) David, Steph, and I have been conversing and planning and throwing around ideas for a nutrition program as well. There is a medical clinic in Baina slum that is currently vacant, and we have been trying to figure out a way to re-open the clinic by implementing some sort of medical/nutrition program for the slum residents, looking at the clinic as an effective way to identify sex-trafficked victims and commercial sex workers. Prostitutes and victims of the sex industry are often beaten, abused, diseased, and sick, and so by offering medical care, we hope to meet the immediate physical needs of women and children in the slum as well as locate girls that need to be rescued and can be enrolled in one of the Rahab’s Rope programs.
As far as the baking program, I will be setting up the kitchen in the Rahab’s Rope apartment next door to Baina slum, getting the oven and cooking supplies ready for training. When we were in Goa a few weeks ago, one of the women in the stitching class said she would sell some biscuits (cookies) in her store, so I am planning on meeting with her and getting the program rolling. I am currently working on setting up a cost bracket and formula spreadsheet for the 5 products we will bake and sell, and I am really wishing that I paid closer attention during my calculus class last fall…
Along with building relationships with women in the community, I have been spending most of my time putting together media material for Rahab’s Rope, working on brochures, sex-trafficking awareness resources, and other projects. I also had some fun designing a few bracelets and money pouches for the women in Goa to go along with the HOPE Campaign Proposal that I’ve been putting together. “HOPE” stands for Rahab’s Rope’s four-fold approach to fighting sex trafficking in India: Providing HOPE through Healing, Opportunity, Power, and Education…we’ll see how the campaign goes haha…
These past few days, FLEXIBILITY has been a mindset I’ve had to embrace, learning to put aside my own aspirations and just go with the flow…trying to serve whomever, whenever, however I can, even if its not who, when, how I planned. IT’S NOT ABOUT ME has been another message I’ve had to replay over and over in my mind, learning to let go---to let go of expectations, of anxiety, of stress, of frustrations…and to cling to love and hope and humility. I may have come to India to be a bread baker, but if I need to be a media-maker and bead-stringer and picture-taker to best serve the people around me at this moment, then that’s exactly what I need to do.
Doors have continued to fly open in Goa, and its been an adventure to have the opportunity to help Rahab’s Rope establish its first prevention programs, since its previous focus has been aftercare.
1) By investing in two preschool ministries in slums on the coast, Rahab’s Rope is working to combat sex trafficking on the very front end. Children from these two preschools have a 100% rate of entering Standard 1, and for the past 6 years, there has not been a single drop out. In the preschools, the children are supported by caring teachers, taught the importance of education, learn discipline as well as basic academic skills, and are better prepared to enter the government schools by the time they are 5 years old. Rahab’s Rope has committed to funding several students tuition, paying for breakfast/snack programs to ensure the children are getting at least one nutritious meal each day, supplementing the pay of at least one school teacher, and funding programs for the Sunday school.
2) Tuition is the Indian way of saying “tutoring,” and Rahab’s Rope is currently organizing a Tuition Program for Teenage Girls in Birla slum who have dropped out of school. During three-hour lessons, the girls will re-learn material they either failed or missed while they were in school, receive a nutritional snack, engage in fellowship and devotion, and be encouraged and supported on a personal level. The goal of this program is to reach out to the girls who have the highest risk of becoming prostitutes through protection and prevention, keeping them out of the slums during the day and helping re-enroll them in school so they can continue with their education.
3) David, Steph, and I have been conversing and planning and throwing around ideas for a nutrition program as well. There is a medical clinic in Baina slum that is currently vacant, and we have been trying to figure out a way to re-open the clinic by implementing some sort of medical/nutrition program for the slum residents, looking at the clinic as an effective way to identify sex-trafficked victims and commercial sex workers. Prostitutes and victims of the sex industry are often beaten, abused, diseased, and sick, and so by offering medical care, we hope to meet the immediate physical needs of women and children in the slum as well as locate girls that need to be rescued and can be enrolled in one of the Rahab’s Rope programs.
As far as the baking program, I will be setting up the kitchen in the Rahab’s Rope apartment next door to Baina slum, getting the oven and cooking supplies ready for training. When we were in Goa a few weeks ago, one of the women in the stitching class said she would sell some biscuits (cookies) in her store, so I am planning on meeting with her and getting the program rolling. I am currently working on setting up a cost bracket and formula spreadsheet for the 5 products we will bake and sell, and I am really wishing that I paid closer attention during my calculus class last fall…
Along with building relationships with women in the community, I have been spending most of my time putting together media material for Rahab’s Rope, working on brochures, sex-trafficking awareness resources, and other projects. I also had some fun designing a few bracelets and money pouches for the women in Goa to go along with the HOPE Campaign Proposal that I’ve been putting together. “HOPE” stands for Rahab’s Rope’s four-fold approach to fighting sex trafficking in India: Providing HOPE through Healing, Opportunity, Power, and Education…we’ll see how the campaign goes haha…
These past few days, FLEXIBILITY has been a mindset I’ve had to embrace, learning to put aside my own aspirations and just go with the flow…trying to serve whomever, whenever, however I can, even if its not who, when, how I planned. IT’S NOT ABOUT ME has been another message I’ve had to replay over and over in my mind, learning to let go---to let go of expectations, of anxiety, of stress, of frustrations…and to cling to love and hope and humility. I may have come to India to be a bread baker, but if I need to be a media-maker and bead-stringer and picture-taker to best serve the people around me at this moment, then that’s exactly what I need to do.
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