(lice comb)Sunday, April 29, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Precious in His Sight
Our youngest member is 2 ½ years old and serves in the center as comic relief. She is just the sweetest thing. With her mouth constantly open in a big smile Ramia is thrilled to spend the whole day with us looking at design books, trying her best to get hold of scissors, and picking up sewing boxes and putting anywhere except next to the person that needs them.
Ramia LOVES scissors! They are the one thing she goes for the most. In fact she gets hold of them all the time. Each time I catch her (no one else seems to care) I tell her wudu which means NO in Telugu. I have told her wudu so much that now while she is holding scissors she says wudu, wudu, wudu. She also says hey but that is because everyone is always yelling that at her so I guess she has decided to yell it back.
I taught Ramia her first English word: Thank You. Ramia just wants to be apart of the group and so she moves the sewing boxes all the time because it makes her feel like she is doing something. So when she brings the boxes to me I always tell her thank you. The other day Ramia brought a box to me and I told her thank you and she replied by saying thank you. I was floored, it was so cute.
Last cute thing on Ramia and then I will shut up. She wants to embroider sooo bad. She is always trying to see what the girls are doing and get her hands on fabric. A few days ago she picked up a bag that was in the process of being embroidered. She sat down took the needle and poked the clothe and then pulled it out all the way up and just kept going for like ten minutes...well, until one of the girls saw her and slapped her and took it away from her. Cute things don’t last very long around here so I was glad to have captured the moment (see pictures).
Ramia LOVES scissors! They are the one thing she goes for the most. In fact she gets hold of them all the time. Each time I catch her (no one else seems to care) I tell her wudu which means NO in Telugu. I have told her wudu so much that now while she is holding scissors she says wudu, wudu, wudu. She also says hey but that is because everyone is always yelling that at her so I guess she has decided to yell it back.
I taught Ramia her first English word: Thank You. Ramia just wants to be apart of the group and so she moves the sewing boxes all the time because it makes her feel like she is doing something. So when she brings the boxes to me I always tell her thank you. The other day Ramia brought a box to me and I told her thank you and she replied by saying thank you. I was floored, it was so cute.
Last cute thing on Ramia and then I will shut up. She wants to embroider sooo bad. She is always trying to see what the girls are doing and get her hands on fabric. A few days ago she picked up a bag that was in the process of being embroidered. She sat down took the needle and poked the clothe and then pulled it out all the way up and just kept going for like ten minutes...well, until one of the girls saw her and slapped her and took it away from her. Cute things don’t last very long around here so I was glad to have captured the moment (see pictures).
Monday, April 16, 2007
Its a Difficult Road
John 15:18-19 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Working in a red-light area isn’t easy. I am facing a lot of opposition by the managers (pimps). They really feel threatened by my presence which I guess is understandable. But the problem is even deeper than that; every group of people has a leader. The women have their managers, the managers have “Big Mama,” the kids have Bavani, and the girls have Nagamani. Nagamani somehow weaseled her way into being the embroidery teacher even though she has pretty limited knowledge. And for the last month has done absolutely nothing in regards to embroidery. The other day I told her to let the students use the sewing machine and to help me get the embroidery stuff organized. I asked multiple times until I said very plainly, “Get off the machine!” She didn’t like that at all and left the class for the remainder of the day.
So today after devotion and prayer I talked with the girls about their handbags. Of which many have very nice embroidery but the stitching needs improvement so I brought in 10 bags and asked them to fix them. Immediately after our discussion the girls went to the machines and the bags were left laying on the floor. I asked that they finish the bags before they begin making new bags but they (under the influence of Nagamani) said they would do them later. This went on for about 4 times until I said, “Ok, we are finished for today, let’s close up!” Which got their attention and they began to come and sit but Nagamani insisted they leave with her. So we closed the doors 3 hours early. You would think that is no big deal the girls will learn that I am serious and tomorrow would hopefully be an improvement.
Not in the red-light area!
Big Mama must’ve been out today because it was another manager that came in and started yelling about how they would do it when they wanted. I replied simple by saying, “Sir (which is a big sign of respect here but I just did it cause I don’t know his name) in a learning environment the teachers tell how things are going to be done not the students. I respect these girls and expect them to show me respect also.” He replied by saying that tomorrow, I should not come to the center, that his girls will continue to sew but I should not be there. I told him that we could close our doors and go to Chilikalurapet. They have been begging us to start a center there. And these women are committed to changing their lives and are struggling to find a way out of the darkness.
So why not pick up and go to Chilikalurapet? Sure it is an hour drive there and back everyday but if it means working with women that are asking for help instead of just asking for money than it might be worth it!
What a wake up call to remind me that many of these people are just wolves in sheep’s’ clothing. They say one thing, do another, but no matter what, they are driven by one thing: $$$, at any expense: lives, happiness, health, relationships, anything. Sometimes I forget who I am dealing with; Big Mama is out on bail for killing a man. These people are evil people that “own” human beings and force them to do unspeakable things. Unfortunately some of the young ones get pulled in as protégés (which I think is the case for Nagamani). Others get stepped on into a life of submission. And a very few manage to keep a spark of hope alive. And that is what I see in Poodi. She has such a beautiful spirit. She strives for perfection in everything she does. Her eye for color and her needle work are so good and she takes true joy in it. I love when she completes a bag and she comes to show me. She just wells with pride as I admire it. She will help with anything; one day she spent the whole day ironing. What a humble sweet girl! And when I think about not coming back to this place I cry. I cry because I am afraid of leaving her here to be swallowed up Nallakata (the dark place-what the locals call this area).
Please pray for Poodi and my situation here.
Working in a red-light area isn’t easy. I am facing a lot of opposition by the managers (pimps). They really feel threatened by my presence which I guess is understandable. But the problem is even deeper than that; every group of people has a leader. The women have their managers, the managers have “Big Mama,” the kids have Bavani, and the girls have Nagamani. Nagamani somehow weaseled her way into being the embroidery teacher even though she has pretty limited knowledge. And for the last month has done absolutely nothing in regards to embroidery. The other day I told her to let the students use the sewing machine and to help me get the embroidery stuff organized. I asked multiple times until I said very plainly, “Get off the machine!” She didn’t like that at all and left the class for the remainder of the day.
So today after devotion and prayer I talked with the girls about their handbags. Of which many have very nice embroidery but the stitching needs improvement so I brought in 10 bags and asked them to fix them. Immediately after our discussion the girls went to the machines and the bags were left laying on the floor. I asked that they finish the bags before they begin making new bags but they (under the influence of Nagamani) said they would do them later. This went on for about 4 times until I said, “Ok, we are finished for today, let’s close up!” Which got their attention and they began to come and sit but Nagamani insisted they leave with her. So we closed the doors 3 hours early. You would think that is no big deal the girls will learn that I am serious and tomorrow would hopefully be an improvement.
Not in the red-light area!
Big Mama must’ve been out today because it was another manager that came in and started yelling about how they would do it when they wanted. I replied simple by saying, “Sir (which is a big sign of respect here but I just did it cause I don’t know his name) in a learning environment the teachers tell how things are going to be done not the students. I respect these girls and expect them to show me respect also.” He replied by saying that tomorrow, I should not come to the center, that his girls will continue to sew but I should not be there. I told him that we could close our doors and go to Chilikalurapet. They have been begging us to start a center there. And these women are committed to changing their lives and are struggling to find a way out of the darkness.
So why not pick up and go to Chilikalurapet? Sure it is an hour drive there and back everyday but if it means working with women that are asking for help instead of just asking for money than it might be worth it!
What a wake up call to remind me that many of these people are just wolves in sheep’s’ clothing. They say one thing, do another, but no matter what, they are driven by one thing: $$$, at any expense: lives, happiness, health, relationships, anything. Sometimes I forget who I am dealing with; Big Mama is out on bail for killing a man. These people are evil people that “own” human beings and force them to do unspeakable things. Unfortunately some of the young ones get pulled in as protégés (which I think is the case for Nagamani). Others get stepped on into a life of submission. And a very few manage to keep a spark of hope alive. And that is what I see in Poodi. She has such a beautiful spirit. She strives for perfection in everything she does. Her eye for color and her needle work are so good and she takes true joy in it. I love when she completes a bag and she comes to show me. She just wells with pride as I admire it. She will help with anything; one day she spent the whole day ironing. What a humble sweet girl! And when I think about not coming back to this place I cry. I cry because I am afraid of leaving her here to be swallowed up Nallakata (the dark place-what the locals call this area).
Please pray for Poodi and my situation here.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
I am in Nepal! I've been here for about 5 days or so. It wasn't easy getting here either! What an adventure I have had! I first flew to Bombay to pick up my friend Ena and then we fly to Delhi. From there we had planned to fly to Kathmandu but something in my heart was telling me not to fly. But of course I didn't listen...We spent all day trying to get a flight to Kathmandu when by late afternoon we found out we couldn't fly b/c Ena didn't have proper documentation. So we went to the train station to buy tickets to Gorapor (the closest stop to the boarder but still 2 hours away). We couldn't get on that night so we had to wait till the next night. But we made the best of it and saw the sights Delhi had to offer.
The next night as we were boarding the train we realized we had been upgraded to first class and ended up sharing the entire car with only two other people. They were business men on the way to check on their cement factory in Nepal. When the train arrived in Gorapor 14 hours later the 4 of us had breakfast/lunch and shared a car to the boarder. When we reach the boarder I faced some trouble with my visa. Praise God for these men! One stayed with Ena with the car (which they wouldn't allow us to pay for) and the other one helped me talk to the immigration guys. It took over an hour but it all got worked out and we were off again.
We reached their hotel around 5ish and decided to get a room also since we missed all the buses to Kathmandu. Our two friends/guardian angels had to work so we arranged to meet for breakfast in the morning. After breakfast and some quick goodbyes Ena and I were off to Kathmandu. The road was steep, dusty, and rocky, not to mention we had Evil Canival behind the wheel. After 5 hours we had to take a break so we decided to stop at Royal Chitwan National Park. What an amazing place; we took a canoe ride and saw a rhino taking his morning bath, and (don't hate me Claire) I got to sit on an elephant as it took a bath and it sprayed me with her trunk. But that is not all, there was this baby elephant that was rubbing its bum on a post so I thought I would help him out and I started scratching him with my long nails and he wiggled all over like he was ticklish and when I would stop he would wrap his little trunk around my arm as if to ask for more. No one got a picture of it cause we were all in awe of the whole thing.
We finally got to Kathmandu after another 7 hour bus ride and although the bus ride was difficult we were thankful to have gone that way. Nepal is BEAUTIFUL and we would have missed so much if we had flown.
Ena went home yesterday and I am waiting for my visa. To get a visa is a 3 step process. Please pray that is comes quickly!
Love you--Will post pictures when I get back home--to India that is.
Ok, so I am not still in Nepal I just arrived back in Tenali last night. But I had written this posting while in Nepal and couldn't get it uploaded on the sight. So thought I would put it up now, hope you don't mind.
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