Muslim Girls Orphanage

It seems like it's been so long since I've found the time to sit down and get some of this stuff out!
Just went through my camera and realised how much I have missed updating on...
At the end of August we had an event called Action in the Community where we had 50 participants come to do a number of projects for some of our community partners. It was a great event, and it gave me a chance to spend 3 days at one of our partners the Muslim Girls Orphanage.
The organization has a lot of space in the city, not far from Sangam. It has a dorm building that holds 180 girls who live there on site. Here in India (and especially in the Muslim religion), orphan has a different meaning than in Canada. Here you are an "orphan" if you come from a single parent family where the mother is the caretaker, if you come from an at risk family where the parent has a dangerous or unsuitable profession, or if the parent cannot care for the child.
There are a few schools on the grounds including one urdu medium elementary school, one urdu medium high school, and a polytechnique. At the polytechnique they teach the girls trades so that they can work and be contributing members of the family when they are married. They teach tailoring, design, embroidery, a home management class, personal care (massage, threading, hair cutting, etc), computer classes, etc. And the girls also get certification in most of those classes so its a great opportunity for them to learn more and develop themselves.
So as part of our time there we did a brief tour of the facilities and met with the principal of the polytechnique and the head of the site in Pune. And then we moved into the projects which were sorting the stone out of rice, cutting vegetables, and designing, painting and installing 3 paintings in the dorm building to cover up an elevator shaft that was unused (no money to get the elevator).
So we spent time in the mornings playing games with about 50 kids for 2 hours, then the tour, then lunch and project time! In the morning the girls from the Urdu medium schools were around as their classes didn't start until 12 oclock, and in the afternoon we had about 20 girls from the English medium classes come back from school as they attended in the mornings. It was a blast for me to spend the time with the kids there for the 3 days...and it gave me a taste of what volunteers feel when working with kids abroad, it was great.
The best part for me was hanging out in the afternoons with the English medium kids. They helped facilitate conversation between the older kids and staff members at Muslim Girls, and they gave me a chance to find out what their stories were and how things worked there right from the source. It was great to be greeted every morning with "Didi!" shouted from the windows as we came to the dorm.
It was such a great experience for me, but I had a really hard time on the last day saying goodbye. I had talked to my favourite few girls all afternoon and they were telling me about their families and how they can visit every Sunday for one hour. So mostly their mothers come, but if they are sick their brothers will come visit them. These girls were from families with 2 or 3 brothers who lived with their mother, but they had to live here away from them all. And when I asked if they ever go home, they said with such joy that they go home in December. They said they get to "move out", and pack up all their things...so I assumed it was for a long, long time and then they told me it was only 2 weeks. It just sort of broke my heart thinking that these girls manage so well in their situation without worrying of what they have lost. Most of the girls will live in the orphanage until they are 18, at which point the organization finds a husband for them and arranges (and helps pay for) the marriage.
It just put things into perspective and has continually made me keep myself in check when I start to get sad about missing friends and family...I really need to go back there soon and check in with those girls.

Festivals - Haji Dandi

Last night at midnight was the birth of Lord Krishna, an important day here in India so late last night there were religious celebrations at temples. Today was Haji Dandi. For this celebration all over town in different neighbourhoods there is a pot breaking festival.

Krishna was known for being devious and loving dairy and in India this is kept in the home in pots and he would convince his friends to hoist him up and eat all the kurd (yogurt), so that’s why they have this celebration. It involves a lot of dancing in the streets, and then for the pot breaking they hang a pot above the street at least a few stories high (many stories high in the larger areas), and they make human pyramids to get the pot. The prize for winning the pot breaking competition is a sum of rupees! In each neighbourhood the surrounding businessmen, etc. each donate some money so in the smaller areas the amount would be less, and in the big areas of the city the pots would be worth thousands and thousands and thousands of rupees! (I wanted to join in just for the money)
The festival is mainly for men, although there are some very good all women pyramid teams. But since men are the only ones allowed to publicly dance there are mainly men out for this celebration. So you can imagine the number of stares we got as a group of 8 women (some Indian), for being out. For the most part it seemed like a big rave party and I couldn’t help but imagine Josh or Brad dancing around in the middle of the crowd. It made me miss the boys from home a lot. And you can imagine how sad I was I couldn’t get in the crowd and dance around too! Not only would it be completely against custom it wouldn’t have been safe at all, so I stayed away.

We were in the city centre for the celebration but some of the participants here from the Phillipines were uncomfortable in the crowds so we came back to Sangam before the action started. But it was okay because we caught the pot breaking in Indira Nagar – the neighbourhood next door to Sangam. It was really cool to watch, and for people who know me you know that I love anything with dancing, fireworks and a big celebration, so it was fun!

I also had a great rickshaw driver on the way to Laxmi Road for the celebration who was telling us all about the festivals coming up – since Ganapati is in the next few weeks. And he told us about his family, and asked about us, and in the end he sung me my song! There was this Hindi movie from the 80s or 90s called Julie and the song basically means “Julie, I love you” and something about how the guy is crazy with love! So that was fun! Aruna sings it to me all the time and its SO cute when she does it. Anyway he restored my faith in rickshaw drivers because last week I got in a big fight with one.
The story was that we were out with participants heading to MG Road – a major spot in town for a quick tour. So the boys had rickshaws brought into Sangam, I hopped in one with a couple from New Zealand and headed off. Like 10 minutes from Sangam one of the other rickshaws we were with broke down, but our rickshaw was fine. The driver decided to stop us at the side of the road for no reason to wait for the other one to get fixed…and he refused to turn off the metre. So it’s tickin away, I’m getting angry and trying to convince him to continue on – it’s not like he needed to follow the other guy to find the place or anything. He kept refusing so I jumped outta the rickshaw and made a big scene yelling at him in the middle of the street. In less than 30 seconds I had 3 guys coming up to me to find out what the problem was. That’s the great thing in India, if you have trouble with a rickshaw driver you just jump out and cause a scene and guys will come help you out wherever you are. Its great! So I had them help sort it out, and suddenly we were on our way. It was very exciting and I figure if you’re confident enough to start a fight with a rickshaw driver you’re practically a local…or at least one step closer! I just have to learn Hindi/Marathi and soon I’ll be set.
So ya, tonight was great – festival fun, and great rickshaw drivers…I think I will be able to manage this for another 7 months!

PACKAGE!!

Okay - so first things first...i LOVE the ppl at Res Life! And as I am currently missing out on all the Welcome Week fun I am super sad I cant be back at Mac to at least fake being a student for one last PJ parade! haha
So I really am starting to believe in fate, or the spirit of india because the last two times I've been in need of a little piece of home my friends and family have totally come through :)
This last week was really hard deciding whether or not to stay in India until April and the day after I decided to go for it and take the job I got a huge, wonderful package from my friends in RLS!
All the goodies have been enjoyed thoroughly, and i'm saving the KD for a day when i'm in serious need of a pick me up. But all the rest of the stuff was awesome and it was really nice to get something from back home.
I'm taking it as a good sign, and good karma - so I think I will be able to stick it out through the next 4 months until my break to come see people in December.
I promise I will pay back all my Res Life buddies with stories over drinks in the winter :)
thanks again...it made my week! xoxo

Staying on in India!

For those of you who havent heard yet...I have decided to stay on in India until April!!
There was an open position for the Assistant Programme Manager and the staff team asked me if I would be interested in filling it. So after two very emotional days of deliberation I decided I would be crazy to say no!
So this basically means that I will have a bigger hand in the planning and implementation of the events we run, and I'll get to have a lot more responsibility with some events as CL (my manager) will be in London for meetings so I will be the head program person around...eek! haha.
It means I get to be around for a LOT of very exciting stuff too. We have a leadership seminar and an HIV/AIDS seminar in the next few months, and a research trip to Goa in December, as well as a paid trip to Goa again in March for an event! Plus in October sometime I get to go to Sri Lanka for a few days to get a new visa so I can stay another 6 months :)
Ugh, it's all very exciting! Plus alllll the festivals, I get to be here for Ganapati, Diwali, Holi, and a bunch more I dont even know about yet.
So it looks like I'll have a chunk of time in December to go home and see you all, yay! I made sure I had a break to head home in there somewhere because I knew I wouldn't last another 7 months without it.
If any of you are thinking about travelling or needing a vacation - think India! I would love the company, and I know you guys would love it here...
xoxo

piercing party!

I forgot about the biggest update of all! I finally got my nose pierced J Maha style! (on my left side like the tradition in Maharastra)
Some of you know I wanted to do it way back 4 years ago, and then again I desperately wanted to do it after 2 weeks here in India, but for one reason or another it took me until it was already half way through my time here.
The other week before our event we had a staff “piercing party” where we went out to Silver Street in the modern area of town and all got stuff done. Vivi and I got our noses pierced, Mary T got her ears re-pierced, Anna got her 2nd holes re-pierced, Christa got her tragus pierced, and CL got her tragus pierced on both ears and her belly button pierced so she can wear something elaborate and shiny on her wedding day in December! It was very exciting, and didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would.
The fun part was getting reactions from all the local staff the next day. I went into to place my egg order at breakfast and Padma noticed but didn’t say anything to me. Apparently when I walked out the door she told the other ladies so when we showed off later on at breakfast it was already old news. It really truly is like a small town here – the local staff sometimes know things before I manage to hear about it, the rumor mill is in full swing here. But all in all the ladies were very impressed and even for a few days afterward people were still noticing.
Then later over chai Aruna mentioned that piercing is significant for a girl, and that we should give out sweets and get our “good names”. For those of you who don’t know, it is common for Indians to have pet names and good names. When I reserve something or formally meet someone they ask for my good name. So I told Aruna and Minakshi that I would give them sweets if they gave me a good Indian name. So over a long and hilarious chai break they came up with names for all of the staff. The other staff names are: Kavita, Venu, Aboli, Sarita, Saloni, and Monisha. And my good name is Jui (but pronounced like Zui) and it is a beautiful flower here in India. Pictures will be coming soon…

Aga Khan Palace

So, Education for All ended yesterday and half of the participants left that day. It was hard saying goodbye to such a great group - one of the best in my time here so far. But since the event was over I got some much needed time off! We spent the evening out with the rest of the participants who were still here and all the staff at Sizzlers, a restaurant that actually has beef - something I have been seriously missing out on! (Dad, when I come home you're gonna need to BBQ me up some fantastic meals!) The meal portions are so large that they really should be split with others, but since we had been looking forward to this for a week we all ate our own meal. Big mistake! haha. It was the most painfully delicious meal I'd had in ages. After a good meal with good friends and good beers I called it an early night. I had been reading Shantaram, a brilliant novel by Gregory David Roberts for the last few weeks (it's almost 1000 pages), and finally finished it! And there was one quote that was so good I wanted to share it,
"This is not like any other place. This is India. Everyone who comes here falls in love - most of us fall in love many times over. And the Indians, they love most of all. Your little friend may be beginning to love you. There is nothing strange in this. I say it from a long experience of this country, and especially this city (Mumbai). It happens often, and easily for the Indians. That is how they manage to live together, a billion of them, in reasonable peace...more than any other people in the world, the Indians know how to love one another". It's so true, its something you find time and time again - when people welcome you into their home, offer themselves to you easily and genuinely. It's something I've managed to find here at Sangam especially with the local staff. It has been slow getting them to become comfortable with me, but whenever I manage to have a joke with one of them, or one of the ladies notice when I am missing it reinforces the fact that India is a place ruled by the heart.

Anyway, today Christa and I had decided we would use our days off this week to discover the places in the city we had been wanting to see. So we started off at the Aga Khan Palace, which is where Gandhi was held and his ashes remain. It's this gorgeous building only like 15 minutes from Sangam, so I can't believe I didn't make the time to go see it until today.

The building had been converted into a museum that chronicled the life of Gandhi. It was really interesting to read about it, and see pictures and paintings depicting his life. There were personal affects of his wife left behind in the museum, and quotes from Gandhi were on plaques throughout the museum. It was really interesting walking through the grounds and reading the signs saying "Gandhi walked this path to the samadhi daily"...really cool but eerie at the same time. It was strange to be in the same place that someone so brilliant and influential lived. It made me think of this quote I once found of Gandhi's "I do not want my house to be walled on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible." It was a quote I saved a year or so ago because I thought it was a beautiful concept, but only after coming to India do I think I really get what was meant by it. Tomorrow I'm hoping to check out the Pataleshwar caves in the city. And I promise to post pictures soon, I lost my USB cord so until I find it you're outta luck...

Splendour Country

So, after a long 12 day event with a 4 day kids camp Ambassadors for Children came to an end and we were itching for a BREAK!
So Mary T, Christa and I checked ourselves into the Splendour Country resort on the recommendation from our manager CL. We were told that it was beautiful and quiet and that’s about it – but it was enough for us. We hired a driver and headed out in the morning. It took about an hour and a half to get there, but it was a great drive through the city to parts I’ve never seen before and through the countryside. It was so gorgeous and green everywhere it was great. I think Mary T – who is from Ireland appreciated the green rolling hills more than anyone.
We drove past a dam and on the other side was this huge lake with some houses and other hotels littered along the hills. Our driver dropped us off and we checked out the grounds…incredible! The resort was built on the side of big hill and all around were these gorgeous mountains. There were a ton of steps leading down to the pool and dining area, which made the hike between our cottage and the pool seem like climbing the Himalayas but we survived. The pool was an infinity pool, the kind with no edge so it looks like you’re swimming in the ocean. In our case it looked like you were swimming out into mountains but it was still tons and tons of fun. The resort was completely deserted so we basically spent our days hanging out at the pool, reading books and soaking up the silence. We had delicious Indian and Chinese food there, with actual spice to it which was nice. During event time at Sangam the food is basically spice-free because the participants can’t all handle it, so its nice to get some spicy stuff in the mix outside of work. Sadly we only had 2 days at the resort and had to leave the second afternoon. Our co-worker Minakshi’s brother-in-law owns and manages a restaurant on the other side of Pune so on our drive back home she called and recommended we stop in for some chai. Its those kind of invites that remind you how incredible the community culture in India is. It’s not a rare occurance to meet someone once and be welcomed into their home. So we stopped at Sandeep’s restaurant and had the largest and most delicious cup of chai I’ve had in my two months here. It was nice to get to meet someone in Minakshi’s family as well. So after a brief chat with Sandeep we heading back home to Sangam. The resort had worked its magic on me and we came back so relaxed I was practically sleep walking through the halls until I hit the bed!
I also got a chance to check out a homeopath last week before our event started, it was very interesting. I thought since I’m so comfortable with doctors back home I would be fine, but as I sat down in her office I got nervous. It was interesting to have a doctor who wanted to listen to the full details of their patient, and it was funny to hear some of the questions she asked. I had started to get a little cold so I was asking her to help me with that and the questions that came we’re pretty unique:
-do you crave fish?
-do you like sweet foods or salty foods?
-when you perspire does it leave a stain on white clothing? (that was my favourite)
And she asked a ton of other questions, some really in depth ones about my life, others about personal relationships, it was cool. I have to admit I walked out of there feeling unsure about the whole thing, but after taking the medicines she gave me my cold died down a bit. I think it was a really cool experience, but I’m still undecided on how I feel about the whole thing.
This week has been busy with “Education for All” our event that included spending 3 mornings at different schools in the city. It’s been a lot of fun hanging out with the kids from 1st-10th standard (grade). We still have a few more days of the event left so I should probably go work on sessions and get things together for our Bollywood movie night tonight!
Love and miss you all…xo