We walked up staircase after staircase in our bare feet, out of respect for the Jain people. No shoes are allowed on the sacred stairs of the Muktagiri Temple. When described to me, I thought there was no way I could manage this adventure: not only barefooted, but my almost-50-year-old body has done fine things, but nothing like this lately. And my 17-year-old hip replacement would get quite a workout. But I told myself I would do all that I could, and stop when I could not continue.
So we began and the paths were all covered with smooth tiles, allaying my fear of stepping on jagged rocks. We walked slowly and I took photographs and the only time it was too difficult was climbing the staircases - fairly steep and one after another. But I pushed through and stopped to catch my breath a few times. My hip was straining, but there was no pain. And when I reached the top, I was so happy I’d done it.
Each level we walked had a temple, there are 52 in all, each labeled for the visitor to pray inside to each specific god. Usually in the rainy season, there are waterfalls and rivers and streams, but the rains have not come, which has everyone here on edge. Everyone must change their patterns to accommodate for the lack of rains.
We saw a man with two buckets of water. He had fashioned a piece of wood across his shoulders and tied the buckets to hang off each shoulder. Up the stairs he climbed, and periodically he would stop, set the buckets down, draw a cup full of water and water the plants lining the staircase. The rains have not come, he explained, and the plants are thirsty.
I arrived at Panchsheel Ashram School yesterday to great fanfare and joy, a celebration of homecoming. I have only been here once before - in 2015 - but somehow it feels like home. For the 2016-2017 school year, Friends of Padhar Schools funded books and writing supplies for all 600 of their students.
Panchsheel School serves a large tribal area on the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, in the Maharashtra state located near the town of Bahiram. It serves the Gond and Korku tribes, poor children from 1st grade to 12th.
It is a 5+ acre live-in facility that houses and teaches almost 600 students. 50 staff including teachers, attendants, wardens, kitchen staff and other specialized trainers and tutors. The children wash their own clothes, have jobs around the site, have regimented times to study and to eat. They have high standards for their students and 100% of their 10th and 12th grade students passed board exams this year.
They offer:
• Vocational training in computers, carpentry, fabrication (welding), electrical work, and tailoring
• Homegrown vegetables and fruit from large on-site gardens
• Off-site chicken farm which produces eggs for use and sale.
• Animal care-taking of goats and cows.
• Sports facilities and teams
• Water filtration for clean drinking and washing water
This is my final full day in Padhar and I have been busy visiting our partner schools and meeting with staff and administrators to discover what each school needs and to discern how Friends of Padhar Schools may address those needs. I have also visited several new schools and communities in neighboring villages. As I experience each new school and each new situation, my analytical hat comes on: What are the funding sources? Do you receive government funding? How many students do you have? How many teachers? What are your immediate needs?
There is always a need for funding. Wherever I go, whomever I meet with, there is one universal truth: Everyone needs funding.
So my job becomes to communicate the needs to our Board of Directors and then to begin to decide how our small amount of funding can make the most impact.
In my touring, I see teachers working hard and sacrificing for the good of their students. I see students desperate for an education. I see administrators who want the best for their communities. I see people who are doing all they can to ensure each child in rural India has an opportunity to get a good education. I am glad that we are in partnership with such dedicated and loving people.
“Ma’m, Ma’m! How do spell ‘noodles’?” “Ma’m, read mine.” “Ma’m, is this right?”
In a classroom packed with over 60 students, we started our Kid 2 Kid penal project. Actually, we started the evening before, but I get ahead of myself.
Packed in my suitcase were 7 letters from the children of friends and family members, those who volunteered to be our first pen pals. The idea was touring the letters and find corresponding pen pals here in Padhar and begin a conversation to bridge the distance. Although the idea was initially met with enthusiasm, as I discussed it with the ‘higher-ups’ in the school, I felt like it was going be too much trouble. So I began to panic. What will I tell the children who’ve written letters and drawn pictures?
I was asked on Saturday night, to help lead a Sunday School class of sorts, for the English Speaking children of the Padhar Lutheran Church. “This is my perfect chance!” I thought. So, I brought my letters, gave a short bible lesson and we wrote 4 letters that evening. But that evening I got word that the principal of the Happy Valley School was expecting me on Monday, to take the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students and write letters with them!
Yes! We will certainly get enough letters in this venture.
SO, on Monday I met with over 60 students in a small classroom and I gave a little lesson on letter-writing: what to say, what questions to ask, how to begin and end a letter. In this process I discovered that many of the children did not write English well. Only a few understood what I was explaining. But all did the exercise with joy. Especially when they got a chance to add an Emoji sticker to their letter! (Thanks to Rubie for sending those along!)
So, packed in my bag are 60 letters, some written to particular children, others waiting for a mate. We will discover what the future holds for the penal program, but this part was a success!
First, my apologies. Our internet service has been off for several days. This is what happens in rural India during monsoon season. Periodically you lose service. It is interesting to note the panic that comes when service is absent, even for a few days. My, how addicted I am. It is good preparation though, for me, as the service in Panchsheel is non-existent and unless I get a working SIM Card, I will not be online until I reach the airport in Munich on my way home.
So, a good exercise in patience.
This is my last week in Padhar and I’ve been working hard to accomplish all the tasks I need to before I leave. This part of my work is really exciting: determining how we can address the needs of our schools. Dreams and plans begin to come into focus. Dollar amounts are proposed for each project. And the prospect of helping more children get an education starts to become a reality.
If the proposed budget is approved we will increase the number of schools we help from 3 to 5. We will increase the number of students we sponsor from 38 to 51 and the amount we give to equipment and supplies from $4800 to $6200. Overall it would be a 23% increase in our giving budget, but that is a figure I believe we can accomplish!
I went to the market today. When you live in a village, market day is the day to buy all your goods - fruits and vegetables, meats, kitchen wares and spices. Today I went to buy my nephew some shoes. I found some that are nice for only 100 rupees. That's about $1.50! HEY! Good bargain!
"There are many problems, but I think there is a solution to all these problems; it's just one, and it's education." ~ Malala Yousafzai
This week, I have been busy getting to work. The goal of this trip - besides my obvious glee in returning to my second home - is to discern how Friends of Padhar Schools can be of assistance to those in rural India working to provide a good education to our next generation. I have had meetings with the principal and several Board members of Happy Valley English School to determine how we can best serve them; I had a joint meeting with the principals of the Mission Higher Secondary School and the School and Rehabilitation Center for the Blind to review past practices and discuss future plans; I took a trip to Sarni to meet the teachers and staff of the St. Mark English School and entertain the possibility of adding them to the schools we are helping; I've visited communities and met folks, talked about what we are doing and why we are doing it.
This is part of what I say, "I am a part of a small NGO that raises money in the United States to help the children of India get an education." In that phrase I claim my part of this work and I also proudly acknowledge the community of support that I represent. As I speak with teachers and thank them for their work, your faces pop into my head, people who are doing the same work in the states: Joel, a great teacher and role model for a generation of kids; my sister Karin and her teaching partner Julie, whose love for their Kindergarten students gives them a foundation from which to work; Nicole, who is teaching while bravely battling cancer. To all the teachers who support FoPS, I am here representing you.
As I speak about relieving the burden of school fees placed on families, I think of the parents who are a part of our support system; parents who are trying to raise thoughtful, caring children all while caring and supporting children in India: all those who helped their own children write letters to an unknown student in Padhar; all you parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, who see YOUR child in the faces of these children; all of your caring souls who sponsor a child so that they can have a great future. To all the parents, grandparents, compassionate adults who support FoPS, I am here representing you.
As I speak about what we've done and what we are hoping to do, the faces of our Board members, past and present, come into my mind. As I interact and make plans with administrators and teachers, I keep you in my thoughts and think, "What do I need to bring back to the Board to paint the picture of life here in Padhar?" To all the Board members, past and present, I am here representing you.
In this way, I know I am not alone. Thank you for your support.
Yesterday I did my laundry. Now normally, I would have 3-4 loads of laundry, towels and sheets, all kinds of odds and ends. Today I did one load and felt accomplished afterwards! Because the task is a multi-step process and it involves actual work, it made me feel like I was actually involved. We are blessed with a washing machine here in the guest house, but like none I’ve seen before.
Washing goes like this:
Step 1: Fill the machine with water
Step 2: Put the clothes and powder in
Step 3: Turn the knob to agitate and wait for 12 minutes
Step 4: Switch the knob to drain and let the water drain from the machine
Step 5: Fill the machine again with water (this is the rinse cycle)
Step 6: Turn the knob to agitate and wait for 12 minutes
Step 7: Switch the knob again to drain and let the water drain from the machine
Now….. if you want to spin the clothes so they’re not as wet when you put them on the line, take half the load and place in the spinner, set the timer for 5 minutes and wait. Repeat as desired.
Then you hang them on the line and wait for the load to dry. Check by every once and a while. It only takes a few hours in the hot weather to dry most of my clothes.In the Monsoon season, it takes a bit longer and you must hang them under covered roofs….
Of course, India has plenty of options for machines - ones that are fully automated, but this is the one at the Guest House and it works. And afterwards, I felt like I accomplished a major task.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my fabric softener and fresh laundry smells. I love my dryer and the fact that I can multi-task while “doing the laundry.” Perhaps in making our daily tasks fast and easy, we’ve taken away the joy of work.
These past two days have been a blessing. After the busyness of airports, checking in, standing in queues, flying, changing flights, taking taxi rides, touristing in Mumbai, flying again, driving on a bumpy road, adjusting to life in Padhar, late-night dinners with friends AND preaching last Sunday… these past two days have been a meaningful time of reflection and breathing, a time of thinking and pondering, a time to to come up with new ideas and a time of just being.
It is the beginning of the monsoon season, so the rain is coming, but slowly. Too slow for the farmers in the area, as they try to wait patiently, but each week the bulk of the rain is delayed, the more it affects this years’ crops. As one friend told me, “The planting season is done and if the rains do not come soon, the seeds will perish. Then there is no crop.”
At church on Sunday we prayed multiple times for the monsoons to arrive and bless the lands with lots of rain. These two days I've spent hours on the lanai of the Guest House watching the rain, listening the various bird calls, greeting the people as they come and go, all while working on my computer.
My primary reason for being here - besides just BEING - is to connect with the village schools, their administrators and staff, to assess their needs for the coming year. It is the beginning of the school year, so they are admitting new children and assessing the coming year. I have had several meetings thus far, and will continue those meetings into next week. With each meeting, the focus becomes more and more clear on what WE can do to help. Because we are a small non-profit, our resources are limited, so every request or need must be weighed by the possibility of actually raising the funds and the affect it would have to the schools and the education they can provide the students. More will come later, but right now, it is a "listening tour" of sorts and a lot of prayer and discernment on my part: that I can reflect their needs back to our Board of Directors and then make decisions that will help the children of Padhar.
For now, I will just BE for a little while longer.
I woke up with this feeling. I remember this feeling from previous trips. I woke up worried.
To explain: this is my 10th year of fundraising for Padhar Schools. I began after my trip in 2008, to raise money to support students at the Padhar Mission School. Over these nine (going on ten) years we have supported an average of 30 students per year. I would not be surprised to find if upon completion of this 2017-2018 school year, we have reached over 300 students.
But as I sat and chatted with school administrators yesterday about general “how is it going” subjects, I began to realize that life is harder here in the village than it was ten years ago. Climate change has affected the life of the village farmers, and therefore the ability to send their children to school. Instead they leave school to help with farming, around the house, or other labor jobs. Demonetization in India has created a sense of financial instability and that makes paying to educate their children difficult for families. Jobs are scarce, contractors unreliable, plans and dreams are postponed until the resources show up. Life is hard in the village.
Nevertheless, I will persist. Furthermore Friends of Padhar Schools will persist. It is during these tough times, when hope is dim, that non-profit work is vital to fill in the gaps left in the name of ’progress.’ I will try to help as much as our small non-profit can, but whatever we do, whatever help we offer…there will be needs unmet.
This is the hardest part about non-profit work: we address needs, but we cannot solve all the problems we find. But we can provide hope to our partners in the field and assurance that they are not alone in this important work they are doing to educate our next generation.
For more information about demonetization in India, here is a great article.
This is my fifth trip to India but the first time I've spent my time in Mumbai at the beginning of my trip. Due to some scheduling factors, this was the time I had to spend in Mumbai - one of my favorite cities in the world (or at least the cities I've visited.) But Mumbai is a huge city with a huge population! In 2011, the census reported Mumbai and surrounding areas had a population of over 20 million people. To compare, in that same year the population of Los Angeles was only 4 million.
And I do not visit the entire city - all the tourist sites and experiences - I do the same things, eat at the same restaurants, visit the same spots. Call it comfort-tourism. All in a little part of Mumbai called Colaba.
That's me in 2010 with the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in the background
Colaba is an international tourist destination - with the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel being a world-class 5-star hotel and a draw to the financially prosperous from all over the world. (I've never stayed there...) The shopping is good and the restaurants are amazing - lots of vegetarian food options and good for those of us who are watching our gluten.
I shopped yesterday. This was the time I have to buy souvenirs for friends and family and gifts for myself. When I've traveled in October, I;ve done my Christmas gift shopping, but this time I will not wait to give gifts until December. The family and friends will have a second Christmas in July when I return! But I love to go into a shop and see if anything calls to me- yesterday I heard the call and purchased gifts for my friends and family (the character of which I will not disclose here) and some items for myself: a new kurta to wear, a new table cloth for my new table and some odds and ends. And I will determine if a few of the items I bought will be gifts to others or to myself. Let's just say I saw a lot of things that told me they needed to be in my new Walnut home.
Here is an amazing blog post about shopping the Colaba Causeway.
Today, I make the trip to Padhar. It begins with a flight to Nagpur this afternoon where I will be picked up by a driver from the Padhar Hospital and then he will drive me to the Guest House where I will spend the next almost 2 weeks. While there, I will visit the three schools we are working with, meet with teachers and administrators, try to work out our new pen pal program and do some fun things too.
It has been nice to have a few days in Mumbai to sleep and recover from my jet lag. I am almost adjusted to the time zone. Woke up at 4:30 AM today instead of the 1:30 AM of yesterday! That's all for now, friends.
When you think you know where you're walking and then after a while figure out you've made a wrong assumption, you hop in a taxi and say "Fab India" thinking all drivers know where this popular tourist shop is... then he stops at a Naval Barracks and repeats something that doesn't sound like Fab India but looks expectantly at me, like this is where I want to be.. So I say "no no... Fab India!" Thinking this time he will miraculously understand, so he smiles and makes a U-turn, and after a moment I realize he's now just driving around the area... so as we pass the Taj Hotel, I indicate that is the place I want to be dropped off.
And that is how I found out where the Starbucks is....
And now they are playing Jack Johnson and I am having an Americano at the Mumbai Starbucks.
I made it - survived a 11-hour flight from LA to Frankfurt, a marathon walk through every terminal of the Frankfurt airport, an 8 hour flight from Frankfurt to Mumbai- and survived with a positive attitude and some good humor. No flights were delayed or too bumpy, no travelers too cranky or too anxious, no babies too fussy.. all is good. Moreover I kept thinking, as I made my way through multiple airports and tried to sleep sitting up on various airplanes, of how fortunate I am. What a privilege to be able to travel across the world to do something I am called to with people I adore. What a blessing it is!
By the time I landed, fetched my luggage, booked a pre-paid taxi and checked into my room, it was 3:00AM on Wednesday morning, but since I'd started my journey on Monday- somewhere amidst all the traveling- I'd lost Tuesday. I have no doubt I will find it on the return flight, but it is a bit disconcerting.
What's on the agenda for me today? To be determined... it seems my body wanted free breakfast more than it wanted sleep so I woke up and got dressed in time to enjoy my eggs and fruit and some masala tea. But I have a feeling 4 hours sleep will not sustain me for long, so I will hang out around the hotel this morning and try to get into town for some shopping. Plus, it has started raining, so that helps me decide to stay close. I have a full free day tomorrow and then I leave for Padhar on Friday.
Overall, I am blessed, friends. So much so that as I greeted the hotel proprietor this morning, "Good morning, Mr. Singh!" he recognized me from my several previous trips, and he said, "Welcome home, Madam."
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” ~St. Augustine
One of my favorite blogs is called “Diary of a Mom” (https://www.facebook.com/adiaryofamom/) and discusses the challenges of raising children, one who is autistic and has epilepsy. She asserts that just when you need it, love shows up. When you have a terrible day; when all seems hopeless; when the challenges are overwhelming, #loveshowsup.
As I prepare to leave for India tomorrow I am reminded of all the love that has shown up for me: from people whose monetary gifts made my trip possible, to those who have supported me with prayers. The ways that you have helped me to get to this point proves that #loveshowsup.
And now I reflect of the words of St. Augustine, I feel so fortunate to be the love that shows up for the children of Padhar and Panchsheel. But that is how love works, I suppose: your love travels with me so that I can share it with others. And in that way, #loveshowsup.
I am in the midst of packing for my trip to India. Yes, it is eight days away, but much of my week will be spent at Annual Conference in Redlands, so I need to be ready sooner rather than later. My packing list is particular to my experience in India, so I thought I’d share some of the interesting things I pack:
The ladies in the Guest House, making chapatis.
- Instant Coffee - particularly Starbucks Via. While I am in Mumbai, I can find coffee, espresso drinks, strong and rich, flavorful American/European style coffee. But in the village, it is harder to come by. While I stay in Padhar, at the Guest House of Padhar Hospital, I am well-taken-care-of. The ladies cook me three meals a day and make me awesome masala chai with black tea, but no coffee, unless I bring it with me
Shopping at the corner stall.
2. Laundry detergent - The Guest House has a great basic, no-frills Wash Machine and I love to use it. This year I am packing my own detergent, since- in the past - I have spent much time looking for and purchasing laundry soap at the corner stand. This time, I am ready.
3. Gifts - I pack gifts for my friends and those who host me, and this year, I am bringing gifts for the teachers at the schools we are working with.It is a small gesture, but just a sign to let them know we are thinking of them and appreciate their work.
4. My whole medicine cabinet - luckily I stay at the Hospital and all my friends are nurses, doctors and medical personal, so if anything happens I am covered, but it is comforting to be able to reach into my bag of tricks to take care of the small stuff.
5. Since it is the beginning of Monsoon season, I bought a new rain jacket. But after looking at the forecast, I think I need to seek some advice on what to pack.
I leave for India in 12 days. It is amazing to think that with so much to do, in twelve days it will be done:
- what needs to be packed will be packed, and if not can be done without or purchased in India
- what needs to be done before I leavewill be done, or can be paused until I return.
- what needs to be purchased or prepared will be… or will not be.
It will be or will not be. And all that is okay.
This is my fifth trip to India, my second as the Director of Friends of Padhar Schools. Each time I’ve traveled to India, my sense of call is renewed (this is what God wants me to do) and my passion for this work is strengthened (this is what I want to do.) Each time I go I am reminded that we are all connected to one another in this one human family and that our lives are intertwined.
What is different about this trip:
In 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2015, I have traveled in connection with the trip of the Friends of Padhar, Germany, a team of medical professionals who work on a collaborative project with the medical professionals from Padhar Hospital. This time, our trips happen at different times of the year -mine in June and theirs in October. I will miss the German team, seeing their good work and catching up with my good friends from my church in Hamburg.
This is the first time I will travel in June, instead of October, and the weather is different. Apparently I will be traveling with the Monsoon rains, so I expect it will be much wetter than my previous trips. In preparation, I’ve ordered a rain jacket. And I am ready to get wet. (I’ll keep you updated!)
Other than those known differences, there are a multitude of “unknowns” yet to be discovered. For me, one of the joys of traveling is experiencing those new discoveries -whether they be new foods or shopping adventures, new friends to visit, new opportunities to be involved in.
I am grateful to all those who’ve supported this work and look forward to being able to show and tell you about Padhar.
Why go to India? Why travel by plane for 22 hours to a small town in Central India called Padhar?
The short answer is: home is where the heart is. My heart is in the third world. (I don't like that phrase, maybe I should say the 2/3's world - two-thirds of the world lives in poverty.) Anyway, part of my heart lives there.
In 2003, I went to Nigeria with a delegation from the Cal Pac Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and I faced it in person for the first time. I felt God and God's people hanging on to me, encouraging me to stay. In fact, the leader of our group later told me, "I didn't think we were going to get you on the plane home..." If I didn't have obligations, responsibilities and loved ones back home, I may have stayed. I certainly wanted to.
I cried on the plane ride home, knowing it would be a long time before I returned. This conviction is in my core - to be with the people of the 2/3 world in their joy and in their struggles.
So what should I do when the 2/3 world is calling? The only response is to go to where my heart is. Each time I return to Padhar, I feel like I am home: the people seemed familiar, the cities exciting and breath-taking and the village of Padhar is a refuge from the craziness of the Western World. This year, again as director of Friends of Padhar Schools, I am able to stay for a while, and determine how our organization can help the students in the village. For that I am truly grateful.
धन्यवाद (Thank you.)
Krista Givens
Director, Friends of Padhar Schools
