Visiting House of Wholeness

Friday:

While I seemed to adapt amazingly well to living in Bangalore, I feel like “culture shock” finally hit me today when I arrived in Mumbai (still called Bombay by many).

Mumbai is MUCH more crowded than Bangalore (at least it seems like it has more people, but fewer cows and dogs). I really don’t think it would have been that bad, except that when you’re on a packed train and you don’t know where you’re going and you have so much stuff to watch (a backpack, a suitcase, a pillow & blanket) it’s really overwhelming. The challenge is that I felt like I had to guard my belongings, my money, my passport and my body – while keeping my ticket handy and not getting totally lost or jumped on by a rat (which has happened to 2 of my friends here).

I truly feel like God was watching out for me, while it was an extremely chaotic, scary experience, everything did fall into place perfectly. For instance, I ended up with the only seat on the train where there would have actually been room for my suitcase, and at the exact moment when I started to freak out a little my ipod started playing this worship song about not being afraid because God is with us and gives us the courage we need. I was really grateful that Dana helped me take all the techno (workout) songs off my ipod and replace them with inspirational songs before I left! Also, I’ve been here 3 weeks now and no one has harassed me – I feel incredibly surprised and grateful.

I arrived at PB (a.k.a. “House of Wholeness”) (the home primarily filled by ~20 HIV+ children) and was met by Claire and Paul. They are a young, super sweet couple from the UK who run this place as full-time volunteers. What amazing angels! Talk about dedicating your life to a higher purpose… and we are really in the middle of nowhere (now a few hours outside of Mumbai). Anyhow, Claire and Paul have traveled all over India and they say that Mumbai and Calcutta are the hardest places, so I don’t feel so bad that I finally had a stressful day.

My accommodations here are pretty nice. I’m in my own room in a separate building from the kids. Despite the Asian-style toilet (a.k.a hole in the ground) and a big beetle that just flew down my shirt, the room is quite cheerful.

I’m off to bed now as tomorrow (with the kids) promises to be a neat experience and it starts early!

------ Saturday:

This morning I shared my bucket shower with a lizard and 2 frogs – but again I was glad to have hot water and they are a lot cuter than rats, so life was good. Then I joined the (adorable!) children for a breakfast of “idli” with chutney. I’m quickly learning not to take too much of any food the first time it’s offered, because sometimes it’s just too different for me and you’re expected to finish everything on your plate (there aren’t a lot of trashcans in India and this makes it easier to clean up). It’s safer to take a little to try it and go back for seconds if you actually like it then to force yourself to eat something that you just don’t think you can swallow. Last night I had a mango drink and orange cookies for dinner (from a small snack stand outside the train station) and that worked well.

Later I watched the nurse distribute medicine to each child. They each are on very specific regimens of medicine and sometimes diet as well. One by one they came in to see her. If they were young, she would grind up the pills (some of them had 5 to take) so that they were easy to swallow.

The govt provides basic medicine for free, but 2nd stage medicine (which I think is the more serious HIV medication) is not covered. This can cost $300+ per child per month! There are other NGOs that cover this for some, but not all, of the kids here.

Then the kids were off to do their chores, so I toured their rooms. The facility here is really nice. Very cheerful and pleasant. The rooms are all painted in happy colors and it’s kept clean. The infirmary is totally adorable – like a fun playroom. And outside it’s beautiful! The air feels fresh and crisp and the home is surrounded by green fields and mountains (at least during this time of year). I can see how the kids would be very happy living here. If I spoke their language (most speak Hindi – which the people who run the place had to learn in 5 weeks!), I could even see myself living here for a brief period of time and really enjoying it (except during Monsoon season).

All of the children visit the local dr. at least 6x per year. According to him, the children here are in very good health. Only 2 (of about 20?) are showing any real symptoms. Here they get good rest, eating nutritious foods and get the right medication at the same time every day. In fact, the nurse literally had a 12-yr old boy sit in her office until 8 AM on the dot to take his medication, because that is HIS time to take his meds. Quite impressive!

I spent the rest of the day listening to them sing songs, playing with them and reading them stories. They are so loving and cute! I even had a chance to give “career advice” to their oldest children. They are 2 girls about 16 yrs old who have been here since the home opened 10 yrs ago. They are hoping to go to college soon and weren’t sure what to study. They were very interested in hearing about marketing at a snack food company! It’s nice that they have Lays here (even though it’s really Ruffles) so they can understand what I’m talking about.

I've taken 200 adorable pictures of these kids (they've taken them for me actually!) I really wish I could post them for you, but we're not allowed to publish any unfortunately...

-------- Monday:

After just 2 ½ days, I’m leaving here to go to another home for women who are trying to get out of the red light district. While my time at House of Wholeness was brief, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

The home is extremely well run and the kids are very happy here and kept as healthy as possible. Even though the home is out in the middle of nowhere, the grounds are truly stunning. I almost feel like I could be in French Polynesia! I’ve enjoyed my early mornings and late evening strolls by myself, sometimes just sitting on a swing and thinking about God and nature and the kids… and what time it is in the US and is it too early to give Dana a call to hear his voice? : ) It’s been a welcome break from the chaos of the city.