Celebrating Children’s Day

Friday our office had a full day of Prayer and Fasting. Afterward I saw the movie “2012” – an action-packed movie on the end of the earth. It had a great cast and was totally exhilarating. Even though it wasn’t the type of movie I typically watch, I really enjoyed it and recommend it if you’re in the mood for a real thrill! The movie theater at Garuda Mall was very nice and sold many types of food – from popcorn to pizza rolls to dim sung – but absolutely no candy! I guess the Milk Duds or Sour Patch Kids will have to wait : ) Again, the movie had an “intermission” which still makes me laugh, but the commercials were much better this time.

Halloween isn’t commonly celebrated here (yet), but in honor of “Children’s Day” the kids went to school on Friday in “Fancy Dress”. Fancy Dress is not what it sounds like (you imagine kids getting dressed up in nice clothes, right?). It’s essentially Halloween without the trick-or-treating. Nirell (the niece of the family I’m living with) went as a Princess. Looking totally adorable, she placed 3rd in her class’ costume contest. The best costumes in her class were a sunflower and an eagle.
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Saturday was a GREAT day. First, my “host” family made me cinnamon crepes. They don’t use cinnamon in sweet/breakfast foods here (it’s more common on meat) so that was yet another sweet act of kindness since I had mentioned that we often cook breakfast with it in the US.

Then I visited one of Mother Theresa’s orphanages where they care for handicapped children and babies who are waiting for local adoptions. They were giving medical exams to some of the tiniest babies I’ve ever seen! A lot of children are given up for adoption here since even poor families will often continue to have babies until they have a boy. All of the kids were precious and I made arrangements to come back to volunteer.

Later I went to the office to write project plans for 7 new volunteers starting next week and complete a database where we will store electronic case files on all of the trafficking victims we rescue.

After that I went to McDonald’s to celebrate “Children’s Day” with a colleague’s family. The place was mobbed because they were giving out 6 toys with every happy meal! I really love the McVeggie meals here, but it will be nice to have a good cheeseburger once I get back home : )

Then I went watch the children in our slum community programs put on a skit in honor of “Children’s Day”. The skit was written to teach local youth groups about issues in these communities. The kids (ages 8-17) were all dressed up and looked adorable! They traveled across town to perform, only to find out that the program had been canceled. They were so disappointed so I ran to the store and picked up fancy cakes, chips and drinks and hosted an impromptu Children’s Day party in a nearby park. It was lots of fun!

On the way home I knew I would be walking by one of the poorest areas in town. I’ve always thought about bringing them fruit since I walk by this slum every day, but I’ve been too nervous about how people would react. Would they be insulted if I offered them food? Would they mob me and get violent? Would they ask for money instead? Who knew…. Anyhow, today I got up the nerve and bought a big bag of bananas. Some of the women saw me coming and before I had to even offer, there was a crowd around me. But it was an awesome, kind, loving and grateful crowd. Everyone went crazy for the bananas but then stopped to hug me or shake my hand after taking one. It was incredible. I promised to be back tomorrow, and I hope to be back every day after that.

I ran into one of the sweet girls in our vocational program standing outside her tent/home with her two young nephews. Many babies here don’t wear diapers (or anything other than a shirt and sometimes a hat) so you have to be cautious when you hold them. But they were super cute! I have developed such an incredibly deep love for the people here… it will be hard to say goodbye next month.

Oh, on the way home a man on the street approached me, took out his penis and showed it to me. It’s the first sexual harassment I’ve had, and I consider myself incredibly blessed. I’ve been so mentally prepared for this in fact that when it happened, all I could think was… well that will be an interesting story for the blog!

Visiting the Schools

Today I visited the new slum preschool. Another NGO built a beautiful new school building in one of the slum communities where we work, and they were kind enough to let us merge our preschool class with theirs. The kids sang me a sweet song and were PRECIOUS. I wanted to take home every single one of them. Here is a pic of one of the cutest girls I’ve ever seen in my life!


After that I visited the new computer training center that Oasis just started (also in this same slum community). The equipment was very nice and every seat in the place was packed with young women learning Excel, PowerPoint, Word and the internet. It was really impressive.
The people in these communities are so amazing and I feel incredibly re-energized every time I’m able to get out of the office and visit with them. On top of that, the Oasis workers who serve these people everyday (most of whom actually grew up in these communities) are truly remarkable. I am in awe of their positive attitudes and the impact they are able to make with such a small staff.

It’s hard to believe that there was a brutal murder of a 19-yr old boy in this slum last week, as well as horrific abuse that one man did to a 4-yr old girl (I won’t go into detail here). You know God is here when people can manage to find so much hope in a place where incredible danger lurks everyday.

A big thank you!

Dear Aunties Elizabeth, Stephanie, Cayce and Lauren –

Today Christine visited us at the “Back to School” program and brought us your very special gifts. Boy did Christmas come early this year!

BTS is a program for young children who live in the slums and don’t currently go to school. Many of our parents are uneducated and don’t realize how important it is to send us to school. In other cases, our parents just can’t afford the ~$3 monthly cost to send us.

Although we are far behind where we should be in terms of our educational level, the BTS program teaches us how important it is to get an education, and now we are very willing to learn!

BTS gives us special tutoring everyday until we know enough of the basics and we are prepared to move into regular schools. Since we are currently practicing the English alphabet and numbers, the books you sent will be perfect to help us learn! And the puzzles, crayons and markers make our days a lot more fun.
Thanks for thinking of us. We love you!

Love, the girls and boys in the Back-To-School program

Wine and Egg Puffs

Karen and I attended another Overseas Women’s club Wine Pairings dinner and it was superb! We were very amused that it was at an Italian restaurant, hosted by a French chef, with Spanish wine. And the restaurant was inside a mall that really felt like Mexico. Quite a multicultural event!

Here are more interesting things I’ve learned this week:
- “(Sales) Revenue” is called “Turnover” here. People kept talking about “Turnover” and I was so confused as to what they meant.

- “Egg Puffs” are pretty fantastic. Egg puffs are essentially hard-boiled eggs cooked inside of a buttery croissant. They are tasty, cheap and filling!

- Indians are not used to having space and don’t have the same desire for privacy that we require in America. If you have 2 bedrooms and you invite an Indian to stay with you here, there is a good chance they’ll prefer to sleep in your bedroom, and quite possibly even share your bed. (My friends have some really funny stories about this). Many people in India have never really been alone, and as a result they are quite comfortable sharing very small spaces.

The Cow is Gone

Our cow was stolen this week. Yup, you read that right… our cow. We have a home for rescued girls (Potter’s Wheel) that until recently was also the home to a really great looking cow. Some thieves broke in, drugged the dogs and stole the cow. It’s a pity as the cow was big and healthy and will be expensive to replace. The home is in need of security wall to protect future cows (and girls). Thankfully, a church in Seattle may be providing funding for the wall in the near future.

The Gifts God has given us

Today I had a lot of fun leading a devotion with the young women in our vocational training program. We talked about God's grace, the gifts that God has given each of us, and how we can use those to serve others.


My Community Group back home in Dallas made me this awesome compilation of inspirational bible verses for my "quiet times" in India, and I was inspired to do this devotion from one of these verses (1 Peter 4:10):

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms”

Each girl was supposed to write down some of the gifts that she felt God had given her, along with an action plan on how she could use those gifts to help others in the next 30 days.

The devotion had to be translated due to the different languages everyone spoke, so not everyone understood exactly what we were trying to do (which was capture their "internal" or "personal" gifts). But everyone did understand the idea of thinking of the gifts God has given us. The girls said that their "greatest gift" was Karen and I spending time with them to teach them about the Lord. How wonderful is that? I almost started crying and barely could finish the devotion time.

Every day here is so incredibly precious....

Barry's Goodbye Dinner at Barbeque Nation

It was a fun evening of grill-your-own kabobs in celebration of Barry's time in India. Barry is the other volunteer here, and he leaves tomorrow to head back to California.

Big Bucks, Big Bucks, Big Bucks

Today we're working on writing grant proposals for the anti-human trafficking team. It is a great learning experience for me, and part of me wishes I had a copy of "Grant Writing for Dummies" to help me out!

On a different note, one of the amazing women in our vocational training program has asked me to pray for her. Her family of 5 currently shares a one room home that costs $20 a month. The landlord is upping the rent to $23 and the price is too steep for her family, so she must move and is praying to find a home she can afford. Can you imagine praying to find a home that you can afford that a) is one room for 5 people and b) costs $20? It's moments like these that really put things in perspective for me. And she's one of the "lucky" ones...

A beautiful day in Mysore

This Saturday I took a bus tour to Mysore. Mysore is known for its 8 beautiful palaces. You can't take photos inside the stunning palace, but here are some pictures of the grounds and nearby gardens. It was a terrific outting! I particularly liked seeing the monkeys in the temples.

I love surprises!

Here's a picture of me being "kidnapped" by Brenda and Karen for a surprise lunch at Olive Beach (a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in Bangalore). Thanks for such a fun afternoon ladies!


In other great news, I found an English-language tutor for our undercover operatives through the OWC! They've asked for help in improving their English since sometimes language is a barrier when they go to get police support for a brothel raid. Sometimes the police won't meet with them and then the rescue can't happen. I'm so excited that I found someone! God bless volunteers! Ultimately, the time that this person invests in tutoring these men will ultimately ensure more girls are rescued in time.