Home Safe

Hard to believe I've been home for a week now. Got in last Friday. Was a bit jetlagged, but finally recovered...Still a bit sluggish in getting back to work. That may have something to do with the heat. Thought I was escaping it by coming home, but that has yet to happen.

Exciting things taking place now being home. First I got to see my baby niece. No photoshoot yet. Will take some soon. Went to a great anti-trafficking event last night in Laguna Beach. Was nice to be able to just attend. Have many events scheduled already for the fall. Every weekend in September is booked. Trying to find a little more balance in life...will be working on delegating more, plugging in volunteers to specific positions...excited to see the organization continue to take shape. So top priority here is to find office space, that can also act as a vocational center so we can work with survivors in Orange County. Funny that Steph and I are both working on finding space. Prayers would be really appreciated.

;)

Crunch Time!

I'm only here a couple more days! Hard to believe it's almost September already. Glad to I'll be home to enjoy the last couple days of summer.

Really trying to take as many images as I can before I leave.

Photoshoot

So it's a little difficult to have a photo shoot when you have so many onlookers. And since staring is acceptable in India, there's not much to do about it. I try staring back, but it doesn't seem to get the hint across. Su told me today, "don't worry about them. We have work to do." So i went back to looking behind the camera and took another 50 pictures. At one point I stopped, looked up and saw a crowd gathered on either side of me. Then I stopped and said, "Really? Really?" and stared at all of them. Then I decided to snap a picture. They didn't seem to be fazed by it, but Su thought it was funny. I bet these guys didn't know they'd be published on the world wide web!

The Greatest Dancer!

Driving in the taxi the other day I was trying to be so incognito when we passed some of the slums. I love taking pictures of everyday life. But this little boy, as soon as he saw my lens started dancing and giggling. He was SO funny. I'm hoping to go back and get a few more of him.

Steph

Steph and I have had a lot of fun the past week. Got some good shots of her and the girls. Just wanted to share one of them. Can't post them all. We've got to save some for iSanctuary newsletters...etc.

Traffic

How do you describe traffic in Bombay. It's worse than LA. organized chaos...

Our Sunita!

She's so beautiful! and does an amazing job of coordinating iSanctuary here in Mumbai.

Crunch Time

It's been a little busy. i didn't get a chance to do my blog posts this sunday. It's almost crunch time. Stephanie returns tomorrow, and i have a little less than two weeks left. Still a lot to get done. Went out for another photo shoot today, and hope to bring my camera each time we go to the homes from now on.
This image was taken as we were driving through the market. Su asked the ladies to smile for the camera. They're pretty cute.

Rickshaw Rides

So the other day I was meeting Su at the home. She had gone with me plenty of times and showed me how to get there. I had set my landmarks, and knew what to tell the rickshaw driver....(Aggi right, fire brigade) turn right at the fire station when we get to this certain point...well i hop in the rick, give him the location...ten minutes into the drive i realize i had forgotten to say Curla Road. Meaning take Curla road, which is the way I knew how to go. So i'm sitting there thinking...ok how am i going to find this place. Cause my landmarks now were out the window. So i say my prayers...and sit back knowing that worrying about it wouldn't help. I didn't have a cell phone to call Su cause it had died and I was certain that I would eventually have to turn around and go back home. Traffic in Mumbai is really bad, and it takes forever to get anywhere, so going home and starting over wasn't an option. Well, I started to recognize things. We were just down the street from the home. I got there no problem. God is taking care of me!

Comments

If you're reading this, don't be shy to comment. I'd love to hear from you! I understand if you want to be incognito. I prefer to stay that way too. I'll try to post more pictures now that I've started shooting.

Girls' Stories

I could go on and on about the girls. Each time we visit the homes I walk away with one funny story, or something interesting that happens. So...2 stories.

One of the first times we went to the home I met one of the new girls. She was stern and didn't show a lot of emotion. She didn't know how to make jewelry so she sat with me and worked on some Christmas ornaments. Well the next week when we returned I asked her her name again cause i couldn't remember. She got all mad, saying in Hindi, that i just met her last time and how could i not remember her name. So, I made sure to remember it. 5 minutes later, i was speaking to her and said "Here, Sabiya," she gave me a look and smiled. We were both laughing cause i used her name. She knew. We've bonded.

There are many many languages in India. One of our girls at a home doesn't speak Hindi cause she's from a different region. None of the other girls in the home speak her language, so communication is a real challenge for her. She's become kind of a scapegoat for them. And though she doesn't understand the language she knows full well that she's getting blamed. People are constantly saying, she can't do that. She can't do this...So the girls were signing my arm cause it was Friendship Day. (a holiday) It's just something you do. and of course they're saying, Oh no, she can't do it. She doesn't know how. She even was saying she couldn't, shaking her head. But i encouraged her to try. I figured she could draw a happy face or flower or something. So she copied a few letters from one of the other girl's names. She was very happy. She has an amazing smile. And considering all she puts up with I can't believe how happy she is all the time.

Last story...I hadn't seen my Geeta since I had been here. She's one of my favorite girls from last year. She's been working at a beauty parlor 6 days a week so she's never home when we're there. On Saturday I forgot to ask if she was home cause she hasn't been there yet. So i'm sitting working on a project and I look up and there she was. Of course I got all excited and ran over to her. Communicating the story in words doesn't really sound as good as if you're living it. But we had a few exchanges through translation. I was just glad I got to see her.

Stephanie's taking a Break

GOOD NEWS!

Steph is taking a break! She was suppose to return to India this Monday, but I finally convinced her to stay another week. Su got to take a trip with her friends, and I got my relaxing week in Scottsdale. ;) She hadn't taken a break since, I don't know how long. ...and with Christmas coming, it's going to be a mad dash through the fall.

So on that note, if you hear from her it better not be about work!

Tuesday

On Tuesday we went to one of the homes and we planned to start making a Christmas ornament that my friend Tori had designed. About an hour into it, the ornaments are starting to take shape and let's just say i'm thinking..."I've got to call steph and tell her we better buy that domain name pitypurchase.com cause i don't know how these things will ever sell." The ornaments are little felt mittens that are stitched around the edges. Not too difficult, but it does require straight and careful cutting; a skill most the girls don't have. But they're trying. One of the girls sat down and then got up to go work on something else. She had decided she didn't know how to do it. I called her back and told her I'd help her. A few of the other girls had been working on it, and their mittens came out looking all...let's just say you couldn't tell they were mittens. I smile, and say "great job. Great." and then try to help them get a little better shape and move them onto the next step. Well the one girl that had called back turned out to be amazing. Her mittens were perfect! I was so proud of her! She was too.

One of the girls says to me in her very broken English, "Didi you married?" (it's a really big deal in India.) "no," i said. "No problem." she says. "I pray for boy." i was laughing. she was too.

Jewelry Making

So i definitely have a new found respect for Stephanie and the girls. I don't know how to make jewelry but have had the opportunity to learn more while I've been here. It's NOT easy! It takes me SO long to do anything. I was laughing at myself. Su was laughing too. I'd have it just about right and then it would drop and the whole thing would fall apart. It takes time, patience and skill.

Grant/Vocational Centers

There's a grant that Steph and her mom have been working on. I took a few pictures that I'll submit to go along with it. You can please be in prayer for this. It would be a really great help with starting the vocational centers. We've put looking for a property on hold until we complete our registration. We've been advised that this is the best order to complete things.
Through the OC Human Trafficking Task Force Coalition, we've had a few meetings to discuss involvement working with survivors in the US. They have a great need for vocational training. Looks like we are going to start something in Orange County in the next 6 months. Prayers for office space and a place the survivors can come and work are really appreciated. The main project would be internships with Tori Higa Stationery: the greeting card company that was donated to us 6 months ago. www.torihiga.com

Tea Anyone?

Every morning I make tea or coffee. But the mornings we have to rush out of the house early, i usually don't get to finish so i've poured it in a cup and taken it with me. (Steph gives me a hard time for being a slow drinker.)Well, as you can imagine, Indians aren't walking around with cups in their hands. They have their tea, drink it, and are done with it. But of course, us Americans love our to go cups...lids, etc. So drinking my tea in a rickshaw has been a skill that I've attempted to perfect. You really have to time it right. The pot holes, gear changes, and bumps in the road make it a bit of a challenge. So far there haven't been many spills. One morning I even got Su to bring hers with us. Steph would die if she knew.

Sunita

I've mentioned Su before. I can't say enough about her. She's amazing. She's great with the girls. They really open up to her. She always knows how to handle situations, as you can imagine the things they are discussing with her. There's more that I'd like to say about them, but out of respect for the girls and the caretakers I won't. Considering the circumstances, I'd say everyone is doing all they can.

It's Sunday Funday

So i'm doing my postings for the week. Sorry i wish i could post them gradually, but it's a challenge to get to it during the week. I needed a new addiction and since I don't have my Alias, or 24 dvds here i decided I should give LOST a try. Haven't been a fan. Will let you know if i get hooked.

Trash

The trash man comes everyday. Well he's suppose to. He wasn't coming to pick up our trash and we ended up having a creature visit us. a rat. not my favorite. this was a problem for about a week. until i got some rat cake at the store. He ate it all and hasn't come back. Now I make sure to set an empty water bottle outside to lure the trashman upstairs to pick up our garbage. They recycle the plastic so it has some value. So far it's been working.

Baby Faith is Here!!!

7lbs 4 oz. She came a little early. On her expected due date, though they didn't think she'd come for another week. Wish i was home to see her...and that I had a picture to post. She's my first niece! I'll meet her in 20 days!!!

Making up for lost time.

Sorry to go dark on you! No I didn’t get swallowed by the monsoons, and thankfully I wasn’t down for the count. Just had a busy week and then the internet was down all weekend. Thanks for your emails & interest!

This Week

This week we have a few meetings to try to register iSanctuary here in India. Please pray for us, that we get the right contacts to help us accomplish this task, and that we set it up the best way possible. Also, it’s time for me to start on some photography, which will be the beginning of a large project. Thanks to Mark our graphic artist and photographer, I’ve got what I need. Pray I’m able to capture the images we need. Photographing the girls anonymously is going to be a challenge.

The girls

The past few times at the homes, I’ve gotten a chance to just hang out with the girls. We hadn’t gotten any of the items we needed for the Christmas projects yet, so we couldn’t start on them. And since I don’t know how to make jewelry I was little help there. I’ve been able to speak a bit of broken English, learn some dance moves, learn an Indian magic trick, and get all my knuckles on my fingers and toes cracked. So one of our conversations we were talking and the girls asked, “Didi, (sister) you eat chicken?” I nod and said yes. “You eat fish?” I said yes. “You eat snake?” No. “You eat pig?” Sometimes. “You eat rat?” “NO!” I said, and they all started giggling and laughing. They don’t know how much I hate the creatures.

“Are you kidding me?”

I had it as a goal of mine to get Su to add a saying to her vocabulary by the time Steph got here. Su’s always adopting Steph’s sayings. It’s pretty cute. All week I’m hearing her say, “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” and I’m thinking, ‘where’d she get that? Steph doesn’t say that.’ Then it dawned on me that my friend Erin told me once, after I had said, “Are you kidding me?” how many times I say that. LOL mission accomplished!

Market Shopping

We went to the infamous Crawford Market yesterday, which is where Steph buys all the supplies for the jewelry. It makes for a really long day. The heat, the crowds, the chaos of traffic and finding your way through junk to find quality materials is a chore. Then to haul everything that’s bought back an hour home on the crowded train makes for an exhausting day. (Steph and Su are saints!) So funny story. Steph always inspects items before she buys them. Su & I were in this one shop and I asked the man, Joe Cool behind the counter with the diamond in his ear, if I could see this one in particular clasp. He hands it to me, standing in front of me. I took it and bent it and it snapped in half like a cracker. I looked up and his mouth had dropped open. He gasped, “Madame! What are you doing?” I said, “What? I wanted to see if it was good quality. It’s clearly not.” He said, “Yes, but you should have asked me!” “Everyone is saying ‘Good quality, good quality, and it’s not. If I’m working with it and I’m going to have people buy it, I want to know that it’s strong.” “You should have asked me. I will tell you.” I started apologizing profusely cause of course at that point I was laughing. It was funny. I said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll pay for it.” The item only cost 6 rupees which is equivalent to less than ten cents. Clearly it was equivalent to the cost. We bought some nice beads and were on our way.
Story #2 We were walking down the road, and I see some scissors at a stand. As I mentioned to find quality of anything here is a challenge. So I recognized the packaging on the scissors to be the good ones, so I asked Su to ask him the price. “Kit gnaw?” she says ‘how much?’ 20 ruppees for the small and 40 ruppees for the large. “Great,” I say. “Let’s take 5 of each.” Then he looks at me and goes, “oh, no this one,’ pointing to the small one, ‘is 40 and this one….” I look at Su and go, “did he just change the price?” “He just changed the price!” We both walked away shaking our heads, taking our business elsewhere. I taught Su a new word. Audacity….Just because businessmen see a foreigner they double the price. Most of them are quick enough to give it as the first quote though.

Vocational Search

So last week we looked for real estate for a vocational center. It was quite an interesting process. We met with a property agent and he took us around to see a few different places. The first was bright, clean, spacious, and several thousand per month for 1000 sq. ft. The next several were under construction-literally. The agent was trying to describe where the walls would be placed, and I was asking when the completion date was to be expected. Red flag was a new term I taught Sunita. He showed us several office spaces that were over priced and not large enough to have a main classroom. At least we’re starting to have an idea of what’s out there. We’d appreciate your continued prayers in this.

Poverty

India never ceases to amaze me. I went to the train station on the other side of town and there were all these slums lining the road that weren’t there last summer. A baby sitting there (at home) behind a brigade, staring at the traffic 5 feet from him through the bars, exhaust, honking, chaos, while a woman washes her pot from her morning cooking…It’s not uncommon to be approached by beggars in a rickshaw several times before making it home. Some small children with a baby on their hips, and some mothers carrying their infant children, in addition to the beggars in the train stations, crippled or blind. The elderly blind man sitting out in front of the mosque is still the same man from last year. What do you do with that? I don’t have the answers. Just wanted to give a perspective from the other side of the world. Something to consider.

Sister's Earrings

The other day we were having a class at one of the homes. The girls were all sitting around making jewelry. One girl finished a pair of earrings and showed it to the head caretaker. Suddenly I look up, and they’re all giggling and laughing. The sister (nun) who is very minimal, no makeup, a brown sari, glasses with her hair tied back, had these bright blue little bead dangling earrings on. It was the funniest sight ever. I think she actually enjoyed wearing them. She was smiling proudly, but giggling too.

Baby Faith arrives in 2 weeks!

My sister is having a baby in 2 weeks. It’s the first girl of the family-well, for the next generation. I have a feeling she’s gonna be the spoiled princess, coming after 5 boys. Her baby carrier that my mom made is filled with pink and lace. Quite a contrast from my marine nephews!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! Wish I could be with you to celebrate! We'll do something fun when I'm home visiting. Lots of love sent from India!

Happy Birthday Margie!

Happy Birthday Margie! Two women I love share the same birthday! Margie attended the first informational meeting back in January, committed to volunteer once a week and has become an amazing asset to iSanctuary. I am so thankful for her. (She keeps me on track! I knew I liked her when I found out she grew up in Oakland- 35th Ave.)

Back in the Neighborhood...

So i was really looking forward to coming back to see our neighborhood friends, the tailor, the ironing man, the shopkeeper etc. Not much has changed around these parts. The same elderly man still sells bananas down the street, the same blind beggar sits outside the mosque, and Manjoj still runs the shop downstairs. It was one of my first days here and Su and i went down to pick up a drink, I was beaming as i stepped inside the shop and i looked at the man (Manjoj) with a big smile on my face. He just kind of looked at me & looked back at this man that was in the shop. [Indian people are so funny sometimes cause they're so NOT amused at things we would be, which makes it even funnier.] so i say to him, "Hi! i'm back...member me?" all excited, and he's like oh, huh? "yeah" and barely smiles. it was quite anti-climactic. Indians have an amazing sense of humor & they love to laugh & are very relational, but at the same time, they can be SO unpredictable. Su said, "Don't worry, he didn't recognize you," trying to console me. We'll see how long it'll take to get a wave from the tailoring man we pass everyday. His shop has been closed since I've been here.

Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday is not so funday without Steph. But I went to church with one of the other interns, came home and I'm listening to my Sunday Funday CDs that my friend Lydia & brother Patrick made me. (Thanks guys!) I made masala peanuts which I'd recommend to anyone. Peanuts, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, a little salt, and A LOT of lime. You can't overdo the lime. It's raining and i'm taking it easy today since this week is gonna be a busy one running around the city.

Saturday we went to one of the homes and spent the day working on a few projects. I was kind of nervous to see them cause I wasn't sure how much had changed since I've seen them. It's been a full year. They were really sweet. The ones that are outgoing were excited and friendly and the ones that are shy were pretty quiet but I still got a couple smiles. A few of them have really grown and matured. Still waiting to see a few of my favorites since they were working at their jobs when we were there.

I’m sitting her at 4am like clockwork. Took my sleeping pill so I can get back to bed, but it hasn't kicked in yet. I haven't felt very jetlagged during the day. I just keep waking up in the middle of the night. The neighbor's alarm just went off. He'll snooze it a few more times before he actually gets up. Indians wake up really early to start their daily activities. Cooking, daily laundry, etc. It's very routine.

Yesterday Su & I were in a rickshaw on our way to one of the homes. We were stopped at a major intersection and I look out and see this huge billboard of Michael Jackson. “The Legend Lives On” She caught me staring at it, and says sadly, “Michael Jackson died.” I looked back at her with raised eyebrows cause I didn’t think she knew who Michael Jackson even was. She responds in her cute accent, “What? It was breaking news in India.” Some of the things she says is so sweet and sounds so innocent because of the way she says it. Anything with an accent always sounds better.

We are looking at properties for the vocational center on Monday. Please pray that we find something that is suitable. Working with the property agents, negotiating, etc. can be quite a skill. We've got to be careful how we play our cards. We’re also in the process of registering iSanctuary in India, so all the details of these tasks are beyond us. Your prayers are much appreciated!!!

Summer 2009

Another August in India. Well it's not August yet. Arrived here 2 days ago, and surprisingly have had SO much peace. Though I love India, it's not a place I would describe as peaceful, especially Mumbai.

Have spent the past few days with Sunita, getting caught up...visiting...i can't believe I haven't seen her in a year. (Scroll down to last year's posts and you'll see how gorgeous she is.) I can't say enough about her. She's bright, independent, has an amazing sense of humor, she's so sweet & feisty at the same time. She truly is a gift from God to iSanctuary. She's been holding down the fort and running things the past 2 months while Steph has been in the states. We are SO THANKFUL for her!

Today we went to one of the homes, where I was able to meet some of the girls. As we were walking in, one of the girls came out to greet us. We stopped to talk, until a downpour of rain came down without any warning. We couldn't get our umbrellas up fast enough. She ran off screaming!

(it's started to pour as i'm writing this---Monsoon season)

We worked on a new project making Christmas ornaments. They did so well. They're so smart and have really great skills. I only had to demonstrate once. Couldn't believe how well they caught on. We finished the afternoon with some Indian dancing. They loved it. So did I.

We're off to another home tomorrow. I'm really excited to see the girls I got to know last summer. Thanks for all your love, support, prayers & encouragement. I'll post some pictures once I start shooting.