Yes, I am sure you all are thinking of Mary and her little
lamb. How cute was that? A little girl whose pet lamb loved her so
much that it went with her everywhere, including school! No, I do not have a cute lamb following me to
class, but Madras Christian College is a beautiful campus that is indeed a
forest. See the pictures below of my
walk to class. There are lots of
beautiful trees and paths that lead to the Social Work Department. Oh no, if you look too fast you might miss
that right beside my dorm there was a picture of a deer. YES, A DEER!
He is just chilling in the shade by the dorm in the middle of the
day. According to students the deer are
very friendly and you can even walk up and you can feed them bananas out of
your hand. I will take all of their
words for it, but I am not at all trying it out! No thanks!
If anyone knows me, then they know my great love for animals, God’s
precious creatures…This might be an exaggeration of the truth…I don’t like any
of them. I know we must coexist. As long as they stay out of my way, I will
stay out of theirs, but there is no friendly buddy time going on hahaha…I might
be scared J. As odd as it may sound, I absolutely love the
outdoors and forests because the color green is everywhere. It’s my favorite color and I am convinced it
is one of God’s too J. So it is a nice walk to class each day, with
or without the chipmunks, and squirrels, deer, and random dogs roaming
campus. The sounds of nature are
calming, and the shade the trees bring is refreshing considering southern
Indian heat. I love the campus and I
have by no means seen half of it. From
what I understand, the campus is 365 acres.
I usually only walk about a mile to class and then a mile back, so I
know I have not seen it all. But I have
time. I will likely take a partner just
in case I run into some not so friendly deer…
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Happy Independence Day India!
India’s Independence came in 1947 on August 15th. This year’s celebrations were indeed
celebrations to remember, cherish, and also support. My activities began on the eve of
Independence helping the students of the social work department pick weeds, and
clean up the yard of a community project that has been serving the community
for many years. Family Life Institute is
an NGO that was started by Madras Christian College students many years
ago. The organization began as a small
hospital, and now serves as a primary school, women’s self-help group training
center, and a clinic. The Master’s of
Social Work (MSW) students were preparing for their independence day
celebration with the community in which the FLI center serves. It was quite interesting learning of the
history of the center and how it has been indeed making a difference in the
community. At one point, the first
generation of people who came to the center for services also worked on the MCC
campus as grounds keepers, cooks, etc.
The following generation did the same, but it was in the third
generation that a shift came about.
Nearly 80% of the third generation of persons served by this community
center is now college graduates and many of them from MCC. Many of them give back to the community
center and return to FLI where their mothers gave birth to them, they attended
primary school, and now they serve as teachers.
It is quite a cycle of growth and empowerment. I was unable to attend the next day’s events
because I had prior engagement with the Rotary Club of Madras, but I was
pleased to be able to contribute in a small way. I did see the dance that some of the MSW
students who live in my dorm prepared for the celebration. They practiced diligently each night…see
photo.
Still on the eve of Independence, a few MSW students and I
were invited to attend a panel discussion on an issue that is quite interesting
considering India’s Independence and great development. The panel discussion was on Bounded Labor
hosted by International Justice Mission- to discuss what the next steps are to
put into action the legislation that was created to counter it. As a student in the social work department, I
am being exposed to concerns and issues in Indian society that I would have
never thought of existed. While I steer
clear of any political protests or stances, this experience was indeed
education and it was indeed quite interesting and heart pricking to learn about
many people who on Independence Day will not feel the same freedoms as many
other Indians. Many of the persons who
are victims in bounded labor do not live in chains, but are bound through fear
and intimidation to pay off an advance from an employer. The human rights organization who hosted the
discussion has a website http://www.facebook.com/FightBondedLabourCrime
where you can read more about the things they are doing, and the issues that
surround this topic. The discussion was
eye opening and quite informative.
On the actual Independence Day, I had the pleasure of riding
to the Rotary Club of Madras’ Create Campus and share the day with the boys of
Boy’s Town. There is an urban boys town
in the city, near Madras Christian College and so I road there with them. I am blessed to be affiliated with not only a
great International service organization, Rotary, but also to be studying in a
social work program. It is refreshing to
see and learn of the great things that Indians are doing to continue the
development of this great nation. The
Boy’s Town project provides housing and education for many orphaned and
economically distressed young boys in the Chennai area. They are learning trades varying from auto
mechanics to electricians. See the
picture of some of the young boys from the Boy’s Town near MCC. It’s a town that they created and wired
electrically using the lessons they learned in class. It was indeed a great experience!
Things I noticed on Independence Day here:
-they put
flower petals in the flag so when you raise it and open it, it bursts with
flowers.
-just like
at home, everyone proudly wears their countries flag
-just like
at home there’s lots of food everywhere J
Happy Independence Day to India!
First 24 Hours and I am already meeting celebs: Wilfrid Wilkinson and Kalya Banerjee
To the Rotarians worldwide, I am sure that the name rings
bells. Can you imagine that I was only
in the country for under 24 hours and not only did I get to attend a district-wide
meeting, I was honored to hear speeches from both Wilfrid Wilkinson, current Rotary Foundation
Chair, and also Kalya Banerjee, past
Rotary International President. To those
who do not know, it is through the generous contributions and dedication of my
sponsoring District 7600 to the Rotary Foundation that I am blessed to have
this Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study abroad. So being able to attend a meeting with the
Foundation Chair and also the past Rotary International President it was indeed
quite a treat. It is Rotary
International and the Foundation that connects Rotarians worldwide. It was quite encouraging hearing from the District
Governor, Raja Seenivasan of 3230 and all of the wonderful initiatives they are
working on here in Chennai and for their contributions to the Rotary
Foundation. The level of commitment, and
dedication to the Happy Villages project, their district giving, and also
membership increases is reassuring that I was assigned to this great district
as my host. I look forward to the time I
will spend getting to share in projects, activities, and meetings. Thank you for your hospitality to the Rotary
Foundation and Rotarians worldwide. I
extend a special thanks to District 7600 and the Bonair Club that is sponsoring
me without your contributions this opprotunity would not be possible, and a
warm welcome and thank you to District 3230 that is hosting me. It has indeed been a delight in such a short
time J.
Yes, that is me, stealing my way into the picture…hahaha…at
first I didn’t know who he was…keep in mind it took me 4 days to get here with
lots of plane cancelations…and jetlag.
And once I did realize who I was looking at, I definitely wouldn’t miss
my photo op J,
even if he was posing for another camera J.
How I met Mrs. Stella Brown in the Restroom…
First, I must say that from now on, I think I will refer to
such moments in my life as “stella” moments—no not stellar, though that is what
I feel the moment is; I always want to give tribute to what I think of as the
time where I felt I learned to hear God/ understand that God was communicating
with me in my everyday life. I believe
we all have “stella moments,” but it is not certain that we will take away from
the situation the revelation, the truth, the urge, or the lesson that is put
before us. This is my story.
On July 31, 2012, I was to travel from my hometown in
Virginia to arrive in India on August 1, 2012 for a year of study abroad in the
field of social work. An exciting time
for me as this is my first time travelling to a place where the people are not
considered historically African. I have
travelled to several countries in West Africa, I have also been to Haiti
following the earthquake of 2010, and have been to many places on the east
coast of the United States where I see and interact with black Americans. Thus all of my travels and much of my rearing
has been within the African Diaspora. I began
to step outside of my comfort zone, which is necessary if I plan to call myself
a citizen of the planet who is from the African Diaspora. Well a thunderstorm, bathroom visit, and 4
flight schedule changes after, I finally arrived on August 4th. My stella moment happened on August 1st.
After the thunderstorm delayed my flight on the 31st,
I decided to take the same flight schedule for the 1st of
August. I assumed that I missed my
flight because God was protecting me from some unseen danger. While that may still be true because I
thankfully did not see it, I think something more significant was at play. On the 1st I arrived at the
airport to find that my flight was delayed yet again, but this time it was due
to a computer glitch. Thankfully, the
delay would not affect my connection to get to Qatar and then finally to India. I sat in the airport and began to write a
prayer to God, something I have been doing since I was about 12 years old. The prayer was mainly thanking Him for the
blessing from the Rotary Club for the opportunity and asking personal
preparation as well as for those I would encounter. I asked for protection for my resources, and
my family. But what might be most
significant comes after the third line of my prayer, which says,
“Lord,
thank you for your blessing. Continue to
bless me so that I may be a blessing.
This is a new exciting experience with awesome adventures and blessings
ahead.”
After writing my prayer, I began writing a letter to myself,
also pretty customary before a long trip so that I can write down my
expectations, anxieties, hopes, and questions before the journey and when I am
on the plane home, I usually read the letter and laugh at my insane
insecurities, and reflect on my foresight and discoveries. But if you know me at all, I got a little
distracted. An airport restaurant worker
walked by pushing a huge bin full of French fries soaking in what I assume was
probably salt water. It was after 8:30pm
and I had not eaten dinner. So I decided
to walk in the direction she was coming from to order some food, come back to
the gate and continue writing while eating.
My flight was not due to leave until 9:20pm so I had about 25 minutes to
kill without feeling flustered. My
letter to myself only got this far:
Dear Me,
As I wait for the plane to head to DC and begin this new chapter I hope
for great revelations while I am away. I
am trying to keep my mind open and free of too many expectations of the people
of India as I want to remain a clean and open/blank slate and absorb once I
arrive.”
On
my way to the restaurant, I went to the restroom. While I was using it, I kept hearing someone
say in a belabored tone, “Oh God, oh God.”
Once I finished in my stall, I noticed the door to the handicapped accessible
stall was open and I called to the voice and asked if everything was ok. An older woman replied and said that she couldn’t
get onto the toilet and needed to go so bad.
I walked closer and found a honey brown colored woman with the most
beautifully smooth skin and cotton looking grey hair sitting in a wheel chair
facing the toilet trying to use the bars on the walls to pull herself up. After getting her permission to help, I tried
to get her to her feet. She was a large
woman, probably around 300lbs or more, and even with the “one-two-three-up”
rock and stand technique that people use to get up, our effort was futile. I found out she was travelling with her
daughter who was about 10 gates away sitting with their dog. Mrs. Stella was an enticing woman and I found
out that I was not the only person who felt drawn to her. Somehow she recruited a middle-aged white man
to push her wheelchair to the restroom.
She told me he was outside waiting for her. On my way out I let him know that she was
having some difficulty and that I was going to get her daughter. I found her daughter and she seemed to act as
if her mother was a bit of a bother. “I
told her she wasn’t going to be able to go to the bathroom when she left, but
she knows so much.” Apparently, the
daughter had checked the board she usually uses to slide from the wheelchair to
the toilet. But it is beyond my belief
or understanding why she would do this, or assume that her mother should turn
off nature simply because it was “work” for her.
Anyhow,
I walked quickly ahead of her daughter who was answering a telephone call. I caught up with the guy waiting outside of
the bathroom for Mrs. Stella and told him that her daughter was on the
way. I heard one of his friends say that
they were about to start a game and was he in.
He got confirmation from me that her daughter was on the way and made
sure we could take it from here. Her
daughter arrived in the bathroom and with some fussing, convinced her mother
that it was a good idea to turn the wheelchair around and replace it beside the
toilet so all she would have to do is stand, “two-step” over, and sit. It worked…mostly except she ended up getting
some pee on the floor, but I thought it was an overall success. Her and her daughter decided to leave her on
the toilet for a while because her nephew was there to pick up the dog that
turned out to be too large to travel with as a carry-on. I told her I would give her privacy and go
check on my flight. There was a small
shop right beside the bathroom and I could see the gate from the shop. The attendant was still standing there and so
I stopped in the shop and picked up a bottle of water, apple chips and a book
that screamed at me when I walked in Becoming a Woman Who Listens to God,
by Sharon Jaynes. That stop probably
took about 2-3 minutes and then I walked just a few paces to my gate and saw
the monitor flashing departed. It was
now 9:28pm. And so even if I had not
stopped in the shop, I still would have missed it because the attendant told me
they left earlier than 9:20pm because the flight time was delayed so they try
to get out faster.
I
called home the next day after breakfast and charging my cell phone to tell my
dad what had happened. I explained to
him that at first I thought that God was protecting me from an unseen danger,
which may still be true, but what I learned is that, I believe that God was
letting me know that He listens. I asked
him specifically to continue to bless me so that I may be a blessing. I am blessed to be able to get up and use the
bathroom as I please and so why wouldn’t I help this woman. She could have been my mother, aunt,
grandma…anyone, even me! I also wrote in
the letter to me that I await great revelations. More than anything, this was confirmation
that He listens and that each step of this journey is but a faith walk. It began as a faith walk as nothing seemed to
fall into place in what I thought was a timely manner: my admissions letter
came only 10 days before my initial flight after finding out that one of the
schools I applied to had never received the paper portion of my application
that I had sent months prior, my scholarship funds were released the day before
I boarded the plane, but God opened up financial resources through a bank loan
just days before to cover my ticket and initial costs while I awaited my
scholar funds and to think I began preparation for this study abroad about a
year ago. Not to mention, once I was
rebooked, I got rebooked again 3 more times in Cleveland, New Jersey, Frankfurt
Germany, and Paris; and even though I do not know where my luggage is, I still
feel certain that it will arrive and that more importantly I would not have
changed my decision to help Mrs. Stella.
This journey is about faith and trusting God and knowing that He is with
me.
I
began reading the book that I picked up and in the first few pages, I received
clear understanding of my “stella moment”.
What I had not gotten the chance to write in my letter to myself was
that this trip was also intended for me to get away and seek God for myself in
what I thought to be a place filled with spiritual understanding and
respect. I had planned to take a retreat
during the time I was away in India and possibly go to an ashram to meditate
and be quiet so that I could hear God’s message and mission for my life. But this “stella moment” showed me that God
listens, that I can put full faith in Him as He has the situation worked out
even when it seems odd, and that I can hear Him even in the midst of my daily
life. In the first chapter of the book,
“God Still Speaks Today,” these things were reaffirmed when the author says:
“I’ve often thought, if I could just get away from the clamor and
calamity of everyday life, perhaps I could hear that still, small voice. But when I pored over scripture, I
discovered that some of God’s most memorable messages were not delivered while
men and women were away at a spiritual retreat, but right in the middle of the
hustle and bustle of everyday life. He
spoke to Moses while he was tending to sheep, to Gideon while he was threshing
wheat, to Zechariah while he was performing his duties in the temple, to the
shepards while they were watching their flocks by night, to Peter and Andrew
while they were fishing on the sea, to the woman at the well while she was
drawing water for her household chores…I don’t believe it is a question of
whether or not He will speak, but whether or not we will listen. Henry Blackaby in his book, Experiencing God, said, ‘Right now God
is working all around you and in your life.
One of the greatest tragedies among God’s people is that, while they
have a deep longing to experience God, they are experiencing God day after day,
but do not know how to recognize Him.’”
People
refer to what Moses experienced as the “Burning Bush” experience or
moment. And well, I call mine the
“stella moment” when God reaffirmed that He listens, I can trust Him, and that
I do indeed have the capacity to hear Him and I do not need to go all the way
to India to do so because He can speak to me anywhere. I did
not hear a voice as Moses did, but I feel like I “heard” Him because I began to
understand the message that was being sent to me. And well, maybe one day I will indeed have a
new kind of moment when I actually hear a voice, who knows. I will possibly call it some other kind of
“moment,” but for now, I am thankful for this stella moment and I also know
that there are many more to come. Who
would have thought that meeting Mrs. Stella Brown in the restroom would change
my life in such a stellar way?
A New Chapter Begins- Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to India
Thank you to the Rotarians who made this opportunity
possible to explore, share, and learn with and from the people and culture of
India. I will be studying for 2
semesters in the field of Social Work in southern India. As I continue to learn about myself and the
many people of God’s creation, I will continue to share my experiences and
stories through this medium. It is my
prayer that this experience can be enriching and fulfilling for both the people
of India as well as people at home in the USA, and any of my friends worldwide.
As part of my responsibility to the scholarship I am
required to share my experience with people both at home and in India. I hope that this blog will begin to give some
background as I experience things and will help to structure the conversations
I have once I am home. Please feel free
to ask hard questions, as I will be thinking critically about my place in this
world and how we are connected and disconnected as human beings. I look forward to sharing with each of you as
I continue to become a great citizen of this planet Earth.
Thank you again to Rotary District 7600 and the Bon Air Club
for sponsoring as well as District 3220 in India for hosting me.
A Chapter Ends- Saying Goodbye
My
experience living and working in Burkina Faso yet again was indeed a rewarding
one. It was interesting this time
(2011-2012) working in a larger town as before (2006-2008) I lived and worked
in a small village. I felt like I got to
see two sides of the coin. My first
experience, most of my close friends did not have higher than a middle school
education, while this time I had several friends with masters degrees. While it was the same culture, the
socio-educational and economic difference made it yet another culture within
the culture. Some of my friends teased
me and said I acted like a villager, which I proudly agreed with having lived
in village the longest. I loved both
experiences for different reasons and am thankful for all of the relationships
that were created and especially those that will continue.
www.peacecorps.org
It was especially hard saying goodbye to special friends,
the girls at the community house, the mother’s association, and the catholic
sister I worked with the most. The girls
wrote a song in English and sang it to me at the closing dinner they had for
me. I hid midway through the dinner
because I could feel myself getting emotional.
I feel as if Burkina Faso is and will always be a second home for
me. It’s the first foreign country I
ever experienced firsthand and will never be forgotten. So I cannot imagine saying a real goodbye,
but instead see you later as I am sure I will be back in the near future. Though my project ended in May, the
relationship lasts forever. Special
thank you to the girls and the staff at the community house for girls, to the
mother’s association, to the DEPBA& DREBA, to RAJS, and my English club at
the correction office who all shared gifts and love at my departure. To each of my very dear friends, thank you
for your kindness, openness, and love.
Thank you once again to my Burkina.
Indeed I cannot close this without mentioning the United
States Peace Corps who provided me the opportunity to learn about another
culture, to share my own, and to work alongside the people of Burkina Faso to
realize their development goals. My
foundation in international development work and exploration is attributed to
you and the wonderful staff that is trained to support Peace Corps Volunteers
like me. While I will no longer be a
volunteer with your prestigious organization, the lessons I have learned about
cultural appreciation, development, and building relationships worldwide are
invaluable features of who I am now as a person. For that, I say thank you.
Make up Blog- Soap Making
One of the things that the women of the mother’s association
wanted to accomplish was to help make available the essential needs of the
girls right in the community house. Soap
being so important for personal hygiene, laundry, etc was the task they wanted
to take on. The soap making effort could
also be a source of income generating for future projects and activities within
the community house, and could also be the spring board for examining other
income generating activities. This was
indeed a blast!
The women were willing to put up for the soap making
training, but to be able to support them in obtaining supplies, I also applied
for a grant through Peace Corps Partnership
Funds. With the supplies the
grant and the women provided the training went well. The training was a total of 2 and a half days
where they learned to make liquid soap and hard shea butter soap. The liquid soap came out awesome, with no
glitches. When they plan to make it
again they said they would likely dilute it more because even though we made high
quality soap, others who make the same soap dilute it more and get more
profit. The only way they would keep it
as thick as we made it is if they were able to get clients to buy the soap in
bulk, like possibly selling to government offices.
The hard soap turned out to be a crazy story. So if you know anything about soap, it is all
chemical reactions between fats and chemicals like lye. When the two react, they form suds. Some soaps have better lather depending on
the type of fats you use. We used a mix of
coconut oil and Shea butter as our fats.
All was going well until we did not add the right amount of the substance
that is like lye. The recipie called for
2 kilograms. I assumed that when I went
to the store and order 2 kg that they put it all in the same bag. Nope they didn’t it was in 2 separate bags
and the soap ended up being too oily, but it still had a great lather. We later found the extra kg of soude caustique (that is the lye) and the women did not give up on their soap and massaged the extra kg into the
mix. It was indeed a challenge, but they
were good sports about it. Thankfully,
they were not loosing profit as we used the grant money to get a bunch of the
supplies and they would be able to make things up based on the liquid soap
sales, but it was indeed a learning lesson.
Nonetheless, they were great sports about it and we had a blast. These women love to laugh and make jokes and
we did just that.
~Special thank you to Peace Corps Partnership Funds!
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