Jim Stuff

India 14 - Worship Widows/Orphans

Monday Night.

Church on the Beach!

Well our 2 day respite is coming to an end. We had Sunday and Monday with no official client activities and some to do as we pleased. Sunday we all got up later than usual and had breakfast. Then at 11:00 we all met down on the beach and had an inspiring time sharing, singing praises (I brought down my computer and cranked up some tunes), had some typical intense prayer time, and got to know a couple more team members who had arrived the night before (Ophelia and C – from Malaysia). Powerful time!! We sat in those little white deck chairs on the sand, under a thatched hut structure with palm trees all around. Europeans were definitely within ear range of our worshiping and prayer – and I hope they were blessed

Then off to lunch. Then a few of us rented bicycles from the hotel and rode into town (about 1.5 miles away I’m guess). What a treat! What commotion! What a mess! Traffic was the typical clog. We did find an amazing temple hewn right out of some huge rocks – with lots of symbolisms and idols carved right out of stones. Amazing – National Geographic kind of stuff!! Then back to the hotel for a swim (swam as many laps as my arms would allow – penance for not being a good boy at the buffet spread). Then cleanup and off for diner on the seawall where they had prepared a tremendous diner out on the veranda. What a treat!!. Finally most of us hopped a transport into down and walked around the ‘garment district’ just browsing. Move over Rodeo-drive in Beverly hills! You can’t top this (well, maybe if they added some random cows they’d come close).

[imagine picture of exotic temple here - having technical difficulty]

Widows and Ophans

Monday (today) we went to visit the orphan school and widow workshop. It is amazing how widows are treated in India. It’s actually kept very hush-hush as the govt does not want the West to really understand how bad it is. Basically, once a husband dies, the wife is blamed. A widow is not allowed to cross the street in then morning. If a widow is seen while a wedding is coming out (processional) they are driven off, abuse, and can even be beaten. They cannot get jobs as no one wants their bad luck around. Many widows are 19-20 years old and with kids! Many end up in prostitution as they have no other alternatives. Many go home to their father’s household, where they are just treated like Crap!! Often even by Christians!! They are only allowed to eat leftovers. If the matron of the house is displeased the leftovers can be given to beggars and they have nothing. The view is just so incredibly pervasive that they are lower than a slave. It’s mind-boggling. If a husband dies or commits suicide, they often quickly hide/burn the body so there is no police report. If there is a police report then they are required to do a post-modem. This is super expensive and the new widow must pay. Then the police come back every week and push the new widow – “what did she do” to drive her husband to suicide! Sick stuff! So we visited a group that is making a huge difference by rescuing widows and orphans that are considered untouchable in most spheres. They provide them a trade so they can eventually be employable, have dignity, and provide for their own household.

After seeing and hearing how most organizations work in the region – it has really reaffirmed that you really want to support groups that provide, teach, train. Groups that just give handouts only perpetuate dependency! The group I mentioned that is making such a difference has been really key in help setup/bring Equip to India and they are acting as a client to see how their business model can also benefit from the consulting.

As I’ve been typing I’m been hearing lots of big booms outside the hotel window. I just looked out and sure enough there are fireworks as they celebrate the end of Ramadan. Please pray for the salvation of India and Muslims all over the world.

And here is a quick snap I got off of 4 people on one bike. It is common to see 4 people on a motor bike, but usually 2 are adults and 2 are medium size. This ride is actually quite comfy. The record this trip is we saw 5 people on one bike on the way back into Chennai today. Traffic safety is a TOTALLY different mind set here.

posted by Winya @ 9:05 AM