Last day...

Well, today is our last day!  We handed out some blankets to a few kids in one of the slums.  These kids attend Pathshala, an educational program for kids that can't go to school.  Hopefully they will be able to go to school in the future because of this extra help!
Next we took off for central Delhi to see the Parliament buildings, the Presidential Palace, and India Gate.  We took a picture in front of India Gate, then we headed off to lunch.  We had a Western-style meal, so many of our team members did not hesitate to order pizza! :) After lunch and shopping, we went back to our hotel and packed everything up!

Now we are sitting in the Malakars' apartment, ready to enjoy some chai, debrief, and eat dinner.  I got the recipe for chai, so if anyone wants it when I get back, I will be glad to give it to you!  Soon after dinner we will head for the airport for our 24 hours of travel.

We have had a wonderful time in India.  It was hard, it was fun, it was hot, it was stretching.

Thanks for following us on our adventure.  Ask us for details when we get back to California TOMORROW!!

"Please, what is your good name?"

Our view on the way up the mountain

If you visit India, you just might be asked this question.  This is the way that some Indians say, "Hi, what's your name?"  It's just one of the interesting things that comes out when traveling cross-culturally.  A few people on our team were confused when the packing list for our retreat called for a torch.  Torch is the British term for flashlight, but several of the guys pictured themselves carrying flaming sticks through the jungle.  Everything got straightened out though, and we headed out on our trip.
We took the metro to the train station and boarded our "boogy."  I don't know why ours was called a boogy train, but it was.  Our train had hard, padded benches that flipped up into beds.  This was nice because we left Delhi around 10:00 or 11:00 pm and got to the end of the line around 5:30 am.  We had a whole section to ourselves, but the rest of the train still stopped to load and unload other passengers.

Monkey!

When we woke up in the morning, we were passing rice paddies and corn fields, and the mountains were looming in the distance.
Our stop was at the very end of the line.  We unloaded everything from the train and loaded it back into Jeep-like vehicles to make the climb through the mountains to the retreat center.
The retreat center was set in a beautiful area. We were surrounded by high mountains with deep valleys and misty clouds.  A few lakes were scattered around as well.  Monkeys wandered around in the trees and occasionally sat on the railing of the girls' dorm.

I found part of a huge butterfly!

Our accommodations were not five-star, but they worked!  Sometimes the lights in our room worked and sometimes they didn't.  Sometimes the sound worked in the meeting hall, and sometimes too much power tripped the breakers.  The girls got to use a miniature water heat to heat buckets of water to take a "shower."  It was quite the trip, but we all survived and several of us thrived!  We were all glad to be away from the Delhi heat and humidity.

Hudson in a paddle boat with friends

Our partners from Delhi were very excited to be at the Sattal retreat.  Some of the activities included soccer, boating, hanging out, water balloon fights, singing, hiking, photography, etc.
We also listened to Todd speak at several different sessions.  His messages were very encouraging to our team and to our partners.  It is our hope that our lives will be changed because of this retreat.  Be sure to ask us more about it when we all get home on Tuesday!

Our whole group!

Retreat! Retreat!

Well, our kids' camp went better today!  We didn't have a power outage, the heat wasn't as bad, and we got to play water games outside in the park.  Pictures will have to come at some other time because right now we are getting ready to go on a retreat in the jungle!
We're leaving late tonight by train to go to a retreat with the people we're working with.  We'll be gone from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday morning.  It should be an experience, if nothing else. ;)
Our team won't have internet access, so this is your last blog post for a few days.  Have a good rest of the week and expect an update when we get back!

It rained yesterday in Delhi, and this was the result!

This is a typical house under construction.  The third floor is being held up by poles which are probably tree branches.

Tuesday...

Monday will have to wait for its own post...

On Tuesday we ran a kids' camp, ate at Karim's, and visited a Sikh temple.

The first day of kids' camp went pretty well, even with a visiting rat, a vomiting child, buckets of rain, a power outage, and of course, miscommunication.  However, I think the kids had a good time and we learned a lot that we can use tomorrow at kids' camp.  All obstacles aside, our team did well painting faces, applying tattoos, telling the story of Peter walking on water, giving a hygiene lesson, singing songs (the Hokey Pokey needs some help, but you can ask Todd and Aimee about that...haha!), and playing games.  Today we are going to get feedback from the full-time children's staff; that should help it flow more smoothly and help us help them do what they need to do for these slum kids.

After the kids' camp, we took a few cars to Old Delhi to eat lunch at Karim's, touted as the best food in Asia!  It was pretty good, as Darren will tell you.  Cara found  the pit toilet at the restaurant, but no one else wanted to follow up on her discovery.

Next we visited a Sikh temple.  We had to cover our heads with bright orange bandanas and remove our shoes.  Our team walked through the temple and was even invited by one of the men to take pictures from the front.  We declined and walked on to see the temple's kitchen where copious amounts of food are prepared for the needy in the community.  We walked through a lot of dirty rain water, but we survived that, too.

After the Sikh temple we went to the Red Fort where the first Indian flag was raised.  We took a picture and left.  Unfortunately there was no time to explore.
Returning to our hotel, we had some down time before the girls headed to the Malakars' house to put together folders for our upcoming retreat.  The guys headed to the resource center for a forum on "hope" followed by dinner from one of the local restaurants, Ramble.  The girls joined the forum when we were done with the folders.
Tuesday was a trying day, but we made it through.  Look out for another post later concerning Monday's trip to the Taj Mahal and our plans for the rest of this week!

Hudson and Greg captured the rat, while Aimee stood on a chair and wanted nothing to do with it!

Hinduism...

First, a shout-out to Robin Lichtenstein!  The VBS materials worked great this afternoon!  Pictures to come!
Todd spoke on fear this morning to an appreciative audience.  Pictures were taken of him standing at the front, making his typical gestures during his speaking. ;)
After our meeting, we went to Peter and Heather's house for a lunch of Chinese food!  During lunch we spoke to a former Hindu about Hinduism, the main religion in India.

Several interesting facts have come to light:

+Red or orange dots in the middle of the forehead mean that a woman is married
+Yellow dots mean that the girls just want to be attractive; they are unmarried
+Reincarnation is part of Hinduism, with man believed to be the final stage before heaven or hell
+Reincarnation is believed to occur 8.4 million times before the final stage of man
+There are 33 million gods in Hinduism; there are many major gods and many minor gods
+Shiva is one of the major gods, worshiped out of fear, called the Destroyer
+Chili peppers and lemons are hung from bumpers of cars, front gates, and other things because they are believed to protect people from evil spirits or evil "eyes"
+Another reason children have eyeliner or dots on their faces is because it is believed that it will keep them from the evil "eyes"; this happens mostly frequently in the slums
+Hindus might kill others because they say that sin cannot be eliminated without eliminating the sinner
+Other religions are viewed as a threat to Hinduism and are treated as such

This religion is alive in India.
We in the States have no idea what it is like outside of our comfort zones.  May we not cease to be thankful for what we have in both freedom and possessions and to remember those who experience hardship.  May we sacrifice our resources, our time, and even our lives in order to bring help and hope.

FYI

Thank you for your comments, however, some of your comments cannot be published because of religious references.  We have to keep our partners safe, so if you want your comment to appear on this blog, you must avoid these references.  We will be more free to discuss this with you when we return!
Thank you for understanding!

Deepak talks with Dennis and Todd at the medical clinic

Medical Clinic

Yes, this is our team in the middle of the street. There are no crosswalks in India, so every time we want to go to the resource center, we cross this busy street.  No one has gotten squashed...yet. ;)

These men and boys are waiting in the men's line at the medical tent.  We spent four+ hours running a medical clinic in the Nandal Slum in Delhi today.  Several stations were set up inside to assist these slum residents with their medical needs.  Our team members were working with other volunteers to provide rudimentary health care to the families.  We saw everything from skin conditions to eye infections to second-degree burns.  The burn victim was a tiny baby only four-six months old.  Somehow she had been scalded by boiling water in the home three days before the clinic.  Thankfully her mother had a ticket to the clinic, either before or after she was badly burned.  We are so happy that they were able to come and receive care! :)

A mother and her baby.  Aimee learned that in the Indian culture, parents do not want others to think that their children are cute or attractive.  To prevent this, many parents put make-up on their children's faces, like this little kid.

I'm acting as the photographer on this trip, but I did manage to get a few photos of myself with some of the people waiting in line.  Everyone loved to smile for the camera and then to see their image afterward. :)

This is the team of volunteers beside the tent where we held our clinic.  It was a great, hot, humid, and rewarding day.  However, it's only 3:45 in the afternoon on Saturday here in India...we still have a few things planned for the rest of the day.  :)