TEAM TWO ARRIVAL!

Hello from team two!
We got to the hotel in the middle of last night after a VERY long day travelling, starting at 4am, awaiting the start of the mission.
Once the first flight had taken off (on time!) we were served our breakfast, which by the looks of it was egg and tomato although the egg was rather a rubbery substance!
Many hours, 2 countries and a few movies later we landed in Delhi airport and were instantly struck by the fog that was everywhere inside the building, a vaguelly smelly smog, like what foreigners expect from london. The second surprise (to us at least -Geni and Hannah) was the driving! eeek its mental, no indicating or lanes or anything, just honking to say "hello! im here! you might want to get out of the way but if not dont worry ill drive round you like a madman!"
Our tiredness was proven by the sightings of animals, we thought we saw a monkey in a dress in a car (turned out to be a women sleeping with her hair flopped over her face! woops!) and Hannah and Chelsey mistook an Indian cow for a moose!

But we all got a (good) nights sleep and a couple of us managed to turn on the shower, and after a meeting we set off to the main headquarters of Asha to meet Dr Keeran Martin and a few of the people working with her to hear about all the stuff that Asha do and how it al got started. SHe is an incredible woman with a great passion, she has built the organisation out of nothing and it does SO MUCH for the people out here, totally transforms the way they live!
Afterwards we went to meet the women and children of the slum, they greeted us with flower garlands made by the kids, so touching! we all sat down together to find out what goes on in the slum and they asked us questions to find out what we do back home! The midwife of the slum was lets say a "little" surprised when she found that a few members of the team (who were married) didn't have kids...so she offered to deliver the baby next year!

The woman who was the kind of doctor of the slum, not a proper doctor but trained to give out treatment and stuff, showed us proudly her medicine box. what really struck us was that the pills that they treasure so much and have so few of between so many were only like paracetamol, aspirin, immodium etc that we can get over the counter at boots for like 50p.

The kids themselves showed great passion to make the most of what they actually have. Few wanting to be doctors and some presidents of groups they have in the slums that take care of particular lanes in the slum. They were concerned about the elderly and pregnant women, as well as their rights!! (This is just coming from a 9 year old! amazing eh?!)

However the kids did show their cheeky side when taking us around the slum and they decided to hold our hands with, the left hand (lets just say it doesn't go anywhere pleasant!) They were also so happy to see us and we made instant friends. At one point there was a very picturesque moment where Caroline held very tiny premature baby, it was so beautiful.

The slums wern't as bad as we had expected, but then Asha has been there for quite a few years, and you can tell that alot of work has been done and there is deffinately room for even more improvement. Their houses were so colourful, bold and neat, although they were very small, sleeping up to 10 people in one tiny room! So next time you think about moaning about the size of your room, or even your house take a second to think about some others that don't even have that! In all the houses we visited we were offered food and chi tea.

We now have the evening off, so i think catching on sleep and preparing for an almighty trip out to the market will be in store! Us ladies are especially excited about the Salwar Kameez's. We shall try and report more tomorrow, thanks for all the support back home and keep praying for our health especially, and our physical and emotional strength for the week to come!

p.s. londoners - STOP BEING SO MISERABLE! coming here its like WOAH they are so happy, and welcome and greet everyone around and know all their neighbours like family... next time youre on a tube or in the street or something, give them a smile!

Celebrations and Goodbyes

After a spot of shopping in the morning we headed off to the slum for the last time. Today would be a grand occaision with everyone gathering to celebrate the opening of the freshly painted clinic and children's resource centre. Mrs Balkar Singh from the MLA (Members of Local Authorities - i think!?) was there too cut the ribbon and officially open the buildings, it was a great opportunity to show the government a little bit more of the work ASHA are doing in the slums and see the difference it can make to the community living there.

We were quite astounded by the effort they had gone to; they set up a stage and decorated everything with flowers. We were greeted as guests of honour and members of the community came and put garlands round our. Hundreds of people gatherered round - we could barely move through the crowd - some were even sitting on the roof of the clinic! There was laughter, cheering and clapping, everyone seemed so happy and we were pleased to be able to give them a reason to have fun and celebrate - though as per usual we did not feel worthy of such a grand ceremony!
We listened to members of different groups deliver speaches, telling of what they do for their community, how Dr. Martin had changed their lives and they expressed a thank you to our group for coming to visit them.
We, in turn, thanked them for their hospitality and generosity. We told them that we had learnt so much from them and that they had given us far more than we had ever given them.
We had some snacks, and spent some time dancing and playing with the children. We presented those who had specifically been helping us over the last week or so with a gift to say thank you. Then we said our goodbyes and climbed back in the van.

Not many of us really wanted to leave that place, and if i'm honest i felt a little scared at the thought of adjusting back into life at home. Each of us have come away changed, but it's hard to know what to do with the experience we've had. We've been asking ourselves what we can do to ensure that our experiences in Delhi wont be left there as a memory but will come home with us and truly change the way we think and act. Please pray for us as we try and sort through in our heads the different things we have seen and heard, and pray that it will have a lasting impact in our lives.

We're back home now (although luggageless!!) and i'm sure will be catching up with many of you shortly. Team two fly out tomorrow morning and will be posting their news on here in the days to come!

Every blessing to you all once again and thank you for your continued prayers and support. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you!

Monday and Tuesday!

On Monday we went off to visit Mayapuri; another of the slums ASHA works with. They have only been working there for 5 years, so it is not as advanced as Dr. Ambedkar Basti - where we have spent most of our time. It was incredible to see the difference between the two, which was a testimony to the difference that the work of ASHA makes. The houses were much smaller (if that's possible), the lanes were dirtier, and there seemed to be less hope in the eyes of the people. The housing was mixed in with an idustrial sight, so there was a lot of heavy machinery around with people working on the streets. Our resident town planner (Michael S) couldn't believe that houses were almost on top of all the industry work that was going on; little children running around by all the workers, doesn't bear thinking about!

We spent some time with the children's group and were blown away by the sort of things they got up to. ASHA had taught them to know what their rights were as well as the responsibilities that go along with them. They would stand up and recite things like 'I have the right to the love and adoration of my parents' that went along with the responsibility to 'respect and honour them in return'. These children, though only young, were having interactions with the local police to help ensure their slums was a safer, cleaner environment. They protested against things like gambling, litter and alcohol. They'd make posters and pettitions until the police acted. It was incredible to hear!
The women's group shared similar stories; we were so inspired to hear about how they would not tolerate injustice in their slum, and ASHA was teaching them how to care for each other and stand up for what they believed in. They have earnt the respect of the police officers in their area and now have a voice that people pay attention to. The work that ASHA do to empower the women and children really transforms lives, they told us that before Dr Martin came to their slum they would hide their faces and never speak to anyone in their community - and now the stories they tell put us all to shame; we walked away incredibly humbled.

We headed back to Dr. Ambedkar Basti, (the slum where we have spent most of our time) and joined them for their weekly prayer meeting. They sang and prayed in Hindi, we sang and prayed in English. There was lots of singing, dancing and praising God - it was great!

On Tuesday we knew we had our work cut out for us! We had a lot of painting to do and not much time to do it in! The morning sped past and we all got down to business. We were all surprised but thankful that by the end of the day we had managed to finish all the rooms we had to paint; 4 rooms, 2 toilets, a courtyard and 2 outside walls - no small task!

We went home exhausted but still managed to find the energy to take a trip to Old Delhi in the evening. Freddy (Kiran's husband) and his friend showed us round the busy town. We all got on cycle Rickshaw's to take a trip back to the train station. If we thought the auto Rickshaw's we clearly hadn't seen anything yet! We cut through traffic and faced being squashed by a 4X4 several times. Jane and I couldnt help but shout 'beep' anytime anything came close. All the cars around us were beeping their horns as they undertook, overtook and cut each other up...we didnt have the luxury of a horn so we figured we should be it!

The team all doing ok, we're really thankful that we haven't had much sickness amonst us, so praise God for that - and thank you for your prayers!

We'll tell you all about the celebrations in our next post.

Every blessing.

More painting, praying and sightseeing!

Well the last two days have been great (as if they'd be anything else!)

After a full on Indian meal on Friday night (where everyone ate a lot more than they could manage) quite a few woke up Saturday morning with a bit of a wobbly belly! We headed back off to the slums and got straight into our painting! We were amazed at how much we got done; our farm yard scene now has fields, tractors, a scarecrow and lots of animals! Everyone was so eager to help, so we'd choose a colour, pick an area, point and within seconds around 20 little hands with paintbrushes would violently attack the wall with their paint! It was great to talk with them a bit more, i was amazed at how well some of them spoke English! We had sort of split into three different groups one managed to paint the entire inside of the courtyard and outline some fantastic looking dinasours to go on the wall, and the others sanded down and painted two rooms! We're nothing if not efficient!

A group went off to walk around the slums and prayed with some of the people in the afternoon. They were praying for around 8 or 9 women who either were ill themselves (one had cancer) or their husbands or children were ill (often TB). It was really encouraging that they let us pray for them in their homes, and we'll have a few more opportunities to do that again before we go. On Monday we'll be going to a big prayer meeting for all the slums in the area!

Shortly after returning we headed back home and went out for dinner with Dr.Martin, Freddie, 3 other English men and an American girl named Grace. I was feeling a little shattered so didnt join them, but by the sounds of it they had a fantastic time and again ate a lot (it was an all you can eat buffet!)

On Sundays no work is done in the slums, so we took it as a sort of forced day off and decided to do some sightseeing. Due to trains being fully booked and the fact that a car journey would take too long we decided not to go to the Taj Mahaal...instead we got to know Delhi a little better.

We started off at the India gate, which is around 50 feet high and has the names of Indian soldiers who were killed in WW1. It's surrounded by little stalls set up on the road sides selling all sorts of goodies, and in the park by the entrance we saw what looked like aroudn 5 games of cricket going on at once.
Looking like obvious tourists we were targets for hasselling, though it seems the team have mastered the art of saying no! One guy asked if he could have his photo taken with me, i naively agreed and before i knew it there were about 30 of them with their camera's ready waiting for there turn! They then spectacularly printed the picture on the spot and tried to sell it to me! I should have known.

Just a short way down from the gate was the Presidential Palace. We were warned to look out for monkey, but sadly saw none. But we did get to peer through the gates and look at the stunning gardens and admire the Indian architecture. We felt much like all the tourists who gather around Buckingham Palace on a daily basis.

Third up was Lodi Gardens, we were told that during the week it can get really busy, but on Sunday's it serves as a lovely quiet place to take a walk. We wondered around the gardens for about half an hour admiring the various tombs and the serenity of the place.

After deciding that we'd put our stomaches through enough Indian cuisine we headed to TGI Fridays for lunch (please don't all hiss and boo at once). We enjoyed spice free lunch, and spent a little time shopping in the local area afterwards, handing any of our left over food to some of the beggers on the street and those who met us at traffic lights.

Having gone back and forth in opposite directions a few times already we then headed back to the other side of town to visit Humayuan's Tomb. We spent hours trying to capture the perfect photos and often lost each other as the urge to go off and explore took over! We watched the sunset and took lots of group photos, which i'm sure we'll show you when we return.

Lastly we headed to a lovely market place, and had fun bartered with the shop keepers ended up with some great bargins and lots of goodies to bring home. We let our driver go home after he'd dropped us there and decided to take another mode of transport home...the trusty Rickshaws! They are India's cheap taxi's. To give you idea of what we were getting ourselves into you must understand that Delhi roads already feel like a pretty unsafe place to be, but at least in our minibus we were bigger than most other things on the road. Rickshaws however, are three wheelers, they have no doors and are about the size of the old mini, but with a higher roof. They're rusty and give off the sense that they could fall apart any minute and it wouldn't take much to topple them over! Libby managed to get a good price for us, having been surrounded by around 20 taxi drivers she put them up against each other and they were competing to give us the best price. Michael S, Graeme and myself got into one, but as our driver wondered off for a few minutes we were asked to get out and get into another one...so we did. Our old driver soon returned to find us gone and came over to give our current driver a piece of his mind. A crowd soon gathered around us as they shouted at each other and tried to each force the other to give us up. One kept trying to drive away, almost running the other man over, so in retaliation he tried to steal his keys from the taxi. Big boss man soon came along and sorted out the problems, taking us out of that Rickshaw and back into our original one! Oops...
We got lost a few times on our way back but managed to find the YWCA in one place where the rest of the team were waiting for us!

It's now dinner time so i'm going to sign off and join the rest of the team! We've really enjoyed having a day off to relax see Delhi, and will be heading off to the slums to finish our painting bright and early tomorrow morning.

The spell check isn't working and i'm pretty exhausted so you'll have to excuse any writing mishaps! :)

Hope you're all well, we'll see you soon!

Every blessing.

The painting begins...

Today has been fantastic - cold, but fantastic!

We headed straight to the slums this morning in our full Indian dress, we were greeted at the van again by lots of happy smiling children who are always very eager to say hi to us!

We were shown around the slums and invited into some of their houses. As we walked past, the small streets seemed to line with people wanting to see who we were. The children followed us diligently and kept shouting 'Didi' (i think) at us - which seemed to mean 'photo'. They cheered and laughed when we showed them the pictures we had taken, it was all so exciting for them! It took us hours to walk around the entire slum; we saw people cooking, cleaning, sweeping, playing games with chalk on the floor, nursing their sick children, working in their shops and just spending time enjoying each others company. One older lady was shouting something at us as we walked past and when i asked our translator what she was saying he told me that she was shouting blessings on us. I walked over to her and she put her hands on my head and blessed me, her eyes were filled with such gratitude towards me, it was astonishing. She didn't who we were or why we were here or even for how long, justt the fact that we were there was enough, it seemed to bring such joy. In their eyes we were doing so much for them...what they couldnt see was how much they were blessing us and teaching us.

After lunch we started painting two of the ASHA clinics. We're doing a farm yard scene with lots of animals, scarecrows, tractors and other such thing! They love bright colours so we're going to have a lot of fun bringing life and light into the room. We had a tea break mid afternoon and took the opportunity to play with some of the children who had been hanging around us (and on us) all day. We played hand slapping games until our hands were red raw, we danced and sang, and of course took a million or two more photos.

It's hard to convey the scene to you all; it's like nothing you'll see in our Western bubble; there is a sewage river that runs through the middle of the slum with pigs feeding off their rubbish, they cram lots of people into the smallest houses, they rarely have electricity, they live off very little, it's dirty and it smells. Yet they delight in what they have and in each other, there is always laughter and joy, they share what they have and look out for each other - and when you get wrapped up in that it's easy to forget the things that materially surround you.

We're all off now to get something to eat, we hope that you are all well at home.

Every blessing to you all.

We've arrived!

Firstly, let me apologise for my awful spelling - it seems some people need to travel to a place to learn how to spell it!

Well we've had an amazing first day here...after a long flight (uncomfortable for all except perhaps Michael, who scored an awesome seat in business class!) None of us got too much sleep so we had a bit of a lie in and the headed straight off to the ASHA polyclinic to be introduced to the staff and be told a little more about what we'd be doing over the coming week.
We met Dr Kiran Martin and her husband Freddie, who shared with us a very emotional and challenging story of how they begun the work of ASHA. Starting from just going into the slums and treating the people with Cholera during the epidemic in 1988, she has made a tremendous difference in thousands of lives and become a voice that can influence policy in government. She had asked herself, 'if Jesus lived in Delhi, where would he go?' and then she followed Him into the slums and joined in with His work there.

After lunch we piled into the minibus and headed over to the slum that we will be working in. We were greeted with the most beautiful smiles, garlands of flowers, petals and applause. I think i speak for us all when i admit that i did not feel worthy of such a welcome! We all sat in a small room as some of the female members of the community and children introduced themselves to us and told us a little more about the role they play in their community. It was touching to hear the story of how Dr Kiran Martin had helped in their slum from their perspective and how it has progressed since. This slum was the first of fifty that she has reached out to in the last 20 years - she feels that she still has a long way to go given that there are a total of 1,200 in India.
Listening to the stories from the community it occured to me that the work Dr. Martin has been doing has started a ripple affect; she has taught others how to take responsibility and care for those around them, and each person has a different role to play in the community.
It's always humbling to enter into a place where materially they have so little and live in extreme poverty. Yet watching the love they have for each other and the way they take care of each others' needs i couldn't help but feel that it is us in the West who are some what lacking.

From there we set off to the market place (local not tourist) so that us ladies could buy Salwar Khameez (the formal Indian ladies' trousers and long top). I'm sure you can imagine that it is quite a challenge to get 8 ladies to buy three full outfits in the short space of an hour. Add to that the fact that we had more choice than we knew what to do with, a very small shop and very pushy sales people on our hands - it was a miracle we got out of there before midnight and with any money left!

After that it was back to our YWCA lodgings for an authentic curry - though I, (Sarah) did have a Chinese!

All in all it's been a great day, everyone is well and feeling good...despite interesting road rules (i.e there are none, other than 'he who pushes hardest wins').

We're looking forward to getting stuck in to the work tomorrow - we'll have a full day in the slum painting, praying and fellowshipping!

Every blessing to you all at home, we miss you dearly!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!

Team 1 leave in a few days, we'll try and keep this site as updated as possible so you can keep up with what we're doing.

Thanks for all your support and prayers!