Update #5 - India!

I can't really believe this is the last blog post I'll do out here - where have the last 7 weeks gone?! Seems absolutely crazy that it's all coming to an end, but I've had the most amazing time out here and I've loved it so much.

The last week has been really good, it was really sad to say goodbye to the DCC kids and staff - we all went to Marine Drive after work on my last day which was so lovely. We had an all staff prayer meeting on the Friday so we got to see everyone and say goodbye and how grateful we were to Oasis. We also took a lot of photos with everyone! 

On Saturday, we went to Sanjay Gandhi National Park which apparently is the biggest national park in a city, in the world - pretty cool! It was so gorgeous and green. Then we had our last sunday at Avatar church, and I had a really good chat with people who work for IJM (human trafficking lawyers). We then went on a mini break to Khandala! It was about 2.5 away from where we lived, and it was one of the most gorgeous places, the scenery was just breathtaking. It was pretty rainy for the 2 days we were there, but we did get a chance to have a walk around (before a scary Indian man shooed us away). The bed was the most amazing bed I have ever slept in - slept for a whole 12 hours and it was beautifulllllll! Really hope my bed at home feels like that.

We've then come back, been packing up, buying last minute presents and seeing people last minute - our flight is on the 31st at 1pm and we get back at 6:30. So weird to think I'll be back in England soon! I feel ready to be back home, just not sure if I feel ready to leave India yet.

I've learnt so much about human trafficking - the real effects of it, and seeing real people and real lives. It's opened my eyes a lot more to see the injustice in this place, and how much more needs to be done. I've learnt a lot more about myself and become more confident in who I am and what I can actually do. I've learnt a lot more about God, in trusting in him and his plan, and just seeing how much he's been with us the past 7 weeks has been incredible.

Thank you to all the people we've met here - to those working in Oasis who made us feel like a part of their family, to all the really lovely people at Avatar who helped us in so many different ways and helped us to settle into India, thank you to Beth who has managed to put up with me for the last 7 weeks (Goodness knows how she's done that?!) and thank you to all the lovely people back at home who have supported me out here, whether financially, or sending me emails and messages of encouragement!

Update #4 - India

Before I say anything, I want to apologize for the overdue blog post, it's been two weeks since I've written anything! Life has been incredibly busy and fantastic at the same time. Really finding it hard to believe I have only 11 days left in this beautiful country.

Generally at weekends we've been exploring the area more, been to see gardens and beaches and done a lot of shopping. We've had so many people run after us trying to sell us things, and it's been hilarious! I've also been proposed to / had people planning my marriage out here, the fear of my mum that I'll come back married may actually come true ;)

At the DCC, I've been doing admin and playing/teaching kids which has been really great. The staff there are so encouraging and continually saying how grateful they are for the work I do, and that's been a massive blessing and makes all I do seem worthwhile. I've had kids jump on me as soon as I walk into a room, and seeing them smile just makes me heart melt. My dad joked that I'd come back off the plane with Indian children and if it was possible - I actually think I'd take them all home!

Monsoon has been crazy, one day I was walking in a lake up to my knees all the way to work just because it had been raining so heavily! I've been teaching myself Hindi lately, I've got bits of the alphabet down and can say some more random phrases which is cool.

We've had some rickshaw issues, and on one occasion where it should have taken us 5 minutes to get somehow, there was a miscommunication and it took an hour. We crossed motorways and did so many uturns and was a tad stressful!

Had a moment when I was walking through the Kamathipura, the red light district where I work and kids and women recognised me and miles at me - and realised regardless of what I thought, I was having an impact on these people and this place. Despite the fact I speak virtually no Hindi and I'm here for 7 weeks, I can still have an impact on the people here which was massively humbling.

God's been so faithful whilst we've been here, so many prayers have been answered and shown us his love despite all the injustice that's right in front of our eyes. It's been amazing to see how he's working through so many people who I work with and have encountered out here!

Big love to you all xxx

 

Update #3 - India

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote on here, seems crazy that it's only actually been one week. Last weekend, we did some touristy things like Elephanta Island (which contains no elephants) but had lots of monkeys and market stalls and a really gorgeous view! We also went for dinner at the Taj Mahal hotel which was absolutely amazing and we felt so out of place there but had some gorgeous curry. Then on Sunday we went to church in Bandra and then went out to lunch with 20 people from church, some who we knew from Oasis and some who we didn't. We also explored the beach near us which wasn't amazing as far as beaches can go, but it was nice enough to see the sunset.

I spent half the week at the Dadar office, typing up a 418 page survey from 275 people about setting up a new training centre. It wasn't the most stimulating thing to do ever, but it was helpful for them because they can't type as quickly and usually pay for other companies to do it for them. Also means that they can research more into making a training centre to teach computer and English skills to help teenagers into getting a better education and a better future.

Thursday I was back at the DCC, and because of staff training I was playing with about 10 different kids all day - although I was exhausted it was so much fun. We did colouring and games and played hairdressers and played this weird pool type game and played with puppets. It's weird how I've actually only spoken a few words of Hindi to them but they know and trust me. They call me Deedee which means sister, which is similar to how you'd call someone Aunty. I know I'm not meant to have favourites, but there are two beautiful sisters who just make my heart melt everytime they smile. It took a bit of time to get then trust me and play with me but they are the cutest girls in the world! I can't put pictures up online, but trust me when I say they are beyond adorable.

It seems slightly unconnected, doing a lot of admin work or playing with kids and human trafficking, but I just wanna explain a little bit, just in the whole purpose of Oasis/DCC/me being here.

The DCC has set up a lot of prevention programmes in order to stop kids being trafficked. The newest one is called Early Encounter which is to stop kids from being trafficked at train stations by targeting traffickers. They've set up night shelters for girls to stay someone overnight in a safe place. They work with teenagers to either get them in school, or go with them to get jobs. They're looking after and teaching kids who have grown up in brothels. This is just the last year of only one project, and Oasis has 8 projects. I've only got a tiny part to play in all of this, but by doing admin work, I'm helping projects being set up and doing official documents that need to be written up. And playing with the kids, whether we understand each other or not is irrelevant because I'm having a positive impact on these kids and loving them.

As of tomorrow, we're half way through our time here and I cant believe how fast it's all going. But really enjoying everything, and falling more and more in love with India!


 

Update #2 - India

We've now been here for two weeks, and that's absolutely mental, I still feel like we've only just got here! Except it all feels really normal, I don't feel overwhelmed at things here which is definitely a good thing.

So last weekend we did a bit of a tourist stint and went to Churchgate where we saw the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel - lots of people took our photos so we felt massively popular that day! We also did a bit of shopping (everything is ridiculously cheap here!) and went to the sea to see the sunset. There wasn't a sunset but it was good all the same!

Sunday we went to Bandra and went to an international church where they spoke English - wooo! And that was really good so we'll be going back there. Bandra is like the most western part around us so we did some more shopping, and even saw an M&S!

All this week I've been working at the DCC which has been great - usually spending the morning doing admin and then playing with the kids all afternoon. They love playing with the volunteers and they have the cutest little smiles! There's been the Canadian and American teams there too so it's been good getting to know them as well as the staff in the centre!

Generally in the evenings we chill and watch films, sometimes go out for dinner depending on what food they have given us in the day. On Wednesday we went to a bible study in Bandra for women in church and then we all went out for dinner which was really lovely.

I went to the main Dadar office Thursday to help out with some admin stuff and I'll be going back on Monday too. Today we had an all staff prayer meeting at the DCC which was great to see everyone again in one place and talk about each project and how we can pray for them. This weekend we're going to Elephanta Island, and maybe going to see the nearby beaches and gardens. Absolutely loving India, and feeling so used to everything now!

Thank you to the people who have been messaging me, or writing on my wall, or skyping/emailing or praying for me - it really is appreciated and makes me feel very encouraged :)


 

Update #1 - India

First update of my travels and adventures in India so far! I'm having a truly wonderful time out here, it's been scary but exciting.

There was a massive culture shock out here as would be expected. A few things that took us by surprise though is the mental driving, not being allowed to show shoulders but midriffs being fine, how incredibly cheap everything is, how you only eat with your right hand, how it can rain heavily for less than 5 minutes then stop but you are still hot, how mental Dadar train station is, how you can get a tattoo on the side of the street, how our AC is on 24 degrees and that's cold for us, car horns sounding continuously, and people keep goats as pets. There's so many weird and wonderful things here, but that's just a sneak peak of what we've experienced!

I know it's extremely un-British of me to say so, but Indian tea is soooooo much nicer than British tea. We think we're good at tea, let me tell you that we're not!

Over the weekend, we were chilling for quite a lot of it around the town we're in which is called Dadar. We were mainly with the pastor and his son who we're living with, and on our own exploring. 

Monday felt like our first official day working, and we went to visit the Oasis office which was half an hour from where we were living. There was a team there who we met, and the main guy called Sachin explained to us what Oasis India do in terms of human trafficking prevention, and the two projects me and Beth would be working on. I'm working in the Day Care Centre (DCC) which is for kids who aren't in school to come and play and learn. Beth is working in the Drop In Centre (DIC) for women who want to have counselling, or lessons in tailoring etc.

Tuesday, we spent half the day in the DCC, and half the day in the DIC to get a feel of both projects. The DCC is in Mumbai Central which is one stop on the train. We met the team there, and the building where it's held. We had another mini orientation about the project and some really touching stories about kids there. We then went to the DIC which was the next stop on the train on Grant Lane, where again we met the team and had another mini orientation. We then went on a walk around the Red Light District. 

Wednesday, we spent the day at the DCC. Whilst we're out here, there's an American and Canadian team on different days, who are teams of 18 and 24 so occasionally they are with us in the two centres. We started with outreach where a few of us walked around the lanes getting the children to go to school, or come to the centre. Then most of the day we spent doing admin work for reports and presentations - they use our English skills and ability to type very fast. Although - we've noticed a massive change in the way we're writing English and it's not very grammatical! We ate lunch altogether as a team, eating curry with our hands which was an interesting experience to say the least! When we got home, me and Beth tried to make chapati's but they weren't exactly very successful.

Thursday, we spent the day at the DIC. We got to know some of the Canadian team which was nice - seeing other people from the West is so exciting because we're so few and far between! Again, we did a lot of admin work, typing up stories of the women and updating the files. Towards the end, some women came in and did some practice henna on us.

From here on in, we're both working on our individual centres for the next 6 weeks. We get weekends off, so we're going to do some tourist-y things, the team from Oasis invited us over to chill with them and we're hopefully going to spend more time with the Americans/Canadians!

We're both really enjoying our time out here - we've both been put way out of comfort zones, and had to face some scary things but we've conquered everything that we've been challenged with. I'm really looking forward to getting into my project, doing admin work for them but also playing with the kids. I know a tiny bit of Hindi, but it doesn't matter when playing and teaching the kids because they don't need words to be shown love which is amazing.

Thank you for all your continuing support, messages and prayers whilst we're out here!

Lucy xx

70 hours to go!

I thought I'd write a blog for the 6 and half weeks that I'm out in India for, mainly so I'd remember everything that happened, and to keep people at home updated!

As a quick overview of why I'm going / what I'm doing, is that I'm going to Mumbai for 6 and half weeks, with a company called Oasis India. They are linked to Oasis UK which founded Stop the Traffik which fundraises and raises awareness about Human Trafficking - the 2nd biggest crime in the world, with an estimated 27 million people trafficked. I'm going with a girl from university called Beth, who goes to church with me and our Stop the Traffik group at UEA. I'm going to be working in a children's day care centre doing something similar to a Holiday Bible Club type thing, for kids that have been trafficked, or their parents who have been trafficked. 

With 70 hours to go, nerves are creeping in a bit but I'm also so incredibly excited. So many people have been extremely supportive and encouraging, sending me messages and prayers and money and it's all been overwhelming! Thank you to those people who have been putting up with my nervousness about going, telling me that I will be fine (and won't die!) and generally been amazing. 

A year ago, if someone told me I'd be going to India to help people involved in human trafficking, I'd laugh at them. It's unbelievable that this is happening - and I don't think it's going to feel real until I actually step off the plane!

Song that's been springing to mind lately is by Casting Crowns - Dream for you:

So come on, let me dream, let me dream for you,

I am strong when you're weak and I'll carry you.

So let go of your plans, and be caught by my hand,

I'll show you what I can do, when I dream for you.

God's got a bigger and better plan for my life, and for the next 7 weeks and I can't wait to start this adventure.