One Year Passed

March 11, 2012

One year passed. 

The bassoonist swayed lyrically to and fro as his part soared from his instrument.  The texture he created deftly joined the other timbres of the orchestra, creating a most intricate musical lace.  Each individual voice perfectly matched and blended.  

The orchestra breathed together.  They created an aural ecstasy that swelled through the air in waves of crescendos and decrescendos.  But despite the perfection and bliss of the music itself, I was particularly moved by the perfect silences. 

The second movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony is one of the most sublime pieces of music ever written.  Emotions course through piece to the climax, not in a tremendous swell of the entire orchestra as in the final movement of the symphony, but rather in gentle, tender silences amidst a quartet of strings.

As I sat in the auditorium, bathing in the aural bliss of the Prague Philharmonic last Saturday, I could not help but let my mind wander back…back to a year ago this very weekend.

A year ago, this weekend found Karl and I cuddled up in our apartment permanently attached to the internet talking to family and friends.  Desperately reading the news.  The massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear disaster had just occurred.   

As I listened to the orchestra, I reflected on the past year.  How quickly time has passed.  Mozart, Beethoven, and Dvorak accompanied my thoughts…creating a kind of tangibility to my feelings.  The delights of Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony reminded me of the beauty of the Japanese spring.  That despite the tragedies of those events, Japan still sprung into a stunningly beautiful season-full of blossoms. 

The people of Japan have remained strong and hopeful.  One year passed finds the disaster areas well on their way to recovery.  And still, we remember those lost and those who lost...homes, loved ones, lives. 

In the perfect silence, we remember, reflect, rebuild.

Tuesday December 27th, 2011

So you know that feeling…the one of being somewhere you have never been before.  Somewhere that should be completely unfamiliar.  Somewhere that should challenge your regular way of life. 

The scenery, weather, culture and language are all new.

And yet…you feel right at home.

This is what Chevuru village felt like.  From the moment we first stepped out of the car on the first day, I had a feeling that I was exactly where I needed to be.

Our small group of four volunteers fell into a loose routine:

The day began with breakfast at our hotel in Gudivada.  Traditional Indian breakfast (or peanut butter bread and granola bars for those with stomachs refusing to cooperate with curry) was delicious.  This was my favorite breakfast:

After breakfast, we embarked on our half hour drive to Chevuru.  This drive was one of my favorite parts of the day.  Gawking out the window at the unfamiliar, asking Ravi question after question, listening to the same CD of current Bollywood hits…it never got old. (Find out more about these two movies: Bodyguard and Business Man.)

When we arrived in Chevuru, the children immediately sensed our presence and hunted us down.  Many of the children were fortunately on Christmas vacation from school.  

After arriving, we were treated to a cup of chai made from the milk of a water buffalo.  Mmmm.  I miss that chai. 

And then, the work would begin:

Building walls, mixing cement, passing concrete, passing bricks, returning concrete trays.  Back and forth.  Back and forth. Much more on this later.

Then one of the best times of the day: lunch time.

After lunch, we would either work more, play with the children or visit the homes of villagers.  All of these tasks-we were repeatedly assured by Ravi-were equally important. 

Visiting the homes of villagers was impossible to avoid.  This is because the children would drag you there whether you wanted to go or not.  The opportunity to serve and give hospitality to people who will accept it gratefully is not something these people get to do very often.

As volunteers who traveled to Chevuru to help and give to those in need, learning to accept the hospitality without guilt was our own personal challenge.  How could we accept these gifts knowing full well that those giving have next to nothing?  

We had countless discussions among us four volunteers regarding this matter.  Ravi helped us by giving us the view of the people: joy at being able to give a stranger hospitality that would not be met with scorn.

For myself, it was an incredible feeling that doing something as simple as accepting a delicious cup of tea could be so meaningful to someone.

Sometimes the smallest gestures can truly carry the most meaning.

This gracious woman took us to her home and offered us coconut water. 

Monday December 26th, 2011

 

They were waiting for us, all gathered about the brightly painted house just across from the church.  Curious eyes strained to get a look at us as we came to a stop.  We stepped out of the car and into an embrace we will not soon forget.

Joy and gratitude emanated from the faces of the people as they draped enormous flower garlands about our necks.  A tiny old woman reached up to my face and took it in her hands.  Her eyes stared into mine, saying so much more than words could ever hope to. 

The exuberance of the children flowed forth in an inextinguishable current.  Wonder and excitement beamed from their faces.

Ravi translated into the native language of Telugu as we took turns introducing ourselves, amidst laughter, tears, and applause.

As the introductions concluded, we were each bombarded with curiosity in the form of small children.  A cart pulled by two water buffalo was riding by; the children pulled us on board to go for a ride. 

After our short ride with the water buffalo, we were invited for chai.  This was our first daily morning cup of tea.  Afterwards, we would begin our work in helping rebuild Chevuru.

This village called Chevuru would become our home and steal our hearts over the following ten days. 

Chevuru is a small place in the countryside of the Indian state, Andrah Paradesh.  It lies fewer than 20 kilometers from the coast of the Indian Ocean.  Palm trees and fields surround the village.

The history of Chevuru is very long, though I am afraid I do not recall specifics.  A very long time ago, only Dalit people lived there.  They were their own community.  During that time, most people had to travel by foot.  Thus traveling far distances took a long time and, naturally, stopping frequently for water and rest was a necessity.

Because Chevuru was only home to Dalits, upper caste people refused to accept their “untouchable” hospitality when passing through on a journey.  So some upper caste families came to live in Chevuru in order that other upper caste members could stop and receive refreshment when passing through. 

These wealthier upper caste people were able to purchase much of the land surrounding Chevuru.  More and more of them moved into Chevuru, on either side of the Dalit area creating a sort of “sandwich” of a village.

The Dalit people there face the type of discrimination that is dictated by the caste in which they are born.  This means that they must work extremely hard in order to achieve opportunities that others might take for granted.  They are only hired to do the jobs no one else wants to do-some of which are seasonal.

Unfortunately, the Dalit people also face uncertainty in regards to their homes.  Sturdy materials such as wood and cement are expensive and far out of reach for the meager earnings of a Dalit family.  Most homes are built using mud, straw, and palm fronds.

As one might imagine, these are not very sturdy homes.  Especially so when it comes to the annual rainy season, monsoons, and typhoons.  Rebuilding homes is almost an annual necessity for these people.  They must use precious time-time they should be working to build a better future for them and their families. 

The volunteer work that Go Longitude and ARV coordinate does so much more for these people than simply provide them with sound homes.  Watch this video (it's of a CNN team working in Chevuru) for a tiny peek at the work that has already been completed and that continues.  

This is another good video showing the work Go Longitude and ARV are doing:

More to come...

Sunday December 25th, 2011 (Christmas Day in India)

Christmas lights and a hibiscus flower for decor.

Christmas morning found us making our way back to the airport. 

Santa had not found his way to our hotel room.  Oh well.

While waiting for our flight, we soothed our pangs of hunger with some Indian style Subway.  I had the masala paneer sub, Karl the tandoori chicken.  They were both delicious.

The flight was a quick two hours to Hyderabad followed by thirty minutes waiting on the plane while some passengers got off and others got on.   Our destination of Vijayawada was only another half hour of flying. 

We landed in Vijayawada and stepped off of the plane into the warmest Christmas I have ever experienced.  A bus took us from the plane to the baggage claim area: a room with a guy tossing in luggage from the flight and people chaotically searching for their belongings.  We successfully retrieved our suitcase and walked outside.

Waiting for us just past the door was a man named Ravi Kumar.

Ravi works for a non-profit human rights group called the Association of Relief Volunteers, or ARV.  ARV coordinates with the organization Go Longitude-a website that organizes volunteers and fundraising events for ARV as well as a for a program called Educate Ghana.  (Please click on this link to find out how you can get involved!)

“Merry Christmas!  Thank you so much for giving your precious time to be here!”

Every Christmas, Ravi likely says these words to the new group of volunteers.  Over the past several years he has worked with more than 400 volunteers.  The vast majority of these volunteers are people on the JET program, teaching English in Japan.  There is good reason for this:

After the catastrophic Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, Ravi was helping with the relief effort.  This is when he met another volunteer who happened to be a teacher on the JET program.  They formed a connection, which has turned into three annual volunteer trips to India.  These three annual trips correspond with three breaks in the Japanese school years, ideal for JET teachers.

In fact, that is how Karl and I first heard about the trips.  Two of our good friends had gone previous years and were strongly encouraging us to participate.  So we did.

As we drove away from the airport, (I was SO happy to be done flying) Ravi explained that we were on our way to one of the homes of an ARV employee.  We would meet the other two volunteers there and have our Christmas dinner before driving another hour to our hotel.

The first of many cups of chai.  So delicious!

Coconut filled sweets

Can't remember what these were called, but they were so delicious!

Karl is excited to be eating.

Christmas dinner!

The family who graciously provided Christmas dinner for us.

Ready to get to our hotel after a couple days of travel.

And finally…we could rest.  The next day would be our first in the village.

Saturday December 24th, 2011 (Chirstmas Eve in China)

knock knock knock

“That must be our breakfast.”

I opened the door.  A petite Chinese woman handed me a bag, nodding her head politely before continuing with her deliveries.

I spread out our Christmas Eve Breakfast, describing the contents to Karl.

“Two juice box drinks…looks like milk.  And….ten slices of white bread.”

Mmm.

No complaining for the low, low price of free.  Fortunately, I had thought to bring along a jar of peanut butter.  

We forgot a butter knife, but fortunately the pen in the room worked.

As we feasted upon our bread, peanut butter and what turned out to be yogurt drinks, we lazily flipped through the TV channels.  Sleazy hotel rooms in Guangzhou have a decidedly un-Christmasy ambience.  So when we came upon a PBS Christmas concert special with Andrea Boccelli (in English!) we sat back and soaked in the Christmas cheer.  There was even a number featuring the Muppets.

After a while we decided to make some of the provided tea to wash down the peanut butter bread.  As I was handing a cup to Karl, I laughed.  We would not be drinking any tea.  There was lipstick on the cup.  Sure, we could have wiped them off and ignored it…but no.  We didn’t want tea that badly.

After the Christmas concert ended, we decided to go explore Guangzhou.  Since we didn’t have a single Chinese yuan on us, we just took a walk.  No delicious Chinese lunch for us.  

By far the most interesting thing we found was an open-air food market.  What a way to shop for groceries.  

Fresh produce, as far as the eye can see.

Who wants a snake in a bag!?

How about a turtle or an eel?

So many varieties of mushrooms.

Shopping for fish.

The aftermath of a chicken.

Geese, waiting to be sold.

Surrounded by a mountain range of cookware.

Digging through the mandarins.

Many varieties of rice.

After wandering around for a while, we made our way back to our hotel.  We were being driven back to the airport that afternoon. 

Once we arrived at the airport, we made it through security with enough time to spare to buy something to eat that was not bread and peanut butter.  Thank goodness.

Unfortunately our plane this time was significantly smaller and less comfortable than the previous flight.  Sigh.  We were surrounded by cranky, rude people and crying babies.

It was a long flight.

When we touched down in New Delhi, it was 9 pm, the same day.  We successfully made our way through security, retrieved our luggage and exchanged our money.  Now we just had to make it to our hotel.

If you are like me, then you are the type of person who does extensive reading about your destination before traveling.  For India in particular, I feel this was very wise.  I learned many things about traveling in India, including how to take a taxi.

India is full of people who try to take advantage of unsuspecting foreigners.   

As we cleared security and walked out to the airport exit, we were practically mobbed by taxi drivers wanting to secure our business. 

“Hello! Hello!  Where you want to go?  I take you there!  Come! My car! Hello! Hello! You come with me!”

We ignored their attempts to grab our luggage and made our way to the pre-paid taxi booth.  It’s the only way to get a taxi in India without haggling for a decent price.

Unfortunately, we did not see the official Police run booth (by far the most reasonable fare you will get) but instead went to the private company pre-paid booth. 

Pre-paid taxis are important for a few reasons:  1) You will get a fair price. 2) The driver will take you where you want to go.  There have been countless instances of travels being taken to the wrong hotel because, “Your hotel is sold-out. No rooms.  No worry-my brother runs a hotel.  Very nice.”  I was thankful that I had taken the time to study maps and locations of our hotels.

We made it safe and sound to our hotel (which was clean in terms of Indian hotels) set the alarm, showered and collapsed into bed after our very long and tiring Christmas Eve.

One more day of travel lay between us and our destination.

Friday December 23rd, 2011

“…oh no…”

I opened my eyes and blearily looked for the glow of our digital bedside clock.  As my eyes focused, Karl continued.

“It’s 5:26.  Should we run?”

“Let’s go!”

We leapt up and started throwing on our already laid out clothes.  Our train to make our ride to the airport was leaving in 23 minutes. 

It takes 20 minutes to walk to the station. 

Fortunately, we had packed and showered the night before.  We were out the door at 5:37 with 14 minutes to catch our train. 

We hurtled towards the train station through the dark, cold morning.  As we approached the station, I breathed a sigh of relief: our train was on the nearest platform.  I eased to a walk as Karl-rolling the luggage-caught up to me. 

We made it.  With a full minute to spare!

On our bus ride to the airport, we slowly relaxed.  The sun was just rising, glistening on the snowcap of Mt. Fuji.  A thin crescent moon and a few bright stars adorned the sky.  The perfect scenery to calm the mind and heart rate.

After this turbulent start of our journey to India, things calmed down.  We made it to the airport with enough time for breakfast and last minute purchases. 

The flight to India was broken up into two separate flights.  Flight number one stopped in Guangzhou, China for a twenty-one hour layover.  (EW!)

The flight was very comfortable.  Karl and I watched the newest Harry Potter movie on our tiny personal-sized airplane TVs.  Sooner than we knew it, we touched down in Guangzhou. 

As we waited to go through immigration, we discovered that our airline (China Southern) was paying for a hotel for us that night and we were granted special 24 hour passes to stay in China.  A wonderful and unexpected surprise.

After waiting for what seemed an eternity, the driver from the hotel came to pick us up.  We reached the hotel, learned that breakfast would be brought to our room the following morning, and went to our room.  

Not bad at all for being free.

We rinsed away the fatigue of flying with a shower before falling into bed.  Sleep came fast...a day into our journey.

Despite the Trials

I mentioned recently that I have been having a rough time the past few weeks regarding the planning of our trip to India.

The thought of canceling the trip altogether was a very real and viable option.  And I confess. I was at the point of not wanting to deal with it anymore. 

But I am glad we pressed through the annoyances.  I was reminded of the reason we are going to India. 

Speaking of those reasons, let me share them with you in a bit more detail:

In the not too distant past, India officially abolished their caste system.  Unfortunately, reality speaks differently.  A group of people formerly known as the untouchables is trapped at the bottom of society.  Discrimination and prejudice dictate the conditions of these people’s lives. 

These former untouchables are now known as the Dalits.  Those born into this bottom rung of society are faced with tremendous challenges throughout their lives.  Because of the discrimination they face it is next to impossible for them to find a decent job, which in turn leads to numerous other issues.  Providing the essentials for living: food, clothing, healthcare and shelter, is a daily struggle. 

The sole purpose of our trip is to help these people. 

Karl and I first heard about the organization Go Longitude when two of our friends told about their personal experiences in India.  Our interest was immediately peaked.  We checked it out and signed up for this year’s winter trip, which one of our friends happens to be leading.

The goal of the volunteers during the trip is to help the Dalit people in a tiny village by building a family a house.  One trip at a time, volunteers are helping the Dalits rebuild their homes. 

The participating volunteers all pay their own travel expense, food and lodgings during the trip.  On top of that, it is the volunteers’ responsibility to fundraise for the materials used to build the homes.

The fundraising goal is a mere $5000.  It is so amazing that just $5000 is enough to build a brand new home for a family! 

This Christmas, Karl and I are putting everything towards this trip.  If you are interested in helping us buy the materials to build a home, please click on this link.  Any help at all will be transformed into materials that will become a home. 

In case you haven't seen it, here is a great video about this volunteer experience: