Ko goes to India and...: Project trip to Orissa

I want to share a little bit about my recent project trip down south to Orissa. We did a double header, school/orphanage/vocational training center (VCD), and a English medium school in a rural village. We had a great time learning how the local people are working in their community and hearing their heart to serve those in need.

I won't mention much about the English medium school, besides the fact that they're doing an awesome job providing education for so many people (especially girls) who otherwise might not be going to school at all, and things were a bit odd because we were in total lock-down (we weren't allowed to cross the road to visit their land without an escort).

So, I'd like to share about VCD. We went down to VCD mainly because of an influx of children coming to their school/ orphanage in response to the riots, which took place in 2008. To oversimplify things, last year, riots broke out, and many Christians faced persecution (violence, burning houses, etc.). As a result of these things, many kids in the area were left without homes, and sometimes even orphaned. VCD had a small school running, but when riots broke out last year, the leaders felt compelled to take in many children. As a result, there are about 70 kids sleeping in converted animal sheds and meeting in one classroom. VCD's was blessed enough to have sizable land, so we went out there to consult, plan, and design facilities for their current and future needs.

Every morning, we would get to the school, and all the kids would get up and say "good morning mam, good morning sir." It was cute and an exciting way to start the day of working for VCD and their children. One of the leaders of VCD was sharing his thoughts on how children aren't just the leaders of tomorrow, but rather they are leading and teaching today. I've never thought about children this way, but after watching the kids for a week, I agree. They go about their chores so diligently, they hardly ever complain, and the way they interact with one another can't be explained in any other word but love. When new students come, the little kids (3-11 years old) voluntarily contribute to the needs of the new student, i.e. give one of their pencils, t-shirts, etc. Wow...

On to some pictures:

The classroom where too many kids are squeezed into.

Where some of the kids sleep.

Bill, our Australian volunteer, discussing our design with some of the kids.

Also, it was Bill's birthday during our week there, so all the kids put on a program for him. Bill was overwhelmed to say the least. Every child gave him a hug and kissed his cheeks, something pleasantly unique in this culture.

Kids milking the cow. We had fresh dahi everyday (yogurt-ish curd), mmmmm

We rapped things up on Saturday so that we could put on a game day for the kids on Sunday. It was awesome. We shared some bible stories with the kids, and then the games began...

water carrying relay,

the over-under race, and...

...our grand finale, our homemade slip'n slide!

Also, since last month, 4 new interns have come, and it's been lots of fun hanging out with them (though I do miss the other guys). One of them made a really cool caricature page for our upcoming newsletter: