A Holy Experience

We arrived to one of Maitri’s ashrams in the holy city of Vrindavan and were welcomed by rows of widows sitting cross legged, waiting for their food. 

Immediately after taking off our shoes, we served the widows a lunch consisting of; dal, roti, sabzi, rice and one banana. Maitri employee Ameen sampled the food and thought is was sustaining and hearty!

The widows living in Maitri’s ashram are also given calcium, iron and zinc supplements and are seen by a doctor every week.
  

By providing care to this ignored population, Maitri has been able to restore dignity and hope to destitute widows

Through the eyes of Maitri, we have seen the joys that arise from serving.   

Maitrigram

Each afternoon around 3, I hear the sound of laughter and shuffling as the children of Maitrigram arrive for 2 hours of after school tutoring in math, English, and Hindi.  The giggles soon subside as their teachers  begin.  Rarely have I seen a classroom in the US as well behaved and ready to learn as these children, especially for 2 extra school hours!!

Continuing education is so important, especially to the children of the local slums.  Education brings progress and empowerment, something Maitri stresses in their mission and vision.  To encourage attendance, Maitri also offers 10 of its 20 deserving students a scholarship of Rs. 6000/- each annually so they don't drop out to work, hindering them from future educational opportunities.

The first time I went down to meet the kids, I tutored a little girl in English.  After writing out the alphabet I started to teach her the sound that each letter makes.  For instance, A- ah, B- buh, etc... She followed me pretty well but I wasn't sure if she was catching on to what I was teaching her.  I then decided to write out a word and sound it out, C-A-T.  She repeated after me but I still didn't think she understood what she was sounding.  I then pointed to the word and said, "meow" which she repeated.  Besides being the cutest thing EVER, I think I taught her that C-A-T spells meow.

Beyond the tutorial center for math, English and Hindi, Maitri also offers skills and vocational training to women and children in the surrounding slums of Ekta Vihar.  I had the opportunity to tour the building and meet 2 of the 25 students currently enrolled and taught by Mrs. Prabha and Mrs. Rabat.  The girls were so sweet and excited to show us what they were working on.  Both were elegant and intelligent young women whom I am sure, with the training they are receiving at Maitri, will be successful! 

The sign outside of the school

 Measuring and cutting material

 

This young lady asked me to teach her some English.  Turns out, she helped me improve my Hindi!

Students and students!  Such a great experience!  

 Maitri really is making a difference with Maitrigram.  Can't wait to go back!!

Parliament and Teacher Appreciation Day

On Tuesday, September 6, Maitri took the interns to visit parliament. It was a whirlwind experience! We left at 10:00 am from Maitri's office to reach parliament and go through security in time to attend the 11:00 session. We went through numerous security checkpoints before we made it to the final checkpoint only to find out we were approximately two minutes too late! We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the parliament cafeteria (which is actually quite yummy!) and then continued in our efforts to enter parliament. We finally got in at about 12:00 noon and the session ended within about 15 minutes. The entire time we were in the room, there was screaming and shouting. Even though we had headphones that helped to translate the conversation to English, it was very difficult to understand everything that was going on. It was an incredible experience, nonetheless! Maitri provides many incredible opportunities for their interns to experience the political, social, and emotional aspects of the diverse Indian culture.

Happy Teacher Day!!!

Tuesday ended with a celebration for Teacher's day! The children of Maitrigram, the children's tutorial center, prepared a nice presentation to show their appreciation for the leaders of Maitri - Winnie Ma'am and the General, Sonal, and Mr. Jolly Sir. It was a sweet presentation! Some of the children recited beautiful poems in hindi and then other groups of students prepared dances to well-known bollywood songs. It was quite the show! Maitri provides a good creative outlet for children at Maitrigram, generally ages 4-16. It was so sweet to see the children's genuine gratitude to Winnie and the General, Sonal, and Jolly Sir. 

What a beautiful celebration!

Intern, Sarah Patton, with maitrigram child, Shalu

The after dance party!

Maitri fighting against corruption

Vande Mataram!!!

As Maitri interns, we had the incredible opportunity of attending the demonstrations at India Gate on Wednesday evening. On Monday, August 16, Anna Hazarre, an Indian politician, began an indefinite hunger strike after the anti-corruption Lokpal bill was not passed in the Indian government by his August 15 deadline. Anna Hazarre is considered a Ghandian and he has proclaimed intentions for a second war for independence (since the war for independence in 1947). He is currently in jail, arrested for not agreeing to a permit that was issued to him by the police, but the people are still taking a stand against corruption (check out an article here at India Live).

Jolley Sir, one of Maitri's bosses, took us to the Delhi gate at about 4:30 on Wednesday evening. What a site to see! There were thousands of people there. We came to find out that thousands more would arrive around 7:00 pm for the evening candle ceremony by the gate. We walked around Rajpath, just near the India gate, with the crowds of people chanting "Vande Mataram!" and "Long live Anna Hazarre!" Signs of anti-corruption and freedom were everywhere. We quickly soaked in the excitement of the people and shared our passion for the cause as we then began to chant "Vande Matarum!" Mr. Jolly arranged a few interviews for all of the interns. He stopped India Live and Channel 9, as well as a few other stations, to have a little chat with the interns about the role of these demonstrations in democratic change, our thoughts on Anna Hazarre, etc. We all spoke of the courage of this strong leader to stir so much excitement about an important cause. We spoke of the beauty of this event, in particular, because it came about by the will of the people, their desire for change - they did not attend the protests because they were being paid or bribed. It was their choice. 

And a special thanks to Jolley Sir for cramming us all into his car, feeding us snacks at the Bikaner House, and buying us water and lassi and then seeing us home safely! And to our beautiful friend, Anita for always looking out for us! What a splendid evening as we fight, as members of Maitri, against corruption here in India.

Intern, Elisabeth Jessop, interviewing with Channel 9

Intern, Marta Matynia interviewing with Live India!

Veronique, Sarah, Mr. Jolley, Marta, and Elisabeth

Random Indian girl; Sarah Patton (Intern, USA); Veronique Jorna (Intern, Netherlands); Anita Gupta (Maitri Office); Elisabeth Jessop (Intern, USA); Mr. Jolley Sir (Maitri Office); Mr. Jolley's wife

Mr. Jolley (left) and Elisabeth Jessop (middle) in another interview with a local Indian newspaper

Candlelight ceremonies

Health Camp

This morning we had a chance to visit another project of Maitri's, Project Awaaz (voice). Awaaz brings health services and awareness, on issues such as HIV, TB, STIs, etc, to bike rickshaw pullers. The slum, which is home to approximately 2,000 rickshaw pullers and some of their family members, is located between two very none-telling streets, that host modern looking hotels, private doctors offices, posh shops. But turn down one discrete little road and suddenly you are in a huge open area, filled with people, rickshaws, tents. It was a whole working little community with a barber shop, tailor, one source of running water for over 2,000 people, little snack shops, fruit and veggie wallas (sellers).

The reason Maitri runs a health camp here is because most of these men are migrant works. While some families do live in this slum, most men come from villages where their families--wives and children, parents, etc--still live. As a migrant population they have a greater propensity toward behaviors like drug use and visiting sex workers, thus they run a higher risk for contracting HIV and STIs. The goal is awareness and testing. Condoms are given out, HIV testing is done, medications for simple ailments such as colds and the flu are provided and if more serious medical attention is needed Maitri will attempt to facilitate it.

The rickshaw slum.

The people.

At first I felt terrible about taking pictures. Wondering what right I had as a comfortable, privileged foreigner to tromp into their neighborhood to collect photos. But most of them were so into it! A group of young men followed our little group from the office around, telling us to take a picture of them, of her, of these kids, of this women. We always asked the people we were photographing, most agreed, but so often a shy women would blush and shake her head, so we didn't push it. Most of the kids were hesitant at first, but you could see behind their polite reservation that they were eager for the excitement and attention.

The smoking man above demanded we take his photo.

At the health clinic, the staff kept giving us various refreshments. First water, then soda, the a bag of peanuts. My goodness, we were just fine! Sometimes guest/foreigner privilege bothers me. Since I don't drink soda a prompted the little boy in blue and black to take it. The peanuts I have the stunning girl in orange. I love her hair and her smile, she exuded confidence and seemed to be there to reassure the little ones.

The heath clinic.