Jonesing in India

The Lord's Langar

2010-05-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

As Christians, we are called to show unconditional hospitality to all the human family. We are told to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick and comfort the broken-hearted. All too often though, we forget or ignore our call because of the inconveniences that arise from living out this sacred mission. When we see evidence of people living out God’s message of unconditional hospitality, it can be a powerful moment of reawakening. My faith journey has been peppered with these moments of epiphany, the most recent being my visit to the Sri Harmander Sahib—the Golden Temple at Amritsar. The temple is, in itself, breathtakingly beautiful, but what touched me was the unconditional hospitality of the Sikhs. Just as with Christianity, absolute kindness and generosity towards others is sacred in Sikhism, and at the Golden Temple, Sikh devotees carry out this mission every day.
Accommodation at the Golden Temple is free. Massive buildings that house thousands of beds are always open to pilgrims and travelers who wish to stay, regardless of religion or nationality. The rooms are kept clean and as comfortable as possible by an army of volunteers from the community. Unlike other temples, mosques and churches in India, visitors can see the Sri Harmander Sahib free of cost. There is no charge to visit the temple, no charge for a headscarf and no charge for shoe service (shoes and uncovered heads are not allowed in the temple proper). Everyone is welcome.

While we were at the Golden Temple, we experienced langar, the traditional Sikh meal that is shared with the whole Earthen community, regardless of race, religion, caste, sex or nationality. Every Sikh temple (gurdwara) serves langar, but the Sri Harmandar Sahib easily serves the most people, over 70,000 a day! Because Sikhism rose out of an opposition to the caste system, it is very important to Sikhs that everyone at langar eats the same food in the same place at the same time. Langar is also a means of feeding the poor; anyone can partake of langar at any time. We gathered our plates and followed the crowd into a large room that could easily sit 1000, and probably did. We sat down and servers came around, ladling daal (fried pulses in curry), channa masala (chickpea curry), sweet rice and chappatti onto our plates. We were allowed to eat our fill, the servers coming by often to ask if we wanted more of anything. After we had eaten, we took our plates out and deposited them in baskets, where they were immediately picked up and washed by an army of volunteers. To cook, serve, or help wash dishes for langar is considered a sacred duty among the Sikhs.
As I ate, I thought about Paul’s idea of the Lord's Supper. The Lord’s Supper, Paul says, is based on equality and fraternity, it is a meal shared among the human family. Class, creed, gender, none of these divisions should be preserved during this holy meal—it is a act of radical equality. I felt that sense of radical equality when I ate langar, in a way that I had not experienced before. Thousands of people, from all over the world, were sharing one meal side by side. Those who provided the meal did so without payment, without expecting any reward. As I was sharing langar with hundreds of people from every walk of life, I felt a holiness that I have, in the past, associated with sharing the Lord’s Supper. Although there was no ceremonial breaking of the bread, I felt the Spirit’s presence. It was amazing to find a familiar holiness in a place so foreign.

Incredible India!

2010-05-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."

Mark Twain

This past month, the India YAVs went on a tour of North India to better understand the diversity and the rich cultural heritage of the country. Every region, every state of India is different, bound together only by the legacy of British colonial rule. Kerala is in no way a fair representation of all India, just as Texas is not a fair representation of the other 49 United States. Within many states, there exist many different peoples, religions and languages. Even though we traveled for a month around North India, we saw only a small part of the country. We tried to see as much as we could, but knew that we were missing a lot.

On this journey I visited 8 Indian states, spent about 140 hours (almost 6 full days) on different trains, walked countless miles and heard six different languages. There is no way I could do justice to everything that I saw or all the experiences that I had in just one blog post, so here is a summary of my 1 month tour:

Agra: I saw the sun rise and set on the Taj Mahal and explored the ruins of the beautiful Agra fort. I learned that with the right people and the right reading material, a 40-hour train ride can actually be fun.
Jaipur: I climbed up to a small temple famous for the monkeys that congregate at sunset and learned how to charm a cobra (the trick is to remove the teeth). While trying to eat as cheaply as possible, I became acquainted with the delicious Dal Makhani (pulses slow simmered in ghee).
Jaiselmer: While staying in the city that must have been the inspiration for Agraba (in Disney’s Aladdin), I marveled at the intricate carvings that covered several Jain temples. I rode a camel into the Thar Desert and slept outside under a canopy of stars after singing Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecelia” with our camel driver.
McLeod Ganj: I indulged in the cool mountain air and enjoyed the sight of thousands of Tibetan prayer flags waving in the breeze. I could not escape some famous cricket players (and their fan clubs), but did get a glimpse of His Holiness the Dalai Lama!
Amritsar: I spent hours wandering around the Golden Temple (the holy center of Sikhism) and shared in the community meal called langar. This was one of the most spiritually stirring experiences I have had in India. I also witnessed the amazing Border-Closing Ceremony between India and Pakistan.
Mussoorie: I attended a hilltop carnival in the foothills of the Himalayas and could (just barely!) see a snowcapped peak in the distance. For the first time in more than a year, I had to wrap myself in a blanket to ward off the cold.
Haridwar: I waded in the Ganges among thousands of pilgrims, which helped me to escape the burning heat of the sun.
Delhi: I visited a massive mosque and meandered through several Mughal tombs. I paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his last home and the spot where he fell. I learned how to haggle with rickshaw drivers and shop owners.
Goa: I chilled on the beach and tasted some delicious seafood, cooked tandoori style. I basked in the familiar scenery of South India, and enjoyed the warmth of the Indian Ocean.

After a month of sleeping on trains, frantically calling hotels to make reservations, catching 4am buses and adjusting to the unique chemical composition of North Indian food, it felt great to come home to Kerala. The coconut trees seemed to wave hello to us as we rolled into Kerala and the skies treated us to a beautiful thunderstorm. I had already fallen in love with this small and relatively inconsequential state, but a month of North India fixed Kerala’s place in my heart.

I am incredibly happy to be back in familiar places and surrounded by familiar faces. I returned to my work on Monday with an energy that a month ago I hadn’t thought possible. It didn’t hurt that the girls at Saanthwanam ran out to meet me and nearly knocked me over with the force of their hugs, or that the women’s faces at Asha Bhavan broke into huge, bright smiles when I returned. Though it had been fun to roam, it was good to be back home.

Sunrise over the Thar Desert in Rajasthan

Cynthia making friends with a cow Jaiselmer, Rajasthan

Changes

2010-03-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

The school year in Kerala has come to an end (April and May are the summer vacation months here), and I now find myself in a very different work and living situation. Yesterday, all my hostelmates left for home. Those who completed their first year will return in mid-May for a special camp, and the secon-year students will return in June for their model and board examinations, but until then I will be living alone. Yesterday was also the last day for exams at Buchanan Higher Secondary School, so I no longer have any classes to teach and no fellow teachers to chat with in the staff room. Part of me is extremely glad that I don’t have to prepare any lesson plans for the next two months, but the other part of me will miss being with the students every day.

Although I don’t have any more teaching responsibilities for a while, I am still very busy! I have started volunteering with two different organizations in the Kottayam area: Saanthwanam and Asha Bhavan. Saanthwanam is a women’s and children’s shelter tucked away in one of Kottayam’s many neighborhoods. One of my BIGHS hostelmates (a very bright girl named Sharinya) lives there with her mother during school holidays. Sharinya and her mother came to Saanthwanam a little less than a year ago. Sharinya’s father is an alcoholic and was abusive towards his wife and children. There are many women here in Kerala who are in this position (alcoholism rates in the state are high, as are rates of domestic abuse), but many do not seek help from outside. Thankfully, a family friend referred the family to Saanthwanam. Sharinya was granted a place in Buchanan Higher Secondary and her mother received vocational training in book-binding. Like all the residents of the shelter, Sharinya and her mother received professional counseling. Now that Sharinya has completed the 10^th standard and her mother is now a skilled laborer, they are ready to start their life fresh.

This is just one Saanthwanam story, all of the women and children have similar backgrounds of severe poverty and abuse. However, they are finally in a place that is safe and part of a community made up of caring people. The residents of Saanthwanam do all the cooking and cleaning as well as study a vocation (tailoring and book binding are common, although one resident just completed her Masters of Philosophy!). Unfortunately, during the summer months the children have very little in the way of entertainment and their mothers don’t have the time to play with them. That’s where I come in. For three days a week, the children and I play games, sing songs and do arts and crafts. They’ve already taught me a Kerala version of hopscotch (akka—really tough!) and a few Malayalam and Tamil pop songs. They enjoy decorating their home with the crafts we make, and are already more comfortable trying to communicate in English. I absolutely love going to Saanthwanam, and find that the work rejuvenates rather than tires me.

Asha Bhavan is my other commitment during the summer months. This home is run by the Church of South India Women’s Fellowship and is a daycare center for women with special needs. All of the women are over the age of 18 and all have very different ways of experiencing the world. Most of the women are autistic (falling in very different places on the spectrum), one has Down’s Syndrome, and all are very enjoyable. Our day starts with prayer, then gardening: watering plants and picking up leaves. One of the women and I compete to see how many leaves each one of us can gather, I have yet to win. After gardening, some of the higher functioning women go to a restaurant or a tailoring shop owned by the CSI Women’s Fellowship. These women chop vegetables or do simple sewing and draw a monthly salary. The remaining women do low impact aerobics and then the fun really begins! We do crafts and the women take turns at the sewing machine—they are all learning how to do some work. We then have lunch and play a game outside. After we are all hot and sweaty, we come back inside for more crafts. The women love creating and making artwork, and the smiles on their faces after a good game of “catch” could light up the world! Although the linguistic barriers between these women and myself are even more formidable than with other Keralites, we understand each other pretty well. We love to laugh and sing together, and what more do you need to bond with people than that?

So although I find myself without my hostel and teacher friends, I am still surrounded by loved ones. My community in Kerala is growing ever larger. I will miss my hostelmates, and I will be very glad when they return in May and June, but until then I am overjoyed to spend more time with these new friends.

I want to take some time to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and financial donations over this past 6 months. My faith has grown and changed in ways that I never thought possible. Event though I teach English classes and volunteer at different organizations for my mission work, I often feel that I am the one learning the most from this experience. You can continue to support me by praying for me and for all the people of my community here in South India, following my experience through my blog, and by donating to my mission. give online at http://www.pcusa.org/yav/support.htm#international (click on Sarah Lynn Jones). Right now, I am just $2500 short of the $9000 needed to finance my mission here in India. Thank you all again for making this amazing mission and experience possible!

Small Goodbyes

2010-03-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

In Kerala, the school year ends in March, meaning that I only have one more month to enjoy my hostelmates’ company before they leave for summer vacation or for the next step in their education. Classes have stopped at Buchanan Girls’ Higher Secondary School while the students study for and then take their exams throughout the month of March. Needless to say, this has led to quite a change of mood for me. I am sad because soon I will have to say goodbye to many of my hostel friends and happy that I get to spend more time with my teacher peers—the staff room has become quite a playground for us!

Last Friday, I had to say farewell to my aniyati (little sister), Shanu. Shanu is studying in 7th standard and completed all her exams last week, so her mother came Friday morning to take her home for the summer months (April and May). Shanu was one of the first BIGHS students to welcome me to the hostel life. While most of the other girls were, at first, shy and deferential to me, Shanu would talk to me every day, beg me for exercise classes (of which she was the only student with perfect attendance), show me around the school, teach me Kerala children’s games and encouraged the other girls to do the same. With the other HS student boarders, it was a hard fought battle to get them to call me “Sarah Chechi” (big sister) instead of “Sarah Ma’am,” but Shanu immediately adopted the new form address and delighted in greeting me every day with “Good morning Sarah Chechi!”

Shanu has been my constant companion and teacher these past few months, Under her tutorship, I have learned how to wash my clothes by hand, how to tell biting ants from more harmless (if not less annoying) ants, how to catch falling leaves from the “lucky tree” (every leaf you catch guarantees you 10 rupees!) and how to look at life through rose-colored glasses. Shanu doesn’t live far away from BIGHS like her hostelmates, but she has to live here because her parents cannot give her the attention she needs at home. Shanu has a brother and sister, both with severe medical problems that require constant attention. Her brother cannot attend school and her sister can only attend part-time. Shanu’s brother needs kidney surgery, but has to wait until he is older and stronger for it to be a safe procedure. Shanu’s sister has trouble breathing (I believe it’s severe asthma), for which the Kerala climate (hot and dusty) is not exactly helpful. Shanu’s mother has to work and take care of her two sick children, and her father’s job as a truck driver keeps him from home a lot. Shanu herself is not perfectly healthy; she has a small heart defect.

Despite all of this, Shanu has the most cheerful spirit of all the BIGHS boarders. Whenever I was feeling down—having had a bad day or being a little homesick—Shanu could always make me smile again. One day, my classes were very rowdy and I was missing my friends and when Shanu asked me if we were having exercise class I told her that I was too tired. I was sitting in my room later reading, when I heard someone tap on my window. It was Shanu, with a bouquet of fresh flowers she had picked for me. She told me the name of each flower and showed me how to arrange them so that they were the most aesthetically pleasing. She banished my bad mood with a simple act of kindness. Whenever we talked about her family or her home, she would get a little said because she missed her family, but then she would smile at me and say that she was glad she was in the hostel because she could play with me.

I know Shanu has been looking forward to going home, and I’m glad that she will get to spend more time with her family during the summer holidays, but I will miss her terribly. Thankfully, she will return in June with her smile and her feistiness.

Meditations on Serving

2010-02-11T00:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

This blog post is dedicated to the students, staff and faculty who make up the Agnes Scott College Living Wage Campaign.

Dear Friends,

Thank you, as always, for supporting my mission in India with your interest in my work and in the spiritual and emotional support that always comes at a much needed moment. After 2 months of uncertainty and emotional lows, January was a welcome change. I moved into my new home on New Year’s Eve, which was one of the best days for such a transition. My new hostelmates welcomed me with open arms and we immediately became friends. The girls here have taught me so much in just a few months. My Malayalam is much improved, I can now wash my clothes by hand (on a rock!) and I can finally tie a saree all by myself. Most of my hostelmates are teachers in training, so we all get to practice teaching every day with each other!
Every day in January brought something new and exciting; I couldn’t have asked for a better site.

I could go on and on about how much I enjoy my new life here in Buchanan, but I wanted to take some time with this blog post to meditate on the concept of serving. In Kerala, serving is built into the food culture and is always something that volunteers struggle with. People of lower social stature serve people of higher stature. Most institutions hire someone whose duty it is to serve everyone tea, coffee, food, etc. If I am eating in a communal mess hall, staff comes around with food constantly asking if I want more of something. If I am visiting someone’s home, the mistress of the house will serve food to other guests, her family and me. Only after all have eaten will the server be able to eat the food that is leftover. Because I am a foreigner, and therefore a special guest wherever I go, my food is always served to me. Servers never eat with the served, and the served generally do not thank or pay much attention to the servers except to deny or affirm that they want more of a particular food item. When I was staying at Mandiram, I had the opportunity of serving, along with the wardens, some guests who came for various programs. If this particular part of Malayali culture had bothered me before, it was magnified ten times by the experience of being on the serving end.

I should mention that there are a few exceptions to this rule. One of the many things I appreciate about Buchanan is the fact that for breakfast and dinner, the boarding students take turns serving and at dinner the cook/server eats with us. However, when I eat with the Buchanan teachers at lunch the normal serving etiquette is followed, which makes me feel even worse. I hate that I have a different relationship with the kitchen staff at different meals depending on who else is eating with us.

Although I am more desensitized to this practice than when I first arrived in Kerala, it still bothers me. I think it reinforces the unjust hierarchies of caste and gender that are very much a part of Indian culture that I know I will never be totally comfortable with. I don’t feel as though I am in any way better or more valuable a human being than those who serve me, yet I am obviously seen and treated as such. For a while, I was convinced that my discomfort resulted from the cultural differences of food service, that because this practice didn’t exist in the United States, part of my dislike must stem from the newness of the experience. After thinking about it though, I realized that this is wrong because we have the same attitudes and practices in the United States, it just looks a little different. I will use the Agnes Scott College dining hall as an example. When students go into the dining hall, they grab a plate and receive food from the servers and barely interact with them except to say how much or little they want of a particular food item. I would say that most students are not familiar enough with the staff to know their names. The students’ and faculty’s behavior towards these servers also reinforces unjust hierarchies of socio-economic class and, in many cases, race. Yet, we do not see much of a problem with this system and I would say that most people would not acknowledge that this problem exists.

So why do I find these unjust hierarchies so much more apparent and “wrong” in Kerala? I have a few guesses. One is that to me, an outsider, all Keralites look more or less the same. There are variations in skin tone, some Malayalis are darker or lighter than others (the politics of skin color here is a whole different beast), but to me they all still look like Malayalis. I don’t perceive a difference in the people I’m eating with and the people I’m being served by. In the United States, most of the people who served my food were either Latino or African American. There was a visible difference in the people serving and being served that closely tied in with American ideas of acceptable social hierarchy. Another reason is that there are very few servers in a Kerala dining experience as compared to the United States, and their interaction is different. In the States, we have embraced an assembly-line style of food service (a la college dining halls) that depersonalize the food servers. To get one meal at Agnes Scott 3 or 4 different people would often serve me. In Kerala, there are usually just one or two people that serve, so I have prolonged exposure. Also, because I live in the same place (Buchanan Institution or, earlier, Bishop Moore Hostel) as the server I encounter her more often; I am forced to build some sort of relationship with her. Once I’ve gotten to know her, it’s much harder for me to accept her serving me food. The American culture of serving does not allow for such easy interaction and necessity of relationships.

It’s amazing how living in a completely different culture has really opened my eyes in a new way to my own. My role here in Kerala is of an observer and commentator, not a changer, so I cannot change the culture of food serving. However, I can work against the unjustness of the system in small ways. I build relationships with the kitchen staff and make sure they know that I do not, in any way, think less of them. I say “please” and “thank you” (dayavayi and nanni in Malayalam) I can also try to take on some food serving myself to show to everyone else that I am an equal. When I get back to the United States, I will be able to work against the unjust system. I can be an advocate for those in the food service industry. I can strike up a conversation with my food servers in dining halls, I can say “please” and “thank you.” I can help to break unjust systematic hierarchies that were previously unrecognizable to me.

Christmastime in Kerala

2009-12-28T20:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas friends!

The month of December was one of transition for me, I had to move to a new site and begin forging new relationships. December was also the busiest month for me so far, between my work, Christmas services and visits; I rarely had a day for rest.

I have moved from Mavelikkara to the Kottayam metro area (Pallom to be exact) to Buchanan Institute Girl's Higher Secondary. Buchanan is a very old school that teaches girls from 5th standard to 10th standard, and now has an adjoining LP school for all children standards 1 through 4. Throughout December, I took free classes at the higher secondary school, getting to know the 900 students! Although I enjoyed interacting with college students at Bishop Moore, there was always a problem with motivation. Only some college students wanted to make an effort to learn English, the others just wanted to clown around. The girls at Buchanan have a great attitude about learning. They may be a little shy, but they are eager! My site supervisor and I finally worked out a more permanent schedule yesterday, and from now on I will be taking classes with 5th, 6th and 8th standards regularly, but finding other ways to engage with other standards as well. In my free time at the school I talked with the teachers, who are tickled pink to have me there. This school complex has a hostel, but they did not have a room ready to receive a permanent guest. Until all the necessary arrangements could be made, I was to live at Mandiram's Society* and commute to Buchanan every day, which is an adventure.

December is a crazy time for educational institutions because there are exams at the beginning of the month, and then preparing for Christmas programs for the remaining weeks before Christmas vacation. Every church, school and social club puts on a Christmas Carol Service, in which members sing songs, perform skits and dances, read scripture passages and listen to a Christmas message. The teachers at Buchanan, still admiring the foreigner in their midst, wanted me to choreograph a dance (despite my assertions that I knew nothing of this art form), sing a solo and teach some students an English song. My attempt at dance choreography was a spectacular failure (really a blessing as this duty was subsequently taken away from me) and there simply wasn't time for me to teach the students a song as I had to leave the school at 3:30pm every day to catch the bus back to Mandiram. I was also saved from having to sing a solo because the teacher in charge forgot to write me into the program. I did however help the girls practice dancing and singing--by watching and listening and saying "good job!"

The rest of my time in December was taken up by the Kerala Christmas experience. Christians in Kerala do not view Christmas as the most important Christian festival--that would be Easter and the Lenten season. However, they have developed some very unique Christmas traditions, one of which is the Carol Service. Like I said, most institutions in Kerala put on a Carol Service, which means that on any given day there will be at least 3 services within a 10 mile radius. I attended 10 services, none of which I could refuse invitations to. These services last anywhere from 2 to 3 hours; yes, you read that right, 2 to 3 HOURS of choirs singing, preachers preaching, scripture reading (mostly in Malayalam) and chair sitting. I did participate in the Mandiram service by singing Silent Night with the other volunteers (in 4 part harmony--impressive I know), and was asked to give the Christmas message at a local Marthoma college. Some services were very well rehearsed, theatrical and lively. Some were somber, some informal, some quite comical. After the service there was always a sponsored dinner, which was usually fried rice or biryani (although two services ended in Kappa my favorite food here), followed by plum cake. Plum cake is a traditional Christmas dessert that is similar to fruitcake but actually tasty.

Christmas decorations here are also different. Kerala has adopted the idea of a Christmas tree, but prefers to use trees that are still alive. Keralites hang these trees with multicolored tinsel decorations, balloons and a few small ornaments shaped like the head of Father Christmas. Very few people string lights on their houses, but everyone has a nakshathram, a Christmas star. These stars are made out of cardstock-like paper and are hung from every shop and house. At night, residents turn on the light bulbs inside and the multicolored glow shines on every porch. The stars are my favorite Christmas tradition here, and one I will be bringing back to the states. Some people also make pulkud--straw houses that contain a nativity scene. I was impressed at how detailed these pulkud were, with rock gardens, streams, trees and grasses surrounding the baby Jesus, his family and his admirerers.

The volunteers celebrated Christmas together in Aluva, at Thomas John Achen's house. We went fishing and paddle boating, exchanged small gifts, drank cider and spent time with Achen's family. Although we missed our families and friends back home, we were actually quite pleased with Christmas in Kerala.

(Final years from Bishop Moore Hostel in the Christmas tableau-->)

*Mandiram's Society is a great place, consisting of an old age home, a hospital, a girl's home and nursing school. In Kerala, most elderly citizens live with their children--old age homes are not very common. However, some families are too poor to take care of their elderly members, and they have no choice but to send them away. Mandiram's Society provides free room and board to these elderly men and women who have nowhere else to go. These Appachens and Ammachis love to chat, smile and laugh. Mandiram hospital provides free care to the poor and is considered to be one of the best hospitals in Kottayam, and its nursing school is also well respected. Within the past 10 years, they have also added a girl's home for those who have no family or whose family cannot support them. The society runs on donations, and staff is made up of priests and local seminary students. All the staff here are friendly and welcoming; they are also some of the funniest people I have met in India. I cannot be in their company 10 minutes without laughing. This is one of the oldest sites for the YAV India program, Tyler is this year's Mandiram volunteer.

Unexpected Travel Suggestions

2009-12-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

Friends,
I know it's been an obscenely long time since I've updated this blog, but many things have happened in the past month and half that led to this neglect. One was that the top row of keys on my keyboard (which are some of the most important letters in our language) decided to stop working, which meant that I could not write an update whenever I wanted to. I have also been displaced in Kerala for the past month, meaning I had very little time to find a working computer with which to write and reflect on all that has happened. In light of these obstacles, I ask you to please forgive my lateness.

November was a roller coaster of a month for me. The first 2 weeks of November were the best yet. After returning from a great retreat, I felt inspired and energized in returning to Mavelikkara and to Bishop Moore College. I arranged a Halloween celebration for the girls in the hostel, which went over very well. We carved pumpkins and I had them make masks out of scraps of colorful loth and knock on my door after dinner to get a few pieces of candy. I ended up with about fifty girls trying to get into my room all at once with outstretched hands. It was chaos, but it was fun! I was also able to visit some of the teachers homes and meet their families. They all insisted on cooking special meals for me, and they were more than happy to teach me how to cook when I asked. When I return, I will be able to cook delicious kappa vevacha, min curry, dosa, appam, kadala curry and poori!

And then came Friday, the 13. I received a call from Thomas John Achen, my site coordinator, that I was going to be served a notice from the Alappuzha district police. The notice was to tell me that I had violated the rules of my visa by attaining employment at Bishop Moore College and I had 15 days to leave the country. Thomas John Achen told me to stay calm and that he and the principal of the college were working on getting the situation under control. This was the last thing I had expected and the shock of it left me very emotional for the next few days. After many days of talking to the police and other government officials in Kerala, Thomas John Achen called to give me news of the situation. I would have to leave India, but my visa was not voided. This meant that I could simply go to Sri Lanka for a few days and then reenter the country. I would have complied with the instructions of the police and I could stay in Kerala. However, the police in Alappuzha district had decided to be very strict on tourist visa policy. Although I was not receiving a salary from Bishop Moore College, the police decided that I was employed and, in their eyes, that went against visa regulations. Because Thomas John Achen did not want the YAV program to suffer or to have conflict with local authorities, it was decided that I should leave Mavelikkara and move to a new site.

Right in the middle of all of this, my keyboard broke, which in itself is not that big of a deal but at the time was an indication that the universe was conspiring against me.

That week was probably the most emotionally trying time of my life to date. I had just settled into Mavelikkara, I was forming deep friendships with the hostel girls, the staff, the hostel and college teachers and other members in the community. After finally making a home in Kerala, I was being told that I had to leave, prematurely severing all of these relationships. Some of the teachers and hostel staff were aware of the situation, but the hostel girls were not. I had to break the news on Wednesday evening that I would be leaving Thursday afternoon, never to return. There were many tears that could not be comforted, many questions that could not be answered. I assured all of my Mavelikkara friends that I would be able to come back to visit every once in a while, but that it would be impossible for me to continue living and working at Bishop Moore. Since then, I have been able to visit the hostel for one night to see their Christmas program, but it can never be the same.

The worst thing about the whole situation was how helpless and targeted I felt. I had done nothing wrong, but was being forced to leave my new home and family. I tried to think of something that I had done to deserve this, but could come up with nothing. Did God think that I was a bad volunteer, that somehow I was doing more harm than good in my placement? Had misinterpreted God's desire and guidance for my life and this was just God's way of correcting my colossal mistake? It seemed as though my prayers, for understanding and for intercession, were going unanswered. In the end, the most helpful prayer was one of the simplest: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to tell the difference."

It took time, but I realized that God was with me in my suffering, not the cause of it. Without God's help, I could not have continued to live and serve while my emotions and anxieties were running so high. I don't think God guided the police to evict me from Allapuzha district, but God did guide my friend Salamma to invite me to stay at her home Sunday night. God worked through Ammamma (the hostel warden) to pray with me and for me every day. God helped Thomas John Achen to find the loophole in India's visa policy that would allow me to stay in Kerala, although it would be in a different place. God was there in the other YAVs, who called or messaged me every day to make sure that I was hanging in there and to make me laugh when I needed it the most.

I left Mavelikkara on a Thursday, and by Saturday was on a plane to Sri Lanka. There, I stayed with Chenoa Stock, a previous India volunteer who now works for the PCUSA in Sri Lanka. 48 hours in a different country, in a city (Colombo) that is very western, was a much needed break from my distress in Kerala. I came back to India on Monday, November 23, and was able to have Thanksgiving with all the YAVs on Thursday at Thomas John Achen's house.

After 22 years, this was the first Thanksgiving when I actually felt thankful for something. I am thankful to still be in Kerala. I am thankful for all the friendships I had in Mavelikkara, for all the experiences I had. Although I lived and served at Bishop Moore for two short months, I had been very happy. I am lucky to have that experience, to meet the people I did, to laugh and learn with everyone in my community. I am thankful that I have friends and family all over the world who supported me through this difficult time, and who will support me in future trials.

"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Concerning Dalits

2009-11-06T02:05:00.000-08:00

I know it has only been a week since my last blog update, but there is much I have to say after the past 7 days. Last weekend, the volunteers and I went to Kozhencherry for our October retreat, during which we focused on the situation of the Dalit (commonly known as “untouchables”) community in Kerala. During the retreat, we visited a Dalit community and worshipped with them on Sunday, so that we could understand the social and religious problems that still exist in Kerala. I can’t explain the situation of Dalit Christians in Kerala without giving a brief history of the church. I think that the story is very interesting, even for people who aren’t history majors.

The Church in Kerala traces its history back to St. (Doubting) Thomas, who made his way to Kerala over 2,000 years ago. The traditional story is that he converted the Brahmins (the highest, priestly, caste in the Hindu tradition) of Kerala to Christianity. The (supposed) descendents of these very first converts call themselves “Syrian Christians.” For a very long time, Kerala was home to a small number of Christians, and then the Europeans arrived. The Portuguese, Dutch and British colonizers brought with them their own versions of Christianity in the 17^th century, and in the 18^th century missionaries from these countries flocked to India. The Portuguese converted many people (mostly Dalits) to Catholicism, which was one of the only new churches to be established in Kerala. The Dutch and British missionaries influenced some of the Syrian Christian community to change their theology and practice, bringing them into the Reformed tradition. Reformed Churches today are the Marthoma Church, the Church of South India (CSI) and the Anglican Church (they are all in full communion with each other). Other Syrian churches were not changed; these are the Orthodox Churches in Kerala.

Here’s the kicker: the Syrian Christians are NOT Brahmins. Although there is historical evidence of Christianity in Kerala in the first few centuries C.E. (A.D.), there is no historical evidence of Brahmin influence in Kerala before the 9^th century C.E. Either the Hindu caste system had not been fully integrated into Kerala culture at the time of the first Christian conversions, or the earliest converts were from a lower caste, most likely the Dalit caste. However, no Syrian Christian is willing to accept this, they hold on to their belief that they are from the highest Hindu caste. Their unwillingness to move from a Hindu caste system to a more Western view of social status creates many problems.

Dalits make up about 25% of the population of India, and in Kerala many of the Dalits are Christians. Why? Because Christ brings a message of acceptance and love no matter what caste or class you are. God’s unconditional love, as preached by Jesus, appeals especially to the poor and the downtrodden of our world. In India, this means that many Christian converts have been from the scheduled tribes and castes (Dalits) because they are the most oppressed under the caste system. Unfortunately, many churches in India have (in my opinion) deviated from the path that Christ intended.

The Marthoma Church has always been very unwelcoming to Dalits, and so they make up a very small percentage of their membership. There are, however, many Dalit members in the CSI church. The CSI church has different churches for Dalits, different pastors, and different policies. They are usually unwilling to send a pastor who is not from a Dalit background or who requests to be at a Dalit church to a Dalit community. They do not pay these pastors very much. They do not allocate much money to Dalit church projects (like rebuilding a collapsed parsonage). The most outrageous action I have heard is the story of Bishop Moore College, Kallamulla CSI Church (where I attend) and Kallamulla LP school. The church, college and LP school all sit in the same junction. Kallamulla Church used to be a Dalit church, and the land around used to be owned by the Dalit church. When the CSI church decided to build a college (Bishop Moore), they took away the Dalit church and the land. They built Bishop Moore College and Kallamulla Church became a Syrian Christian church. The CSI church also built the Kallamulla LP school (where Dalit children go to school) as a sort of concession, before building a much nicer school for non-Dalit children just a half-mile away.

Dalit Christians also face obstacles when it comes to government protection. When India “officially” abolished the caste system, the government set up a reservation system to address caste discrimination in the government and the workplace. The Indian reservation system is very similar to our Affirmative Action system; according to population different castes have spots reserved in schools and governments. Not all of these reservations are filled, and there is not much enforcement (at least in Kerala) of this system. One of the problems with this system is that the government only recognizes caste in the context of the Hindu tradition. Christianity is supposed to be a casteless religion (in theory if not in practice) and so the government does not label Dalit Christians as part of the scheduled tribes and castes that have reservations in schools and government jobs. This means that Dalit Christians are more likely to be trapped in the cycle of poverty that poor education leads to.

Two days a week, I work at Kallamulla LP school. This is the school for Dalit children in the Kallamulla area. Like I said in my last post, Kallamulla LP school is a Malayalam medium school, which means that the students will not learn English as well as their peers in more expensive English medium schools. Grasp of the English language is crucial when it comes to exams at the end of their high school careers and when they go to college, so children from Malayalam medium schools generally do not do as well on their exams and go to lower-grade colleges. Even though I am a native English speaker, there is only so much I can do at this LP school. The children have a minimal grasp of English (some vocabulary words) and the teachers are also far from fluent in the language, although they have learned a lot from the 5 previous volunteers. There are also just 3 permanent teachers for 4 grades and a nursery program, they have hired 2 temporary teachers to help this year.

It has been very difficult for me to accept that there is only so much I can do to help this school. I cannot give them a lot of money for facilities or resources, I cannot hire more teachers, I cannot convince the CSI Church to become more invested in these children. What I can do is meet the needs I am able to. I can play with the children, teach them songs and rhymes, teach them some vocabulary and make them laugh. For the teachers, I can share in fellowship and help them teach English to the students. It never feels like enough, but I am doing what I can, and it is appreciated. This Wednesday, one of the teachers and I were standing in the courtyard as the buses from the Bishop Moore school (English medium and expensive) rolled by. All the children in the buses waved at the strange “madama” (white woman, me), and I waved back. I told Salamma that some of the Bishop Moore school students were jealous that I taught at the LP school. Salamma smiled and said, “Yes, they may have [money] but we have you.”

Settling In and Making Friends

2009-10-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Kerala for almost 2 months, the time has gone by so fast! I’ve settled into a schedule that keeps me pretty busy, but it’s work that I am happy doing. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to Bishop Moore College. I take free classes and help students with their communicative English through different writing and speaking activities. Two of my (and the students’) favorite topics are Malayalam cinema and mascots! I have very little experience with Malayalam films, so the students are only too happy to describe their favorite actors and movies. The idea of a mascot is completely new to the students; they think the idea is very funny. I first explain what a mascot is and what qualities are desirable for a mascot, and then I ask them to think of a mascot for Bishop Moore College. After descriptions and a little debate, the students vote on their favorite mascots. I also teach remedial English 2 mornings out of the week, in which I am a little more traditional in my teaching methods (verb tenses, articles, etc.). When there are no free classes to take, I get to sit in one of the department offices and chat with the professors. They are all very friendly and I’ve had some very funny and very deep discussions with them.

On Wednesdays and Friday mornings I teach classes at the primary school next door to the college, Kallamula LP School. The school only has five teachers and their budget is very small—most of their students are too poor to afford the nice private school down the road. In Kerala, students can attend either a Malayalam medium school or an English medium school (referring to the language of instruction). Malayalam medium schools are cheaper than English medium schools, which means that the poorer children do not have the chance to become very fluent in English. This very much hinders them when they take their exams at the end of grade 12, which are, for the most part, in English. These exams determine what type of college students can attend. The result is a cycle of poverty, since poor children cannot do as well on English language exams their chances of getting into a good college are very poor. Kallamula LP School is a Malayalam medium school and they very much need English instructors. All of the past volunteers have served there and the children love to interact with them! I teach songs and nursery rhymes (“Head, shoulders, knees and toes” is a favorite) and play games to help them review their English vocabulary. It’s challenging to teach young children when I encounter such a huge language barrier, but we have fun.

Most of my time is spent at the hostel, and it is there that I experience the more spiritual rewards and learning opportunities of my service. I attend the daily prayer with the girls in the evening, and once a week I give a short message. For this message I try to focus on women in the Bible, which is a new experience for these girls. This past week I talked about Rebekkah, how her cleverness and wit helped Jacob to receive Jacob’s blessing. I told the girls that God gave them minds to think and to use. They shouldn’t hide how smart they are (which they do in class because the boys will tease them), they should proudly display their gifts of intelligence and wit. Some of the girls came and told me afterwards that they really enjoyed the message; that it was very different from the messages that they usually hear. I’m glad that I can help them see the Bible and see their faith in a different way.

The hostel is also where I am really engaging in a “ministry of presence.” Sometimes, all I can do is just listen to the girls, be present for them and their troubles. Usually I feel totally unequipped (linguistically and emotionally) to effectively respond to them, but they like to have somebody to talk to, somebody who will listen to their experiences. For example, one of the first year girls came up to me after the prayer one evening to tell me her faith story. She is a Christian but comes from a conservative Hindu family. She made the decision to enter the Christian faith while facing very strong opposition from her loved ones. At home, she has to hide her Bibles and Christian reading material because her mother might tear them up (it has happened before). Consequently, she feels she can truly express her faith only at Bishop Moore College and at this hostel. Even here she faces resistance to her faith; some of her Hindu professors and friends continually ask her why she insists on being a Christian. Amazingly, she says that she forgives her family and friends who discourage her and that she prays daily for them to accept her and her chosen faith. When she told me her story, I could do nothing but listen and nod—I had no personal experience from which to relate with her. I have been fortunate enough to be born into a family that would have accepted whatever religious path I chose to follow, and who would have supported me on any faith journey. I very much admire her strength of faith and of will to hold on to her Christian beliefs in the face of such intimidating obstacles. She says she wants to be a missionary and preach the word of God; I’m encouraging her to think about going to one of the few Indian seminaries that accept women, she would be a great achen (pastor).

Before I sign off on this post, I will explain how you, wherever you are in the world, can help the communities here in Kerala. First, you can support each and every one of the volunteers, and the people we work with, by praying for us—we need it! You can also donate money to our mission by visiting the PCUSA YAV website (http://www.pcusa.org/yav/support.htm#international) and clicking on a volunteer’s name. Lastly, we do appreciate material donations. All of the volunteers in Kerala work with children, but we don’t have many resources for teaching them English. If you are/were a teacher and have some old coloring books, teacher resource books, arts and crafts materials, etc. lying around we would be more than glad to take them off your hands! You can send these things to:

Sarah Lyn Jones
Sr. Rachel Joseph Hostel
Mavelikara PO Alappuzha
Kerala 690101 India

As always, thank you so much for reading this blog and for your thoughts and prayers!

Kerala--Land of Diversity

2009-09-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

Although we have only one species of banana in the United States, Kerala has at least five of varying sizes, colors and sweetness. My fellow YAVs and I are constantly corrected when we call any variety of plantain a “banana;” we have to recognize that each fruit is unique and wholly different from the others. There are no English equivalents of the different types of plantains, and so we are learning, at a turtle’s pace, how to distinguish and appreciate each fruit we eat. My favorite is about the size of a small sausage, is very sweet, is deep yellow in the middle and the peel turns a rust color when left out—it is quickly becoming my favorite fruit.

Starting off with meditations on different “bananas” might seem a little weird, but I can think of no better way to describe the experience of an American coming to India. India is a land of diversity, even though in our Western minds we lump all of the different cultures, languages and peoples together. We think of Indians as a unified people with a singular shared tongue, dress and society. Contrary to this popular belief, which I admit I held, India is made up of a myriad of cultures and peoples unified only because of the British Empire. Living in Kerala gives me the chance to understand a part of India, to connect with Malayali culture, but my Kerala experience should not be taken as an illustration of India as a whole country.

We landed in Cochin on September 2 at 3:00am. The airport was already packed and there were about a thousand people waiting outside to greet their friends and relatives. Thomas John Achen (our site coordinator) was waiting with a big smile and warm hugs for all the volunteers. We call Thomas John “Achen” (“father”) because he is a pastor in the CSI church. After a brief rest at Achen’s house (we started the day at 8:00am), our introduction to Kerala began. Our first breakfast was rice noodles, milk and palm syrup with a fried egg, which was all delicious but we were concentrating more on getting the food to our mouths than the taste. See, in Kerala people eat with their right hand, using the first three fingers and the thumb; it takes some practice. After this very brief orientation to table etiquette, we went to a Hindu temple to see Onam celebrations. Onam is the Kerala harvest festival and is the time when the greatest king of Kerala comes back to visit his people, so for a week there are boat races, feasts, parades, etc.

The rest of the orientation week was less exciting (except for my small bout of food poisoning, but that was over quickly), but more informative. Every day started with prayer, songs and a Bible study. Achen has a great theological mind and his interpretations of scripture were always meaningful and thought-provoking. We learned about Kerala culture, the political history of India and how to behave in this new culture. There are more restrictions for Cynthia and I: we sit on a different side of the church from the men, we cannot wear clothing that does not cover our knees and shoulders, we should not walk around town after 6:00pm, etc. On Sunday, we attended Achen’s church where he gave the sermon and we (just the volunteers) sung “How Can I Keep From Singing” and “It is Well with my Soul.” The service (all 2 hours of it) was in Malayalam, and we had no idea what was going on most of the time. We ended up taking communion and passing the peace incorrectly (it’s possible), but the congregation was forgiving.

Exactly a week after arriving in Kerala we packed up and traveled to our sites. Well, almost all of us. Because Bishop Moore College was still out for Onam holidays I was to stay with Cynthia for five days. Tyler was the first to be dropped off at Mandiram’s Society in Kottayam. Mandiram’s Society is a hospital/nursing home for the elderly with an orphanage attached. Tyler will be staying in the staff quarters and will spend his days being a companion to the elderly and teaching the children. After a special breakfast, we said goodbye to Tyler and went to CMS College in Kottayam, where Cameron will be staying. His and my work will be very similar. We are to get to know the students and staff at our respective colleges and help the students improve their communicative English skills. Once Cameron was settled in, Cynthia and I traveled to Thiruvalla where the Nicholson Syrian Girls’ school is located. Nicholson is a boarding school for girls from 5^th to 12^th grade. The girls are made to live a very simple life under a very strict schedule. For the first five days, Cynthia and I met the girls, the teachers and the headmistresses (the “kochammas”). We also had the opportunity to stay with the keyboard teacher in town for the weekend and participate in fellowship with the Marthoma church community.

On September 14 I was finally brought to my site: Bishop Moore College. I am staying in the women’s hostel (what we would call a dormitory) with about 50 girls, who are very friendly and eager to speak English and to teach me Malayalam. Here, I will offer English conversation hours three times a week, help lead prayer services and have a lot of fellowship with the students. The matron (Ammama) and warden (Maria Kochamma) have been very nice and helpful. They will be my main supervisers/supporters in my work at the hostel. My supervisors at the college are Dr. Matthew Koshy (principal) and Dr. Sherly Annie Paul (chemistry professor). There, I will be working with all of the departments, taking free classes (classes that do not have a professor that day) to help the students improve their communicative English skills. All the courses here are taught in English, but the students and teachers will usually speak in Malayalam outside of the classroom. As a result, the students are very hesitant to speak English because they have had very little practice. In past years, the volunteers have worked primarily with the English department, which resulted in only some of the student body gaining confidence in the English language.

This past week I took a few free classes and met most of the professors, who are all very friendly. Leelama George, chairwoman of the Malayalam department, was especially excited about my being at Bishop Moore. She runs a women’s empowerment program at the college and we talked for over an hour about the problems Kerala women face and how Bishop Moore College is trying to meet the needs of the women students. The most pressing issue is the culturally ingrained notion that women are inferior to men, that they cannot perform as well as men in the workplace and that they will never have a career. Many women here will marry as soon as they graduate and within a couple of years become housewives, because that is what their mothers did. Leelama is trying to encourage these young women to strive for economic independence and to have ambitions of their own. For two Saturdays a month, the College offers programs like communicative English, women’s health, gardening (vegetables and fruits), and motivational seminars for the women students. I, of course, told her that I was eager to help in any way possible.

In conclusion, Kerala is keeping me busy. My next post will hopefully be less narration of my activities and more reflection on the culture and my own experience. The picture at the top is a photo of all the volunteers (Me, Cynthia, Cameron, Tyler) and Thomas John Achen at the CSI church in Aluva. I'm trying to upload photos to a photobucket or flickr account, but haven't been able to find a computer with a strong enough connection to do so yet. Hopefully within the next week I can share all the sights of Kerala!

Limbo

2009-08-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

So this is it: my last post from from the United States! I've been at Stony Point retreat center in New York with all the other Young Adult Volunteers, learning about the intersections of gender and race, globalization, how my new insurance works and what to do if there is an uprising in my country (there won't be, don't worry). I also got to hang out with a lot of cool YAVs and YAV alums, and practice building community. One of the greatest things about this program is the support system it fosters in all the volunteers. I met a lot of great people, and I'm sad that I'm saying goodbye to them for a year, but I'm excited to see what they do in their sites! Last night, we all exchanged homemade bookmarks so that we all have prayer partners.

Stony Point's Labyrinth

I'm feeling much more prepared for India now and I'm feeling very excited! The daily worship here pumped everyone up and we're all ready to touch down in our countries! Of course, all of us have at least 12 hours of travel time, plus waiting for our flights to take off, so this is apparently a lesson in being still. It's tough! However, I think we all need the time to sit and listen for God's still, silent voice. I know that when I get to Kerala I'm going to get one heck of a culture shock and my head will be reeling for a while; it's nice to have some quiet time.

One of the facilitators this weekend asked me what the first thing I was looking forward to in India, and I said the smells. I have heard that the Indian air is filled with spices, and that it is one of the most amazing olfactory experiences one can have. So, in about 24 hours I will know whether or not this is true. Either way, I'll let y'all know!

One month closer...

2009-07-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

It is now a little less than a month until I leave for New York, then Kerala. I have been very busy this past month with Camp Halfblood (http://web.mac.com/camphalfblood/Camphalf-blood.com/About_us.html) and a youth mission trip to the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in New Mexico (which was awesome, by the way). I am more than halfway through my fundraising (thank God!) and am working on getting my passport and other materials in order.

I received an email from Ariel Givens, who is at Bishop Moore College now, with advice about what to bring, what kind of lodging and food I will find and other important things. She mentioned that the hostel where I will be staying has only dialup internet connection, and only from 9:30pm until 6am. Needless to say, I won't be on the internet very much while in India. So, while in Ireland I was able to keep up to date with goings on in the U.S. (especially all the election drama!) I will have to get used to getting all my information late. I will update this blog definitely every month and hopefully every other week, along with all the cool pictures I know I'll be taking!

This week I'll be packing up clothes and other items for my trip because I have yet ANOTHER 2 weeks of camp before the summer is over, and I won't have a lot of time afterwards to pack. I'm meeting my sister in Dallas for a night when she flies back from China, before she heads back to Indiana the next day. This summer has gone by so fast, it's hard to believe that at this time next year I'll be packing up to leave India!

Site Assignment and My Growing Excitement

2009-06-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I received an email from the Reverend Thomas John (my site coordinator in Kerala) with information on my site assignment. I have been placed at Bishop Moore College in the city of Mavelikkara. I will teach spoken English to the college students and to the primary school students who share the Bishop Moore campus, working on the college newspaper (and I thought I was done with journalism), and giving English lessons to the neighboring Dalit (untouchable) community. There are also opportunities to work with the community counseling center and with the local Church of South India congregations. The Young Adult Volunteer who is currently serving at Bishop Moore College is Ariel Givens; you can read her blog here.

The first thing I did after reading the site description was to Wikipedia Mavelikara and Bishop Moore College. Mavelikkara is in the district of Alapuzha, which is called the "Venice of the East" because of all the canals. The city has a population of about 28,000 with 10% of the population under 10 years of age. I couldn't find much information about the local fauna, which I was hoping would include elephants, monkeys and sloth bears. All of these animals--plus tigers which I would like seeing in a zoo but not up close--are native to the Kerala area. Today I'm going to be searching in the Austin Public Library for some books about Kerala (history and culture) so that I won't be totally ignorant when I arrive (like I was in Northern Ireland).

This week I have a small break from Camp Halfblood, so I can pour all my energy into preparing for my YAV year; sitting down and working in air conditioning feels so nice. I'm still getting congratulations cards and contributions to my fund--I've reached the $3,000 mark! Thanks to everyone who has contributed.