Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Covered Caramels...

Today has been filled with so much emotion and I am drained...
I need to tell you before I even get started that 
I feel just like the little girl in the second row...
I could close my eyes and sleep through anything right now!
However, I will do my best to get this post out before I turn in for the night.


It is our last full day in Madhavapatnam today and we are absolutely thrilled to hear that Novahu is going to let the orphans play hookie from school this afternoon so that we can play with them 
a bit more before we go.
It is an afternoon filled with much merriment, hugs and sweet treats...












After playing with the orphans, it was time to start getting ready for the evenings festivities,
the gals had brought mud facial masks to do for fun...they were enjoyed by both travelers and 
our hosts alike...



Next it was time for fixing hair and painting nails, which the orphan girls were thrilled to do...





While we were busy getting ourselves ready, preparations were underway for preparing the food...








The stage was also being set up across the street from Novahu's house...





Finally, everything and everyone was set for the program...
It was truly an honor to be greeted by not only the teachers and children, 
but also by the parents.  Everyone was so grateful for the education that their kids were receiving!
I was asked to share a few words of encouragement and Big Bob was asked to lift up "the mission'...




We were entertained by several different groups of dancers from the Marshall Public School 
and the Adult Ed program...








Following the program, dinner was served to the people in the village who attended the evening ceremony. 
We were told that they ran out of plates and food and had to quickly prepare more 
in order to feed the over 1,000 people who showed up!










While the villagers enjoyed their meal, and the teachers took one last pose for a "photo op" with Big Bob, the rest of us were quickly escorted out and up to say good-bye to the orphans.



So, if you've made it through all that, you're probably wondering where the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Covered Caramels are...
well, just hold on!
How 28 children can steal the hearts of 10 travelers is only a pure testimony to how alive and real this ministry is!  The ache I feel in the depths of my heart right now at the thought of leaving these children is more than I can stand...the ache I feel for my own daughters who are also so incredibly attached to these children is just as heart wrenching.  The thought that tomorrow (well actually today) will come and we won't be able to feel their little arms squeeze tight around us as they hug us with all their might is enough to make me break down in tears again.
Okay, so there's salt in tears, but you're probably wondering about the chocolate and caramel.
 So what's so sweet about this all...
well for starters if it weren't for the love that was shared between us it wouldn't matter whether we left or not and knowing that you could love this group of children so much within such a short amount of time that they too were distraught with tears at the reality of us leaving, gives me cause to believe we accomplished part of what we set out to do.  To instill in these orphans that there are people on the other side of the world who love and care for them and that they each are special is a gift we set out to give. Knowing that as we left there today, each of those 28 children felt more love than they possibly have felt in their precious lifetime... 
this is as satisfying as the sweet taste of chocolate and caramel.  
Together the saltiness of tears and the sweetness of love reminds me of my favorite
Dark Chocolate Sea Salt covered Caramels.
And there you have it!
Please don't misunderstand me though, these children are very much loved by Novahu and his family as well as by those who are hired to help care for them; it's just that the reality of it all is that there are only so many caregivers for 28 kids...not a lot of one on one time if you know what I mean.

I'd like to leave you for now with this story...
Ganesh, one of the orphan boys really connected with me while we were here; he always sought me out and  wanted to make sure I had everything I could possibly need or want.  He was kind, gentle and loving.  When it came time to paint our hands on the wall, he specifically asked me to put mine close enough to his so that our fingers could touch.  The cockles of my heart were warmed by his display of affection.  Well, tonight when we came up to say good-bye and I started to cry he pulled me over to the wall and showed me our hands...I told him he would always be in my heart and he told me that whenever he would be missing me he would come and put his hand over my painted one on the wall and think of me.


God bless Ganesh and all our other little "shine brites" who are part of 
Joyful Journey Ministry in India!

We have reached the final portion of our trip, 
but our journey continues...
Namaste'
~Jenny



















Tuesday, January 29, 2013

let's get caught up...

Dear blog followers,
Before I post anything in regards to our trip, I simply wanted to take the time to say "thank you" for following along with us on our journey...I must say that it's the amount of people I know are looking at our blog and the wonderful comments that you are leaving that fuel my fire at the end of the day to stay up and post about our experiences!  We are so grateful for those of you who have left encouraging and uplifting messages for us; you can't imagine how comforting words from home can be when you are on the other side of the world...thanks for taking the time to do that! 

Now we need to back up a bit...
The last two posts were both from Sunday and I'm actually starting today's post off with the last of the days events.  I mentioned that after going to 3 churches that we were taken to an area where they'd like to build another church.  This plot of land was located right outside a section of Madhavapatnam where the poorest of the poor live. It was like their own little community right within the larger community itself.  Apparently  it is not customary to associate with these people and yet Novahu has not only welcomed the children into the Marshall Public School, he has also hired some of the women to help in the kitchen feeding the children in the Lunch Bunch program.  We were all very moved by the way these people welcomed us into their "neighborhood" as well as their homes.  They had great pride for the little they did have; and quite frankly this had to be the cleanest area in regards to garbage laying around homes.  Whether it's because they simply don't have the means to buy anything that would not be totally consumed or because they have become self sufficient in obtaining food...the point is there was no garbage laying around the outsides of homes like there was in every other area we've been in.






 








This is a photo of the rice fields down the road from the above community...


I have two things to say in regards to what we experienced here...
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!!!!  and...
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!!!!

This finally brings me to Monday...

Okay, wait...first I must share a couple things with you...
~when you're supposed to leave at a specific time, allow a leeway of 45 minutes or so
~when something is supposed to take an hour, it usually takes three
~when somewhere you are traveling to is 50 miles away, it's usually 150
~when someone from India tells you that the food is not spicy, it usually is
~when someone bobbles their head "no", it usually means "yes".

That all being said, we planned to take a little excursion with Novahu and his family down the south Ganges river...assuming I wrote everything above for a reason I will simply leave it at that and focus on the positive parts of the trip.  We rented a boat that was exclusively used by our group and had a very peaceful afternoon riding down the river seeing landscapes and scenes that you just don't see while driving in the cities, or for that matter, even between the cities.  Okay I not referring to the fact that Big Bob and Solomon are holding hands because honestly you see that whenever you see the two of them together!


I'm talking about the beauty in the countryside...


In case you can't tell, those are bats hanging in this tree!



We stopped at a sacred Hindu Temple along the way...we had trouble pulling the boat up close to the shore because the water is so low right now.  It was amazing how parched the ground was.


You were supposed to remove your shoes before venturing up the stairs and then there was a place to wash your feet before entering the temple. 

 The temple itself was build out of one stone.

There were many statues around the compound...




These little stone shrines reminded us of one of our favorite beaches in Door County.  
It is said that the homeless people come here and set those up to represent their homes...
and then it is believed that they all have a home within the temple.
We left and continued on our journey down the river.  


We saw many different types of dwellings and hard working people as we cruised on by...





We stopped at one village, but after only moments of being there Novahu told us to get back on the boat.
Not sure what that was all about...


Anyways, we returned to the boat and enjoyed the company of our Indian family for the rest of the ride; sharing stories, playing games, applying henna to each other, and having lunch...






I must say that after being served food that even Novahu thought was hot; I was grateful that we had stuck the remaining Carmel Corn in our bag to bring along...so was Manjula!!


All in all it was a delightful day!

I'm now writing about today, which is technically yesterday as once again the time has slipped away from me.  I am going to keep this very brief as I do need some sleep tonight; however I promise that each one of my family members will be posting on our blog once we return home with followup stories from our trip so that you won't really miss anything.

In a "nutshell" we arrived at the school early this morning so we could see their 'morning assembly"




We had a chance to greet them all and hand out some awards before they started their day and we moved forward with ours.  We spent a good part of the day following up on projects that we had been working on as well as talking with Novahu about future plans within Joyful Journeys Inc.

Later in the afternoon we were invited to visit both of Manjula's sister's homes within the village.
What an honor it was to be invited into their humble homes. We could feel the love that went into preparing the apple slices and tea for us; plus we got a special treat of ice cream!





Now I MUST go to bed for tomorrow (which is already today)
is going to be an emotion packed day as it will be our last day with the orphans.
Again, thanks for following along!
Namaste'
~Jenny