Goodbye and Thank you

The time has come. Its been one heck of an eye opening trip. The memories, the lessons, the experiences, the sights, sounds, smells, the highs and the lows, the good times and the tough times have been incredible.

The last few days i have been helping at Kathmandu International Study Centre (KISC) with their activity week. I was one of the helpers for the kindergartens and grade 1’s. they had 2 teachers amongst the 30 children, but they had a young female volunteer helping them as well. i was placed into there probs out of desperation as they needed more volunteers for that group. Being an international school all different cultures were present but all speaking english. The past few days have been me just journeying with them and getting to know them, as well as supporting the teachers so that they can hear about God and also have fun. I guess my years of helping out at beachmission has really helped as it seemed like a breeze. Perhaps im the only male with them, but they really took a liking to me. By the end of the day, they all had to sit on my lap, and using me as a pillow as the afternoon crept up. The Korean kids kept trying to work out if i was korean or not, and gave me the nickname Mr Jon-ni. Even the teachers and volunteer said that they all really took a liking to me and that i was really quick in getting to know them. i’ve even been invited to come back again hahaha. It was hard to say goodbye to hey. They would constantly come up and give hugs and grab my legs and jump on my back to give me a hug throughout the days. And it was hard not to return the love, but im sure policy says i cant, so i had to make sure they couldnt sit on me. And then it got me thinking about the Bible and it coming to life again. You see, i imagine it with us and Him. That we claw and grab and grasp onto Him, yet, he would never drive us away, he would never pry our hands off of his leg and tell us ‘no’. Actually he asks us to come to Him as children. Yet, taking that scenario further, as kids we do let go of him as we see something else catch our attention. But he doesnt leave us, he’s right there watching waiting for us to come back, or else, he grabs us and pulls us back to Him.

last night, i also got to be a bit of a tourist and walked around the squares to buy some souvenirs. i saw the main square, where the earthquake damage had really affected all the temples. What once stood a grandeur sight for sure, only just stood the foundation. But nepal is reviving. The markets are open and selling things. yet then there’s the gas and petrol shortages. People are cramming onto buses, cars, tempos (electric rickshaws) all trying to get home. i had fun climbing onto the roof of the bus, with my fellow bus buddies and we just sat there as the bus navigated through the peak hour traffic. It wasnt pleasant on our butts though as we were sitting in a luggage rack. i forgot to mention that i had the chance to ride a bicycle through the traffic as well. It gets the adrenaline pumping as you weave and dodge cars and buses and motorbikes and pedestrians and other cyclists. Yet it was still so much fun! 

Finally today as its my last day here in Nepal, i was taken to Boudha, an area where the 3rd largest Stoupa stands. This all relates to Buddhism, the kind the Dalai Lama is. This area is kinda like a temple or shrine. we looked into monasteries and monks were all there chanting, praying and then on the streets shopping too.

Nepal and India really give perspective to life. you dont realise how privilege u are, really you dont. and theres a good chance that im gonna forget it and go back to comfortable living conditions, while my fellow man struggles to get gas, petrol, food, or just to forge out a life. I watched a movie called '3 idiots' and man its a good movie. A movie that really hits you hard, and encourages you - to not chase money but to chase what you're passionate about. What mark am i gonna leave in this life? i hope its not one of just that i existed, that i lived the safest, most comfortable life. But one where i did something knowing the privileges that i have been given, the talents that i have been gifted with. Another movie i watched called 'kick' was about a guy who was the modern day robin hood, who did everything for 'kicks'. But the ultimate kick was he was doing it for the helpless children. I cant help but agree - there's something about the kids here on this side of the world that you cannot help but show compassion, drive and passion to help and support them. Not only with money, laughter, joy, love, support, a listening ear, a lap to sit on, a shoulder to sleep on, but also hope. 

Thank you india, thank you nepal. Its not so much a goodbye, but a see you again soon.  Thanks God for igniting the soul

Boudha

sitting on the rooftop of a bus, stuck in traffic, looking at the ppl standing outside the petrol station 

stuck in the streets as ppl line up for rationed petrol

Nepal part 2

I've been in the country now for 6 days and i've only a few more days to go. I had the chance to explore the city and to see the earthquake damage. I had first hand accounts from MaryLou and her husband Keith about the destructions of the earthquakes. It is really sad to hear and see the damage that has happened around the city. But in saying that, the Nepalese are a resilient bunch of people. its been 6 months now and alot has been cleaned up - especially for a developing country like this. But unfortunately, the tourists are still staying away. The fear of earthquakes has scared them off.

But we walked the tourist strips and observed how the city was going. It's still hustling and bustling with life. The city is returning to what it once was. I had a chance to see some beautiful architecture - huge squares where hindu temples and oriental buildings are emplaced, with just concrete tiles lining the ground. no grass, no greenery, just squares.

And thats the amazing thing about nepal, never have i seen it in india. Buildings built so close together, stacked so high, where people live and sell things. Yet walking through them, the create squares - squares of peacefulness where no traffic can go. Some squares did have greenery, they had parks and even public bathing areas. Actually i find that a bit of a contradictory. People (Especially women) cover themselves up, its a modest culture. Yet here are these public bathing areas in the middle of the public squares with women bathing themselves.

Tonight i had the pleasure of having dinner with the guy who's running YoungLife Nepal. Him and 2 american YL directors came to marylou's house for dinner and some good hangs, and they've been teaching him how to grow his ministry. we ate some traditional nepalese food, but to be honest, its just like the indian food i had for 3 months. How do you know if you've been in india for some time? Well, there was 7 of us around the table - everyone eating with knives and fork. after eating it for some time, the Hom (The nepalese YL guy) and i just looked at each other, and i said that i need to use my hands. He looked at me and said yeah he needs to as well. so there was just the 2 of us eating with our hands while everyone used cutlery, and it felt good haha. and we both knew it, we just looked at each other and smiled.

My time nepal is coming to an end soon. The rest of my time i'll be volunteering at an international school as its their activity week. Its my last time see mary lou as well as she is taking her students away on a trek for activity week. We'll say our goodbyes tomorrow, at 5am as she needs to catch a bus to Pokhara (a touristy trekking spot) with her school students.

The remnants of a tall spire and tourist attraction. 150 ppl died while being in this tower.

ppl wear masks because of the dust and smog

selling fabric

so many wires. and this is a very popular cafe called Himalaya Java. also this is where Keith was when the earthquake struck 6 months ago.

Nepal part 1

I left Bangalore and headed for the airport with Reem at 11pm on 25th Oct. She had a flight to Aus at 3am and i had a flight to Kolkata at 6am. We said our farewells at the airport and it was time to contort the body to get some sleep. Getting a few minutes sleep i made friends with some guy sitting next to me, waiting to fly back to Delhi. Its so interesting how everyone has a story, i swear airports are the best place to hear them. It was time to check in and again get some more sleep. 6am rolled around and it was time to board AirIndia to fly to Kolkata. I sat next to a man and a woman and their 2 year old boy. He was an adventurous boy, trying to feed me pomergranate as well as trying to take my butter. We soon just looked through the inflight magazine together and tested his english. It was time to get off, but i had the opportunity to chat to the ppl next to me. I found out they were brother and sister, and the boy was the sister's son. They were both Nepalese heading back home from India. We hopped off the plane and realised we were gonna sit next to each on our flight to Kathmandu. What an awesome thing it was, coz it turns out he was a top bloke. We chatted in Kolkata airport (a huge airport btw) to kill our 5 hr wait time. He was so friendly and he was willing to give me a sim card to use for the fortnight i was in Nepal. He was also wanting to show me around Nepal and gave me his number that "if was ever in trouble" he would drop everything and come help.

We sat in the lounge waiting to board our plane. i forgot to mention that there were so many americans at Kolkata airport. Everyone wondered why? Next minute, all of them came sitting in the same lounge, all waiting to board to Nepal. 2 of them sat next to me, so i needed ask. I found out that there were 54 college students all part of this thing called 'World Race'. 11 months, 11 countries - serving and helping out different ministries and organisations. They asked me about what i was doing, and i told them that i was visiting friends and that i was a part of YoungLife. that got really excited because a few of them are a part of younglife in the USA. Its always like that, once you're in younglife, you're a part of the family. So we hopped onto the plane and headed to Nepal. I got the window sit this time, so i got to see outside, but unfortunately, the window was all dirty and scratched. But that did not stop me from seeing the views that i saw. Over the PA the pilot announced details about our arrival time and then said that we can see the himalayas and Mt everest. saw i quickly looked out the window and there it was - a vista of snow covered mountains. A sight that i have never seen before. Mountain after mountain covered in snow. Clouds would cover the top but some mountains still peered ontop of the clouds. what a spectacular sight. How much more spectacular if the window wasnt so scratched haha. As we descended to land, my mate that i made friends with a few hours before said that he would help me with the airport, and that he would call my contact, Mary Lou, once i reached the airport. Im glad he did, because Kathmandu airport was crazy! so many foreigners, so many ppl not knowing what's going on or wot to do. I had to buy a visa, but i needed to go to a counter, who told me to go to a different counter, who told me to go to another counter to fill out a form and then bring it back. gosh, it was hectic. Once that was all complete i went down to the baggage collection area to collect my bag. Theres only 2 carousels in a tiny room, and like so many flights coming in, so u can imagine what the scene was like....ppl jammed together trying to get their trolleys through with no luck, it was total chaos haha. but thats eastern culture, theres no lines. I lost my friend but then i found him again, he was waiting for me the entire time with a trolley to pick up my luggage. he gave me his phone and told me to call Mary Lou, she was outside waiting for me in the masses of people. I said goodbye to my friend and caught a taxi with mary lou. They crazy thing is that theres no petrol here, so taxis were demanding exorbitant prices, but thats what happens when theres no petrol. the airport was gridlocked as taxis jammed in together, trying to find business to at least make a buck. We drove through the streets of Kathmandu to lines and lines of empty cars parked on the side of the road, and lines and lines of motorbikes on the other side. All of them were waiting for petrol. A devastating sight to see.

We finally rolled up to a small alleyway and headed towards the gate. I made it to Mary Lou's place - a little bit of paradise. I made it to nepal!

From Bangalore to beyond

Well, my time in India has come to an end. what started as tasting bittersweet, has actually kinda just been bitter now for the fact that im leaving this place. This last week, i had the chance to actually explore and meet different people and see their ministries. I had the chance of meeting Abraham, a pastor of a church and a colleague of my bible college lecturer. I also had the opportunity to meet Sharola, her husband Andrew and the Crossroads team. Although we are so far a part distance wise, we shared so many similarities in regards with YoungLife back at home. It was sad to go because i had the opportunity to meet some young boys and play soccer with them. What was sad was i found out they were living in the slums. Twice i've walked to their club house/centre from my place, i would have to walk the streets to under the overpass. The streets were lined with waste, exhaust and smog fumes, and then people selling produce. From there i would cross the railway tracks (filled with even more rubbish and debris, and guys urinating from the tracks) to get to the other side of the underpass, and from there i would reach the club house.....I was told these boys lived in the slums just alongside that railway track that i would cross. I spoke to their mentor, a 21 yo guy, who felt sympathy for them when he told me they live in the slums. Crossroads also work in 3 special schools, as well as other colleges. Man, it was good to hang out with these awesome guys. I could see the tiredness on people's faces though. That it must be exhausting doing this ministry, not having church support or people's support for that matter. And how great the need is out there, to reach so many youth, so many that people have forgotten or ignored. And i can empathise with them, i know the feeling. So it continues to niggle and gnaw at my brain...where am i meant to be? For i know that i have been given so many privileges back at home, i know i have skills and knowledge, as well as abilities that i can use here, that i can use to support people.

As i continue to reflect i continue to see the the bible come alive; parables and characteristics come alive. it happened only yesterday. As i walked to locate Crossroads and as i walked under the overpass, i saw a man cross-legged, asking for money, with his crutches to his side. He was unclean, unshaven, just dirty looking. The sad thing is, that once you see a person like this, it starts to be come uncomfortably normal. normal to the point where you just walk past them and ignore them. And thoughts go through your head as you reason with yourself as to why not to stop, why not to give them money, or buy them food, or just treat them like a human being. Yet, thats exactly who he is....he's a human being, someone who due to unfortunate life circumstances has ended up like this. Imagine if we swapped places, would he have stopped for me? So this is where the bible comes to life. This is where hope comes. That God himself would come to meet and to know people on the fringes, those who are marginalised like this man. Jesus would go to the lepers, the blind, the mute, the sinners - all of those who were ignored in society, like i ignore that man. And he would give them something that no one would have expected - life, hope, joy, purpose, a reason, God. I have so much to be thankful for, and the necessity to share that is so dire.

So as India wraps up, i now head to nepal. What will it bring, i have no idea. but its where im going, and so i continue to learn and grow. So till next time India, i'll see u again definitely, as i've only begun to get to know you, your beautiful people, your amazing opportunities, your awesome cultures and clothing, your ridiculous traffic rules, your picturesque sceneries and your tremendous memories. Thank you.

some of the crossroads volunteers

The boys playing soccer with some of the volunteers

the boys

blurry photo of the staff and volunteers

Reunion

Since coming back to Bangalore, it had always been on our mind to come back to SEDS to see people one last time before we headed off. And this weekend we got the opportunity. But as per usual things dont always go to plan, so you just have to say T.I.I and to just go with the flow.  We were meant to be there on friday, but instead we got there on Saturday night. We were meant to go for a reception, but the married couple are no where to be found.

Hopping out of the car into the SEDS campus, i noticed someone coming towards me. it was dark but i caught a silhouette of a figure marching towards me ever so quickly. it was shivaji in all his playfulness and excitedness to see me. and i with him. We laughed as we met and high ten’d each other and then we sprinted down the long drive way to find the other boys. It was wen we were about three quarters of the way when figures started sprinting towards me. It was the rest of the boys. We all ran together laughing, full of joy, full of energy as we hadnt seen each other for 2 weeks. we couldnt stop hugging and laughing!! my what a feeling. the feeling of a reunion. the feeling of a familiar face. Reminds me of the dad in the lost son parable. The joy, the happiness, the absolute elation of seeing them again. The un-care for anything else right now but for the moment. They kept commenting on my haircut that i got from bangalore which only cost me $2AUD. They showed me everything they had done since i had left. It was so good to see them again. There’s just a joy that resonates in the heart as i remember this spectacular moment. 

Ecoscape + Bangalore

Ecoscape is a tourist place situated in the Nilgiris district, a mountain/hill range that connects 3 states. It was here where our study tour as a whole group would occur together for the next few days. A time of leisure, reflecting on our placements, and our time in india. Ecoscape is situated deep into the forest and the hills of tea gardens, which is owned by the Adivasi people. Similarly to the Aboriginals, the Adivasi people are tribal people who lived in the hills and land. However, people from other regions came in and not knowing their rights (or even about rights for that matter) they had their land taken away by rich people and businesses. So ACCORD (the NGO that my two colleagues worked at) is all about social justice for the tribal people - to get them their rights. Ecoscape is situated on 140acres owned by the Adivasi people, which Accord helped them attain. thats the connection.

We traversed down the hills to get to ecoscape, just being in awe of the surroundings. Tea garden after tea garden, greenery after greenery. It was so different to the india i knew for the past 2 1/2months. We kept walking down and saw women plucking leaves and placing them in oversized bags, placing them on their head and then walking them up the hill. And the bags are heavy….i found a half filled one and lifted it and it was not light! Makes you think twice about the effort it goes into making the tea that i drink.

We kept trekking down the hill until we finally made our destination, a little hidden resort in the hills. it was such a good sight. We were treated to chai and snacks, shown our rooms and just chilled in the afternoon. we were told that wild elephants had been spotted not far from us. This was a good thing but also a bad thing. Good in that sweet, we get a chance to see wild elephants, but bad because they can be quite aggressive if anything gets in their pathway and have been known to come to Ecoscape. We grabbed our gear and went on an elephant hunt. But in fact, it was us being hunted - hunted by those damn leeches! These blood sucking parasites would cling to your shoes, your socks and work their way onto your skin. they were the hardest thing to pull off. and can leave a nasty sting and draw blood if left on too long - but thats even if u notice as they inject some numbing poison into you. the trick to getting rid of them is (of course salt, but if u dont have salt....) pulling them off, and rolling them in a ball (As you would do with snot :) ) and then just flicking it….lucky ive had a lot of practice with that…jks.

We couldnt find the elephants but we found a stream, and were told that the elephants had crossed the stream onto the otherside. So we walked back to our accommodation with the sounds of elephants regularly trumpeting in the background. my my my what a sound. It was nightfall and we had dinner and played some Carrom - that game where you flick the discs into the hole. Luckily ive had some good practice with the boys here at SEDS. At night, we starred into the darkness of the Nilgiris. Fireflies would light up the night, with the sound of elephants, cicadas and frogs at night. What a sight, what a sound. The ambience of the atmosphere was spectacular. 

It was the next morning and i woke up early to see if i could see any elephants (We were told that dusk and dawn is when elephants do alot of walking). I went up to the kitchen where all the staff were and one guy quickly found me and said he saw elephants. So Shateesh and i went looking for elephants. But we couldnt find any. Breakfast was still being prepped and another staff member, ramesh, said to lets go find elephants so Megan and i were keen as a bean. we followed him through the jungle…….And there we saw it. Elephants. Wild Indian Elephants. we counted 11 in this herd. it was an amazing sight - elephants just grazing 40-50m away from us. We grabbed the rest of the group, and we all just watched silently. 20-30mins we were just about to leave when we saw them mating, or as our supervisor put it ‘sexing’. bahaha. One staff member chuckled as he said ‘mystery solved’ as to why the elephants were trumpetting so much yesterday afternoon and evening. 

later on in the afternoon, some of us made a trek which would take us across the border into the next state of Kerala. It was pouring down rain but the good thing about the hills is that the clouds move so quickly so the weather can change instantly. We started walking and every so often trying to get the leeches off of our shoes. i had a pesky one climb all the way up to the inside of my pants and onto the back of my thigh. Sneaky things. We trekked for a few kms crossing small waterfalls and being immersed in the clouds as they would roll past us. And then we made it to an abandoned house. This house provided the best spot to look at the nilgiris and to see all the trees in the surrounding hills. clouds would be strewn all across the mountain top. such a pretty and awesome sight! i’ve never experienced anything like it. It was getting dark so we headed back but we noticed the trail of destruction some elephants had caused along the way. trees would be ripped and branches pulled down just to get some fruit off a tree. its pretty funny actually.

That night we played a game of charades after dinner, but we had to end the game early and were told to go to bed, as sounds were heard in the dark. The staff though it couldve been elephants so he locked us in the safest place, our rooms. 

Our time had come to an end at Ecoscape the next morning as we packed our stuff and headed back to Gudalur, where Accord is. We stayed one more night at Gudalur and allowed our friends to say goodbye to their mates on their placement. its always such a big thing, to have time to say goodbye. We invest so much time and efforts with the people we meet at our placements that we need to make time to say goodbye to them. thats something i’ve found out recently.

We had the opportunity to have breakfast with Stan and Marie, the founders of ACCORD. again much like the founders of my placement at SEDS, and another placement called TIMBAKTU, there’s this vision, this desire, this belief, or this injustice that just fuels them to give up everything, to sacrifice and to just do it, even if people think they are crazy. 

So we hopped into the minibus (The one that broke down in bangalore…it got fixed and he drove up to meet us during the week), and we headed back to bangalore…..yet the bad run of vehicles breaking down didnt stop there. We were driving through the national forest and as you would have guessed, the vehicle broke down again. This is india. iT broke down where the signs said dont hop out because there are tigers around. haha but we had to, to try and fix the car. But as i have said before, things just always work out….there was a bus that was passing by and it was headed to bangalore. So we took a bus home :) and minimal people were on it, so we could stretch out and sleep we headed home to bangalore. 

We’ve now been in bangalore for a week. How we started the indian trip is how we’ve ending it. 7 of us in one house, having community over meal times, getting to know each other, getting to know the city and just doing assignments etc. Yet, the city has not become overwhelming anymore. infact, i walk the streets and i feel like i’ve been here for a longtime like i’ve live here or something like that. we go out and have coffee and we can barter with autorickshaw drivers now. We go on walks at night and have even checked out the night scene/life of bangalore. And thats where you see the other side, the other culture of bangalore. I feel like i’ve experienced, seen and tasted so much of india, yet theres still so more to see and do.

Gudalur

After arriving to bangalore for a few days, it was time to head off for a 6hour drive to meet our other 2 colleagues. Augustine, our supervisor, had organised it so the 5 of us would spend a few days with our colleagues at their NGO, and then we were to do a study tour - of learning and leisure as Augustine put it - where we were to just relax and enjoy india.

But of course, our run of unluckiness with vehicles had to continue. We were in Bangalore in our hired minivan when it had to breakdown in the middle of the CBD. People are starting to realise im a bad omen wen it comes to vehicles since ive been in 2 or 3 car issues now. But hey, everything just works out, it always does. I promise you - if something happens the best outcome will always occur. one just needs to trust Him. 

So in typical fashion we were given a new car, a van to be exact, with all of us jammed pack in the back with our luggage on the way to meet our friends. I was so super excited as i hadnt seen them in over 2 1/2months. We drove and stopped every so often (As we all have weak bladders) and we entered a big city called Mysore. Here, we had the opportunity to drive past the Mysore Palace where the royal family lives. Much like the English royal family, they hold no power but are of a prestigious reputation, thus people respect them etc. From what we could see the palace was big, and the architecture was amazing. We were told that a festival would be held here soon where elephants and others would parade through the palace to celebrate. 

We continued our drive and entered the National Park. Many signs were about saying that there were tigers about so we had to stay inside the car at all times, as we made our way to Gudalur, a city on a hill essentially. As we made our way through the winding roads we caught sight of wildlife such as wild boars, spotted deers, peacocks and domesticated elephants. It was such a different environment to what I had been used to for the past 2 1/2 months. I was used to arid, rural, deserty plains, or else the chaotic concrete jungle of bangalore. Yet as we progress to my friends we were driving through lush forests, cool breezes, crisp cold air and overcast weather. Thats the amazing thing about india: the sceneries vary, theres diversity and uniqueness. 

So we drove towards Gudalur and it was here where we saw tea being grown. Gudalur is at the perfect elevation to grow tea. Tea estates would surround this hilly town, or hill station as they call it. What a beautiful sight, just perfectly aligned tea plants growing all across the hills. And at the top of the hill, a city. such an impressive sight. We continued a little further from our 6 hr drive and we finally made it to Accord, the NGO where our friends were staying at. It was so so so good to see them again! to hear how they were going and to catch up. We had dinner together and then we had to call it a night as our study tour was just about to begin.