Hey hey. Im at my organisation and internet aint the greatest, so i've bunched up my blogs from the past few days. Things are starting to get somewhat busy here at my placement so you might not hear from me from time to time. I've also laying off on Facebook for a few months just as its too hard to upload but also i want to be immersed here. I haven't attached photos as its too hard to with this internet but if u google photos of SEDS or andhra pradesh I'm sure you can visualise what I'm talking about.
Day 8 was a sunday and being in Cooke Town, Bangalore, we were actually in the hub of churches. Reem and myself were keen to find a local church since there was so many. The thought came to my head to go to a baptist one as we both go to a baptist church, yet 2 thoughts struck me; 1. Baptists here would be different to baptists at home, 2. Why should it really matter which denomination since we all believe the core beliefs, it is only secondary things that separate us. How easily we can play that game at home, "oh your Christian, which denomination are you?". Yet, the same thing happens here in India. We walked to a local church and they asked us what denomination we were. It seems to be the thing, when you say Christian, the next question is what denomination. This church was kind enough to offer us a lift to their new location 10km away, but we wanted to stay in close proximity to our mates. It was cool in that they knew where other churches were, and pointed us to a catholic church just down the road. So we walked there. As we walked down the stretch of road, the street was inundated with beggars. What a moving and tough sight to observe. Yet, it brings the bible to life, as Jesus heals the lame, as Jesus shows compassion to the poor, as Jesus knows them and calls them. Something i struggle with as you walk past them. The church was a big church, with a big congregation. The priest spoke about Jesus feeding the 5 thousand and his love for the poor. Now, you might be thinking, what a contradiction, that you preach that yet theres poor people outside. Although that crossed my mind, immediately you have to ask yourself, you've only been here for 2 hours, how can you know what this church is doing? They may have done so much community work that we just can't see it in the few hours we were there. Reem said it nicely, maybe they go there cause they know they will get something. All i know is that its a tough sight, yet the church knows it too, and they are talking and preaching about helping them, using Christ as the example.
We went out for lunch and met up with a fellow couple, a woman whose doing her social work placement as well but she found her own placement, and her husband who is working as a music teacher, teaching students classical western music at a college. We got chatting a bit and found out the are both Christians. Seems like this theme of mission and social work keeps popping up. It was really good to just chat to them at that next level and see how they are experiencing India from their perspective.
Day 9 and 10: We left for SEDS on monday, a 3hour drive covering 170kms. This was in the next state of Andrha Pradesh, a barren, arid and dry land. Not much grows here because its too hot, except peanuts :( . its like their main source of agriculture haha. The surrounding areas look remind me so so much of Zimbabwe; just dry grass everywhere with smooth boulders poking up from time to time. We continued driving and took a turn off and started driving up the mountain side. This is so different to Bangalore; markets and little villages lined the road up the mountain. Men and women in traditional clothing, farming being the dominant industry. Yet, modern technology was visible as well, as the hills were lined with wind generators. We then drive into the campus which is the headquarters for SEDS. SEDS is a community organisation where staff from outside and locals tend to all the projects SEDS do for the surrounding communities and villages. Its amazing what SEDS do; women's rights and advocacy, children's education, bio gas technology etc, all with the goal of helping the poorest and the underprivileged. This all started with the vision of Rajen Joshua and his wife Manil. Rajen is a big visionary, a christian i believe, who gave it all up (pilot degree, auto mechanic, engineering degree) to help the local communities. since drought and lack of water is the main issue, he has helped water the surrounding lands with watershed techniques, building of dams etc, so that farmers may grow crops thus producing income. He's a great visionary. I'd love to talk to him more about it. Funny thing is, he was also one of top Indian motorbike rally champions of his time hahaha. so crazy the amount of respect he has earnt. if want to know more, i found an article about him that you can read...its truly amazing.
http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=24505
This area is amazing, the surrounding scenery is amazing. Thank goodness for rooftops because i can just start each morning sitting on them just looking at the views. Monkeys, scorpions, cobras and vipers are here too so I'm sure its gonna be awesome!
Chat too you all soon
Day 8 was a sunday and being in Cooke Town, Bangalore, we were actually in the hub of churches. Reem and myself were keen to find a local church since there was so many. The thought came to my head to go to a baptist one as we both go to a baptist church, yet 2 thoughts struck me; 1. Baptists here would be different to baptists at home, 2. Why should it really matter which denomination since we all believe the core beliefs, it is only secondary things that separate us. How easily we can play that game at home, "oh your Christian, which denomination are you?". Yet, the same thing happens here in India. We walked to a local church and they asked us what denomination we were. It seems to be the thing, when you say Christian, the next question is what denomination. This church was kind enough to offer us a lift to their new location 10km away, but we wanted to stay in close proximity to our mates. It was cool in that they knew where other churches were, and pointed us to a catholic church just down the road. So we walked there. As we walked down the stretch of road, the street was inundated with beggars. What a moving and tough sight to observe. Yet, it brings the bible to life, as Jesus heals the lame, as Jesus shows compassion to the poor, as Jesus knows them and calls them. Something i struggle with as you walk past them. The church was a big church, with a big congregation. The priest spoke about Jesus feeding the 5 thousand and his love for the poor. Now, you might be thinking, what a contradiction, that you preach that yet theres poor people outside. Although that crossed my mind, immediately you have to ask yourself, you've only been here for 2 hours, how can you know what this church is doing? They may have done so much community work that we just can't see it in the few hours we were there. Reem said it nicely, maybe they go there cause they know they will get something. All i know is that its a tough sight, yet the church knows it too, and they are talking and preaching about helping them, using Christ as the example.
We went out for lunch and met up with a fellow couple, a woman whose doing her social work placement as well but she found her own placement, and her husband who is working as a music teacher, teaching students classical western music at a college. We got chatting a bit and found out the are both Christians. Seems like this theme of mission and social work keeps popping up. It was really good to just chat to them at that next level and see how they are experiencing India from their perspective.
Day 9 and 10: We left for SEDS on monday, a 3hour drive covering 170kms. This was in the next state of Andrha Pradesh, a barren, arid and dry land. Not much grows here because its too hot, except peanuts :( . its like their main source of agriculture haha. The surrounding areas look remind me so so much of Zimbabwe; just dry grass everywhere with smooth boulders poking up from time to time. We continued driving and took a turn off and started driving up the mountain side. This is so different to Bangalore; markets and little villages lined the road up the mountain. Men and women in traditional clothing, farming being the dominant industry. Yet, modern technology was visible as well, as the hills were lined with wind generators. We then drive into the campus which is the headquarters for SEDS. SEDS is a community organisation where staff from outside and locals tend to all the projects SEDS do for the surrounding communities and villages. Its amazing what SEDS do; women's rights and advocacy, children's education, bio gas technology etc, all with the goal of helping the poorest and the underprivileged. This all started with the vision of Rajen Joshua and his wife Manil. Rajen is a big visionary, a christian i believe, who gave it all up (pilot degree, auto mechanic, engineering degree) to help the local communities. since drought and lack of water is the main issue, he has helped water the surrounding lands with watershed techniques, building of dams etc, so that farmers may grow crops thus producing income. He's a great visionary. I'd love to talk to him more about it. Funny thing is, he was also one of top Indian motorbike rally champions of his time hahaha. so crazy the amount of respect he has earnt. if want to know more, i found an article about him that you can read...its truly amazing.
http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=24505
This area is amazing, the surrounding scenery is amazing. Thank goodness for rooftops because i can just start each morning sitting on them just looking at the views. Monkeys, scorpions, cobras and vipers are here too so I'm sure its gonna be awesome!
Chat too you all soon
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