Meeting our World Vision sponsor child - 4

Last year I went to India. This is part 4 of the notes that I wrote back then, while I was over there, and since I wrote them to be shared with others, I thought I might share them here! Also, if you're interested in reading the previous posts, they complete the story so it makes a bit more sense :)
After a few days being just two more foreign tourists in the tourist hotspots, it was time for a journey off the beaten track, starting in Delhi and reaching to a tiny uncharted village in Northern India, only an hour or two from the Nepal border. The reason? Meeting a young boy and his family, a family supported by the amazing work of World Vision. We had had the privilege of being involved in supporting this family through World Vision for several years, and now would have the great privilege of finally meeting them. (For privacy reasons, I can't show pictures of the family, but I'll do my best to tell as much of their story as I know!). Also if the writing is in [square brackets] these are things I have added as an afterthought as I am transcribing it now. So without further ado, here is the story, starting from the day before...

Day 5 - Wednesday 28th September 2016, Delhi/Lucknow

This morning, I was a bit sick. I may have been so in Asha's garden [okay, I still feel pretty bad about that. It was such a beautiful little garden...], but then I felt alright after that [because I was sick from the doxycycline, aka anti-malarial drugs, and thankfully not food poisoning. Turns out you're supposed to eat before you take malaria pills]. We had some breakfast (western style) with Liz and her boyfriend whose name I can't remember. Maya very generously gifted me with a red necklace to go with my salwar kameez [traditional Indian clothes], and Asha declared me an Indian princess.

Sunrise over Asha's garden...

We left for the airport and caught our flight to Lucknow. We sat next to Atul from Allahabad, who later in the flight was very sick... but before takeoff we had a nice conversation in Hindi. The man in front of me also kept turning around to stare at me when he heard me speaking Hindi; I think he was hoping I would speak to him in Hindi as well! The landscape changed as we flew towards Lucknow; there were more villages and farms, and they seemed greener, although the air was drier.

We landed in Lucknow. It was very bright and dry, and as soon as we stepped out of the airport with the driver we'd hired, the difference between Delhi and Lucknow became apparent. It seemed, perhaps, poorer and less 'polished' [this is the general stereotype of this state in India, at least]. Our driver had his shirt half-open and chest hair sticking out. The whole way to the Mohan Hotel I didn't see any other tourists or foreigners, just everyday life. Water buffaloes bathed in puddles, and tents made from tarps and old plastic bags occasionally rose from the dust on the side of the street. Children grinned and men chuckled; women and babies held onto men riding motorcycles (for dear life sometimes) and schoolgirls giggled as they walked past. We eventually reached our hotel (opposite some dodgy sounding shops... for the sake of politeness I won't mention exactly what their names were).

When we arrived, it turned out the lady from World Vision had called, and so we called her again to organise our visit tomorrow. I'm so excited! I've been dreaming of the day for so long, now that it's almost here I don't really know what to do. It is up to God, what happens. I will trust Him. He has brought us this far, and his love will carry us home...

Little villages in Uttar Pradesh from the air

We rested in the hotel for a few hours, and I watched people in the street go by from our window. Then, in the afternoon we went out exploring. It was nice walking down the street in the chaos and rubbish and crowds of people, walking past shops selling bags and old dirty-looking kurtas, and smelling the scent of incense and coconut lassi and cow poo and construction works. We went down an enclosed alley of shops, and I bought a salwar kameez from a shop run by a Sikh man and his assistant whom he called 'black beauty' (a short young man). He charged us what he said was an Indian price rather than a tourist price [which was true, too, since I got a patiala suit there for rs.750 or so, less than half the price of the one I found in Agra!] We said goodbye and then explored another alley of shops where Dad bought a new belt; then we came back to the hotel. We had dinner, watched a movie [King Kong, I believe. Not the best idea I've ever had, because it ran late and we were getting up early the next day...], and then went to bed.

 Looking out from the hotel window at the street below

Donkeys!!!

And so ended the day of our travels to Lucknow - the next day would be the one we would meet a very special young boy and his family...

Day 6 - 29th September 2016, Lucknow/ Uncharted Village

I do not see poverty and dust and desperation, just beautiful souls, and giggling children and happy grins and approving smiles from dadis [grandmas].
We left the hotel at 8am with the lady from World Vision and drove for about an hour until we reached the World Vision office at Sandila. There we talked with the people working there and filled out some paperwork [they even offered me what I thought was chai. Turns out it was the first time I ever drank coffee - extremely sweet, Indian-spiced coffee, that formed a skin on top from the boiled milk!]. Then, a little later, we left Sandila and drove for another while until we reached the village. A crowd of children met us at the gate and we came to the house of Ankit's family - an extended family of 36 people! It was a house made mostly of mudbrick and was quite dusty. We sat down and met Ankit, who put some rose garlands on us and marked our foreheads with tilak [turmeric powder - a traditional Hindu greeting for guests, I think]. We met his mother and father and grandmother, as well as some of his father's six brothers and Ankit's many cousins. When we arrived, his sisters were still at school [the other kids had all been given the day off!].

Some of the family's water buffaloes

We ate some khoya (made from the family's own buffalo's and cow's milk) and talked with them for a while. The kids sang us a song, Ankit joining in a little reluctantly (I don't think he liked singing). Ankit said that he might like to be a soldier one day. The kids [cousins] there were one boy and several young girls. Two of the girls sung and danced another song, and I rather shyly did part of a dance for them [at everyone's insistence, apparently! I wasn't very good, and didn't have any music...] While Dad played cricket with Ankit for a while with the set we had brought for them, I sat down on the ground with the other kids and practiced my Hindi (much to their amusement and fascination and sometimes frustration). [I think they may have spoken a dialect of Hindi which was a little different, and I could only just understand what they were saying in my beginner's level Hindi!]

Later on they showed us their fields where they grew many different things like lemon, mango, corn, rice, peanuts (which I ate some of straight from the ground) and jamun [a type of berry]. They also had a few cows and water buffaloes. The kids would tug on my hand or sleeve saying 'Didi!', urging me to follow them, and then giggling mysteriously (when I asked why, they only said 'it's nothing!' and kept giggling behind their hands). We ate some roasted corn (and earlier we'd had some pakaudis, similar to samosas). We then gave some of the gifts we had brought for the family, and the family generously gifted us with a handmade pankha, an Indian fan made of bamboo and wool.

The village road outside their house

We [or rather I] took a long time to say goodbye. I didn't want to leave; one of the girls asked whether I liked it better there or in Australia and without hesitation I straightaway said 'yahan' [here]. I felt so welcomed and at home there; I was happier even than I have been in a long time. God is good. I told them I hoped to 'waapas aaungi' [come back], and they said 'zarur aana!' [come back, for sure!]. I hope I can come back one day. I said my final goodbyes, and then we left.

We stopped at a dhaba-like place for a late lunch [a dhaba is like the Indian version of a servo], and then stopped back at the office in Sandila. Then we filled out a little more paperwork, and had some interesting conversations with the staff there [we learned about the needs of the community, such as education to prevent malnutrition in children, because they have the potential resources but not the knowledge of how to feed their kids; and also the need for proper toilets, because I think only 7% of people in the area had access to a proper toilet. People otherwise go out in the open, which is not safe, especially for women, and poses hygiene issues to the community.]

Eventually we left and went back to our hotel in Lucknow, and had a bit of dinner and went to bed. I'm so thankful to God for the day we had, and the beautiful souls we met today. I felt, as we were driving back, that now my calling is surer. I love this country and I love these people; they are my heart. I need to come back, spend time with my 'family', and look after them in any way I can, with the love of Jesus.

A poster on the wall in the World Vision office of the area