My Volunteer Work in India

                        

Karuna Vihar School for Children with Special Needs

I want to share with you the reason I am here, so far from home, in Northern India.  I love working with these kids.  They are so precious.  Every day, I go to Karuna Vihar School for Handicapped Children and assist the teachers and just play with the kids.  Am I indispensable or important? No, but the children love me and the teachers are grateful that I am there. There is no such thing as too many hands in a classroom of children with varying degrees of handicaps. I am coming away the winner because at the end of the day, I feel really happy. Every day I marvel at the wonderful teachers that they have and how they manage the occasional unruly child with such love and patience. The lessons are taught in Hindi, but I can understand with clarity what they are teaching and the stories they are telling.  My mornings at the school are the best part of my day.

We play music, 

We dance, 

We sit for stories,

And we play with toys.

I spoke at the Rotary Club of Dehradun Central and I attend the weekly meetings at the Doon Club. The members are kind to me and provide transportation to and from the meetings. Everyone here is so busy with their careers and family that there isn't time for social outings with me.  Rotarian Ashok's wife, Anila and I spent an afternoon in town and ate lunch at SUBWAY (Yes!!) and then I got a much needed haircut.  I have also been to dinner at their beautiful home.

Speaking at the Rotary Club of Dehradun Central.

Anila, her mother and father and I after a Rotary Meeting.

India has a lot of tensions with Pakistan right now.  They just had a large bombing in Mumbai last month. Some people are upset with the US for providing Pakistan the weapons that they turn around and use on India. An American man living in Pakistan was just kidnapped. It's not the safest place in the world for a woman to be: An article in the Delhi newspaper said India is the 4th most dangerous place for a woman to live.  #1 is Pakistan, #2 is the Democratic Republic of Congo, #3 is Afghanistan, #4 is India, and #5 is Somalia.  India is a male dominant society.

Chottie, the Ashram's dog, has become my best friend. She follows me everywhere; to school in the morning, to the market and on my evening walks!

This is the mail truck!

Other than the few hours of volunteering every morning, the rest of my day is restful.  Life in an Ashram is very solitary.  I have yoga for two hours and I walk one hour a day, but the rest of my time is spent reading, working on my computer, napping and meditating.  Even my meals are eaten alone. I am still strugging with my diet of Indian spicy food.  India is doing for me what I knew it would do.  The quiet time has helped me get back in touch with my spiritual side.  I am praying, reading the scriptures and getting in tune with the Spirit again.  I have lost many things in my life the past two years. But I still have my health and I still have my faith in God, and nobody can take those away from me. There is no doubt in my mind that God is guiding me and keeping me safe on this one year trip of service around the world.