Thursday, February 7, 2013

Dear Friends in Christ—

Another correction.  The DWFCS that does so much work here is actually the Diocesan Women’s Fellowship for Christian Service.  I previously left out the Fellowship part.  These are the amazing women who are the driving force behind the Child Development Centers throughout the Diocese of Durgapur.  The Bishop challenged these women when he first came to be about service, and are they ever! They all work, and then they come and devote themselves to the work in the Child Centers or other projects. I don’t know where they find the energy.  But then, that is true of everyone I have met here.

Today, we went to St. Peter’s School in Durgapur.  This is one of several church-run schools throughout the Diocese.   Tuition is 1000 rupees a month, about $20.  These children are definitely from the more affluent segments of Indian population, however, some of the students who participate in the Child Development Centers are now going to these English-speaking church schools on scholarship.  The young people we met this morning were amazing.  Studying physics, chemistry, biology, economics, political science—the works.  This is especially remarkable given the limited books we saw in the class we visited, which was the library.  We have noticed that everywhere we go, including all the child development centers, they are teaching computer schools.  What a leg up for these children.  The students in library class were studying for their board exams.  I talked with one young man who was reading about acid rain and other environmental issues.  We talked about the coal, and I asked him if they talked about alternative energy sources, like solar or wind.  He said, “Mam, I have a solution, would you like to see?”  “Yes,” I said.  And he whipped a piece of paper out of his pocket with drawings of magnets and how they could generate energy.  I didn’t understand a bit of the science—I never took physics, but he did, and he was figuring out an alternative source of energy.

We were greeted to a program of dancing by the various classes.  Once again, the costumes were vibrant and the dancing remarkable.  I was doing fine until the very last dance which was about saving the earth.  Several of the students danced with signs that read things like: “Say ‘no’ to communal disharmony,” “Reduce, reuse, recycle,” “Keep our oceans blue,” “Global warming—we have a solution, stop pollution,” “No corruption,” “Save energy, save money.”  All of the sudden, I felt myself well up with tears.  The pollution here is awful.  Just unbelievably awful.  I imagine that this is how it was in the US or in England during the industrial revolution.  And you wonder, how do you change this?  It is such an overwhelming problem.  And then you see these kids who know and understand that we have to change it, and then you meet these kids who are thinking about solutions, and you realize that there is hope for the future here because of these kids.  Powerful.

We were then treated to a lunch in the principal’s home—Archena Day—who is very active in the DWFCS.  Indian Chinese.  It was a treat.  Rita Dutta, the wife of the Bishop, joined us.  She teaches biology at St. Peter’s School.  It was a relaxed lunch with a lot of laughter.  It was nice to have that time with both of those two powerful women away from their responsibilities where we could just enjoy each other.

Raja then accompanied us an hour or so north to Asansol.  The church there has Anglican roots and was built in 1876.  They have just restored the original pulpit.  It is beautiful.  The pastor there is a lovely man.  He was a Roman Catholic priest before, but left, and is now married and a pastor in the CNI church.  I really connected with his catholic spirituality.  He said he is very comfortable serving this church in Asansol because it has the Anglican roots which are so close to the Catholic roots. 

They have an afternoon program at Asansol.  These children come from one of the slums, just like in the other centers.   This center is a little different in that here, the girls are taught sewing.  Eventually, they can train for their certificate, and take the certification exam at the St. Mary’s Sewing Center here in the Diocesan compound.  Then, the girls can get a job.  This is life for these girls.  This program started in 2006, and the original girls had been sold into domestic slavery.  I don’t know how they got the girls out, but they did, and started this program where they could have a way to earn a living that didn’t involve being sold into domestic slavery or into marriage. 

When we got there, the girls were very quiet and timid.  They showed us their sewing work which was beautiful work.  Then they, you guessed it, danced for us.  But here’s the deal, when these girls dance, they are completely, completely transformed.  They are joyous and happy and free.  It is contagious.  And they become confident.  You see their sheer beauty and grace.  The transformation is amazing.  I understand why all these programs involve dancing—it does something to these children.  At the end, we had them teach us a dance step.  They loved that, as did we.

We then went into the pastor’s home for coffee and biscuits (cookies) and pound cake and soup.  This pastor and his wife come from the next state south in India and the cuisine is different.  It was a treat.  Again, their hospitality toward us was so very gracious.

Tomorrow, we will go to the Old Age Feeding Program Inauguration at 10:30 AM—we found out today that our delegation is a part of the program.  Tonight, in our team meeting, we were trying to figure what we might sing and do with these people—I think the hokey pokey is cued up.  These elders are coming from the same areas that the children come from for the children’s program in the afternoon—they are coming from the surrounding bastis.  So, the diocese will be ministering to the children and the elders—both getting fed—in that Matthew 25 kind of way.  At 3:00 PM, we will meet with Khagendra (Khagen).  He is the Project Director for the Diocese, basically their outreach point person.  This is when we will learn of the projects going on across the diocese, and especially with the tribal peoples—women’s empowerment, gender violence, sustainable agricultural practices, microfinance.  Episcopal Relief and Development has been involved in this work.  I look forward to learning more. 

In peace,

Cyndi