Our first month has come to end so I wanted to let you know what my first month on the race looked like!
For the majority of the month we were moving things around in different buildings because our host was in a transitioning period. We were able to put on a structured class for two and a half hours doing outdoor activities, reading books, sensory activities, and arts and crafts! I hosted outdoor activities which was honestly challenging because each group that came through I had to have a different game planned for them because their abilities were all around the map. It was challenging because I wanted to challenge them since none of these girls get to go to school. I didn’t want to make the games easy; all of the games were learning games. Sometimes the focus was colors, other times shapes, just different things to switch it up for them.
I wanted to share with you a couple of specific kiddos that still have my heart with them in India.
First, meet Rhoda. Rhoda is non verbal but she is mobile. She always has a smile on her face and when I was feeling down or just tired, Rhoda was someone I would see and instantly light up. She is so smart it was such a blessing playing games with her.
Honor was my buddy all month long. “Acca” means sister in Tellagu and she was always saying that to get my attention. I wish I had a recording of it. She was amazing. She did not speak english but knew some sign language and that is how we would communicate. She had this saying she would say at random times “I. Am. Happyyyyy!” and she was, she truly was! I envy the happiness she has! One of her wrists is completely bent and she can not straighten her hand out to shake our hands( you can kind of see it in the picture). At the end of the week she straightened out her hand for us. It was so neat. She radiated with joy at her accomplishment. It was so beautiful.
My sweet Naomi. She has a heart of gold but is also so guarded. She and I didn’t meet until my second week and were instant friends. She speaks english but is unable to go to school because there is no schooling for kids with down syndrome. She is so intelligent and funny! We would be hanging out for most of the day and I would ask if we were friends in sign language and she would say “no”. The next day same thing, we would hang out all day, and I would ask “are we friends?” She might say yes, might say no. You really just never know with her. She usually is only “friends” with one person a day so you felt really honored when she choose you and called you her friend.
One day we were at the mall and we were praying for our food and when we finished, the man sitting behind us ask if we were Christians. We answered “yes” and we talked to him for about an hour. Turns out he is a pastor and runs a school for children in the villages that can not afford to go to school. They provide two school uniforms, provide lunch for them, and teach them about Jesus. In the same building they take women who have come out of the sex trade industry and teaches them how to sew and help them sell the clothing the make. They also take in women whose husbands have passed away or ran out on them so they don’t have to go into the sex trade industry and can provide for their children and themselves.
We ended up going to see his organization on one of our off days and sang songs with the kids(pictured below), taught some bible stories, shared testimonies, and even did a spur of the moment puppet show!
We handed out certificates to the women who completed their sewing program(also pictured below) and talked to them a bit which was really fun and encouraging and then headed over to the pastors house to have our first and only home cooked meal in India!
India was a really good month for my team and I. We learned so much about living in community, what serving looks like, and grew so much closer to God. We are currently in Nepal and I will update you all on what we are doing here (once I actually figure it out hahah).
Love you all!
