Day to Day:
Hyderabad, India:
7.14am alarms. Hilly runs. 9.53am – hurry out the door! Brooms, Windex, rooftop laundry, crayon murals on yellow walls, turpentine versus glue. 1.20pm lunch break. 3.53pm – hurry out the door part 2! Braille, Christmas cards, wheelchairs, giggles, paint, a few tears, singing too loudly. Dinner. Team time — hot chocolate and candy cane edition. Climb up to my top bunk without making the ladder fall onto Maggie. Repeat.
Ongole, India:
7.14am alarms. Dusty, flat runs. Rooftop showers. Office work – binders, schedules, doctors appointments. 12.45pm rice plus the spiciest curry I ever did eat. Quick nap until 2.30pm. Christmas crafts – finger-painted wreaths, paper snowflakes, glitter stars. Dinner, sitting cross-legged on a marble floor. Team time — dodge the mosquitos edition. Deflated sleeping pad sleep. Repeat.
Moments I Would Pause:
7 people sleepovers in a 10×8 room every night. Starbucks dates with Mads. Thanksgiving!!!! Changing a tire of our bus at 2.30am on the side of the road on the way to Hyderabad. Samosas. Samosas. Did I mention samosas? Hope Unlimited Church ((an English service!!)). Backseat giggles. Snowball fights with balled-up white paper. Beach picnics. Street noodles. Befriending a goat ((named Ella)) that Maggie and I pass on our runs everyday. Decorating our Hyderabad house for Christmas. Leading impromptu VBS lessons. Rooftop ice cream parties. Rooftop dance battles. Rooftop worship. Rooftop anything. Supriya ((our amazing friend in Ongole, the manager of the gate at our ministry site)). Iga ((our other amazing friend, Polish, was in Hyderabad for two weeks with us)). WWYDI. International film festival at Ramoji Film City. Doing Zumba with a professional Bollywood instructor. Belly laughs with the girls in Ongole. Church service/baptism/birthday party completely in Telegu in the middle of the road at 9.00pm. Christmas brunch. Running errands with Grace and Maggie in Ongole. Prank clubbbbbbb ((Mads, Nata, Annie, & me)). Fitting, I kid you not, NINETEEN people in an Uber and then arriving with our SCH kiddos forty minutes late to the movie theater… whoops. 10 rupee auto rides— our driver flirting with death every time. Last minute adventure to the TAJ MAHAL on NEW YEARS!! Implementing socialism to ensure equality for food and money within our team.
A Stream of Thoughts:
For the past two months, my team and I have been working with Sarah’s Covenant Homes. SCH functions as an orphanage for kids who have been abandoned due to a mental and/or physical disability. At any given time, there are roughly 120 children living in one of seven homes across two cities ((both of which my team was able to visit)). SCH does a beautiful job of not only providing for, but also loving these children. Because of deep-rooted societal beliefs in India, most of these children would not have the same life opportunities as healthier children if it weren’t for SCH. Despite obstacles, SCH diligently pursues these opportunities ((schooling, medical attention, etc)) to ensure the best quality of life for all 120 kids.
As for my team and I, our tasks have ranged from leading VBS lessons to cleaning roofs and bookshelves to organizing binders filled with medical information to making more Christmas decorations than I thought possible. Working with SCH has taught me more about people in two months than I had hoped I would learn throughout the entire Race. I witnessed beauty in how the foster and house mothers swaddle all the children with love and patience and peace. I learned the importance of determination from the girls in Ongole who spend time making beautiful jewelry for their vocational program. I experienced genuine joy on Christmas Eve as my team and I sang Christmas carols on a rooftop with about 30 children and 20 house mothers.
If you have a minute, please visit this link to read more about an organization that is very close to my heart. https://www.schindia.com
Happy New Year to everyone back home!!
All my love, P.
