Late night ponderings

It's late and I should be in bed, but instead I'm up pondering.  I close my eyes and see a land far far away and I hear the laughter of children I love. My inbox holds a letter from one of those children.  He writes me from the heat of Uganda all the way over to where I can see my frosty breath in late Canadian fall.  I love the stark contrasts his careful printing remind me of. This boy, he tells me how much he loves me and I feel his words right to the centre of my soul.  I love him back and I miss him every single day I'm not there.

I sat today, in a boardroom listening to the Texas drawl of a this guy who tells us about geosynthetics.  And I wonder how they would have worked on the drainage ditch I designed in Haiti.  My head is here, but my heart is in lands far off.  I treasure the way the things I learn here can be transferred to the other ends of the earth.

I was thinking today, how, us girls, are really all the same.  The girls I met in India, whether young or grown, they all wanted the same thing.  To know if they were beautiful.  I want to know that too.  I and every single other female I have ever known.  We want to know if we are thought of as beautiful.  To be known deeply and to be loved for what people see in the very depths of our soul, if we allow them to see it.  A girl I sponsor in Dominican Republic?  She tells me that she has never felt so special because I have told her she is beautiful.  You see, how we are so very different, yet so much the same?  Can I be someone who sees and embraces those differences, throws myself headlong into another culture and at the end of the day stand beside them and tell them I too understand what it means to be human.  Even though there is much that separates us, this kinship, holds us together.  They are part of me, some of them they know this.  The children in India, their wide eyes when they saw I remembered their names?  Now that is priceless.  I bring them home with me, they echo in my thoughts.

One Final Update

I wanted to write one final update about my time in India.  I am back in Canada now, I have been for a day and a half.  Perhaps this would have been more effective if I had written it while I was still actually there, but my final days in India were busy, so this will have to do.

The last few days at SNCH were filled with working alongside the construction team, trying to sort out materials and make sure they understood the tasks at hand before we left. I also had several opportunities to play with the kids which was wonderful.  I learned to play cricket and an Indian game called Piet-too (or something).  I kept on saying it wrong, and every time I would say it the kids would say "No, Didi, No" and proceed to say it louder.  By the end they were all out yelling the name of it and I still wasn't saying it correctly so we decided to just start playing the game whether I could say it or not.  It was a fun and crazy game that kind of resembled dodge ball but you had to come build a rock tower in the middle without getting hit by the ball.

As I reflect on my time in India I am so thankful for everything those precious children taught me.  Shanti Niketan means "House of Peace" and it truly was a place of refuge. They have challenges, just as every single ministry I have been to does.  But at the end of the day, they love each other and I was so inspired by what is being done there.

The last day in Delhi, we had our closing meeting and afterwards had some time to go craft shopping.  In the evening, the staff, interns and long term volunteers from the eMi office met and had supper together which was great.  I had a blast with them, and it was so nice to be able to spend time with people who see the world in much the same way that I do, as those kind of people are rare once I return home.

Returning home was weird, and re-entry hit me harder and faster than I was expecting.  It was weird to me to be in the Toronto Airport and to hear people speaking English instead of Hindi.  Driving down Portage Avenue once I returned back to Winnipeg, everything seemed so linear, the street signs so well thought out and the traffic so orderly.  Yesterday, going into the grocery store, the very same grocery store that I have gone to every week for the past 5 years was almost sensory overload.  I just stood in the middle of the aisle in shock for a few minutes.  I was only gone for 15 days, I'm not sure how this is all such a surprise.  It may have only been 15 days, but it may as well have been 15 years, as I seem to have forgot what life here is like and feelings of disconnect are sure to be present in the coming days.

Thank you for following my adventures. 

Until Next Time,

Jaimee

 These kids taught me to stand with arms wide open and accept whatever life throws my way.

 Minu and Sherel

 Sometimes you just gotta dance like no one's watching.

 Surveying tank levels on the roof of the girls dorm.

 Playing the game which I cannot say correctly.

 This one was so happy to see me!

The beauty of Canadian fall has me rapt in awe.  Wilson likes the leaves.

Just call me a professional. . . tribal dancer

I know that you have probably all been waiting with great anticipation to hear how the dancing went. To sum it up, it went absolutely fantastic.  We worked all day yesterday on engineering stuff and then had a short rehearsal in the afternoon.  About half an hour before the program was set to begin, the girls all came up to our room and told us to report down to their dorm for costume and make up.  In no time at all we had 10 girls hovering over us, doing our hair, putting on make up and fitting our costumes and talking to each other in super fast Hindi to try and decide the best combination of make up/costume/jewellery. It was so much fun.  They wanted us to wear about a million bangles each and they chose some huge green earrings for me to wear. 

The kids were all so excited that we were actually dancing in this program.  As we were walking from the girls dorm to the school we met the construction team.  Great first impression hey?  I was just hoping they would take our engineering skills seriously after seeing us in such crazy outfits.  And to make it even more hilarious, the army decided to show up as well.  Since the home is next to a military base, and the people there have been really good to the home, they decided to pay a friendly visit earlier in the afternoon.  If the high ranking generals didn’t think we were crazy enough then, I’m sure they really thought we were off our rockers when they saw us prancing around campus in costumes. They decided to come volunteer to dig up some flower beds at the same time as the program.  Thankfully they left before our performance.

One of my teammates has some amazing action photos of us dancing.  I'll post them when I get them from him probably not for another few days.  Internet has been really spotty and slow as well, so I might not be able to post them until I'm back to the eMi office.

I did ask someone to take video, however, I don't think they understood my instructions on how to film, and unfortunately all we ended up with was a short video of the floor and someone's arm pit.  We are trying to find out if anyone on the construction team took a video of us.  Hopefully they did.  The Canadians on the team kept on commenting on how they couldn't believe a bunch of engineers and architects could dance like that.  Tyler and my finale performance went really well too.  I think I have found a new appreciation for shaking my hips to Indian music.

I think the hardest part of leaving this place, will be the fact that I have been so much a part of it.  This morning I spoke at the kids morning meeting and when they announced me to come up, they told me they were so grateful I was speaking because I was part of their family.  It is kind of ironic, that I love this place so much, yet being here and loving this, also reminds me of the diversity of this world and how much I also love so many people in Uganda which in so many ways is so very different.

That's all for now.  Stay tuned for some action photos,

Jaimee

Getting ready for the big performance

 Don't we look authentic?

Performance Night

Besides being a busy work day today and getting ready for the construction team's arrival this afternoon, we have our big dance performance tonight.  Last night we had practice in front of the kids.  They loved it and thought it was uproarious. When we finished the dance, the kids erupted in rowdy applause.  I don't think we would have received a louder ovation if we had put on an Olympic winning performance.

I am still very much enjoying my time here and have been having fun both working and interacting with the people. 

I'm sorry if my blog posts haven't been incredibly deep or theological lately.  Even just getting through the day sometimes takes a lot of mental exercise in a different culture, so I find my writing is much less in depth than when I write things at home.

There are so many things I am thankful for. I am so very thankful for simply being here, because it almost didn't happen.  It is such a gift.  And for Himalayan mountains, the laughter of children, seeing the girl's faces absolutely light up when they see me around campus and hear them say "Didi Jaimee!", connecting with old friends and making new ones, Indian food, Bambi the St. Bernard, kids that dance with joy and so very many other things.

Anyway, I will let you all know how the big debut performance goes tonight.  Myself and the other civil intern Tyler perform the big finale at the end of the dance and I get to do these really fun spins which the kids loved last night.  The dance also involves some shaking of the hips which is always fun too.

I'll try and upload a couple videos so you can meet some of these people I love.  I wish you could be here on this journey with me.

Until next time,

Jaimee

Sherel.  She loves to sing and dance and is such a sweetheart.

Dancing!

Today was a fantastic day.  We went to a rockin church service this morning with the kids.  I don't remember it being so lively last year and it was kind of surprising to me, because this culture is much more reserved than the places I have been in Africa.  But it was so much fun.

After lunch we went down to the school and the kids taught us a traditional Himachal dance.  It was soooooo much fun.  I think I probably enjoyed it the most out of anyone on the team, however, I know everyone else had fun too.  The kids also thought it was hilarious and they had so much fun teaching us to dance. I have never got to dance on an eMi project before, but it was the funnest thing ever.

Tonight they told us it was one of the staff members birthday so we went down to the school for singing and a dance performance.  After all the dancing was completed they told us they had a special request for us to perform our dance. I was so excited!  Unfortunately about 10 seconds into the dance, the music went off and wouldn't work again, however, the kids absolutely loved it, and we are on the roster for a performance tomorrow. There is even talk of costumes. And since it is free style I have to think of some good variations to the moves I'm doing before tomorrow.  A bunch of engineers doing a traditional cultural dance?  I'm sure we don't look at all ridiculous.  The construction team is going to have a hard time outdoing us with our mad dancing skills.

I have been having a lot of fun interacting with my team and have been reminded how much I love laughter.

After church today I came back and played hide and seek with some of the younger girls and then after that was finished, went up to the rooftop and talked with one of the older girls.  It was so nice.  She asked me to write her a page in her journal.  Something to encourage her when life was hard.  It was such a special moment.  I love writing meaningful words to people.

People often tell me I have an exciting life and experience many adventures.  Which is true I suppose.  However, experiencing these kinds of things also takes risk.  The risk of letting people in.  I have let the people here in fully and completely and that is risky business. To hand that much of yourself over sometimes makes for hard times and makes transitioning back to life at home incredibly difficult.  I also know that only being here for a short time is vastly different than being somewhere long term.  The sometimes messiness of cross cultural relationships is not always easy, but so very worth the effort.

The jury is still out on posting a video of our dancing tonight.  Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have the majority of votes in favour of posting it.  Leave a comment if you want to see the video and I'll pass along your vote.

Until next time,

Jaimee

 At our dance practice this afternoon.

 Matthew, our project leader briefs us on the dance practice.

 Getting details ready for the construction team that is soon arriving.

 The backhoe made it's way straight up the mountain to prepare a spot for the new water tank.

 Me & Nemcha.

The kids singing at church.  Do you recognize the song?

Surveying and Getting Check Ups

I wasn't going to write a post today, but my heart is full and I felt the need to write.  It seemed like a quiet day, but so much happened today. This morning I got to chat with the older girls before they went off to school and it was wonderful. I had a chance to learn a few more of their names and chat with them about their favourite subjects.

I also helped with a bit of surveying and it was fun to be able to climb the mountain paths with my survey rod.  Although I didn't enjoy the aroma of surveying near the pig pen, the rest of it was fun.  Tomorrow John & I are going to work on the hydraulic model of the new pipeline. I bet you're all jealous (especially my co-workers).

Later in the afternoon when the rest of the civil team was either gone or having naps, I went down to the girls dorms to play with them for a bit during their free time.  I had so much fun with them! Some of them went and got their doctor's kits and gave me a check up.  All around I heard them calling me, "Didi (sister)" "Didi look here!" or sometimes if they were really desperate for me to look "Diiiiiii." It has been a little easier connecting with the kids this time around.  I know some of them remember me, but some of them don't, so I'm not sure what is making it easier this time.  Perhaps, just because I'm a little bit familiar with the way this place works now. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of moments where there are dynamics I don't understand, or where I'm not sure how to carry myself, but I do feel more connected more quickly than I did last year at this point in the project.

I realized today how much I love spending time with these kids.  How much they inspire me.  Some of them have hard pasts, but they inspire me to live fully. Leaving these people behind this time is going to be that much harder.

Be sure to check out the video I posted on Facebook of the kid's acrobatics tonight.

Until next time,

Jaimee

 They wanted me to take a picture of them playing cricket! The girls thought it was so funny to pose in the background.

 It was so fun to watch some of the older girls practice their traditional dancing in between the bamboo sticks.

Karina in mid air.  I love this girl.

Back here and loving it.

I arrived back at Shanti Niketan Children's Home last night.  It was so wonderful to be greeted by familiar faces at the train station and to see the people's excitement here to see a few of us returning volunteers again.  I was so touched when I arrived by how they told me that they had been praying for my visa to come through and at their genuine happiness of my (and the rest of the team's) return here. 

This morning Matthew decided we could sleep in a bit since we got in so late and meet at 8 for our opening meeting.  At 7:30 am, we heard a pounding on our door only to have a few of the girls come in and serve us tea in bed.  I've never experienced anything quite like that before. . . but it was fun.  Tomorrow though, we will be up earlier so won't have to experience being served tea in my pyjamas.

I had so much fun interacting with the kids today, and seeing the astonishment on some of the smaller ones faces when I called them by name.  I'm also looking forward to interacting with the older girls that I haven't really seen that much yet this time around.  I had so much fun just sitting around and chatting with them last year.

Work wise things have been great too.  Since this project is largely focused on water supply, I have enjoyed working with a larger than normal civil team, with 3 volunteers (including me) and an intern that are focusing on water.  I really enjoy the collaboration of knowledge and I know I'll learn a lot as usual.  Tomorrow, we may go into a nearby city to scope out materials before the construction team gets here.  One of the main jobs of the construction team coming from BC, is to construct a new water supply pipeline.

So last night, all of us in the guest house heard some weird noises at 4 AM.  To me, it sounded like monkeys jumping on the roof and scratching.  The guys are all convinced it is a rat in the wall.  I've decided I'm going to stick with my monkey scenario, because monkeys are so much cuter.  I asked the director and he says there are lots of monkeys in the area, so clearly it's got to be a monkey right?

Tonight the kids all put on a welcome program for us which was so nice.  They danced and sang and recited bible verses and put on dramas.  It was just excellent and I loved it so much.  Hmuni, the director told us they are putting on another performance at the end of our stay that is an hour of dancing.  I'm so excited for that!

As I'm here, I'm so grateful for all these people teach me.  Despite the sometimes awkward way I feel in a foreign culture, it feels like I have returned somewhere that somehow feels a bit like home.  These people teach me so much.  These kids, they remind me, that grace is always enough, even when nothing else is.  Even as I am here, I am reminded of the people and places I love in Uganda and other parts of the world, and I feel the weight of the challenges there.  Somehow I think there are some of us that always feel the weight of humanity on our shoulders.  And perhaps this isn't always a bad thing, even if it seems somehow difficult. 

And so I end this post with a thankful heart and excitement of every single moment to come.  Some will be hard, some easy, and yet others wild with joy.  I hope I remember and embrace every single one.

Blessings,

Jaimee

 Karina is so much fun!

 The girls played a crazy game of cricket this afternoon.

 Checking out the new water meter installed since last time.  Exciting stuff!

 Sarita is so very cute!

 Love these girls!

 Matthew teaches some of the children addition.  Future engineers?

 Silly boys.

These boys are so rowdy and full of mischief.  I love it!

Onward to the land that I love

Well, we finished off the tour yesterday.  I am so happy to be done with the tourist business.  Although I must say, I really did love Jaipur.  More than Agra I think.  Perhaps part of it was that I had 9 hours of sleep the night before and I actually felt like a human being.  I had it in my head that Jaipur was some little tourist town.  It is a city of 7 Million People!  We visited the Amber Fort, The Observatory, and the City Palace.  And by the end of the day, having walked around in an extremely humid +30 C for 8 hours, I was more than ready to get on that air conditioned train.  My favourite part of all?  An elephant ride!  It was so much fun.  I forget my elephant's name.  However, the manhout (driver) told me that they generally train the elephants for 15-16 years on the flat ground before they get to come up and cart tourists up to Amber Fort.  And while we were waiting in line, there were these crazy peddler guys who kept on trying to sell us stuff.  I ended up buying this great Red Maharaja Hat that totally made me look like a tourist, but man am I going to rock the next costume party I go to.  And it was only $5.  The funniest part was when these peddler guys would not quit accosting me about buying stuff and John went in front of them, blocked me, and yelled in their face that I was with him and he better leave me alone.  It was so hilarious and I quite enjoyed having someone there to defend me, even if it was more just a nuisance situation than an actual danger.

I also really enjoyed the city palace, despite the fact that I was starving for most of it.  And you can totally rent two of the court yards to get married in.  Now all I have to do is find me a husband, get the Canadian Government to change who provides tourist visas and we're off to the races.

Well that is about all for now.  We are leaving later this afternoon for the Children's Home and I can't wait.  Although I am so very glad that I did the tour and had some great people to do it with, it emphasized the fact that I travel to experience the heart of a culture and to know and love the people I spend time with there.  Being a tourist is just not who I am.  But that being said, it was nice to have been able to see a new part of India, wear a ridiculous red hat, and ride an elephant.  Surely an experience I'll never forget.

Next update will be from the childrens home.  I can't wait!

Jaimee

 Mr. Total Dissolved Solids shows John and Pam the detail on the marble work at the Taj Mahal.

 Me & Pam at Agra Fort.  Can you see the Taj Mahal in the background?

 Hand making marble products.

 The Amber Fort.  See all the elephants on their way up?

 Me on the elephant.  So much fun!

 At Amber Fort.

 City Palace

Jaipur City Palace.