Wednesday

An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.

-Mohandas Gandhi

Today my group was assigned to construction at the same colony where we are working on the community center. Today was different though because our group has been slowly getting smaller and smaller. After the Bertha family left we were down to only 5 people and today two of those five people were too sick to work so we were down to 3 people. Our coordinator was sick as well so we didn't even have that one extra person with us.

So Melissa, Kim, and I headed down to the colony, taking a short stop at the art school so Kim could buy her paintings and then heading down to the construction site. We weren't sure how much we would be able to get done, but we all agreed that we would do our best because in the end that was all we could do. We started off moving dirt in an assembly line; next we carried bowls of sand to cover the foundation for the front porch, and then carried another layer of large rocks to cover the sand.

After we had finished the two layers, we moved an entire pile of rocks. It was huge and we just kept making the same rounds -- walk over, pick up a bowl of rocks that the other workers filled and carry them to where we were dropping them off, dump out the rocks and repeat! The men who were working with us were so sweet; when we walked over with our empty bowls to get a new one they would help us lift the heavy bowls of rocks onto our heads because it was hard for us to lift them that high, but once we had them on our heads it made them much easier to carry, taking pressure off our backs and arms.

It was so awesome to have all of their help and to know that they were grateful for us being there even if it was just for a few hours. I think that the image of us truly working with our own to hands and serving them meant a lot. I also know that I learned a lot about my own strength when I'm doing something for a group of people I admire, respect, and love.

After we finished working we were all exhausted and I'll admit my head and neck were very sore (Tessa, I could have used your hairography neck muscles:)) but we were all amazed at how much we had accomplished. I honestly think we did more in that hour and a half with three people then we've ever done in more hours and with more people!

There is just so much love here, everyone looks out for everyone else and our drivers are always so careful and protective of us, they always pull over when they need to talk on their phones, help us cross the street, and even at one point when I was taking my malaria pill in the car, one of the drivers warned me to wait for a second because we were coming up on a bump and made sure to drive extra carefully while I drank.

I love these people that are so welcoming and always wave and smile, it's just so different back home. I hope I can carry this little bit of India with me forever.
Playtime was so much fun, and dinner tasted so good, as always:)

After dinner we had family time, during which Rajakumari did henna for me, she did an amazing job and it was only her first time!

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oh and one last note, my mom has been asking me to blog about the hostel and shower/bathroom situation, so here it goes.

We take what are called bucket showers. In each stall is one large bucket and a small bucket, you fill the large bucket and use the small bucket to get yourself wet and rinse yourself off. Its actually not too bad and the cold showers usually feel pretty good after a very hot and sweaty day. They also save an incredible amount of water.

The toilets here are called "squaters" and they're actually pretty nice as well. I think the name is kind of self explanatory, but the hostel is still so new that they were very clean and flushed and they also save a lot of water which is important when your main water source is a well and drinking water is so important.

with great love,

Kenzie