Our group visited the slums today. About 700 some diplaced people are living in this dried-up river bed with no running water. The living conditions in that famous movie Slum-dog Millionare were better then these. Tong-len is a Buddhist NGO that is helping these folks with education, medicines, and being advocates for them. It's was pretty tremendous to hang out with these malnourished kids and brighten their days smiles, toys, fingernail paint, picking them up and letting them kiss you, feeding them, flying kites, soccer. Wow. I was feeling weak all day do to a fever in the night and bathroom trips, but I managed to stay strong enought to play with these impoverished peoples.
They were fed on these really neat indigenous plates made of leaves sewn together. The food was really good. On the way out of the slums I ran into this really cool old guy, but really I began to see how they could live like this at least on some level. I mean as strange of a life it is to live in plastic sheet-tents in total begging poverty with no running water I could almost picture myself in their shoes. I guess that's the first step in understanding people and helping them.
They were fed on these really neat indigenous plates made of leaves sewn together. The food was really good. On the way out of the slums I ran into this really cool old guy, but really I began to see how they could live like this at least on some level. I mean as strange of a life it is to live in plastic sheet-tents in total begging poverty with no running water I could almost picture myself in their shoes. I guess that's the first step in understanding people and helping them.
Glad to see this has been rewarding experience for the entire class.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of another time in another land where visiting an orphanage was my own "first step in understanding people and helping them." Bless you!
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