Traveling, present and future

Here we are preparing supper. They wanted me to cook something for them, so we made groundnut stew with fresh coconut, banana and pineapple on top. I thought it was really good. My family thought it was interesting. They ate it anyway.

So, you can see I'm still here. I've found that it takes close to 1/2 an hour to upload pictures from the nearby town of Thiruvengadam. I am only posting limited pictures for now. When I get to a bigger city, I'll post more again. I'll try to be more descriptive in the meantime.

I've just returned from a trip to the big city of Madurai about 100 km away from my village (a 3 and 1/2 hour bus ride). I was able to visit the Association of Arulagam, a hostile for exploited/abused women and their children. It was an incredible experience. I was very impressed and encouraged to see the 35 or so women seeming cheerful and purposeful in their life at Arulagam. And I was super depressed and disgusted to hear some of the stories (from the staff) of women who have been through Arulagam. Let's just say that wife beating is widely socially acceptable, and wife suicides are widespread as well.

But, these women that I met, will have a good shot at a new life. At Arulagam, they are taught skills such as weaving, basketmaking, etc. that can help them to find jobs after leaving the hostile. Several of the women were also illiterate upon arrival, and they are now in literacy classes.

To have heard a little of what these women have gone through and to see how kind and friendly they were to me was extremely humbling. At Arulagam they refer to each other as 'Sister'. They were constantly checking in with me: "Sister, have you eaten....Sister, are you happy?" It was very sweet.

I am planning to volunteer with Arulagam for my last month or so in India. I am pretty excited about it.

Next week I leave for a short visit in the hill station of Kodai (think cool weather!!) and then onto Delhi by train (a 2 day journey). I plan to spend the hottest month of the year in India, May, in the hilly city of Mussoorie visiting my friend Dan Shetler, who is doing a 3-year Mennonite Central Committee service term.

Swinging from a Banyan Tree near the village.

I am excited about my travels, but I will also be sad to leave Sellipatti and my friends there. I will probably also miss the quiet, unpolluted, community-based village life.