designing a world of hope

Here is a little preview of what I have been working on in the office. It is a toilet block design for the gypsy village we visited in India. There are no toilets on this site, so the people have no choice but to use the surrounding fields. Consequently, they live in poor sanitary and hygienic conditions. So it is our prayer that this design and the work that still is to come will glorify God and bless the His beloved people in Vellore.

It is cold!!!

I don't know how it happened, but it did. The winter weather is here (well,,, it is not technically winter yet but it sure feels like it)!and BOY is it a a sneaky one, freezing every bit of my Californian soul. Yup, it is cold. But I have been told, "honey, this is not cold... just wait until November comes... it only gets worse." So I guess, a reality check will be coming soon. It is time to whip out the gloves, scarfs, jackets, and the layers... the more the merrier. and the consumption of hot beverages will have to happen more frequently :)

Here is a picture of the girls in the Bible study that I go to on Wednesday nights. I look forward to this time every week. They have really welcomed Val and me so warmly and have made us both feel right at home... they also always make sure we have a lift (this is my new favorite word at the moment... lift instead of ride)... At church and in the study we are going through the ten commandments. Each week we study a different commandment, what the Bible says about it, and how we as Christians should be living out the specific command... pretty challenging stuff but such a fun and loving group to study with. I am so so thankful for the sweet friends and community I have here.

Pizookie

A few days ago, Val and I had some friends over for a special dessert.... PIZOOKIE!! This was really exciting because no one had any idea what this could be (and maybe some of you reading this don't know either but it has become pretty popular especially with the restaurant BJ's in the states). It was interesting though shopping for the necessities. We went to three different grocery shops looking for pre-made cookie dough and came out empty handed. no cookie dough. So we instead found a chocolate chip cookie mix which worked just as fine. We plopped globs of vanilla ice cream on top of the pan full of baked cookie and wa la... pizzokie. and let me tell you, it was such a hit!! Now hopefully pizzokie will spread rapidly here.

pizzokie usually looks something like this above

Rejoice

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.


Philippians 4: 4-9

It has been a great weekend! We had two interns from the eMi Canada office visiting. Chris and Justin (who were both in my small group at orientation in Colorado Springs) had a project trip in Burundi and extended their layover here before heading back to Canada. They came to work on Friday and Chris taught me how to use Sketchup-- a 3D modeling program for architects and civil engineers. I'm using it to design a toilet block for the slum villages we visited in India... I never thought I would get to design toilets... should be interesting! On Saturday we took the 'Canada boys' to Wivenhoe (north eastern Essex, England) for fish and chips near the riverbank... another beautiful day..

Washed by the Water

It has been just over a week now since returning from our project trip. The climate change was drastic. India was hot and humid while Colchester was chilly with fresh air. BUT the thing both places have in common: rain. Although it hasn't poured with showers yet like it did most afternoons while we were staying in Vellore, we are entering rainy season here... and the reason why I'm yapping about rain and weather is because the song by Needtobreathe Washed by the Water has been on my mind a lot lately.
Here are some of the lyrics:

Even when the rain falls
Even when the flood starts rising
Even when the storm comes
I am washed by the water

Sometimes when we take our eyes of God, we see the storm. Maybe it feels like we're sinking and there is no way out. BUT God is still there he doesn't leave us. We are washed by the water. There is hope in these storms.. in the hurt and uncertainty of life. There is hope in Him. :)

The following are photos I took walking home from work two different nights. I couldn't help but be reminded again of how majestic our Lord is.

Sethuvalai

The next village we visited was a gypsy site named Sethuvalai. When arriving here, we were greeted by many children clapping for us. They all rushed toward us shaking our hands and smiling. When performing the water test, they brought us chairs to sit in and fans to cool us off. A huge crowd formed with people nervous, interested, and curious to know if their water was bad (Below the picture shows the crowd. Val and I are in the middle of it). At the end of it all, they clapped for us and again we were greeted with handshakes.




After this we were taken into their village chapel where the children sang for us. 15 years ago the gypsies were living under trees near the side of the road. An amazing lady, auntie Jean, who hosted us during our stay and who works with several ministries in Vellore felt very burdened to do something about it. God was telling her “I died for these children too; life has meaning for them also. I want you to come out and serve them also.” So she left her current job (she was an English teacher for 17 years) and started working with the socially and economically deprived. And now 15 years later, the gypsies who probably had never considered putting their hope in Jesus are now believing in Him and serving. They were given a piece of land, a chapel, and small homes to live in. Although they have all these things, their conditions are still pretty poor and their drinking water is not completely sanitary. Both of these sites are really big projects that eMi hopes to tackle in the future by bringing more teams to help. But in the mean time, our team is providing water treatment recommendations to help mediate current problems.

As we were leaving, they people gave us hand-made jewelry. They put necklaces around our necks and a small girl placed a ring on my finger. It was a moment, I’ll never forget. These people had so little, yet they gave so much. Making jewelry is the only way they make money. I felt so undeserving. As our bus was driving away they were waving goodbye, cheering, and yelling out our names… My heart had never felt so warm, yet so burdened at the same time.

KIM

Karunai Illam Trust (KIM)
Mission statement: "To promote the wholesome physical, economical, social and spiritual development of the marginalized people, especially children in the spirit of Christ" KIM ministers to several socially and economically disadvantaged communities around Vellore. They asked eMi to help out with urgent landscaping and drainage needs as well as toilet blocks for each site.

PERRIYAR NAGAR
Our team visited two of the sites that KIM ministers to. The first site is a slum right on the outskirts of Vellore. This visit really caught me off guard emotionally. I have seen poverty before but I was still very much burdened by it all. Immediately when we got off the bus, children were running up to us, wanting to hold our hands and know our names. None of them were wearing shoes and some not fully clothed. As they were holding my hands, I was blown away by their joy and how much these children were smiling. They wanted attention. They wanted love… and in that moment, I felt so helpless. I knew that there was work to be done. We needed to test the water quality of their drinking water and we needed to survey the site but I was so burdened thinking about how we are going to help them. They were living in poor conditions, small homes with a little bit of drinking water, and 30% of them are suffering from tuberculosis. As just a student with little experience, I felt very inadequate.



This site is on a flood plane and has a HUGE drainage problem. Two months out of the year the village is flooded because of the intense rain season and the people are forced to leave their homes to stay dry. They have no toilets, so they have no choice but to use the fields around them. They have one well that is used for washing and their drinking water is only provided weekly by the government. With a kit from LifeWater International we tested the quality of water coming from these water sources (picture below). We tested for coliform bacteria, pH, chlorine, nitrates/nitrites, hardness, and iron. The most important test is the coliform bacteria because coliform is abundant in feces. So if found in a water source, there are probably disease-causing bacteria present in the water. Unfortunately the tests we took did turn positive. The water samples turned black with a 24-hour span, indicating the presence of bacterial contamination. It was a horrible feeling realizing that the drinking water was contaminated and that there is a huge need for water sanitation. But now with this information eMi has the opportunity to help provide clean drinking methods and hopefully help prevent future diseases among the people.

MUT

PRAISE: Val's visa did come through!! She made it to India to meet up with us a few days after we got there.

So with two eMi teams and several different projects and responsibilities, explaining all we did in India may be a bit confusing... so in the next few entries I’ll do my best at describing the projects and ministries we worked with.

Today I'll start with..
Missionary Upholders Trust (MUT)

The vision of MUT is to serve, support, and bless those who are serving. MUT provides rest homes for missionaries and their families to use. The eMi India office has had a strong partnership with them for some time. The MUT staff really welcomed us warmly and provided a nice environment for us to stay while we worked throughout the week.

One of the projects eMi is helping out with:

Pictured below is a vacant two-story building. The land is very valuable and people have tried to buy it but the previous owner was very dedicated to MUT and the work that they do, so it was insisted strongly that this land be used for a missionary rest home. So this is where eMi comes in. We are providing the engineering and architecture designs of a new building with bedrooms and facilities. I'll be working on the water aspects of the project such as drainage.

One more thing... The heart behind all of this work is to help provide a place for missionaries to come and rest :)

Culture Shock

On Sept 21st, I boarded the plane for Chennai, India. It was a 10 hour flight-- the longest one I have ever been on but one of the best flight experiences ever... including a great movie selection, two meals and snacks, socks, and the best part was the provided toothbrush and toothpaste :) Once we landed (finally), made it through the visa check, and collected our luggage, it was time to use the bathroom, again. This is when I encountered Mr. culture shock... Hello squatty potty!! I don't think I was ready for that yet, so thankfully there was a flushing toilet to the right. Then once leaving the airport, I was drastically aware of the climate change. I was wearing jeans and a sweater because it was chilly on the plane (biggest mistake ever). It was 4am in the morning but so hot and we were all already sweating. The humidity and smell combined was overwhelming. Outside of the airport it was really crowded with people and taxis drivers. Walking through the crowds, I have never felt more American in my life (and it doesn't help that I have blue eyes, blond hair, and that I'm the tallest person on my team)! The taxis drive experience to the YWCA (where we were staying for two nights) was like no other.. four of us were cramped in the back, hanging on at every turn. I was so shocked by the traffic and noise even though it was so early in the morning... and the humidity was relentless. Once we made it to the YWCA, we were able to sleep for an hour and a half before breakfast. (Side note: for someone who eats bowls of cereal for breakfast, eating rice and curry took some time to get used to) We met up with the rest of our team from the UK and some from the Missouri, India office. Two of the volunteers are architects from Hong Kong. We spent the rest of the day sharing our testimonies, having culture training, and discussing the projects and ministries we will be working with. The following day we left for Vellore which was a 3 hour bus drive. This bus was our main transportation all week.

We stayed at a missionary rest home called MUT (Missionary Upholders Trust) for about a week and from here we commuted to project sites each day. I'll never forget how welcomed we were by the staff at MUT. We were greeted by auntie Jean and auntie Viji (side note: auntie is a common term used to refer to women who are older than you. Sometimes I was called auntie by children). They took us inside where lunch was ready to eat. They kept offering us water and food and just wanted to make sure we were all well fed. There was a lot of rice and a lot of curry... and this was the day I had a custard apple for the first time! The rest of the afternoon we unpacked and rested. I hadn't even been in India for more than three days and I already had too many mosquito bites to count... and very swollen ankles.. this was kind of funny.. looking. Another thing I had to get used to: bucket showers. Most people take three bucket showers a day just to cool off... and because it was hot and humid-- our clothes needed washing. I hand washed outfits almost every night. I was soon realizing how comfortably I live back in the states and in the UK. God was really showing me how much I rely on comfort and familiarity and was teaching me to let go and to rely on Him alone.

Goodbye India, hello Colchester

After a two hour (actually more like 3) bus drive from Vellore to Chennai, a 10 hour flight to London, and a two hour drive to Colchester, our team is back safe and sound. We have a few days off from work to recuperate from jet lag, so in the mean time I'm taking time to rest and process the last 10 days and all that I experienced in India.

It might take a few days and blog entries to do this so hang tight... First, here are some initial thoughts of things I loved, learned, missed, and found fascinating about India.

The FOOD:

1. Chai and COFFEE are served all the time. It is a very hospitable way that hosts show how much they welcome and appreciate their guests. What I'm about to say next may be a bold statement but I stand by it: India has the BEST tasting coffee ever!!





2. and that goes for the FRUIT too... custard apples are amazing! I LOVE the bananas and the mangoes are sweet. I like papayas (PAPAYAS!) but we all know nothing can beat the sweet love of God (haha anyone remember this song?)
3. I am in love with CURRY (surprise) like never before... and dosas and naan bread. yumm!




p.s. I have eaten more rice in the last 10 days than I have probably eaten in the last 10 months.


The TRANSPO:

1. I was so impressed by the modes of transportation: motorcycles are everywhere and a very popular transport from point A to point B, also buses, taxis (especially auto rickshaw ones--pictured below), and oxes..



2. Honking is common and not necessarily used for road rage but rather to inform other drivers or pedestrians that your coming and not stopping.
3. Driving in general is a true talent.

The CULTURE

1. India is so vibrant and colorful--the food, buildings, traffic, and of course my favorite-- the sari! The sari's that women wear are so beautiful and really represent such grace and femininity. Fun facts:
2. It is proper to eat only with your right hand. Also, utensils are not normally used.
3. If you finish the food on your plate, more will be offered or perhaps given.
4. Shaking of the head from side to side when you are talking with someone, does not mean no.. it more so means "I'm listening" or "I understand"

(sighhh) now writing out my thoughts, I really do miss India already! Yes, it was hot and humid and yes it does feel wonderful to be back in Colchester and back in chilly weather, but there is something very special about India and something very special about working alongside fellow believers there. One night we went to a Bible study group of young college medical students. The leader had said that even though we are from different countries and different cultures, we all serve the same God... We are all one in the body of Christ.

more India entries to come...