Walking home from my coffee shop in South Extension, listening to music on my iPod, feeling a dust storm gathering a thought hit me. We are going to win, poverty will be made history.
For so long I had doubted that victory was possible, much of my work seems to be so futile. The lack of commitment from rich countries like Australia to poverty reduction has been depressing for me. As is the seeming lack of interest from the general public.
I don’t know if it will be in my life time or not but I know in my heart we are going to eliminate poverty. It is simply not sustainable. I had a think about the people I know who are working to fight poverty and how many people are working on it that I don’t know. We have some of the brightest, hardest working and most passionate people working for our cause.
But the thing that convinces me the most is watching the local Indians setup a market as I was walking along. These people are so enterprising, there is no way that unfair trade rules will keep them down.
We have the most powerful weapon in the history of man on our side, love. You can’t suppress that, people have tried to do so and they have failed. Love also has a powerful and life changing network effect on people. One persons actions can inspire a nation, or even the whole world. I’m thinking of people like Mandela or Gandhi here.
So I sit here filled with hope.
It is just a matter of time before poverty will be history.
Delhi, Pretentious drivel, Social Justice
Tonight the 3 girls who where staying with us and one of their boyfriends visited us unexpectedly.
They just showed up tonight.. Such a fun suprise. I want to have a house when I get back home where people randomly drop in. We gave them some coffee (they like my coffee) and iced tea and then we ended up going out for Dosa which was great.
Delhi
Our cleaner Moonie who comes twice a week to clean the house came today to explain why she didn’t show up yesterday and that her child was sick. She came seeking help, our language skills were not quite adequate for the situation, so we called over Victor(from EHA) who lives quite close to us. He chatted to her and I think that things are sorted out, she should take her girl to a hospital tomorrow if she’s still sick with fever. We also gave her some panadol for her child.
She has 5 children and her husband is apparently a lazy bum. I imagine that missing even a day of work stuffs her up. Stupid poverty!! So many sad stories, here in Delhi. I am glad at least that we are paying her a good wage for her work.
Delhi, Poverty Sucks
I have a photo of Ryan from my 18th birthday party. Those of you who remember Ryan from then may remember he had quite long hair at that stage. Today our cleaner for some reason saw my photo of Ryan and was convinced he was my sister. I had to show a photo from a later date to convince her that he is a man.
It was rather amusing. Much laughter all around. Particular as we had difficulty understanding what she was saying. She also has her daughter here today who she showed the photo to as well.
Life can be rather funny sometimes.
About stuff, Delhi
A while ago in Delhi I saw some of those dodgy A4 paper signs advertising abortion by pill and giving a phone number. Then the other day I saw a big sign outside a medical centre advertising Abortion By Pill Available here.
Whilst I am unsure where I stand on pro-choice/pro-life debate these signs do worry me. I feel like they advocate abortion by pill as a primary and easy means of birth control. There surely must be long term psychological effects on the mother who aborts a pregnancy. It seems to me like abortion being made to seem like an easier option then I imagine it would be. I don’t know what kinds of conditions they have on abortion in India, maybe they do deal with issues and give counseling but I doubt it.
In a country where STI’s including HIV/AIDS is such a problem I feel even more worried. If people choose not to use condoms based on the availibity of an abortion pill then that is going to create a bigger problem.
About stuff, Delhi
To be hard or soft.
Living in Delhi is difficult.
It is not so much difficult due to an absense of creature comforts. For a reasonable price I can get most of the sorts of things I liked at home. I can even go to see English movies. I can eat most of the food I would like to eat from back home. (For some reason I can find any t-bone steaks around the place like back home). I spend a reasonable amount of time in cafes.
The hard bit of Delhi though is the harshness of it sometimes. The many people around the place who would dearly like to take me for every ruppie they can get. It’s also a rather aggressive and people can be rather pushy sometimes. I would like to be able to trust everyone including rickshaw drivers, I would like to listen to everyone, I would like to be able to do something for the beggars. Sometimes it all really gets to me.
So I harden my heart and get a bit pushy myself. Almost as soon as I get that way I find myself being aggressive to someone who is more or less harmless. Like today I was very sceptical of a guy doing market research, who was actually legit. I began to soften my heart a bit. Then I got into an auto and got ripped off.
So what do I do?
Should my heart be hard and soft?
Can it be both?
How do I switch?
Are defences necessary?
How can I make sure I strip the defences as soon as the threats are over?
About stuff, Delhi
I found out that someone I meet recently has just been diagnoised with TB. She works for an AIDS project and works really hard to support her children as a single mother.
TB is treatable there is a program by the World Health Organization called DOTS. Yet 1000 people die from it in India alone, that is really depressing. This should not be.
We have the drugs and the knowledge to do something to stop TB why aren’t we doing anything?
I wonder if it’s patent protection from the big drug companies, stopping cheaper Indian versions of the drugs entering the market place. Is it like Anti-retrovirals that help people with AIDS, where people argue that these ignorant villages wouldn’t be able to maintain there treatment.
I do not know, but I am angry. I don’t know what I can do for these people. I don’t know what I should do either. So many worth wild causes in the world.
So I sit here in India, next to my AC in my nice middle class flat. And reasure myself that I am already doing enough… Pretending that there is such a thing as enough.
Delhi, India Stuff, Poverty Sucks, Pretentious drivel, Social Justice
I brought the DVD of the Lion the witch and the wardrobe the other day. I watched it tonight.
I really enjoyed my second watching. The DVD has lots of little treats on it too.
Looking forward to getting into the special features soon.
In other news the gas for our gas burners arrived tonight so we were able to cook up some dinner for the first time. We did however call up Nirulas and get them to deliver some ice cream. Oh and we had mangos with our ice cream.. I like mangos and at just over $1/kg not bad value.
Also went and saw the pink panther today lots of fun.
Delhi, Movies
In my local coffee shop for breakfast. It is playing old Bryan Adams.. Quite funny. I’ll be uploading pictures today check out here for a quick look.
About stuff, Delhi
Last night there was the funnest storm outside in Delhi. Lots and lots of thunder and lightening nice and close to where me and Wes are staying. It was an awesome showing of the power of nature. One bolt struck within 100 meters of where we were. Nice powerful rain too on a hot night. Today it’s going to be 42 degrees.
In other news I should be moving into my new house today.. I’ll post some moving in pictures tomorrow I think.
About stuff, Delhi
This weekend has been a fairly good. Yesterday I went to the movies and then out to dinner with a family I know. I saw “The New World” the first half was much better then the second. It’s funny they have intermissions mid-scene at the cinemas I go to in Delhi. It’s a bit funny and it kind of ruins the intensity of the film.
Today I went to church again for the whole day. The minister was away so members of the congregation gave the messages. I like lay preachers. A group of us went out to lunch after the morning service. We went to a Tibetan place which was fun. I had momos and fruit beer.. They make a rather good combination.
I am still finding clicks at church hard to break into. Then there is the whole concept of whether or not I should.
I feel pretty tired.
About stuff, Delhi
I spent most of Sunday with people at church. It was quite good fun. I was hanging out with Rob some locals, and some miscellaneous white people. It was kind of weird. There was a woman who had just got back from Duncan Hospital and then another guy who was off to Duncan Hospital. I had spent a reasonable amount of time in Duncan on my last trip to India.
So anyway I went to the 11am service, went out for lunch, then hung around church until the 5pm service. After that we went out for coffee. It was all good fun. I’ve found a few people with whom I can express my somewhat sarcastic humour with. My views though on church and theology still leave me feeling a little lonely.
I read a bit of a book on “being a woman” and it offended my feministic ideals. I so think that this whole Eve created out of Adam bit from the Bible is taken way too far. I just can’t abide by an argument about a woman’s purpose being to serve a man. I have no problems with a mutual support argument. I almost prefer the Greek myth about how man and a woman used to be formed in one being. Then the god’s were jealous and split them in two.
I am finding sermons here hard to deal with. I really am so in a different place then where most of the sermons are targeting. It’s interesting I have problems culturally and theologically with them as well. I think I want to explore two areas of spirituality. I want to find more on liberation theology and explore more of the mystical side of the Christian walk.
I miss renevore, I’d like to set one up here.. I don’t have enough friends to do that though. I’d like to setup some kind of commie dinner too but I have no stove and no table.
I’m thinking about doing some volunteering in a children’s slum project. I feel like it might be a practical way of addressing some of the issues I face living here. I feel that I should do something to help. So I think I’ll knock on a few doors and see if they open. Though I am a bit unsure if I really have enough time to be of any use.
Not much else to report really. Life is going well. I miss people from back home.
About stuff, Church, Delhi
If an oncoming vehicale has less then four wheels, ignore it and just walk.
About stuff, Delhi
India is breaking my heart, slowly and surely. My own impotence when it comes to dealing with the horrendous poverty facing so many people in Delhi. Did you know that 40% of children in India live under India’s poverty line of 10Rs a day? (This is about $ AUD 0.3.) Now there are 200 million children in Delhi so that is 80 million children in this extreme poverty.
Everyday moving through Delhi I see a small number of these children and other adults begging in the street. Trying to sell various wares at traffic lights. Every time thus far I have ignored the calls for help. The cries for help from mothers. The hello sir’s of the destitute children caked in dirt and the tapping of amputees on trolleys.
Somehow I ignore the cries of my heart to just give them money. Am I some kind of monster?
My mind rationalises and says that I am doing my part. I am here working on a project that will make a significant impact in communities throughout Nagaland. I am here working for a group that every day helps thousands of people throughout India. Isn’t that enough. Surely that should be enough to sooth my conscious.
What I am doing is not enough. Extreme poverty is not acceptable. There is no reason for it to remain other then greed. My heart should be feeling the pain of each individual.
How though can one live with such pain. Should I close my heart? After my first week in India I can already feel my heart starting to grow harder, cynicism reigning. Treating strangers with distrust. The problem is people see the colour of my skin and know I’d make a good mark. It’s amazing the amount of ruppies rickshaw drivers try to con out of me. I am so wealthy comparatively here. From my experience in India it is a good survival tactic. I am not sure about it as a living one?
What would Jesus do? More importantly what would Jesus like me to do?
Then you hear the stories from locals about the begging rings where the beggars are actually in the employee of masters whom take most of the money they raise. Is there no end to the exploitation of the poorest people.
Today I went and brought some books. I think that one of the key things for me is to have some understanding of the people and the causes of these problems.
To help me in that I purchased the following books:
1) Arundhati Roy’s An ordinary person’s guide to Empire. This should help me understand the politics that lead to the current situation.
2) If I were rain. A book of photos celebrating the spirit of India’s disadvantaged urban child. This should help me to see the beggars with a more human face.
3) These Hills Called Home Stories from a War Zone by Temsula Ao. This book should teach me about the pain of the Naga people who I am going to be serving on the hospital project.
I want to move beyond pity to love. I guess my other next step is learning Hindi. I need to be able to treat people who are not rich with respect.
About stuff, Delhi
Looks like I will have to do a little house hunting soon..
Wes (the guy who I am working with) and I need to setup a base camp in New Delhi. We’re looking to get a three bedroom apartment.
Should be fun. Never really done it before..
Delhi