India 2009!

Monday started a new week with the children! Our topic for this week was the world and each child’s place in the world. We started by taking out the map and asking each child to draw where they wanted to go in the world. The answers were amazing! A lot of them said the United States, but some of them said Australia, Sweden, the West Indies, Antarctica, and the Pacific Ocean. The children were mesmerized by the map and loved to just sit there and ask us questions about the countries. After teaching them about countries and continents, we danced, played cards, and just allowed the children to relax for a little. Along with teaching them about the world, another goal we had for this week was to teach them how to use the computer and the internet. Katie started today with Pooja and it went so well! The children LOVE the computer and it’s nice to be able to spend some one-on-one time with each child.

A third goal we had for this week was to start writing down all the children’s stories. We sat down with Joy for a while today and learned Gautam’s story. Gautam is fourteen now and he has been with SOUP for seven years. His story was both heart-breaking and inspiring all at the same time. After hearing everything that he had already overcome in his life, I just wanted to run up to him and give him a huge hug and let him know how proud of him I am. We also asked Joy to tell us a success story of SOUP and he recounted the story of a girl named Renu who know lives in Delhi, is married, and works as a nurse. It was amazing to hear that she still keeps in touch with SOUP because that means that the family environment that the children grow up in doesn’t just disappear once they turn 18. SOUP serves as a life-long support system for these children and that’s just incredible! After hearing these stories, we talked with Joy for a while about logistical things like funding, the website, and how they get donations. Katie and I were able to email Free for Life, and got in contact with the family that created the SOUP website. We also tried to think of ways to simplify the donation process. It was an amazing day and it felt so good to make some progress! It’s hard to leave the children and go and talk to Joy for a few hours, but we just need to keep telling ourselves that if we can help SOUP get some funding and get back on its feet than the children will benefit so much.

A final highpoint of the day was when we went outside to get a rickshaw. It was starting to get dark out so the children came out to help us flag one down. We were standing there for a while with no success, when a group of five Indian men came over to us and started asking if we needed help. Katie and I usually attract quite a bit of attention with our fair skin so we try to avoid talking to anyone we don’t know. We tried to just ignore them and then just kept saying that we were fine and didn’t need help but they wouldn’t stop trying to talk to us. All of a sudden, Gautam came running and stood right in between the group of men and me and Katie. He just stood there and stared them down until they walked away! It was amazing! This fourteen year old boy intimidated that group of men! It was just awesome knowing that the children have come to love us as much as we love them. Their instinct to protect me and Katie just blew me away! It literally made our day!