Our mountain trek to the orphanage on our first day in Manali.

Here is the sequence of the trip events for the mountain portion of our trip: 

On Thursday, July 12 we flew out of Grand Rapids. Due to time zone changes we arrived in Delhi on Saturday about 1:00 a.m. We checked into the hotel for a short sleep.

Saturday about 10:00, we left on the bus for Manali, located in the Himalayan Mountains.

The bus trip took 18 hours, so we got into our guest house about early Sunday a.m.

On Sunday we got to meet the kids at the orphanage. 

To get to the orphanage, meant a 30 minute walk. It was more beautiful than these photos can show, so this is just a sample:

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These ladies are planting lentils. Lentils are used in many Indian dishes. Rice is also a favorite.

This lady is weaving a shawl. The women in these mountain villages
have organized a coop to market these shawls made of wool, cashmere, angora and other fibers.
I was able to purchase one. :-)

I'll let you guess what this is. It grows everywhere!
Here is a hint: When plants grow everywhere we call them weeds.

Needed: Flexibility When Plans Change

Slowly, I Post

I really intended to post this trip so that you could journey with me. It hasn’t worked out as I intended,.  What I have learned was the nature of this trip and most mission trips is that they don’t follow a set-in-stone itinerary. We were told at the beginning to be flexible and that was surely needed. The moment when arrived in India we discovered we had no way to get to Manali and that our hotel rooms had been cancelled for the first night. Our team had to learn to accept each twist in the plan as God’s hand in our trip. We just went by bus and had an 18 hour adventure and it turned out better than the original plan.

We had planned to have a popcorn and movie night with the kids at the orphanage, the brand new Blue Ray DVD got fried by the electricity and a new lesser quality one had to be purchased at a  local mountain store. The show did go on, just the following night. The kids got to see Kung Fu Panda.

On Wednesday, when it came time to fly back to Delhi, we got to the airport and got checked in with time to spare . . . except, the weather forced a flight problem. We had to wait for at least an hour and a half to hear the pilot’s decision whether or not he would attempt the flight. This is the only flight leaving from the airport for Delhi each day, so a cancellation would put us back one day or have us on the bus for another 18 hours. Prayers were said, God lifted the fog and we flew back to Delhi.

The forced airport delay on Wednesday meant rescheduling our ministry time at one of the slums. We did get to meet the children on Friday morning at a doll museum and then again in their own school in a south Delhi slum on Saturday a.m.

On Friday afternoon as we were traveling to do activities with the kids at a north Delhi slum, we found out that there were about 25 boys ages 12 – about 17. This issue fell in my lap. I had left all of the older kid materials in Manali. We got to the school and I still didn’t have a plan. I stood in front of the materials suitcase and asked God to show me something in there that we could use . . .  the answer . . .  folded paper frisbies.  The boys also found the ‘facepainting’ done by Anna and the other team members appealing . . . they just had the designs put on their arms and called them tattoos.

On Thursday we went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The heat index that day was 114 degrees. I became sick and thanks to a kind and knowledgeable team member, whom works in an emergency room, I was able to be back to myself in about 12 hours.

No, I didn’t post as often as I intended: no WiFi, jet lag, illness, and our team kept us very busy. I hope that you will still stay with me. I took notes on the many things we did, observed and learned. I have many photos that I still intend to post when I get to an internet connection  that can handle posting them. (The Amsterdam airport had free WiFi, but after a half an hour trying to post one photo, I gave up on that. My only chance to post any photos would have been at the hotel in Delhi, but I was sick and needed to sleep.)

In addition to the challenge to be flexible, here is something else I have learned; when God takes us out of a familiar situation,  we are forced to learn new ways of doing things. The holes and weak spots in our character come out. This trip has brought my fears, pride issues, control issues, and selfishness to my awareness. God in His gentle correcting way is bringing me into new surrender to Him and to new levels of service in His name.

Please watch for the next post. I am very anxious to show you my photos and also to share our time in each of the slum settings. Both have profoundly affected the members of our teams.

I am heading home to sleep.

Later,

Linda

Lack of WiFi in Manali

Today is Wednesday and we are back in New Delhi where I have access to WiFi at our hotel.

Here is the view from our room at the Shanti Guest House in Manali

I have been journaling and photographing for the past 4 days until I could get back and post. I think it will take many months for me to process my thoughts, feelings and the spiritual lessons I have gained from this experience with the children and this trip to India. I will continue sharing our trip as I experienced it, but if you'd like to jump ahead of me, go to John Balyo's page on the WCSG website: http://wcsg.org/blogs/morningshow/ He has posted many thoughts, pictures and a video or two.

Here is my next installment:
We arrived safely in Manali with applause for our driver. The 15 hour trip actually took 18 hours!
The adventure wasn't over for the night though. We had to carry our carry-on luggage up a dirt road, then onto a winding sidewalk. Mind you, there are not any street lights. The way water run-off is handled is that pipes and trenches carry waste water and run-off to creeks and streams. There are trenches all over and are easy to fall into. There was one of these trenches running alongside the dark sideway we were climbing to get to our guest house. Every 5 or so feet, a pipe would cross the side walk and there must have been a rock that was too big to move when the sidewalk was made so it required a step up and then a step down in the dark carrying your bags. (Our big luggage was brought from the bus to the guest house by jeep because the bus couldn't get up the street to drop us and the bags off directly.)

We were greeted at the guest house by the owner.
Anna and I were assigned a room in the yellow room. The teakwood parquet floor gave the room the lovely smell of teakwood. The bed was hard, but very welcome after the long several days of travel.

After breakfast at the guest house, we began the trek to DAR-UL-FAZL Children's Home. This means House of Grace. The ministry houses about 80 children from 3 years old to college age children. The ministry also includes Rainbow School. All of the children up to age 14 attend this school the older children go into the village. There are also some village children from poor families that are sponsored and  also attend Rainbow School.

The trek is best viewed rather than described. We hiked single file over and around some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever encountered. I need to go to bed now, so I'll prepare the pictures of our trek and first meeting with the kids for the next post tomorrow when I'm on the on the bus to see the Taj Mahal. (10 more hours round trip).

The Road to Manali

Saturday, July 14 - Onward to Manali

When we got off the plane in India last night, we discovered that our tickets to fly to Manali this a.m. were of no use. The only airline company to fly to an airport close to Manali decided to go on strike. Our leaders got us into the same hotel we will be staying in later in the week. To accommodate our 17 plus people, the Orphan Outreach leader and our Indian leader had quite a task. We arrived at our hotel at about 2:30 am here. We were more than exhausted having been 24 hours awake.

While we waited for the bus to take us to the hotel, there were many people hanging around the airport in the middle of the night. One person in our group saw a man walking with his family who had two knives strapped to his belt.

As we left the airport, I saw 5 guards parked in a jeep with one seated behind an automatic weapon, aimed a what, I don’t know. I saw another armed guard as we left the airport grounds.

After a short night , we met for  breakfast at the hotel restaurant and had an amazing Indian breakfast. I had a thin crepe-like fried pancake on which I put three flavorful sauces on different pieces as I ate them. The sauce flavors were coconut, like a basil pesto, and a mixture with lentils in it. There were other mixtures that included chickpeas and curry. Rice seems to be a favorite staple.

We boarded the bus and I was thankful to be able to go to see the children I've been imagining for so long.

  

Orphan Outreach has a full-time employee to arrange all travel, meals . . . in India. His name is Uma and he works very hard to accommodate the many changes like what happened to us. He said one good thing about this bus trip instead of flying is that we would get to see the countryside.

Going through the city of New Delhi was amazing. It was truly crazy. I will tell you as much as I can about the many things I have seen and am experiencing that are so different than our culture in the posts to come. I think everyone but Uma had their cameras up to the bus windows as we experienced India for the first time. We make jokes about tourist buses full of Japanese picture takers through the bus windows, well, I now am one. I have many photos to share as I have time to assemble them. I also hope to have a travelogue at church and with as many of you as would like to see them and to hear about this amazing trip.

Once we left the city, the land was flat and there were many fields of rice. I saw water buffalo for the first time. For lunch today, we stopped at McDonald’s. This is India, so on the menu, there were no hamburgers, but they did have a Chicken Maharaja Mac. While we waited for our food the electricity went off and on twice. As I walked into the building, I got to see and smell jasmine flowers along the sidewalk.   

We have been told that the men like to approach women who encourage them. Some of our young and beautiful team members didn't realize that the men we encountered were encouraged by the way they related to them when we would stop for a bathroom break. There was a car load of them that showed up many miles into the mountains at two of the breaks. This was scary, and we all learned not to make conversation, eye contact or do anything that might be thought of as encouragement. 

After about 10 or so hours the land began to become mountainous. 

(Here is what I wrote as the bus traveled into the mountains. Picture me sitting in a bus seat with my lap top in the dark typing like crazy so I'd be distracted from looking out the window.)

I will agree, it was VERY interesting. I will add to his thought, it is very good that we entered the mountains at night. This ride is interesting and a bit scary. Right now we are on the only road to Manali and it is a major truck route. It is 2 lanes.  Although it is 9 pm on Sat. night, the road has bumper-to-bumper trucks in both lanes. It is now dark, so we can’t see how close we are to the edge of the mountains. When I asked you to pray in the last blog entry, I didn’t imagine how dangerous the mountain roads would be. Our leaders had to sign a waiver to prevent us from suing them if there should be an accident. The roads are very narrow and there is only inches between vehicles when they meet each other.  The road has many switchbacks and the surface is very bumpy so we are bouncing and swaying. There are hairpin turns and very short straight sections between the turns. The mountain comes right down to the road and there is very little shoulder on the opposite side of the road. Another contributing factor is that in the straight sections there are  trucks parked along side the road on both sides to rest and stop for the night. Our bus driver has to have skill at turning this bus on the switchback roads and quick reflexes as cars are parked and are meeting us at the same time. Picture this: our bus, a long vehicle, has to make wide turns on these hairpin curves. (Remember, we are in the left hand lane  in India.) The on-coming traffic (which includes trucks, cars, and motorcycles) is coming toward us. So this is what we see: headlights coming at us IN THE RIGHT HAND LANE and we are over there making a wide turn, now factor in NO GUARDRAILS. Oh, yes here is one more factor. Because this is an uphill grade, some vehicles move slowly, so it means that vehicles must pass on this road.

I just looked out the window and saw two black cows wandering alongside the road. They are everywhere, just like you have always heard. Since they don’t wear headlamps, they are a bit difficult to spot in the dark.

I decided I couldn’t watch much more, so I practiced calculating Rupee–to-dollar tables in my head then I decided to write this. Anna just mentioned that our 35 or so pieces of luggage in the bottom of the bus helps lower our center of gravity and makes us more stable.

Let me say that all you have heard about Indian driving is true.  It has to be experienced to believe.

Uma said that traffic rules are just suggestions and the lines on the road are for decoration. When a vehicle comes to a blind curve, another vehicle, or pedestrian in the road, they blow their horn and just keep going figuring that the other people driving or walking have been warned.

At one hairpin turn a truck broke its axle. The nose was up against the mountain and the back was hanging out into the road blocking one lane and part of the other. There were rocks along the cliff side of the shoulder of the road. It looked like the truck had been abandoned, but then I noticed the door was open and I could see the bottom of two feet where the driver was laying down in the cab. I could see the axle laying on the pavement. Our bus came to a stop so our driver could decide if we could get around the truck without going over the cliff. He decided he could. He inched forward between the cliff and rock (guard rail) and the truck. There was only 2 inches between us and the truck as we went past it. I was on the side of the truck, I am thankful I wasn't on the side of the bus where I'd see how close we were to the cliff. 

(We heard later that after we passed through, there was a huge traffic backup. Others weren't fortunate as we were to get through.)

The good thing about this bus trip instead of the plane is that it has allowed us to share with one another, and to bond before we meet the children tomorrow. We also have had a chance to rest and recover from the jet lag. If we’d flown into Manali we would be jumping in tired and without this time together.

Oh yes, I see lightning in the distance. We were told that there could be a thunderstorm tonight. It is now 10pm. We left Delhi at 10.00 am. There are another 5 hours left before we arrive. Uma just said when we see the kids tomorrow and see how much they are looking forward to our visit, it will make this crazy bus ride all worth it  (I thought in my head, kinda like childbirth.)

Please continue pray for us. We meet the kids tomorrow and will be here until Wed. when we take this bus ride back to New Delhi if the airline is still on strike.

God is good. I have heard the stories of some of my team members. They are very inspiring. Last night when it ‘hit the fan’  and it looked like we might not be able to come to Manali  at all, our leaders and team members were very calm. I saw two team members with their heads bowed asking God to be in charge.. . . . and here we are on our way.

If you want to follow this trip there is also a blog and there is a photo of us with all the luggage last night at the airport. It was taken as we waited for the bus to take us to our hotel. John Balyo is with us from WCSG 91.3. He posted the picture on Facebook so you can go to their page to see the picture. He tagged me, so it might be on my Facebook page too.

BTW: India would be a great place to be in sales for vehicle brakes and horns.

Keep Praying,

Linda

We are here!

Please pray. The airline that was to to take us to the mountains has gone out of business. We have to take a 15 hour bus ride from Delhi to Manali. The day will be long and the roads mountainous.
I can't write more because we are in a hurry to catch a bus that has been chartered at the last minute.

Breakfast at 11:00 pm

I thought you might like to have some details about the trip.  There are 17 of us, mostly from western Michigan. We are currently in Amsterdam. We had breakfast in the air before landing . . . at 11:00 pm our time. Right now my body says it is 4:00 am. We will be flying for about 17 hours. There is a 10.5 hour time difference. India’s time is ahead of Michigan.

We are bringing with us 16 suitcases of items for the kids and adults we will be meeting.

The photos were taken on Tuesday night at the packing party where all donations were packed into suitcases. We literally had a living room full of items to divide into three locations: Manali, South Delhi and North Delhi. Some of the items are for gift bags for the kids and adults, some are vacation Bible school supplies, and some are sports equipment. All suitcases and items will be left in India when we finish. So for example, each location will have a soccer ball and lots of school supplies when we leave.

We will be doing vacation Bible school activities in each location and playing games. In Manali our theme is the Olympics. In addition to items to donate, we also have 3 suitcases of materials for lessons, crafts and sports equipment for the ‘Orphan Outreach Olympic’ games. In the evening we will eat with the kids and have a movie/popcorn night. We will be with the kids from the The House of Grace Orphanage on Sat after we arrive, and all day Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday we will go on an outing and have a picnic with the kids from Rainbow School.

In the Northern and Southern Slum Schools we will also have vacation Bible school activities, crafts, and games. We won’t be able to do the Olympic theme, because we won’t be at each site as long as we are in Manali. One highlight is an outing with the kids to a doll museum.

You can see from the photos that the suitcases contain the types of items I mentioned above and  also have hygiene items, over the counter medicines, lots of school supplies and candy . . . lots of candy. We have one whole suitcase with only candy in it.

I asked a friend, who is also a missionary in India what kinds of things we should bring for the adults who help us and who help the children. She said they would like a really good pen, one that the ink flows nicely through and has a good grip. She also said that the ladies might like scented individually wrapped bars of soap. Her words, “It would be a prized possession.”

When we were waiting for the security guards to go through our luggage at the Grand Rapids airport this is what I saw. The guard opened a suitcase which revealed it was brimming with a mountain of  multicolored toys. I watched him poke through it a bit and he must have decided it was too much trouble to take things out and have to put them back, so he zipped it back up.

I am unsure when I will have another opportunity to write again. I was disappointed to find the airplane from Detroit to Amsterdam didn’t have WiFi. I don’t know if the next plane to New Delhi will have it or not. The next hurdle is going to be to purchase a plug adapter to charge the computer when we land in Delhi. I did read that type of adapter will be available for purchase.

(I tried to upload some photos, but after half an hour I had to stop trying.)

An Astronaut with ADD

I've decided that I know what it would feel like to be an astronaut with ADD. I have a mission to go on (tomorrow) and my head is filled with so many thoughts that I cant' figure out what to take care of first.
Here is a sample of my stream of conscousness thinking:   the carryone luggage can only weigh 24 pounds total, be sure to pack the electricity converter, there is no adapter for India in the set! get one there?, can't get an India ATM capable debit card at my credit union - Anna got one, can I go to her credit union on the way to the airport?,  the floors have dog hair all over them, this house is a pig-sty, there is stuff growing in all of the toilets, my dog nanny/housesitter will be living in filth if I don't clean, gotta get out clean sheets/towels, go to the library, pay the bills, weed garden, weed flowerbeds, get irrigation set, is my will up-to-date?, where ARE those scissors . . .

I have piles of stuff in each room that need to be packed or put away. When I walk from one room to do something in another, my ADD kicks in and I don't do the task I came there to do. I forget why I am there and begin to do a task in that setting. This task means getting something from another location or putting something away, so I go to the next location and find something to do there. Consequently, nothing gets finished! Yesterday I put on a pot of water to boil. I went away to do something and forgot about it. I came back later to discover it hadn't boiled dry, but it was close. I also put milk in a pan to warm for cocoa and did the same thing! Thankfully, it boiled over and I heard it.

I have been thinking about my teammates, many are leaving fulltime jobs, children, households and one person works fulltime, is in the middle of an intense summer grad class, and her back went out of place last night. I have it easy!

I'll post pictures from the packing party as soon as I get a few more things . . . done.