I should start by explaining my journey here. It was quite the adventure.
We flew from the Atlanta Airport to Newark, and then boarded our flight to Mumbai. We considered it our last 14 hours of luxury. Movies we were too embarrassed or too broke to see in theaters were at our fingertips. We could drink water and eat ice without a care. And the food? If you are ever traveling internationally, I hope they serve Indian food, because somehow they have mastered the art of pre-packaged never-expiring fare. And everything is vegetarian. I promise I’m not exaggerating – it was wonderful. Also, Indian mothers are wonderful at the art of keeping children silent. The population of the flight may have been 50% children (again, not exaggerating) but they were perfectly behaved. The only screaming child belonged to a very flustered and very embarrassed American woman.
We arrived in Mumbai, went through the most unorganized customs I have experienced, to find that our flight had been delayed from 3am to 5am, and we arrived in Hyderabad around 6:30am.
We thought our journey was done, but but the worst was yet to come.
The seven hour van ride almost did me in.
Imagine driving through a deer lease or on caliche roads for hours and hours with no end in sight, and there you have it.
Now I am in Ongole and settling in for the next month or so.
Our apartment is really very nice – no squatty potties and they flush! Its a luxury, I promise. The showers here are very different though. There aren’t stalls, the bathroom is just one large, tile room with a sink, a toilet and a showerhead in the corner. Everything is much nicer than I expected. We were fortunate to be staying at the apartment of India Christian Ministries where we are safe and clean and are able to cook and clean our clothes for ourselves.
We were able to visit the orphanage last night and meet all of the children. They are amazing.
Here in India, the government doesn’t care about special needs kids. They are considered the be cursed and worthless. Our contact told us that in the government homes, they lie around on mats on the ground. They aren’t even taken to the bathroom so often they just sit there in their own mess without being touched or loved for long periods of time. They aren’t even picked up like ‘normal’ children and are usually dragged around the room by their arms and legs. When the orphanage began, they thought they would only have a handful of children, but only a short period later the government began requesting that they send children there, so there are now 82 children and this week we will receive 18 more. Our contact told us that it is very emotional to see the children right when they come because they are in such bad condition, so please be praying. It will be overwhelming for sure. A quick example – one of the girls we met yesterday had come to the orphanage with a completely black forehead. She hit her head on the floor in the state hospital she was so unhappy, and it was constantly bruised. When she was transferred to the orphanage, she was given a helmet but as soon as she was happy and loved, she stopped hitting her head. There are so so many stories like this. They really are doing amazing things for these children.
