Sewing Centers Give Hope

Friday night, we left Dehradun and took a long train ride back to Delhi, getting in about 2am. It was very sad to see the hundreds of people sleeping in rows on the sidewalk when we got off the train, especially the little children sleeping on the concrete. On Saturday, we visited our second of many sewing centers that HOPE World Partnerships gets to partner with. We also went to our first westernized restaurant for lunch AND dinner - a coffee shop in the Khan Market - which was a nice break from rice.

From Delhi, we took a flight to Hyderabad and Rajamundry, further south in India. There, Emmanuel Kumar came to pick us up in his Mahindra jeep (resembling a Land Cruiser) to take us to his home in Kakinada, greeting us with flowers. The area is very different than up north: tropical and humid with palm trees, sugar cane, bananas, cashews, and water buffalo. A few miles down the road from the airport, in the middle of nowhere, Emmanuel had the driver stop the car and open the back of the jeep. They took out a thermos and proceeded to serve us little cups of coffee on the side of the road. Mind you, it was about 95 degrees outside, but it was a very nice gesture and the coffee was excellent.

About an hour down the road, we reached Emmanuel & Jessie's house. We received a greeting as Linda and I never have before. There were 50 kids lined up with the boys on one side and the girls on the other. They were in their best dress with huge smiles on their faces. When we got out of the car, we were welcomed with huge necklaces of flowers that were about 4 inches in diameter and down to our knees. We felt like princesses! As we walked up to the house between the lines of children, they threw flower petals on our heads. Finally, inside the house was a huge banner with each of our names on it. What a welcome!

Emmanuel and Jessie are amazing people. These are the heroes with whom we are excited to be partnering. They saw that many poor children in the nearby villages had no chance of being successful in life if they remained where they were. The schools were not good, they did not eat well, and many did not even have parents. So the Kumars have taken into their home many of these children, now to the tune of 50 children. There, the kids have the opportunity to have good meals, solid moral teaching, and better schooling in the city. The ones that have a living parent often go home on weekends or during the summer. In addition to that, Emmanuel has a church that he runs. In addition to that, he offers training to men and women wanting to work in a nearby church. In addition to that, Emmanuel & Jessie have helped local churches get sewing programs started (more about that in a minute). In addition to that, they have a feeding and medical program for leperous women in two leper colonies. And if that is not enough, they are starting a little "side job" of breeding water buffalo and using them for milk, to help support his ministry. They are true heroes.

So, today we visited 4 villages with sewing centers. We will visit some more tomorrow and more on Thursday. These FREE sewing classes are held at churches in the villages up to 5 times per week to help with the problem of poverty and desperation. Usually, ten women can take the course for about 9 months and end up with a sewing machine and a seamstress certificate. During that time, they are also exposed to Christianity lived out by people in that church. The church gets involved in their lives and helping with family issues. The women will often ask the pastor to pray for their sick family members, even though they are Hindu.

The ladies told us today that their husbands might make $1 a day doing a seasonal job such as farming, which cannot meet their family needs. Since finishing the program, many of them can make $3 per day, which quadruples their family income! They were all thankful to the church for offering the program.

It was fascinating walking through the villages today. I finally know what it feels like to be Brittany Spears. So many of these people were seeing a white person for the first time. People were coming out of their houses staring, pointing, or waving. I even gave one autograph... seriously, I did.

Yesterday, I hit a wall. Day #5 was when Kevin says it usually hits him, and I got slammed exactly on day five. I had so much jet lag and sleep deprivation that I hardly could stay awake and I even had to hide out in my room for about 30 minutes and have a good cry. I got to talk to Jack on Skype which was nice. I pulled it together until bedtime and then finally got to crash. Consequently, I felt great today. Thank God. I'll report again in a day or two.