10/26/10

What an incredible day. I feel like I keep saying something like that every day, but we've been having so many great experiences here. Most of the day was spent visiting programs of the Delhi Brotherhood, but I spent some of the morning going to a tailor. I asked Nina, Alwan's wife, if she knew a tailor because I bought a sari length in Agra and I wanted to make a salwar suit out of it. I forgot that she's only been living in Delhi for 2 months, but she has a friend who's lived here for a long time. The friend is named Pinky and we went over to her house to pick her up, then on to her tailor's, who turns out to be her friend named Renu. We visited for a little and I got to meet Renu's chihuahua who had a little red dot applied between his eyes (dogs have third eyes, too). After all of the deliberations on what it should look like and the measurements and the cost, it was time to leave because Jimmy and I had to go.

We went to the headquarters of the Delhi Brotherhood, a Benedictine order of Anglican brothers. The building they're in was built in the 1920's and is very old-fashioned and solid looking. We met Father Solomon, who is Indian, and is the head of the brotherhood. Then in walked Ian Weathrall, an old white man who has been in India for 60 years. In the course of conversation, it came out that where the Brotherhood building is built is on the Ridge, an area that was very important in the First War of Independence in 1857. Jimmy and I have both read a book called “The Last Mughal” by William Dalrymple, an account of the war from the Indian point of view, so we were very interested that we were standing on such an historic spot. We talked about the book for awhile and then Rev. Weathrall pulled out a series of 3 watercolors that date from 1857 and show various aspects of Delhi at the time. He wanted to show us that the area around Delhi was low scrub – not the tree-lined streets that we see today. It also turns out that Rev. Weathrall was vicar of St. James' church, which also figures in the War of 1857, for 20 years. He told us the story of the building of the church – it was built by James Skinner, of Skinner's Horse, an Anglo-Indian soldier, in gratitude for surviving a war injury. At his death, it was said that 62 people could count him as their father and Rev. Weathrall is still in contact with some of his descendants. I felt like I was talking with living history.

Rev. Weathrall

Next we went to a school that is run by the Delhi Brotherhood for poor children. There are no fees for the school and the children come from the surrounding neighborhood, which is quite poor. It is a nonformal school, which I think means that children do not get sorted out into standards (grades) like in a formal school. First we were welcomed by 2 of the older girls garlanding us with marigolds. Two classes that we visited had children in them ranging from 10-15, although they all looked small to me. Then we went to visit the tiny tots, who were adorable. In the first class, a group of children sang for us and recited mottoes that they're learning. In the 2^nd class, 3 boys sang for us. Jimmy gave a brief message in each class about how we were all children of God and we are all alike in God's sight. I'm glad he spoke because I was so overwhelmed with the children that I was unable to speak. We had tea later and I talked with our guide about Bollywood movies. It's amazing the doors that Bollywood opens here.

Some of the boys from the school

Next we went to visit a program that is also funded by the Brotherhood and works with sex workers. We met with one woman who is a social worker and she counsels the women. Another woman goes out into the streets and talks to the women, trying to get them to hook into the program. A third woman works for a governmental agency that contracts with the Brotherhood to run this program. She visits once a month or so to see how they're doing. The aim of the program is to get the women to use condoms, to get tested regularly for HIV and STDs and to get good medical care.

We passed through the red light district and saw women standing in 2^nd story windows calling out to their customers. The neighborhood that this program is in is incredible. We walked down side streets to alleys and then upstairs in one of the buildings. The students are all children of sex workers and they go to school from 9-5:30. At 5:30 they come to this program, where they stay until 9 p.m. Then they go home, where they are exposed to their mother's profession. They are learning English, Hindi and some other subjects. These kids sang for us, one said a poem and another drew a picture on the blackboard. They were really adorable. We were offered food but had to go back to the Bhawan for a meeting with Alwan and the acting treasurer. As we came out, I asked our guide if he had seen the movie “Delhi 6” because where we were reminded me of the area I had seen in the movie. He told me that we were in Delhi 6, which is a post code area of Delhi. I couldn't believe it!

Children in the after-school program

Then it was back to the Bhawan, where we met with Alwan and Prem Masih, the acting treasurer. We talked about how we wanted to work with and through the CNI in terms of the projects that we would like to fund. Smithtown has an existing relationship with the Prentiss Girls' School, but Baldwin is a tabula rasa, so to speak. Alwan asked if we were open to working where the need is greatest (as presented to us by the CNI). I told him we were, but also mentioned a couple of ideas that we had talked about in our brainstorming session. I mentioned the scholarships for the girls who have passed out (graduated) from Prentiss and the idea of twinning in a people-to-people project. It was an interesting meeting, but I was on system overload afterwards.