Today was probably the busiest day yet. Before we left on our adventures to new places near Lucknow, we took some time to present some gifts to Dr. Charles (the principal of IT College) in order to thank her for her hospitality and kindness during our stay. I also saw that the international students who had been staying at the dormitories with the Indian girls had gotten mendi (henna) put on their hands. I was a little jealous.
Since the conference was over, we were able to go to a few of the places that ITC students go every Saturday to do community service. Our first stop was a hospital that, among other things, housed children who had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. There were about five or six kids, and they were ecstatic that we were there to see them. Two of the little girls even performed dances for us— this one in the pink was precious. She was probably my favorite part of the entire day, and if you can’t tell, I really, really adore this girl. We were also able to see some of the hospitals facilities.
Since the conference was over, we were able to go to a few of the places that ITC students go every Saturday to do community service. Our first stop was a hospital that, among other things, housed children who had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. There were about five or six kids, and they were ecstatic that we were there to see them. Two of the little girls even performed dances for us— this one in the pink was precious. She was probably my favorite part of the entire day, and if you can’t tell, I really, really adore this girl. We were also able to see some of the hospitals facilities.
Next we traveled to a relatively remote village to see the ITC girls perform a puppet show educating kids about the importance of hygiene. The girls did a fantastic job, even going so far as to tell the story in the town’s native variation of Hindi. After the story was told, the kids were asked questions about good hygiene and received prizes for correct answers.
In order to get to the village, we had to walk about a kilometer (a little less than a mile). One of the ladies in our group, Paula, is 84 years old, from Alabama and with an accent to match. There were some cars that volunteered to carry people to the village, but Paula refused to be driven and insisted on walking all the way there. Even when we tried to carry her bag, she wouldn’t let us. Paula might be my new hero— she’s certainly very inspirational.
A plan to be taken to church with local women has been in progress all week, and today it was cemented and we were finally able to meet the Methodist ladies who would be hosting us tomorrow. My mother and I were particularly lucky— our hostess says that she plans to make for lunch butter chicken, a favorite of Mom’s, and afterward my new friend Karishma invited us to eat dinner at her house with her family. Two home cooked Indian meals in one day? Yes please! I’m terribly excited for tomorrow when we will also be taking a tour of Lucknow. Stay tuned!
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