I haven't written in a week, so here's a little catch up!
On Sunday (30th Oct) we went to Big Life church (which is actually very small) then in the afternoon we went to Charis fellowship which is a group of about 10 people who meet every Sunday evening for an evening service. Ron, an English guy who is also staying at the guesthouse took us, as he was speaking that evening. It was our first experience travelling by Indian metro! Very busy but no where near as bad as I thought it would be. That same evening we had our first meal out in a little roadside cafe. It was very nice! Apart from the noodles which had gravy all over them... They said gravy but it was more like slime.
We have been at school every morning apart from this Wednesday, the children are still crazy but beautiful. They never get tired. We have been reading a bible story and singing songs with them, and also teaching things like numbers and letters and words and sentences to the older groups. A couple of weeks ago now we drew out animals to teach to the children. We only drew the outlines so that the children could colour them afterwards... My finished lion MASTERPIECE (with help from the children at Hattibagan School):
This Wednesday we went to Freeset. Freeset is an organisation which helps women get out of Kolkata's sex trade, and gives them jobs making bags and t-shirts. It is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women stand in line selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from other parts of India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.
It is forever growing and at present there are 180 women there. They have two buildings, one for bag making and one for t-shirts. The t-shirt building is still being done up but the bag one is in full swing.
Its a really exciting charity to work for and I'm so glad to now be a part of the Freeset family. I am hoping to spend more than one day a week there. It is hard work but its for a really great cause, and you get to work with such inspirational people.
The rest of the time we have pretty much spent getting lost. We like to go out as much as possible to make the most of the city etc. So we walk for hours on end, normally with an intention of getting somewhere, and end up going the wrong way or making a wrong turn and then walking in hopeless circles until we see a clue, or some where we recognise which then gets us back on track. Its all fun though, and we end up seeing more of Kolkata as we would if we actually went the right way. It also means that we end up in cute little markets.
The bag I bought from the market.
However, this is what it does to your feet:
Our feet look like this without fail every day. We have a wash then moisturise routine every evening in hope that they won't totally be ruined by the time we get home!
So thats this week in a nutshell. I am hoping to do at least 2 days a week at Freeset, and 2 or 3 mornings at the school. But that may change if/when we start at different charities and organisations. Time has defiantly picked up pace now that we are getting into everything. I'm still missing people a lot, and already can't wait to see them again (even though its a fair way off yet) but India is starting to feel more like home now. Its a beautiful place to be and I'm so thankful to be here.
The team appreciate all the prayer support of the people back home, and we ask that you continue to pray, especially for health as the team have all had colds/flu in the past week or so, and its horrible when you just wanna get stuck in and get/give all you can whilst here.
Thank you again for the support.
And as all the Indian people say to us out here:
Don't worry, be happy!
H x
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