There 'aint no rest for the wicked... But there is birthday cake!

Wow. So much has happened since I last posted a blog. I was hoping to do one before my birthday but totally ran out of time so this is like a double whammy.


Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.....


Between the 8th (When my last blog was written) and the 16th March, nothing much happened- Obviously school and Shanti Dan and Freeset but just the usual stuff there. (That makes it sound boring but it never is, promise) We also had more face mask fun! Oh aaaaaand we booked train tickets to go to Darjeeling on the 23rd! Pretty exciting huh?!

Ellen and I.

So the 16th was a little different. Instead of going to Hatibagan school, we went to The Good Shepard school in a large slum (12,000 people) called Basanti Coloney. The room which the classes are held in is tiny.

The first class singing songs

The first class of the day has about 24 students. These children live in the slum but go to a public school and the class is like a homework/extra study class. We joined in with this class, singing songs with them, telling them a story and doing some colouring.

Drawings

The class after this is for about forty-five 3-5 year olds. Its amazing how they fit them in the room, but its nothing compared to the 70 that go there for the bible study sessions. They get taught simple things like numbers and the alphabet in both English and Bengali, until they are capable enough to read and write so that they can go to public school.

The younger class singing.

In this same slum they also hold language lessons, bible studies, youth group, music classes, dance classes, computer classes and on Sunday they hold various classes and worship sessions. They also work in a few other slums doing similar things. Its all quite incredible and such a blessing to be invited and able to take part.


On Saturday 17th, me, Josh and Naomi decided to go to an art exhibition we heard was on. We are trying to fill our Saturdays as we now only have 2 left!!! We got the metro to Rabindra Sudan, got a little lost, but this worked to our advantage as we found a photography exhibition!! We did shortly find the art exhibition after this. They were both really good and really interesting. The art geek coming out in me here.

My favourite paintings at the art exhibition- with the artist!

On the 19th we were up early to go and pick up my daddy from the airport! Any excuse for him to go abroad and he takes it, this time, I was the excuse! When we had collected him, we went straight to Freeset and after dad was given a tour around we went up to Steve's house and his daughter Rachel had baked me an amazing oreo chocolate birthday cake!

Yummy!

After having about 3 pieces of cake, we got on a very busy metro train to Rabindra Sarobar where we then got a cycle rickshaw to a place called ConneXtions where they make pretty much everything out of recycled saris. Its quite amazing.

So we look pretty bored but we were not aware this was being taken! Me and dad on a cycle rickshaw.

Us at ConneXtions.

This was the day when the temperature really kicked it up a notch. It was 34°C but the humidity was on a whole other level so when we got back from ConneXtions we chilled (wrong word to use really!) for an hour before getting ready to be taken for a walk around the lanes of Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district. Mena, one of the original Freeset ladies came with us which I am so grateful for. Sonagachi is where most of Freeset's ladies came from so it was good for us to see it. We were told before we set out that the ladies here are either owned, traffiked from elsewhere, or "free flyers"- ladies who come and go as they like. We were told that what we were going to see is only a fraction of what there actually is as we were going early. As we got closer to the main lanes of Sonagachi, Mena took hold of our hands, as if I wasn't nervous enough, her holding my hand proved to me that there really was a reason to feel nervous. But at the same time it made me feel safer. As we walked further and it got darker, more and more woman appeared. There were loads. Its so sad. Steve (our supervisor at Freeset) stopped us in one busy street and said "every girl you see here is in the trade" - wow. He said all the ones we see will be over 16, as the under 16s they keep  in the rooms. Its sickening to hear and see all this. I can't write in words how I felt walking down those lanes, holding Mena's hand, seeing all these girls selling themselves so they can afford to live, or because they don't think they have a way out, with a group of guys following us around as if were were famous. My heart just broke for these ladies. We stopped outside one brothel which has 400 girls working in it. 400 girls in ONE brothel. And there were several. Its really sick to think that there are people who are trying to make all this legal. It makes you appreciate places like Freeset so much more. When you see where those ladies come from and the things they had to go through, its amazing to see how happy and free they are now. And to see them singing praises to God every morning in devotions is so beautiful. Please keep the ladies who are owned or trafficked and that feel stuck in the sex trade in your prayers. Pray that through places like Freeset they find God, and they find hope and freedom. These ladies go through many trials and so much abuse with no escape. They are broken people. They don't deserve this. And although its almost impossible to stop it all, to just help one girl is massive. It may only be a drop in the ocean, but drops create ripples. 'For nothing is impossible with God' - Luke 1:37.

Now lets move on to the 20th... Not a special day or anything... Just MY BIRTHDAY!!! 20 whole years old. I was woken up by a knock on the door as a delivery of flowers came for me from mummy!! 

Early morning photos are never good but always seem to happen on birthdays. 

I got out of bed at normal school time as the others told me thas what we would be doing. And when I walked out of the guesthouse gates this is what I saw:

The children from the school

How adorable is that!!! Oh my goodness I couldn't wipe the smile off my face! 

They all seemed so excited too. So turns out we weren't actually going to school, so when we got back into the guesthouse we went up to Anu's house for breakfast and on the table was a chocolate croissant and... here's the biggun... BOVRIL!!! So unbelievably exciting. 

Opening presents at breakfast.

I opened my amazing presents from the team and then dad arrived and we headed out on a very touristy tour around Kolkata- something we thought we ought to do before going home as its something we hadn't done yet. 

Me and dad outside Victoria Memorial.

St. Pauls cathedral.

St. Andrews church.

Josh, me, Naomi and Ellen inside St. Andrews church.

We went for lunch with Anu at a very Indian food court type thing. Then we got the tram home- for the very first time!! 

Anu and I on the tram.

When we got home, Kim who works in the office came to our room and told me I had a phone call. So I walked into the room next to the office and the only light in the room was that of the candles on a cake, and all the staff in the guesthouse were gathered in this room and sung happy birthday to me and I blew out the candles and cut the cake - It was so lovely!!

Us and the BMS staff

We relaxed until 6 when we went up to Anu's house to put our sari's on to go to dinner. 

Naomi, me and Ellen

We went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Fire and ice. It was very nice. (That rhymes)

Whilst we were eating though, a riot started up in Park circus which is really close to us. Sooo we had to get home pretty quickly and then dad couldn't get back to his hotel cause the traffic was literally at a standstill. So he stayed over at the guesthouse and went back to his hotel at 5am to go home. Crazy times. All in all I had a really amazing birthday. My team went above and beyond to make it a special day for me and it was just that. I'm so blessed :) 

What a busy time I'm having but loving every minute we have left. 2 weeks today until I go home!! 

Off to Darjeeling tomorrow!! 

The fun never stops..... 

p.s. 'Don't call me luv' ♥ 

Add a splash of colour to your life!- or two- or hundreds......

What a great week we have had! And its not even over yet! Lets rewind:


Monday 5th- Graeme and Peter who work for BMS at IMC/Didcot came out to Kolkata on their way through from place to place doing various mission based activities aaaand they brought us creme eggs!! = First highlight of the day.That same evening they took us to a pretty swanky restaurant called Mocambo's and I had a amazing beef sizzler - Second highlight. Pudding would be my third highlight- Meringue, ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. Spoilt!!

At dinner- Check out Graeme's light shade hat- Stylish! 

Tuesday 6th- Not as exciting today. Graeme came to school with us in the morning. In the afternoon I went to Shanti Dan and did several arty things for the girls to help teach them to speak and communicate properly. And also drawing out lambs and doves for them to colour in and cut out. Simple things to get them more involved and to use their minds as much as possible. Any help is help right?
We had THE worst bus ride home though! SO hot and SO many people = extremely uncomfortable and slightly scared....


Wednesday 7th- Played hairdressers with Saro (one of the young boys at school) .. well.. He styled my hair anyway and was looking at me like a pro. So sweet. He gives THE best hugs and they're  never in short supply.
We were told to be ready to go out with Benjamin Frances, Graeme and Peter by 2.30. But Indians being Indians- we left at about 4pm. And after an hour and a half in the car, we arrived at a village called Kompani Bukur Kahtbon. Here we joined in with their small fellowship type thing, playing plenty of games with the local people and acting out a short skit on the Prodigal Son- Not rehearsed once- went okay!

The Indian way of sitting.

Playing heaven and hell with the children of the village.

And they were off!

Running races

Marble and spoon race!

Playing pass the ball with the local women.

Listening to a bible story.

At the end of the day prizes were handed out:

Josh, Peter and Graeme giving out 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes.

It got dark around 6, and thats when the mosquitoes came out. We could feel ourselves being nibbled to pieces- not nice! However, it was not yet time to go home... We were unexpectedly asked to visit a family who have a dumb son, who's name is Ronjohn. He can't be older than 4 or 5. They asked us to pray for him that he would be able to speak. We all gathered around and prayed for him- what an amazing testimony it would be to the village if he was healed! 

Please keep Ronjohn (above) in your prayers.

As in any village or small town, news travels fast, and after visiting this family we were then asked to pray for 3 more families! Of course it was great to pray for them but it was getting quite late! We eventually left (Around 7.30) and on the way home stopped at South City mall for dinner. I had the equivalent to what I though was a carbonara type thing. Cheesy bacon pasta, but, being India, it was spicy. WHO makes cheesy meals spicy?!! Madness. 

Now today, today was Holi. Oh yeaaah, festival of colour! It is as amazing as it sounds. Loads of people, loads of water, loads of paint. We prepared ourselves in old clothes, shower caps (the dye wouldn't come out of our hair for months if we didn't), slapped on some war paint and armed with extremely bright paint, ventured out onto the streets of Sonagachi (where Freeset is). The moment we stepped out the door we were splashed with colours coming from all directions! We walked around being more and more covered as we went, throwing paint over random people and having people come up to you and rub paint in your face. You had to be aware the whole time. People chucking paint bombs from all directions- especially from above! Everyone was plastered. This would not be allowed in the UK! 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Luke, Josh, Ellen, me and Naomi

Pretty colourful huh?!

Attempting to scrub up!

Washing

After scrubbing as hard as we can and getting changed... This was the final effect. Still pretty pink! 

It was SO much fun and SO worth looking vaguely pink for potentially the next month for! It has been an all round good week. And tomorrow we are being taken out for another meal from Benjamin!! The good times just keep on rolling! What an answer to prayer! 

Lots of colourful love,


H x

March already?? Bhalo nah.

So much to do so little time! This blog is kinda just a brief overview of some things we have done in the past week or so. And as usual, plenty of photos so you can get a real insight into life out here! Enjoy :)

On the way to Freeset (27th Feb):

Seeing puppies and kittens living on the streets is very common around here. Especially at this time of the year. I just want to take them home and look after them!!! 

Unfortunately, on the same day we saw a dead puppy down one of the back alleys and we found out later that day that it had been strangled and hung. People can be so sick. Its so horrible to hear stories like this, and sadly, there are lots like it. 

That's a nice way to start a blog aye?! Lets move on.

Here's a sneak peek at our action team t-shirts- Printed at Freeset! We managed to buy some 'rejects' (pretty much exactly the same as the real things but slightly wrong colours so can't go out) so we got them early! 

Us pretending to print the t-shirts at Freeset (as requested by Ben at BMS)

Fashioning the tees.

Me and Naomi had a really bizarre experience on the 25th... Anu told us about this Jewellery market type thing and we were quite interested to see what that was like. When we got there we told by the guy at the gate that shops don't open until 12. So we payed 15 rupees to get in and waited. There were people setting up tables etc, signs being hung out for a jewellers... it got to 12.15 and there was still pretty much no one there apart from these guys working and the security guards. So we decided to go up the stairs to where the banners said the jewellery shop was... we walked all around looking in every window. And through these misty, dirty windows, all we saw was old boxes, sheets, a few stacked chairs, and a lot of dust. It looked like no one had been there for years. So confused and almost convinced we were dreaming we went back downstairs and asked one of the guards if any shops will open and he just said 'no shops open today'... What a surreal experience. 

On Tuesday 28th Kolkata had a transport strike. However, for the people of Kolkata this is what they like to call a 'public holiday'. Everyone decides to take the day off for no real reason at all. SO no work for us. We went out to see what the streets are like when the only traffic is that of government run vehicles. (Trams and buses.) A few auto rickshaws were going, and a few bikes speeding around. Other than that, Kolkata was much quieter than usual, and the locals use it as an opportunity to play their favourite sport on the streets!

Playing cricket on the streets.

Making use of the space they don't usually have!

The roads were not as quiet as we had expected but still very unusual for Kolkata to be able to walk in the road for more than 30 seconds and not fear for your life!

Runaway goat!

The quiet streets.

The trams came to a halt along the deserted main road.

The amazing scaffolding that they use here. I know I wouldn't want to be working on it!

On the evening of the the 28th we went up to Anu's house and she taught us all how to make and Indian dish called Chhole Masala which is delicious. I'm looking forward to making it for the family when I get home. They can learn how to eat Indian style. No cutlery involved :)

Me cooking (A rare sight) 

Learning from Anu (behind Ellen)

On the 29th we got up as usual and waited outside the guesthouse gates for the school bus to come- 30minutes later- no sign of it. Soooo we decided we would give up and went back inside (and consequently back to bed). In the afternoon we went out to the tailors to get the blouses made for our new saris! Looking forward to picking those up on the 7th and wearing them on my birthday (20th)! 

On the 2nd we went to school (the bus actually turned up this time). There are so many new children there now. Probably only about 10 of the original children left! And with only 9 moving up to hostel, we're not sure where the others have gone? Slightly concerned. Its a shame a lot of the children we grew close to have gone but we are getting to know the new ones and they're all lovely. 

Yesterday evening we went to Entally girls hostel, armed with nail varnish! It went down a treat. Even Josh was getting involved (Maybe not at his own will- those girls can be pretty strong).

Josh having his nails painted!

The girls enjoying the nail varnish

He's so happy with his new look.

Painting away!

Well that's it really! Not much this time I'm afraid. With all these "public holidays" and school buses not turning up! One last funny thing; Naomi came home from the little supermarket round the corner yesterday with this:

She didn't notice that not only was it for men, but to stop hair fall due to dandruff! Haha!

Hopefully my next blog post will be more interesting! It is Holi on the 8th (Festival of colour) So that should be fun! Hopefully come away with some good photos too. 

I'm afraid that's it from me. We're still trying to fit everything in before we come home. Just under 5 weeks to go!!!

'The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do no be discouraged.' - Deuteronomy 31:8

H x