Comments - an apology

So sorry if anyone has tried to make any comments on the blog over the past two weeks - unfortunately it's just been discovered that some comments had been disabled by a setting buried deep in the set up of the blog. This has now been altered so if you'd like to comment on anything please do so - we'd love to hear from you, even though we're back home!

Also - the WiFi connection in Kolkata wasn't sufficiently strong enough to enable multiple videos to be uploaded to the blog so it's hoped to rectify this over the next few days.

Connected

Heartstrings

We are tied
By an invisible thread
To a country not our own
Our lives
Entangled in the pattern
Interwoven into the warp and weft
Of an unfamiliar culture

We are captivated
By this country
Full of contrasts
This place
Where poverty and plenty
Rub shoulder to shoulder
In uncomfortable juxtaposition

We are drawn
By hearts full of compassion
For a people not our own
Our lives
Orchestrated by the Father
Intricately He entwines us together
Uniting His children in only the way He can

(c) Ali Taylor

Homeward bound

We arrived back in the UK at just before 7am after another two good flights. We're all a bit tired from the long journey.  Ali is heading home by train and is currently on the Heathrow Express to Paddington where she will catch her connection to Gloucester. The rest of the team is locating the car and will be driving back to Wales.

You can't leave Kolkata...

without having seen the Victoria Memorial and St Paul's Cathedral. So said Pastor Asis, so he took Ali and Michelle with our friend, Edward out for a whistle stop tour of the capital.

We went first to the Hooghly river, a tributary of the Ganges past Eden Gardens, the home of the Bengal cricket team.

After a view over the river to the Howdah district - almost a kilometre away, we went to the Victoria Memorial where there was a vast exhibition of paintings and history.  We then walked round to visit St Paul's Cathedral. We had a look round and then were introduced to Father James.  We returned in time for our last lunch at the hostel.

Karen and Nicola rested this morning and joined us for lunch.

We're nearly all packed up now.  We leave the hostel around 4pm (11.30 UK time) to catch our flight at 8.30pm.

These past two weeks have simply flown by for us.  It's been quite an experience and it will take us quite some time to come to terms and reflect on all that we have experienced.

We are the privileged few

We are the privileged few

Through no choice of self
Our place of birth
Had decreed our fortune

We have lived
Without a thought
For clean fresh water
In an instant
The clean cool liquid
Bubbling and splashing
Often opulently wasted
In our carefree ignorant ways

We have lived
Without a thought
For a dry, safe place to sleep
And we have the audacity to complain
When in our beds of soft, sweet cotton
That our sleep has not been good

We have lived
Without a thought
For education
Complaining that we'd rather not be in school
Desiring instead to waste our lives
In mindless pursuits of pleasure

We have lived
Without a thought
For electricity
Power in an instant
And heat and light are ours
Without any effort of our own

Yet more than half the world
Knows not of all we have
Their daily struggle
For life and health
Dependent on each other
Reliant on their wits
To merely survive
One day to another

For they live
With water plagued
Their place of rest not safe
Their education costly
And their power at a price

With all we have
We cannot deny
That even in our considered poverty
We are the privileged few.

(c) Ali Taylor

Last visits

This morning we headed to Freeset where we learnt about about their ministry to women in the red light district.  We weren't able to take photos, so instead this is the link for their website: Freeset

We headed back to the hostel by taxi through some very flooded streets...

This afternoon we were able to visit the Baptist Girls Hostel for a second time and played with the girls for a short while.  It was lovely to see them again.

Graduation ceremony

Pastor Asis arranged for us to visit the Northpointe Community today. We drove for about and hour and a half to the project in the district of Howrah.  The project supports local women through a number of different activities including a free doctors clinic, adult literacy training and tailoring training.  A group of thirty five women had their graduation ceremony today from the tailoring course and we were invited to present the certificates and we gave them each a gift of a heart or a love spoon that we made the other afternoon.

It was lovely to be able to share with them and congratualte them on their success.  It was wonderful to see how much the women had appreciated the love, support and guidance of the tutor and staff.

The aim of the programme is to equip women to support themselves and their families.  The training takes place three days a week and for the other three days a week those who have already graduated can come and use the sewing machines free of charge to make garments.

We were hosted for lunch and then were able to see some of the garments the women have made close up.

On our return we drove through some more monsoon rains. The rain has carried on apart from a brief interlude which allowed us to get to and from dinner (we have to go outside) without getting wet, but now the rain is falling again. The lawn outside got flooded earlier so we are now wondering if we will have to swim to breakfast in the morning.

Please pray for us as a team - we all are feeling a little run down and tired.

A murderously wet afternoon

We ventured out just after a rain shower this afternoon with our new apartment friend, Edward to show him where the 8th Day café is.

We had a great afternoon enjoying some treats for afternoon tea and playing Cluedo.

While we were enjoying our time at the café it began to rain...a lot! And there was thunder and lightening too! Michelle was well prepared with her poncho and Ali had a rain jacket, but everyone else had c ome just as they were...

We had a bit of a wet walk home, dodging the deeper puddles as best we could. We got a lot of strange looks and one Indian couple fell about laughing at the very wet English people out in the rain! Let's just say by the time we got back to the hostel most of Michelle was dry, but Ali had to wring her trousers out and as for Nicola and Karen...well...to say they were drenched is probably an understatement!!!

Still, at least we can say we've had a real experience of the Indian monsoon weather!

Morning worship

At the invitation of Pastor Asis, we joined the Bengali congregation at his church, Coolinga Baptist, this morning for their service at 8am.  Coolinga was the first Bengali church founded in Kolkata in 1821.

The service was in Bengali, but we were able to recognise some familiar tunes of the songs that were sung, even if we didn't understand the words.  Nicola, Michelle and Ali sang ' Be still for the presence of the Lord' together before Pastor Asis acted as translator, first for Ali to give a testimony and then for Karen as she preached. We shared together with communion and then, once the service was over we visited the Deaf fellowship that meets in the building next door.  It was great to be able to communicate with them a little.  They use Indian Sign Language, but Ali was able use a little of the British Sign Language she knows to introduce the team as they use the same finger spelling alphabet.

It was lovely to experience worhsip in a different culture.

Not so reflective...more protective!

Plastic wrapped #2

It rained today - quite heavily...so Michelle wore her poncho...

A little bit of pampering...

When we visited the Shine and Smile Salon on Thursday we had the idea of going back to have some treatments done to encourage the ladies who work there. The salon has only been open for three months and the business has not yet become established in the local community.  We had facials (Nicola and Karen) and hand spas (Michelle and Ali).  The ladies did a wonderful job and we left feeling very relaxed.

While we were in the salon the monsoon rain fell quite heavily and Sankar, our driver had to back the car up as close to the door as possible so we didn't have to wade through a foot of water!  We were then taken to Dakshinapan Shopping centre which has items for sale from the many different states in India. We bought a few items and then came back to the BMS centre.

Further reflections

Having some time today gave us the opportunity to think over our experiences in more detail.  Ali has written two further reflections on our time here in Kolkata:

Onslaught

We leave the verdant oasis

And step into the busy chaos of the Kolkata streets

Our senses are assaulted

The blare of horns

The myriad of colour

The stench of life lived under public scrutiny permeates the air

The grime of the city coats our sandalled feet

And so we walk

Along the broken and uneven pavement

Stepping past lives and livelihood

A numberless array of wares for sale

Chaotically stacked to our left and to our right

The acrid smell of rubber from tyres piled high

Footwear dangling in bright coloured pairs

The heat from chai burners radiates outwards

While the sun beats down

Our bodies slick with sweat in the humid midday air

And so we walk

Our eyes intent on our destination

Ignoring the gawps of almost every man

Our pale skin an atraction for their uncomfortable gaze

And then we arrive to another oasis of calm amid the city rush

We step into the quiet coolness of the cafe air

The fresh white painted walls

The rich dark wood furniture

The fresh, rich smell of coffee brewed

A world away from the mayhem of the city 

And we know that we are blessed by these havens of rest and sanctuary.

(c) Ali Taylor

Plastic wrapped

Beneath tarpaulins stretched across the pavements

They live

Amid the debris of discarded trash

They wash

The clear cold water poured over filthy bodies

Their clothes

Hung on roadside barriers, the bright saris blowing in the breeze

They cook

On charcoal stoves, glowing red under the black charred pots and pans

They eat

From shiny metal dishes, the concrete floor their table

The babies

Play on grubby frayed matting on the dirt beneath the trees

They sleep

Vulnerable and exposed, arms and legs akimbo or wrapped into a foetal curl

They urinate and defaecate

In gutters and on verges, seemingly oblivious to those passing by

This other city of people

Dwell on the edge

Under the shade created by the plastic awnings

They have no other choice

The life they live is not their own

Inhabiting the gutters

These are the people of the slums

And these are the people of God.

(c) Ali Taylor

A slower day

India held a national strike today so we took a slower morning. Ali and Michelle visited the missionary family who live in the flat below us on the compound. Brian and Mo Leitch have two children, Evie and Eddie. We had a coffee and a chat with them and played with the children. It was great to spend some time finding out what is like serving on the field and to learn more about the work that BMS is doing in Kolkata.

For lunch all four of us walked to the 8th Day café where we enjoyed the delicious food and then we took some time to rest in the afternoon.

A step beyond

Our final time with GNCEM today - we stayed the whole morning, helping out and playing with the children. Hopscotch proved to be very popular!

After lunch Pastor Asis took us to a project in the slums known as the SEED Society. 

S - Save

E - Entrust

E - Equip

D - Disciple

We spent some time with the children. They sang us a song and four girls performed a lovely dance. We told them a story and then did a craft with them.

While the children were completing the craft we went next door to the Womens project. While the children are in school the mothers are taught skills to enable them to set up their own businesses, or find employment.  We saw a beauticians class being taught.

Back with the children we presented a sketch and prayed with them.

On leaving the slum we were taken to a salon where some of the girls who have trained now work.

On our return to the hostel we spent some time preparing some items for a visit next week.

All in all a very busy day.  Tomorrow there is a nationwide strike so we will be spending some time with one of the BMS missionaries who lives on the compound and taking some time to get some much needed rest after the last few days.

Guess who...got a tattoo?

Out and about

This morning began with another bus ride through the busy city streets on the GNCEM bus.  We arrived at the Hatibgan school and dropped everyone off, or so we thought...one of the girls hid on board because she wanted to be with us as we travelled on to the baby care centre! We all arrived at the centre and spent the morning with the little ones, helping them wash and dress again, have breakfast and we also joined in with their lesson time.

Pastor Roy, who founded the project with his wife, came to take us to the girls and boys hostels which are located in a different district.

Both visits were lovely. We were welcomed with flowers and then we told a story.  We did a craft with the girls and then played some games. Lots of fun was had! Pastor Roy hosted us for lunch and then took us to the boys hostel. Again we were welcomed with flowers before we told a story and played some more vigorous games with them.

We returned on the bus with the babies, dropping them off with their families in the way.

We had a planning meeting this evening and prepared activities for our visits tomorrow.  We popped out to the local supermarket to get some extra sweets and supplies.

We have a final visit to the GNCEM school in the morning and then a visit to the SEED society, another school for children from the slums, in the afternoon. 

A long day

This morning we travelled about an hour and a half to Serampore College with Pastor Asis (the ministry coordinator at BMS) to see the archive and visit the library. We also were able to see the graves of the Carey, Marshman and Ward families.

After lunch and a rest we were taken by Anu to the local Baptist hostel where we met the girls who lived there. We sang together before playing some games and the girls then enjoyed having glitter tattoos.

We were shown round some of the compound and are beginning to realise just how big the needs are here.  Please lift up the girls and the staff at the hostel in your prayers.