We woke up at the crack of dawn to travel to the Smart Medical Clinic to visit a few tribal villages in that area. According to those who know a thing or two, we drove eight hours west of Chennai. I know those of you who know me well are thinking, "eight hours of driving + kimberlee= no bueno." But, I survived. I talked with our group coordinator Kim Jorgenson all about life in India, life elsewhere, and everything in between. We even got to try a few new fruits from a local stand in one of the cities, one was good, the other was not. We also stopped for breakfast at an Indian restaurant chain (which they have in Vancouver, BC; so mom and dad lets just plan a day trip right now) and got dosa's which I like to call a giant indian crepe. It came with yummy sauces, especially the cilantro one, wish you could have all tried it with me.
Dosa
Once we finally made it to the Smart Clinic, we unpacked the van and saw our quarters for the night. All of us girls had heard that we would be sleeping on planks of wood with a thin pad on top, but it turned out to be not quite that bad, but close. The beds were all assembled in their old chapel, which made us all feel a little better cause who would want to hurt someone in a chapel, right? The doctor and his staff then fed us a delicious home cooked meal before we headed off to one of the tribal villages. We weren't doing any medical care at this village, just talking with the people about life in the village and collecting field notes for the social worker at Rising Star. It was so interesting to talk with these people about their lives. We learned that some of the families had lived in the forest about four years ago before the government placed them in this village. We learned that they were forced out of the forest because they were being used to grow marijuana and other illegal substances by drug traffickers, so the Indian government brought them out of the forest and into an organized village. One of the biggest problems in the village was children dropping out of school. Most of the children don't have support from their parents to stay in school so they drop out to help with familial responsibilities or as one girl said, when her menstrual cycle started because it was too inconvenient, which is apparently a common reason for girls to drop out. We also learned that there is a gov't run dropout school which collects the children who have dropped out of the other school and gives them a place to live while they get an education. A lot of the teenage girls were already married with a child. The caste system is also very ingrained in this village, so much so that you cannot eat or drink with someone from another class even if they are a close friend.
One of the girls we were talking to had dropped out after first standard (grade) to help with chores at home and told us quite a bit about life in the village. The most heartbreaking moment of the whole experience was when she was walking away, we asked our translator Mr. Peter, to see if she could read. The moment that he asked her in Tamil if she was literate, here whole demeanor changed. She shook her head no and walked away with a look of embarrassment and sadness on her face. I could tell that she wished she could read so badly, but just hadn't gotten the opportunity to learn. I got what my professor Karen calls "the Kim look" and had to turn away so that the translator couldn't see me cry. In that moment I realized how grateful I am to be a woman in the United States and have the opportunity to get a college education. I am in the minority of women across the world that have the chance to get any education at all. I feel so blessed to be able to be at a wonderful university and study a major that has allowed me to help people through some of the most trying experiences of their lives. I will never forget the look on that young girl's face when she walked away and hope that I never take my education for granted again.
We then explored the village a little more and found the most beautiful views at down the road a ways. The spirit about this village was so unique and peaceful. Almost as if the modern world hadn't come in and swept away the simplicity of it all with modern technology. I could have stared out at that scene for hours.
After we finished the interviews, the children of the dropout school and our group all got in a big circle and we all sang songs together. They would sing a song for us and then we would sing songs with them. We had to think back to our Primary days to find songs that would be both entertaining and simple. I sat by two of the cutest girls. I wish I had written down their names. It was so special to share that moment with all of them and you could tell that it meant so much to them that we were there. One of the girls I sat by was so darling. She kept saying all of the compliments she could think of in English and had the sweetest smile. As we were leaving, she ran up to me and kissed me on the cheek. I find it so inspiring that these children show so much love and gratitude for what seems like the smallest deed. They just have this incredible ability to love and appreciate so much more than I do. I am always so impressed with how easy it is for them to show their emotion and appreciation to all of us.
My sweet friend
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