It's kind of hard to process everything after spending the day in a slum. 
It's a funny feeling being in a slum in India the day after Slumdog Millionaire won eight oscars. During the opening ceremony of the medical camp, one of the dignitaries that was there actually mentioned the movie. Very interesting. Probably the most interesting part of being there was not how awful the conditions were or how desperate all the people were, but simply how they were all just normal people. The OM team had set up camp in an area of the slum that they previously had to clear all the rubble out. It was remarkably well prepared and the clinic itself went very well. We couldn't do prayer and counseling in this spot because it was the first time OM had been in this area. That meant I had a lot of time to wander around, visit the area, and meet interesting people. All of which I did extensively.
One of the OM leaders who works with the urban poor, P, took us on a tour of the slum early in the day.
This particular slum has about 250 families living in it, mostly in concrete buildings. The land is government owned land and at any moment the government might come in and inform the residents that they are bulldozing the site for another use - this has happened frequently in the past. Walking through the slum the smell of garbage was pretty strong. People cooked outside on fires and water was drawn from a central water pipe. When we walked by, the water hadn't been turned on yet so there were several empty pots waiting for the water to come on.
We met several people who were extremely happy to see us in their slum. In fact, they said that we were the first white people to visit. It's funny: I felt like I was intruding in their neighborhood and taking pictures felt like a violation of their privacy. But after a few minutes it was clear that they were completely thrilled to have us visit them. In their culture, visitors bring good luck, so they were very excited to have people visit their homes. They were thrilled for me to take pictures, saying thank you profusely every time I took one of their pictures.
At the end of our walk, we met one of the slum leaders, who was a woman. Her family was very happy to see us. Her granddaughter M, was a second year college student studying English. She wanted to be an airline stewardess after finishing college. Her English was excellent and she was thrilled to talk with us. Later in the day I took a few people back on walks through the slum and this family invited us into their home. We sat down and talked with them for a while. They really wanted to serve us food and drinks which we had to refuse. When it came time to leave, they kept saying, "five more minutes, please." It was clear how excited they were to have us in their home.
Overall, I was just impressed by how warm people were and how they were simply people trying to get by in life. They weren't overcome by their poverty, for the most part they weren't wallowing in desperation. They were doing their best to get by, they were proud of their families, they were excited by visitors, and they worked hard. I counted it a privilege to be able to visit them. I was really surprised by how comfortable I felt in the slum. It wasn't that the conditions were any better than I expected, but they were people. That's what you miss seeing the slums from the perspective of a movie or documentary. The inhabitants are just pictures on a screen. But not the people I met. They were real.
We also got to visit their school, which was a 8 foot by 10 foot room where they held school for twenty students, ranging from 1st through 5th grade. The students started learning English in 1st grade and were very excited to have Americans visit their school. They wanted to learn our names and share theirs. They wanted to practice their English and loved it when we took pictures of them. All the kids were thrilled to have their pictures taken.
Later in the day, almost thirty children came to hang out at the medical camp tent and we entertained them by taking their pictures and showing them on our digital cameras.
Many of them spoke a lot of English. One little girl, Meena, stayed with me a long time. She sang for me, she danced for me, and talked with me at length. All in all the children loved us. Their affection for us was really powerful. Their affection for each other was remarkable as well. They loved to tell us who their brothers and sisters were, and they were always sitting on each other's laps and holding hands.
On the edge of this slum was a Hindu temple We had the rather unique opportunity to meet the son of the temple priest. He is a smart young man named V and is in his first year of college. You could tell by the way he held himself and looked around at the crowd that he was a Brahmin (the highest caste) and the people around him were Dalits (the lowest caste). But he was really interested to talk to us and tell us about his life. He was insistent that we return in a few weeks for a major festival they were hosting at their temple, unfortunately he didn't understand that we would be gone by then.
He also led us on a tour through their temple, even letting me take a picture inside. He couldn't answer our questions very well because his English wasn't very strong.
But we understood that this god only liked rice, not chickens and goats. And that the men of his family were the only ones able to go into the area containing his god to clean up and do maintenance. Vijay said that he wanted to serve in the army and then return to be the priest at the temple. At the end of the conversation we started talking about Jesus and he was interested in learning more about Jesus. He ended up being excited that I was a pastor, saying "oh, I like Christians." He even said that he prayed to Jesus all the time, but also added that Jesus was the same as all the gods. After I shared the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep, he quickly replied, "that's enough."
One of his last comments was the most interesting to me. He talked about how they wanted to expand the temple and build a bigger building. He sounded like he was eyeing the area that OM had cleared for a temple expansion. This part made me laugh. His talk of expansion and growth made him sound to me like an ambitious American evangelical pastor. Sometimes people are just people.
It's a funny feeling being in a slum in India the day after Slumdog Millionaire won eight oscars. During the opening ceremony of the medical camp, one of the dignitaries that was there actually mentioned the movie. Very interesting. Probably the most interesting part of being there was not how awful the conditions were or how desperate all the people were, but simply how they were all just normal people. The OM team had set up camp in an area of the slum that they previously had to clear all the rubble out. It was remarkably well prepared and the clinic itself went very well. We couldn't do prayer and counseling in this spot because it was the first time OM had been in this area. That meant I had a lot of time to wander around, visit the area, and meet interesting people. All of which I did extensively.One of the OM leaders who works with the urban poor, P, took us on a tour of the slum early in the day.
This particular slum has about 250 families living in it, mostly in concrete buildings. The land is government owned land and at any moment the government might come in and inform the residents that they are bulldozing the site for another use - this has happened frequently in the past. Walking through the slum the smell of garbage was pretty strong. People cooked outside on fires and water was drawn from a central water pipe. When we walked by, the water hadn't been turned on yet so there were several empty pots waiting for the water to come on.We met several people who were extremely happy to see us in their slum. In fact, they said that we were the first white people to visit. It's funny: I felt like I was intruding in their neighborhood and taking pictures felt like a violation of their privacy. But after a few minutes it was clear that they were completely thrilled to have us visit them. In their culture, visitors bring good luck, so they were very excited to have people visit their homes. They were thrilled for me to take pictures, saying thank you profusely every time I took one of their pictures.
At the end of our walk, we met one of the slum leaders, who was a woman. Her family was very happy to see us. Her granddaughter M, was a second year college student studying English. She wanted to be an airline stewardess after finishing college. Her English was excellent and she was thrilled to talk with us. Later in the day I took a few people back on walks through the slum and this family invited us into their home. We sat down and talked with them for a while. They really wanted to serve us food and drinks which we had to refuse. When it came time to leave, they kept saying, "five more minutes, please." It was clear how excited they were to have us in their home.Overall, I was just impressed by how warm people were and how they were simply people trying to get by in life. They weren't overcome by their poverty, for the most part they weren't wallowing in desperation. They were doing their best to get by, they were proud of their families, they were excited by visitors, and they worked hard. I counted it a privilege to be able to visit them. I was really surprised by how comfortable I felt in the slum. It wasn't that the conditions were any better than I expected, but they were people. That's what you miss seeing the slums from the perspective of a movie or documentary. The inhabitants are just pictures on a screen. But not the people I met. They were real.
We also got to visit their school, which was a 8 foot by 10 foot room where they held school for twenty students, ranging from 1st through 5th grade. The students started learning English in 1st grade and were very excited to have Americans visit their school. They wanted to learn our names and share theirs. They wanted to practice their English and loved it when we took pictures of them. All the kids were thrilled to have their pictures taken.Later in the day, almost thirty children came to hang out at the medical camp tent and we entertained them by taking their pictures and showing them on our digital cameras.
Many of them spoke a lot of English. One little girl, Meena, stayed with me a long time. She sang for me, she danced for me, and talked with me at length. All in all the children loved us. Their affection for us was really powerful. Their affection for each other was remarkable as well. They loved to tell us who their brothers and sisters were, and they were always sitting on each other's laps and holding hands.On the edge of this slum was a Hindu temple We had the rather unique opportunity to meet the son of the temple priest. He is a smart young man named V and is in his first year of college. You could tell by the way he held himself and looked around at the crowd that he was a Brahmin (the highest caste) and the people around him were Dalits (the lowest caste). But he was really interested to talk to us and tell us about his life. He was insistent that we return in a few weeks for a major festival they were hosting at their temple, unfortunately he didn't understand that we would be gone by then.
He also led us on a tour through their temple, even letting me take a picture inside. He couldn't answer our questions very well because his English wasn't very strong.
But we understood that this god only liked rice, not chickens and goats. And that the men of his family were the only ones able to go into the area containing his god to clean up and do maintenance. Vijay said that he wanted to serve in the army and then return to be the priest at the temple. At the end of the conversation we started talking about Jesus and he was interested in learning more about Jesus. He ended up being excited that I was a pastor, saying "oh, I like Christians." He even said that he prayed to Jesus all the time, but also added that Jesus was the same as all the gods. After I shared the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep, he quickly replied, "that's enough."One of his last comments was the most interesting to me. He talked about how they wanted to expand the temple and build a bigger building. He sounded like he was eyeing the area that OM had cleared for a temple expansion. This part made me laugh. His talk of expansion and growth made him sound to me like an ambitious American evangelical pastor. Sometimes people are just people.
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