On 
Sunday night we visited a local village, very near to the medical camp at Dharmapuri. As soon as the bus pulled up, dozens of Indian children swarmed us, wanting us to take their pictures and shake their hands. Many of them asked "how are you?" and told us their names in English. They spoke very clearly, but that was all the English they knew. This particular village had been constructed by the government and consisted of around 100 mostly cement houses. Most of them were one-room buildings with an outdoor kitchen in front. Families slept, ate, and watched TV (some of them even had satellite dishes) in their one room homes.
It was a great experience to walk around the village. We got to see how people really lived and the people were eager to welcome us, inviting us into their homes and wanting to talk with us and walk with us as we saw their village. Even though I felt like an outsider intruding on their lives, they were thrilled to have us there. Many of the people from that village showed up on Monday at our medical camp - some of them just to see us again. I had the opportunity to pray with six or eight women from the village who just wanted prayer.
After looking around the village, OM showed a film about HIV and AIDS. There is so little knowledge here that no one knows how HIV is transmitted or what the details about the disease are. Most of the village gathered to watch the film, with the village elder sitting in a chair prominently placed among the families sitting on the ground.
Being there, I was struck by times in history when one culture has encountered another for the first time. European settlers arriving in North America. White people arriving in Africa. This story has been repeated many times throughout history. And I thought about how excited people often are to welcome new visitors. But how easy it is for the visitors to feel overwhelmed by this foreign culture. It even struck me how easy it would be to assume that culture is more primitive and less intelligent. It is so natural to assume what we don't understand is below us. Even as I walked through the village, I felt the temptation to think that way, until we had the chance to interact with some people, to hear that they had family struggles and physical pain and concerns for the future. I'm constantly amazed at hoe easy it is to forget that others are people. And how important it is to be reminded of their basic personhood. I'm thankful for the reminders I've received in India.
Sunday night we visited a local village, very near to the medical camp at Dharmapuri. As soon as the bus pulled up, dozens of Indian children swarmed us, wanting us to take their pictures and shake their hands. Many of them asked "how are you?" and told us their names in English. They spoke very clearly, but that was all the English they knew. This particular village had been constructed by the government and consisted of around 100 mostly cement houses. Most of them were one-room buildings with an outdoor kitchen in front. Families slept, ate, and watched TV (some of them even had satellite dishes) in their one room homes. It was a great experience to walk around the village. We got to see how people really lived and the people were eager to welcome us, inviting us into their homes and wanting to talk with us and walk with us as we saw their village. Even though I felt like an outsider intruding on their lives, they were thrilled to have us there. Many of the people from that village showed up on Monday at our medical camp - some of them just to see us again. I had the opportunity to pray with six or eight women from the village who just wanted prayer. After looking around the village, OM showed a film about HIV and AIDS. There is so little knowledge here that no one knows how HIV is transmitted or what the details about the disease are. Most of the village gathered to watch the film, with the village elder sitting in a chair prominently placed among the families sitting on the ground.Being there, I was struck by times in history when one culture has encountered another for the first time. European settlers arriving in North America. White people arriving in Africa. This story has been repeated many times throughout history. And I thought about how excited people often are to welcome new visitors. But how easy it is for the visitors to feel overwhelmed by this foreign culture. It even struck me how easy it would be to assume that culture is more primitive and less intelligent. It is so natural to assume what we don't understand is below us. Even as I walked through the village, I felt the temptation to think that way, until we had the chance to interact with some people, to hear that they had family struggles and physical pain and concerns for the future. I'm constantly amazed at hoe easy it is to forget that others are people. And how important it is to be reminded of their basic personhood. I'm thankful for the reminders I've received in India.
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