Lions Tigers and Bears...Oh My

Day Five
Reading up on India before I left, which by the way is like trying to see the inside of a house through a key hole upside down, I had read that India was the only country to have native wild Lions, Tiger and Bears. I have yet to see any of those creatures however I did get a good look at many animals here in India... Monkeys, Pigs, Goats, Dogs, Snakes, Indian Cows, Camels and Buffalo... all running loose...oh my.
These creatures are typical not an issue for me to come a across in the states in a nice controlled environment but here the context in which encounter them is a little more surprising... "Surprise, Shock and Awe" it seems to be the theme here. Most of the animals seemed to able to make the most of life roaming around the busy city. The locals are very tolerant and kind to animals. It is the way they treat their fellow humans that pains me.

 The pigs are primarily in one area know as Dakshinpuri, one of the worst slums in Delhi. The pigs are "farmed" at the garbage dumb by the locals in that slum to be sold at market. We ventured into this community to spend the morning at one of the Good Samaritan Schools there.

At this site they do primary grades in two sections morning and afternoon. They do this to accommodate all the kids that have to work so their families will still let them go to school. Yes I said primary grades K-5... little kids can only go to school half day since they have to work, this is especially true for the girls...oh my ! This area had open sewage canals that ran along side the roads, combined with the garbage dump and the pigs contributes to a nice  aroma that lingered in the moist heat. 

Wall reads "DO NOT URINE HERE"

All the surrounding discomforts and filth disappeared as soon as we saw the children. They were standing in the small entry waiting for us with a song and hand made cards.

 The four of us, on this outing, had planned to stay together in each room as we had done previously but the rooms were so small one extra person could barely squeeze in much less four more. It was obvious from the conditions of the kids and the school this school was in a worse slum community than the previous schools we had been to. The rooms were smaller and more crowded, even the neighborhood surrounding the school was in was more congested and had a darker feel about it. Every time I walked near the entrance to look out side a male staff member would walk over and hover between me and the gate into the street as if to say 'stay inside the school property', I did ! The morning turned into afternoon quickly as we rotated between rooms spending time with each class. Amanda and Abner did music with the kids, Autumn did a craft with their names on a colorful card to teach them their names are known by the "living" God.  I had been anxious all day about what I was going to do with the children, I had arrived prepared to read a story but was not sure if that was the best. I got confirmation from 'above' as I  read the card the kids randomly handed me when I initially walked in ...it read "everyone needs to have a dream, we need your story time." Wow, okay, then I knew I was supposed to do story time with the classes. I read each class YOU ARE SPECIAL by Max Lucadeo. I was also able to spend get to know you better time with the kids answering their barrage of questions, "where are you from ? what are your hobbies ? what is your favorite color ?" This time I turned the tables and and asked them questions about themselves to make each one feel like a rock star.  We ended of course with lots of "american" hand shakes ! 

After a yummy catered Indian lunch, in the nice air conditioned conference room back at the main school site, we were off to do PT with about 100, 6th & 7th grade girls. So fun ! We did their warm up exercises with them and then had a marathon game of Simon Says. It was great to see in any country girls will be girls silly and giggly through their entire PT class. Loved it ! I could of never imagined playing Simon Says would be advancing the kingdom of God, but somehow I think it did today. (smile)

We were blessed to end the day as sweetly as it started, with prayer. All the teachers in the school gather for us to pray over them. We prayed for their success in educational excellence despite the circumstances, their families, their health and their protection as Christians in a hostel environment. It was such a pleasure to call down blessing on the ones that need it most, the ones at the front lines of the battle for these precious slum children.

Lions, Tiger and Bears... might be an easier thing to face compared to a child's Poverty, Hunger and Pain...OH MY !