My time in India has been a memorable experience that I will forever cherish. Since the first day, I immediately saw the survival instinct in the natives. Poverty is vivid... it is in front of our eyes. The hardest part was witnessing children begging for money or food on the streets.
On Sunday, June 22, 2014, we went to The Gateway of India. As we were waiting for our bus, we were approached by a young girl offering to do henna stamps. After seeing her repeatedly approach us, I gave in. This young girl was under 4'5 inches and was very petite. She said that the henna was 20 rupees. After stamping my hand 10 times she said the total was 200 rupees. I was shocked and felt totally scammed. I laughed at the situation and connected it to the the day to day reality that Indian natives are faced. I realized that everyone, including the children, were trying to make a living one way or another.
After paying I was very intrigued to find out this child's story. Chegna was 10 years old and was the middle child. She was one of nine children and was very timid. As her father was standing behind her, she explained that she had been working for five hours and was there every day.
Reflecting on this experience, I realized that as I looked into this child's eyes I was in search for innocence. What I found was a child attempting to survive. A child whose innocence had been robbed and whose mentality included hustling and surviving. Chegna impacted my life as she was one of the first children that I encountered on the streets. As an agent of change, I wanted to encourage her to go to school.
Thus far, the most challenging part of my stay in India has been taking the role of an expectator. Although some things have been challenging, I have embraced the kindness and humbleness of the natives. Given little, the children wear bright smiles. They play in the dirt and shower and dance in the rain. Happiness can be defined and measured in many ways. Despite our backgrounds and as humans of the world, we can relate to the essence of emotions inclusive of happiness.
Although Chegna was experiencing her childhood through the lens of a worker, I felt that I was able to impact her life at least for that moment. As much as I hope for prosperity for Chegna's futurje, it is difficult to imagine as her family's priority is survival.
- Miriam Joya
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings, i felt compelled to respond to your blog posting since i had a similar experience when we visited the daycare center. Its incredible how resilient the people here in India are but i find myself even more impressed with the children. I found myself thinking what impact we might have had since we were only here for a brief moment in time, but no matter how small even if you just made a child smile i think its a step in the right direction. Empathy is not something we are born with its something we learn.
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