I am writing from a very remote village in India, in the Eastern state of Orissa. This area, if famed for anything, is famed for its tribal peoples, who speak more 50-60 different languages, and its profound and prolific poverty and social needs. Though, I am surprised and pleased to report that the poverty here is not as traumatic, at least not for me personally, as I have seen it in the urban areas of India, such as Mumbai. Here things are very simple, even crude, but there are not the masses, writhing on the pavement, clustered under tarps on the sidewalks and roadsides where they eek out any etible item, anything they can for their daily survival and existence.

I am not able to upload pictures from here, but hope to paint you a picture in words.Here there are green rice fields, growing and thriving, covered in the monsoon waters. Men, women and children follow yoked oxen in the fields as they plow and prepare the dirt with a simple piece of wood. The older women are beautifully adored with heavy gold nose rings, some wearing them on both sides of their noses, and others having a large and highly ornamented piece hang from the center of their nose, over their top lip. I attended a meeting of women the other day in a rural village, they were all members of Self Help Groups. They demonstrated the most basic form of micor-finance, that of group savings and investment. Each woman who is a group member must contribute Rs. 20 – 40, the equivalent of $1 – $0.50, per month to their group. After 6 months, the women can then choose how to invest this money, usually in the form of helping a woman open her own business (one woman I met bought a cart and began selling bananas as her business), or helping in family, health or education matters. Whoever recieved the money was to pay it back to the group at the tiny interest rate of 2%. Their resolve and strength was deeply moving. Some of the older women in the group had never had a year of education, but they had been taught to write their names and therefore sign their monthly contributions in and be a part of the group.

The HHI trainings are going well. We are in the midst of our 2nd of 3 trainings here, the process to train a local HHI Trainer to work independently once we leave. Our newest trainer is named Tapaswini, she is 28 years old, has a MA in English, advanced training in Human Rights and was previously a program officer for a local NGO that led rural community health education. Tapaswini has a 4 month old baby girl, who has happily been a part of our daily trainings. Our first 2 groups are women who are day care workers in the rural villages, at the creche centers which allow the local women to work a half day in the fields to earn income for their families. These day care providers though are mostly young women, who have little knowledge and no formal education about early childhood development. They are learning quickly and are enjoying the new information, excited to take it back and share it with all the mothers in their village. Our third training will begin on Saturday at a local orphanage.

I am staying in a very rural area and it is 15km to this small village, which has this one computer for me to write emails from. It is painfully slow, but I am deeply grateful for its presence.

This morning I just received some spectacular news from India!

Last August when I launched an HHI site in Kerala, I met with a District representative from India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program, similar to the US’s Head Start Program. ICDS is the largest early childhood development program in the world and is supported by UNICEF and World Bank. HHI trained some of their teachers and they all found it very useful and applicable in providing improved care for the children they serve – who are exclusively from India’s poorest families. Nine months ago, I proposed a contract to have HHI train all the ICDS teachers in the Kottayam District of Kerala, where they serve more than 30,000 children. The contract is finally getting signed and this means that our HHI Trainers will lead 2 trainings per month for the next year = HHI training for 240 women, bettering the health and care for 2,400 children! (Remember that this is at only one site, with 1-2 HHI trainers – minimal costs)

The state of Kerala is considered one of India’s most progressive and usually leads the country in health initiatives and innovation. I am hoping that next year, this will lead to a state wide contract for HHI with government funding, and then in 3-5 years to a country wide contract. This would mean that in the next 5 years HHI’s reach would grow exponentially – I cannot even project the numbers for the women and children we could reach! I would like to see countries take this on as a part of their health care policy… just maybe India will lead the way.

I do not have the words to describe this massive country of over 1 billion people, with 30 states, 80 castes, 18 languages (each with 2-3 dialects), over 20 religions, and cutting edge technology that provides a stark contrast to profound and prolific poverty. Instead, I will share some of my pictures that capture my experiences here and the humanity of us all.

Here is the beauty of sisterhood,

the kindness of a stranger,

celebrations we all share (wedding),

and some that are unique, such as my elephant blessing.

We have all felt anguish and isolation, though maybe never so deeply or publicly…

and searched for tranquility,

we work hard.

We celebrate our religions with exquisite temples,

and we show our devotion with stunning architecture,

religious icons (Ganesha),

There is the poverty of the slums,

and compassion we all show for those we love.

but some must rely on the skill and courage of their child to earn money to shop at that market.

And with all of our differences, we always have more in common. We all want a better life for ourselves and our children, we all work hard, have our own struggles and regardless of where I have landed in this great big world, I am always greeted with a kind smile. I have found all people to seek out goodness, higher purpose and meaning. Though our skin color, country, caste, religion, homes, jobs, and all else may look foreign, it is all an illusion.

Though, I must admit, it is not every country where a holy man prescribes that for “special blessings” you are to give bananas to elephants. I am to do this on 3 auspicious days, 2 of these days are when I will be home in the US, but he was insistent and said, “then you must go to your zoo and give bananas to America’s elephants.” LOL! Wish me luck on this assignment!

Preethi, Sujatha, & Sini – HHI Certified Trainers

I arrived in back in India on February 24th and have been traveling from city, to village, to city checking in on the women and children of HHI. The first highlight of this trip was having all of our trainers meet with me in Kerala at our HHI partner orphanage and training center. Our time together allowed the our trainers to compare notes on their trainings, to share successes and challenges and to learn from and support each other. It also gave me the chance to gain deeper insights and understanding of what HHI is giving to not only individuals, but entire communities.
.
HHI has already begun to work with the local branch of India’s Intensive Child Development Services (ICDS) Program to train some of their teachers in the Kottayam District – there are over 3,000 teachers in all, who work with more than 25,000+ of the regions most vulnerable children. This is a similar program to the US’s Head Start Program, but India’s ICDS program is the largest early childhood development program in the world, sponsored by the World Bank, UNICEF and the Indian Government. The initial response from teachers who have taken HHI’s training has been very positive, all of them learning new skills to work with the children and to help their communities most impoverished families improve the care they give to their own children.

A few nights ago, I called Sujatha, one of HHI’s trainers in India. She was very excited because she had just gotten a phone call from Vijaya Lakshmi, an HHI trainee from last February. Vijaya Lakshmi was bubbling with pride to tell about a minor miracle she recently caused. Her friend’s elderly mother was very sick and had been in the hospital with an unidentifiable neurological condition. This woman was in a great deal of pain, had partial paralysis of her arms and legs, and after weeks in the hospital – she was showing no improvement.

Vijaya Lakshmi contacted the doctors at the hospital and proudly told them that she was trained in healing massage which she learned from HHI (we teach baby massage). She offered to give massage to this woman daily – for free. Everyone agreed and within a few weeks time this woman showed radical healing and walked right out of the hospital! The entire staff was astounded and inspired! Vijaya Lakshmi was so proud, she called Sujatha to tell her what she had done. Sujatha, was Vijaya Lakshmi’s HHI trainer and because of this she was invited to this woman’s village and their celebration in having their family returned to normal.

Here is a picture of Vijaya Lakshmi and her now healthy patient. PS – smiling is not a cultural habit in India, which I find very funny, because they will be giggling, laughing and smiling until you point a camera at them… Trust me, they are happy, and were smiling before and after the photo!