up to speed.

Due to a glitch in regular internet access, I have fallen a bit behind in the great world of the interweb. Thus, to bring you up to speed with my life, I am illustrating bits of my last email with a few pictures from along the journey.


November 22nd, my team of 7 left New Zealand to begin a long journey to India. On our way to Chennai, we had layovers in Australia and Dubai.
Thankfully, in Dubai our layover was long enough that the airline provided us with a hotel, which was a wonderful way to break up 30 hours sitting on a plane!
We were also able to see a little bit of Dubai, which was pretty cool and reminded me of a space city...mixed with a theme park for adults (it's also in the desert, so think Vegas times 10, with an ocean and no casinos) they even have an indoor ski mountain. Dubai also boasts the tallest building in the world, and yes, it is massive.

{world's tallest...}

The next leg of our journey took us to Chennai, South India. Chennai is located on the east coast of India and is built along the ocean. It is the third largest city in India, after Mumbai and Calcutta. We spent two nights in Chennai, enough to sleep off some jet lag and to somewhat acclimate to the new culture. Chennai is hot, crowded, dirty, and exceptionally busy....but I loved every minute there!

{rooftop view in Chennai}

We left Chennai via train and traveled about 5 hours west to our final destination: Bangalore. Since I will be here in Bangalore for almost three months, I am going to give you some background information on this place. Bangalore is located in the state of Karnataka, which is in the central portion of South India. The main dividing line in India is between North and South. The North of India is unified and speaks the national language of Hindi. South India is divided up into five states, each having their own language. This can cause quite a few problems (which I will touch on later).


It is currently winter in Bangalore, but that means that the nights in the 60s/70s and days in the 70s and 80s....quite lovely. Because of the location and elevation, they enjoy this temperate climate most of the year. Bangalore is known as the "Garden City" of India, because of it's many parks, as well as the lush vegetation that grows around the city (in comparison to the rest of India). It also has a quickly growing IT industry, and does a lot of granite exports. These industries have brought English into the city, and it is becoming more widely spoken in businesses, which is quite helpful for us westerners!


Despite the rapid expansion of industry, Bangalore still faces the same challenges as the rest of India. The division between rich and poor is becoming much more decisive, and there is a general apathy among the richer classes. This is largely due to the reincarnation beliefs of Hinduism, that you "get what you deserve." There are massive slum communities around the city, and in pockets throughout. We walk about 20 minutes to work every day and on our way, we pass three different shanty communities that exist on the sides of roads, on trash heaps, and in any unused corner of property.

Throughout my travels, I have been interested in the differences in poverty as a social dynamic in various countries.
India bears it's poverty much like gaping wounds in the skin, whereas the US likes to keep the main streets clean, then hide it's poverty - they are relegated to failed government projects, and the homeless are swept out of parks. These seem to be more like internal bleeds - you don't necessarily see them on the surface, but they are still there.


Despite the poverty that constantly surrounds us, I am greatly taken by this country. The people are exceptionally warm and welcoming - the hospitality here might only be rivaled by the American "south" :). There is also color everywhere you look! Beauty is highly valued here and it is evident everywhere, even brightly colored saris and jewelery on women who don't own any shoes and live in a tent. I hope that, by being here even this short time, we will be able to enrich the lives of the people living around us, bringing the love of Jesus to everyone we meet - whether that is in a kind word, a smile, a bunch of bananas, or dinner for the night.


We are so blessed to be working here with an organization called Oasis, which I really can't say enough about. They have amazing values, and are doing great things in the community. I will save the details for another email, but the general areas that we are working with are:
Anti-human trafficking - Oasis has an excellent action plan in place that includes prevention, rescue, and after-care. But specifically, we are helping with awareness campaigns, materials, and documentation of brothel raids, etc.
Jacob's well - this is a production unit that makes hand-crafted, fairly traded goods, and employs women that come from backgrounds of forced prostitution or poverty. They make sweet stuff too! check them out at www.jacobswell.biz I will be helping them with their product line, some graphic design stuff, and working with the girls on English.
Government Homes - this is an "orphanage," but really more like a prison. Kids are left here when they are unwanted by their families (especially girls), or if they are trafficked, or if they are simply lost. This happens a lot because the many different language spoken in the States of South India cause a barrier to finding the true identity of these kids. The children are locked in and not allowed to (ever!) leave the premises until they are 18, and even then, girls are put in arranged marriages that often don't work out, and they end up on their own, unwanted, and doomed to poverty. When living in the home, the kids are viewed as "bad" kids and receive no love and minimal education. Some of our team will be working closely with these kids, and developing a life-skills course that the Government is looking to adopt for widespread usage in these homes across the country.


I LOVE to receive mail...so if you feel compelled to visit the post office one more time during the holidays, my address is below. One caution, however, the Indian mail system is NOT known for it's reliability, and packages can take anywhere from two weeks to two months to arrive! So, I would recommend sending things asap, and probably not much after the beginning of January.

Oasis Bangalore
c/o Claire Tyner
23 /2 Kumaraswami Naidu Road,
Frazer Town, Bangalore
560 005
INDIA

All my love and best wishes to you over this Holiday season!

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3