Three months in India

Aashirwad

The first Maitri project sight that Ben and I went to see was Aashirwad. Aashirwad is a sort of rest home where elderly people can live when they have no where else to go. When we got to the sight everything was under construction and we found out that Aashirwad was first started by Winnie’s father and after he passed away he left it to Winnie. Since then Winnie had decided to expend and improve the program which is why everything was under construction. One change they were making was adding a yoga room so that a yoga instructor come to teach yoga to the elderly living in the home. After we got back from the sight I updated and edited a brochure that included all of the new additions and changes to Aashirwad. I didn’t get to add pictures to the brochure because I thought it would be best to use pictures after the construction was completed.

Old Delhi and the Red Fort

For our first outing in Delhi we went to the Red Fort. It was fun to walk around and see the structures and read about the fort.

After we finished at the Red Fort we went for a tour around Old Delhi. Our guide told us that there is a street for everything in Old Delhi. There is a spice street and a shoe street and a Sari street and so on and so forth. Our guide showed us an old building that used to belong to a rich man and that the man had about thirty wives and that is where they lived. Our guide also took us to see a Jainism Temple. We also tried to go see the largest Mosk in India but they were closing it for prayer right when we were arriving so we decided we would have to come back another day. It was a very culturally enriching day.

Lotus Temple

The Lotus Temple was one of our favorite outings in Delhi. Everything from the grounds to the buildings were clean and kempt. We had to take off our shoes to go inside the Temple. Once inside the temple everything is so quiet and peaceful. There are some people that will sing and it sounds amazing with the acoustics in the building.

Taj Mahal

You can’t spend 4 months in India and not go to the Taj Mahal Ben and I went to go see it while we were on our way to a project for Maitri. The project was in Vrindavan which was just a short train ride from Agra so we left a day early so we would have enough time to visit the Taj.

Vrindavan Widows Healthcamp

When we got to Vrindavan it had been raining so much that we had to take a boat to get to the widows. Once we got there we prepared and served lunch to all of the widows. Maitri provides a healthy meal every day for all of the widows. After lunch was over the doctors gave all of the widows a check up and medicine for those that needed it. They also made a list of all the widows that needed eye surgery so that they could come back later and operate on them free of charge. I helped put together packages of soap, food, medicine, and saris so that they could be distributed to the widows. While we were waiting for the boat to come pick us up we listened to the widows sing. By the time we were on our way home it had been a long and productive day.

DCWA

The Delhi Commonwealth Women’s Association (DCWA) is another Delhi based NGO that provides health care for people at no or minimal cost. They are one of Maitri’s partners and I met some of the doctors while I was at the health camp in Vrindavan. When I told them I was studying nursing they invited me to come volunteer a their health clinic. I talked with Winnie and Sonal about it and we worked it out so I could volunteer at the DCWA a couple of mornings a week. Most days I would either take blood pressure or work in the pharmacy. One day they let me volunteer in the operating room and I got to see a hernia operation. It was a very cool experience for me.

Rajasthan

Mr. Jolly, one of Maitri’s advisors, invited Ben and I to go on a weekend vacation to Rajasthan with him and his family. We drove there all the way there from Delhi. It was a long drive but we got to see and do a lot of fun and wonderful things in Rajasthan that made it worth it.The first thing we saw was the Jal Mahal. It looks like the palace really was floating on the water. We also got to go on our first camel ride. We also went to see the Amber Fort and the snake charmers.

The Children

My favorite part of working at Maitri has been teaching the children. Every day between 3 and 5 children from the slums would come to get help with their school work. Most of the children are the first members of their family to attend school. Since their parents can’t help them with their homework they come to Maitri to get help. I was amazed at how hungry the children are for knowledge. They love to learn! Even after we have been doing math problems for an hour and I tell them it is time to go home they beg me to stay and give them more home work. A lot of the time after we have finished studying we will play games and sing songs. It always gives the children something to look forward to and is a great way to end the day.

Another fun experience with the children was during the Delhi Common Wealth Games. Since all the schools were closed during the games Maitri decided to have activities for the children in the morning. We had to walk through the slums to let the children know about the activities. I saw a lot of the children that I had tutored. It was fun to see them because they would all say hello and hold my hand as we walked around the slums.The activities in the mornings were a huge success. There were so many children that came that there was hardly enough room for everyone to fit in the room downstairs. We played some games and I taught the children a couple songs. Then all the children took turns dancing and singing for each other. It was like a talent show. I also did a small presentation about Christmas. I told them about Santa Clause and Christmas trees and snow. We got crayons and paper and gave them to the children to draw pictures about Christmas. Some of the pictures were very good and we decided to make them into Christmas cards that we could sell to raise money for the children to go to school.

Amritsar

Winnie and the General invited Ben and I and several other Maitri workers to go with them to Amritsar and see some of the sights. The first thing we went to see was the changing of the guard at the India and Pakistani border. As we were driving there we saw a long line of people waiting to get in but since we were friends of the General we got special treatment and got to skip the line and go strait to our seats.

After the changing of the guard we went to the Golden Temple. It was really fun to be there at night and see how the lights reflected on the gold and the water. We didn’t go inside the temple that night but we went back the next day and attended one of their religious services. After every service they change and clean everything. I even got to help polish a statue! We spent the rest of the day shopping. Ben got a turban and I got some sunglasses.

Golf Tournament

The annual golf tournament is one Maitri’s biggest fundraising events every year. The earnings from the event go to the widows in Vrindavan. To help prepare for the event I sent out emails to a lot of the General’s Friends and contacts. Ben was in charge of making several standees for the event and I got to help by finding pictures for them.

The day of the tournament we had to be at the Maitri office at 6:30 in the morning to get a ride over to the golf course. After eating breakfast and the opening ceremonies all the golfers went out to play. Ben and I were stationed at hole #1 which was the long drive competition. Our job was to take pictures of the golfers and inform the golfers that they could buy a mulligan. We walked around the golf course and took lots of pictures of the event. We even got to drive one of the golf carts and they gave us free hats and stuff. After the players were done golfing lunch was served and prizes were awarded to the winners. They also had an auction where they sold two beautiful Kashmir hand made rugs. I think every one had an enjoyable time and it was a successful event.