Perspective

The most glaring difference between India and the United States is the extreme poverty; it's everywhere and unavoidable and yet I wasn't able to write about it until now because took me a long time to process.   I am still processing.  There is so much I am unable to process. When we told people we were moving to Mussoorie, the people who had been to India or were from India told us we were lucky.  They all said it was the cleanest, "wealthiest" and "nicest" area of India.  I have been here two months and have only limited travel experiences around this country, but I do believe they are right.  Every time I leave I am so eager to return.  Though we do have a few trash-laden hillsides and people living in plastic tents, it is very obvious how much more poverty there is and how much less effort there is to corral the trash in the other areas we have been to.

This is someone's home.  It is several plastic tarps, propped up by branches.  Several people, including a few very small children live here.  The big white bags are used to collect plastic bottles.  They can turn them in for money.

This is the scene as you walk into town.  There are several "tents" and dozens of stray dogs.  I am told that the people in the tents used to only live in Mussoorie for the hot summers and then go back south for the winters but now they can make so much money collecting plastic bottles that they stay.

There are no social services or child protective services in India.  There are no shelters for homeless people to go to or food pantries where they can get supplies to feed their kids.  I was walking to town with two of my friends for dinner and as we passed the tents I heard a baby that sounded much younger than Oliver screaming and crying.  My heart sank fast.  That baby sounded in pain but what options were available to the parents?  Baby tylenol, a hot bath, a comfortable place to sleep, food????....all options seemed impossible to me and made me tear up.  We are so fortunate and have so so so much.  Insurance, food, a roof, these things are always on my mind as I walk by the tents.  I will never ever take my blessings for granted.

My friend Fabi connected me to a woman who works with the "tent people" as they are called.  Every Sunday they give away eggs at the local hospital to the families in the tents.  We have donated 45 eggs and may donate more but I have some hesitations.  Turns out, they give the eggs to the kids who come to Sunday School at the hospital.  Not that I want to deprive those children of food, but I don't think eggs should just be given to the children who come to Sunday school (come and get "saved" and then get eggs?).  I think food should be given to anyone who is hungry, not just those who are coming to learn about Jesus.  It is a problem (well, I think it is a problem, anyway) in India, this "missionary" mentality of so many, that it is someone's job to "save" the people.  I am getting quite fed up with it and feel it keeps some very necessary work from being done and from people getting help they really NEED.

There is an extreme juxtaposition of wealthy and poor here, unlike anything I have ever seen in the states.  There are estates, colossal mansions with expansive grounds both in Mussoorie and in Dehra Dun, the likes of which I have only ever seen in Bel Air or Miami.  These massive compounds line some very wealthy roads and then just outside their gates (truly, right beside the end of their driveways) are people living in plastic and tin shanties, lighting fires to boil water and sleeping on the ground.  There is extreme wealth in this country; India is no where near broke and it's economy is growing more and faster than America's.  But school is not mandatory which means many children are kept home to panhandle for their families and there are high rates of unemployment and homelessness.

It makes you feel like the biggest brut, the most insensitive person on the planet when you are shooing away begging children.  Children who's bellies are swollen, bodies are filthy and feet are shoe-less.  They come at you in packs and you can't give anything to just one of them so you look ahead and keep walking.  It breaks my heart and I feel completely helpless as I hug my well-fed, inoculated and sheltered baby to me.  I could go on and on about how corrupt the government is here (but show me a government that isn't?) and how they should stop stealing money from projects and put it towards food, clothing and health care for their children.  Will India ever see how important it is to take care of it's people?

There is a belief system, a way of treating people that is a remnant of the caste system. There is even a marked difference between "staff" (teachers and administration) and "employees" (everyone else) at Andy's school.  Maids, employees, service people are rarely regarded with respect.  It is amazing to me, and I find it very difficult to watch the maids eat outside of people's homes and the employees at school get to eat the the dark cafeteria once all the staff have eaten. These are all working people; you can imagine how the tent people are viewed now. India needs a major shift in it's thinking.  If these practices of disrespect and ambivalence continue as they are, no changes will be made to help the people who genuinely need it.  If one caste continues to see it as beneath them to help another lower caste, then everything will continue to remain the same.  It is another case of me wanting to take India by it's shoulders and shake it.  Wake up!