1 week down, 13 to go!

Well, where to begin!

So much has been going on over the past few days! We have been into Bangalore 3 times now, first to have a tour of the city, second to attend a public lecture for Interfaith Harmony week and third, we visited the slums.

This is where I begin! Yesterday we were taken around some of Bangalore Slums or Urban poor areas to meet the people and see how they live! This was very humbling, it is something I have never before experienced and to hear some of their stories of hard work under enormous pressure was incredible. Makes you realize how much more English people are spoilt by the luxuries that our government provides us with. The amount of freedom we have and the amount we expect from our government, these people worked for hours a day for very little money. 50% of India earn Rs30 a day, this is less than 50p and they have to feed themselves, their families and look after their homes with this. We were given Rs30 in the morning and told this is all we had to feed ourselves for breakfast and lunch and although that kind of money goes further than it would in the UK, it still did not buy you much. We take for granted the fact that we eat food for enjoyment, the food these people could buy with their money was for their survival!! Would you be able to eat food you didn't enjoy in order to survive? I would if I had to but we take this for granted!! Some of the people we met had managed to build their own houses in the slums, they were proud to have been able to do this and I would be too, but in England, people do not know the meaning of hard work. To push a cart around for 9 hours of the day in this heat (it is hot!) in order to make less than £1 profit a day! I would struggle doing it, I know that! Despite all the hardships these people face, they could not be happier to welcome us into their homes (for one person this was one room, 3 people lived there and the food was cooked in the room as well!) and share their stories with us. The hospitality these people showed us, would it happen in England? Unfortunately, I think not! Not to the extent that these people showed us.

As you can see, lots of learning going on! We have fun too. Lots of laughs despite the serious task ahead of us! WE have a great group here and we are learning so much from each other. I have, yet again, learnt more about the world I live in than I have ever been told before and it is from the people that have experienced these things! We still have 13 weeks to go... will my brain cope with it all? Will my emotions? I guess only time will tell...

(will post photos when have some more time!)