Saturday, 30 May 2015

Learning about India



Once a month a local church has a special evening or day meeting for local women to come and share and fellowship together. There is usually something special happening on that day and last week they focused on India. One of our local families has a son, daughter in law and 2 grandchildren who have lived in India for more than 20 years. They are presently home in Bordertown for family celebrations, and also sharing with local churches about their work in India.
Another Bordertown lady has also spent time in India recently, and she also shared about her experiences in Varanasi.They both dressed for the occasion in their Indian clothes.
Thousands of widows in India are abandonded by their own children. In Varanasi alone, there are 10,000-30,000 widows. A lot of them are illiterate.

The pamphlet below describes how the widows are learning skills so that they can survive. They make jewellery, papercrafts, and learn to sew, and make bakery goods. Some of the jewellery,scarfs and other things were on sale that morning, and many ladies purchased goods.

 It is so humbling to hear about the reality of life in that country. It really puts things into perspective when you hear about so many, who have so little. A lot of the things we worry over, or stress about, are really so very petty when you hear about the lives of others.




 This cushion cover, which was all made by hand, came home with me, and I just need to find an insert to go inside it.



We all had a try at making something that they eat in India, (like a flat bread), that I can’t remember the name of! These were then cooked, and eaten with the curries and rice for lunch. And some ladies even tried it Indian style, where you don’t use knives and forks!!




After lunch we heard from another local lady who is making kits of sanitary supplies for girls all over the world. This as part of an organisation called Days for Girls. It is a bit of a shock to think that there are women that don’t have access to feminine supplies as we know it. They can’t go to school or work at that time of the month. The ladies present on Saturday helped to package the supplies that have been made, which are being sent to India.


It was a very interesting and informative meeting. A real wakeup call to us who live in such luxury.Thankyou to all those who are helping others in any way they can. There are some very special people in this world.


Blessings, From Jude


1 comment:

Jean McGee said...

We are so lucky to have such good living standards and good that people like yourselves are doing something to help others less fortunate.