Empowering Women in India

My name is Lindley Greene. I am 27 years old and live near Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado with my husband Ryan.

This past March I traveled for two weeks with 35 medical professionals to the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. I went with an organization called Dalit Freedom Network (DFN) who partners with Operation Mercy Charitable Company (OMCC) in India. I, however, am not a medical professional as my degree is in dietetics (nutrition). I really wondered how I would be of service at the clinics, especially after seeing how and what people in India eat. My only nutritional advice there if I were to give it (I didn’t) would be telling them to EAT! The women in India especially need to eat. They feed their husbands first and any other men at the house then they feed the children. Whatever is left they eat themselves.

To understand the need for the DFN and Operation Mercy Charitable Company (OMCC), one must understand the Dalit people. They are the lowest caste in India, formerly called the “untouchables”. They have been told for 3000 years by the upper caste citizens that they are less than human. Currently, the Dalits in India are numbered at 250 million, which is about 25% of the population. They are treated as less than human and are given the degrading jobs no one else would ever want to do. They are considered polluted and able to pollute others by interactions. They are forced to be Hindu and yet they are not allowed in the temples to worship and they are not given the education in order to possess the ability to read. Dalits are arguably the most oppressed people group in the world today. (To learn more about India’s oppressive caste system go to http://www.dalitnetwork.org/go?/dfn/who_are_the_dalit/C64 )

Dalit Freedom Network is working in partnership with OMCC to holistically transform the lives of the Dalit people. I love the fact that OMCC is staffed by Indian nationals. They have a major say in what we as Westerners are allowed to do, and how to present ourselves while we are in India. This is very important to me so that it’s not the Westerners coming in and trying to change India in the way we think it needs to be changed. Rather, the Indian nationals know how to go about the changes necessary in a culturally sensitive way. Women’s empowerment is an integral part of their approach. It involves teaching the women that their lives have amazing value. A Dalit woman hearing that she does not deserve to be raped and beaten is often very powerful. Women are now able to receive mirco-loans in order to become self-sustaining through endeavors such as sewing and agriculture.

While there, I was able to witness a ceremony celebrating the opening of a new sewing school which had three brand new pump sewing machines. This was hugely exciting to the community at the ribbon cutting ceremony!

Education is also a main factor in the holistic work within India. Dalit Education Centers (DECs) are used as the platform to reach out to the Dalit villages in India. When a DEC is set up in a town, the children have the opportunity to be educated for the first time in their lives, as upper caste schools most often do not allow Dalit children to attend.

As part of my time there, we established medical clinics at the DEC’s we visited. Many people we helped at the clinic looked quite malnourished. Finances are a strain for the people we worked with so main staples of rice, wheat flat bread and lentils are main sources of nourishment. Being on the team it was clear that we were not able to fix every problem presented but we were able to care for, love and touch these people and that in itself is very powerful for them.

The view of India that I see from the states is a stark contrast to the life of the Dalits. The Indians in the states are well educated and good in business. They represent India as a powerhouse in the world. Looking at the daily life of the Dalits and Other Backward Caste (OBCs) members (even the name is degrading) in India, I saw a life, for a large group of humans that is well hidden from the rest of world. These people are beautiful but the life they are being forced to live and the way they are being treated is not beautiful.

Looking back on my time in India the most powerful memories I have are the chances I got to spend with the women and children. Simple moments like holding hands with a nervous woman waiting to go into the doctor’s office or holding babies and looking into their little faces were precious to me. Some of the best times were blowing bubbles for kids. There was something amazing and new for me watching them stare at a plastic wand and blow bubbles for the first time. I had many laughs as I sat on a wooden platform in the village and read English children’s books to the kids. They crowded around and laughed at the voices I made for each animal character in our stories. I was touched in ways I have never experienced in other parts of my life. Despite crooked backs and beat-down spirits I saw so much life and hope in a group of people who have been oppressed for so long. I know that some of their hope is coming from the work of Dalit Freedom Network.

To an outsider my overall experience in India may not sound like life-changing events, but they were in my life and I hope they were a comfort and joy to those Indians I came in contact with. One never knows how many lives will change by touching one life. I am the one who went to see them, but they have truly touched my life.

I left a few days ago for another trip to Uttar Pradesh, India. I’m excited to be serving the Dalits again. This time my team is only 17 people and most are from the medical field. We will be at two different Dalit Education Centers than I went to in March. I look forward to spending time with the women and children again while helping my team where I can.

Exciting News - September '07

Hello all!

"You've been approved!" Oh how exciting those words were to hear Friday!

I was in the market looking for a tasty treat for a bbq with the other managers from the company I work for when I received THE call from Community Partners. (Quick reminder... Community Partners is an organization who works as an umbrella org. for new non-profits trying to get off the ground. The new non-profits are able to work under CP's non-profit status, enabling the new non-prof to receive funds and to further legitimize the work.) I have been in a submission and waiting process with CP regarding the research grant with UCLA. And then the call came Friday... ACA IS APPROVED!! I must have been quite the sight to other shoppers as i hopped up and down the aisles in excitement!

So, you may be wondering, "What does this all mean?". Good question! Having Community Partners operate as ACA's umbrella means ACA can receive a research grant from UCLA and further legitimizes ACA's work.

I will operate as the Project Director for the research project, working with 3 local inner-city high schools to research and document playable field space in their respected area. For more information on the project itself, please feel free to e-mail and/or call.

Overall, this is an exciting time for me personally and for ACA!! 2 years of dreaming, working, wondering is seeing some fruit. So exciting!!

Thank you all, again, for your encouragement and support! A more detailed e-mail will come soon, but I wanted to share this news with you!!

From Knowing, to Seeing, to Acting - August '07

"You only learn from what you don't want to look at. What you don't want to see..." These words I just read tonight are stuck in my head, repeating itself over and over. "You only learn from what you don't want to look at. What you don't want to see..."

There are few things in this life I don't want to see. I have always been one drawn to danger, to the unspeakable, to the horrors of life. Never one to shy away from the photographs and news broadcasts of the starving, the dying the brutalized. In a twisted way, I find comfort in the realness of the pain and devastation. So then why, why do the above words refuse to leave my head, refuse to allow me to move-on with the evening? What don't I want to look at? What don't I want to see?

I don't want to see me. I don't want to see the way I walk past the many nameless men and women in this city without homes. I don't want to look at the annoyed face I give the drug addicted woman in my building who comes to me often to ask for prayer and "help". I don't want to see the "me" that isn't who I want to be, yet is part of who I am. I may not want to see, but I now choose to see.

Awareness, Connection, Action exists to raise awareness on issues of poverty and injustice, to connect human to human and to move individuals and communities to action in addressing the many needs associated with poverty and injustice. This is the mission of an organization. Now it needs the reality of the lives behind it. I want to be perfect; to perfectly know how to address each man and woman who asks me for money on the streets, to perfectly know how to help the woman with her drug addiction, to perfectly live out the mission of ACA. But, as we all know, I am not perfect.

As ACA continues to progress forward in exciting ways (research grant with UCLA, articles of incorporation and bylaws filed, tax forms being processed, connections being made!), I am trying to learn from what I don't want to look at, from what I don't want to see. I am not perfect. I will make mistakes and have victories as ACA moves forward. My hope is for you, each of you, to join me in my imperfection to create change in our lives, our communities and our world.

To start, let's not quickly walk past the man or woman asking for change. Instead, let us ask their name, their story, perhaps over coffee or a meal. The simple task of being authentically interested, I am learning more and more, can be most important and life-changing. This, I am learning from a dear friend who daily spends time with his friends without homes in his community.

I would love to hear your experiences, your stories. We have much to learn from each other and I look forward to continuing to learn and grow together!

Thank you, as always, for your excitement and encouragement over the last couple of years. Again, none of this could continue without your love, encouragement and challenge!

-amanda

Naked Truth

Greetings friends!

The last month has been the most encouraging thus far! Pieces are falling into place like never before and the ball is rolling toward establishing Awareness, Connection, Action as an officially recognized non-profit!

With this last month, I've been processing through what it means to truly help others and how it looks to train those who want to help. I've been seeking for a pureness, one magic solution that will cover all possible problems that may arise. Last week I was awakened to the reality that there is no special blue pill that works as a cure-all. This may sound quite obvious, as it did to me once it was revealed, but I think we are still engaged in a system that strives for a singular answer to address the variety of problems and concerns our world faces.

Below are some excerpts from my journal so you can follow along with me as I journey through the web of raising awareness, connecting lives to tangible needs, and moving those lives into action in a way that is "pure" to who they are.

As always, your love, encouragment and feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you all!
-amanda

Two people stand side-by-side
Naked
Stripped of everything that made them "them"

Two people stand side-by-side
Naked
In pure form

Two people stand side-by-side
Naked
Pure
Different

Americans are generally looking for a pure ideology. Whether in religion, politics, justice - we are looking for a way - THE WAY - to live life and thus a line to hold others to.

Are we willing to accept that this singular pureness may not exist in the form we think it does? Are we willing to accept that your way may not be the best way for others?

If we were to stand ten men or women side-by-side in complete nakedness we would see many similarities, but a variety of differences within those similarities. Just about all would have two arms, two legs, ten fingers and toes, a head, a torso, etc... But each of those basic similarities would vary from person to person. One would have wide feet and chubby fingers, the other slinder feet and long elegant fingers. But both work for the same purpose of walking, writing, holding, etc... These basic differences within the similarities exist within development and aid to the poor.

There is no magic approach that will effectively reach every people gorup and nation. We must look at the basic problems (water, food, disease) and approach with methods that will be most effective for the receivers as well as the givers.

There is a great need for the different pure abilities each of you can offer. You love Africa, perhaps feel a desire to serve the poor so you pack your bags and move to the mystical continent. Though this method may work for some, it may not be what is best for you or the ones you are trying to help.

Strip down and discover the naked truth of who you are and how can be purely effective in this life.

Reach Out and Touch

Reach out. Touch. Cradle, hold, laugh, play. Such important components to every child's well-being, yet for too many children within our cities, our country, our world, those neccessities are severley lacking.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join 4 friends (Andrea, Craig, Tim and Shawn) on an adventure that has changed me quite a bit. We crossed into Mexico by foot and took the short walk to, what I was expecting, to be a run-down orphanage with children running wild. Instead, we entered the grounds of the Purple Palace with young and old from the US and Mexico helping kids make hand-prints on clay to later be placed as the entry way into their new home. I saw men and women painting walls, cielings and banisters with the most bright and lively colors you could imagine. The boys were in their section of the house playing music and being chased by one of the full-time staff. So much laughter coming from that room as boys rushed past me! Then over to the girls area where brightly colored beds were painted and decorated with princess blankets and Dora the Explorer posters. Immediately, the girls and toddler boys wanted to be held. Whether 2 or 8, they wanted to be picked-up and not let down. This was warming and heart-breaking all at the same time.

After the grand tour, the 3 of us ladies headed over to the girls side of the "palace" where we were greeted with upheld arms and smiles beckoning us to pick them up. A little girl, Joy (name changed to protect her identity), caught my eye. I could tell she was strong, articulate and could make you smile just with one glance. She was a bit more hesitant with me as it was obvious she already had her friends in place, so i took my time and just played with the other girls until she was ready to venture over. About 20 minutes later Joy sat on the bed next to me and said loudly and with force "COLORES! COLORES RO-JO!" My limited spanish helped me to discern that she was telling me that what we were looking at was the color red. We then went around the room saying colors and laughing at my attempts to roll my "rr's" when saying "amarillo". Joy was a good teacher and quick to correct when I mispronounced a word!

As the day went on, Andrea and I sat with Connie, the director of the orphange, and I asked about sweet Joy's story. I was not ready for what I was about to hear. Joy's mother is American, her father, Mexican. Both were using and possibly selling drugs. As a baby, Joy was used as a drug carrier across border lines. A full diaper took on a whole new meaning! She was abused and misused. Her mother spent time in jail but was released about 3 weeks ago. Sadly, she has gone back to drugs, prostitution and smuggling. Yet 4 year old Joy is resilient, one who I am convinced, will create much change throughout her life, as she has already changed mine.

The Purple Palace began In 2001, when Connie and Tyler Youngkin began renting a big warehouse in the heart of the Red Light district of Tijuana for $1000 a month. They had volunteers renovate this warehouse to become a pleasant place with a dormitory for boys, 2 living areas, a dining area, a kitchen and 2 bathrooms. They had 20 boys then. These boys were ones that roamed the streets all night, would be raped, some were doing drugs and selling them, some would sell little girls to pediphiles for $10 each. When they were bored, they would find drunks on the sidewalk and take their alcohol , pour it all over them and then light them on fire. They were cold, dirty, hungry (when they got money they would buy candy and not much else), and very rejected. They used dirty language, robbed, beat up others ,were beaten up and would challenge any authority and they were not in school. Their mothers are in jail, died of AIDS, or are prostitutes, high on illicit drugs who rarely care for their sons.

Little girls were also being raped, beaten, used for prostitution, and deserted. Some lived in vacant lots, and most roamed the streets at night. In 2003 they opened a dormitory for the girls! Connie and Tyler rented the shop next door for $500 dollars a month. Because of the work Connie, Tyler and many others are doing in Tijuana, they were able to move their orphanage further away from the Red Light District and into what truly is The Purple Palace. They are now home to over 70 boys and girls!

The children can leave this program anytime they want. This is not a closed institution, but it is like a family home.

What should our response be? How can we help? There are some of us who live just a hop, skip and a jump away from the border lines of Mexico and can easily take a Saturday to go play, paint, or get involved however is needed. For others, travel isn't as easy but if you would like to offer financial support toward neccesities such as beans, rice and fresh fruits and vegetables there is a great need. If you would like to learn more about the Palace and their needs, please visit www.thepurplepalace.org

May someone reach out and touch you this week in a way that is meaningful to both you and the giver!

Everyday Stories

Greetings ACA Supporters!

The holiday craziness has come to an end and Awareness, Connection, Action is gearing up for a spring conference focused on education locally and internationally. More information to come soon!

While pondering further what ACA is about, individual stories kept coming to mind. We hear about everyday heroes who do a grand act, but we don't often hear about everyday people who are living their lives and serving others in the midst of it. Because of this, ACA has asked Jeff and Julia Shaffer to share their journey of serving the Santa Barbara community through their everyday lives.

Enjoy getting to know one of your global neighbors!

Awareness:
Jeff and Julia Shaffer live in Santa Barbara, CA with their 5-year-old son and 2 and a ½ year old twins. They met in Los Gatos, CA and were married there in 1990. To pursue Jeff's passion of working with youth, they moved to Santa Barbara in 1992 and served high school students at a local church until 2000. Jeff now works full time on the Uffizi Mission Project and Julia cares for her children as a stay-at-home mother.

Throughout the years, both Jeff and Julia have sought deeper ways to love others with grace and compassion while affecting the needs of those around them. The major change happened within Jeff when he, Julia and their eldest son traveled to Italy in 2002. There, they visited the Uffizi Museum in Florence, where Jeff was captivated by the artist's renditions of the incarnation. The incarnation is the idea of God becoming man in Christ and the reconciliation of men and women with God and with one another. Jeff returned to Santa Barbara with a renewed vision of how to truly love others. Thus began the journey of opening the Uffizi Museum here - to understand and to teach incarnationalional living. There is no building to come to, only the journey outward into the community, and an opening of our lives and homes to our neighbors.

One of the ways Jeff and Julia have been able to put the ideas into practical application is through serving their friends without homes a meal each week and through showing their children what it means to love others who society may cast aside.

Connection:
I have asked Jeff and Julia to each share their thoughts on serving and how, in everyday life, they can make a difference. These are their stories...

Julia:
"In the midst of teaching my 5 year old his ABCs, singing twinkle, twinkle, little star and changing my twins diapers... I have a heart for this world. My heart cannot stretch to the ends of this world because of these three little ones I must care for, but right in front of me I am able to open my children's eyes to the people around them. I want them to be compassionate, strong and justice seekers for those who can't speak or be heard.

As my own heart shifts for wanting to end the pains of the world, I must let my children participate and understand practically how they can make a difference. On a local level, as my husband began a potluck for his friends without homes, it seemed a natural place to begin the opening of my son's heart to people who may not have material possessions or who have suffered tremendously. My son does not look at them as different now, he can see beyond the exterior and see them as people."


Jeff:
"One of the very first things we did as a part of the Uffizi Mission Project was initiate a night to share a meal with people without homes. One of the local universities had formed a group and led the way by bringing food to the local downtown library. We chose a different night and a few of us made a meal together in our kitchen and took it downtown. It is now a community not just of homeless men and women, but also of some who are just poor, and some who come because they are lonely and want friends.

It is something I wanted my son, Kairos, to be involved in primarily because I wanted him to learn to see people as people, and not start life off with all the labels that we easily create. It has become something that he wants to go to, and I see an understanding of the needs of the less fortunate growing in him through the experience.

We changed the idea from meal sharing to a potluck when the local police threatened to shut us down because of health code violations. We decided to move the community to a local park, in a less public atmosphere and call it a potluck instead, so that anyone could bring food.

I have had to argue that my only agenda with the men and women who come is "friendship". I feel free to pray for my friends, feed them, interact with them about issues and about God. I am encouraged with the fact that many of them now call me a friend. I do not take that statement lightly and it means I have to be with them in times of need.

I am working now to multiply these groups throughout the city. The community has become the highlight of my week."

Action:
Jeff and Julia are like you and me - everyday people with a job, kids and trying to navigate through life as best they can. Their love for their neighbor has culminated in the Uffizi Mission Project and is a practical vehicle for others to get involved with.

If you are interested in the Uffizi Mission Project, Meal Sharing or would like to contact Jeff to learn more about his journey, you can visit www.freewebs.com/syncman or can e-mail him with an encouragement, thought or question at syncmanatns@aol.com. Jeff and Julia's income is based on support raising, so if you feel this is something you would like to contribute to, please contact Jeff at one of the above places or e-mail me at acaorg@yahoo.com.