To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
Although my team’s host organization was a government entity, we were fortunate to be able to spend time with one of the local NGOs, Don Bosco Navjeevan Society. Don Bosco caters to the poor and needy from the slums in Chandigarh through community empowerment projects, running training centers and providing a variety of services to children and youth to improve their quality of life.
We spent two Friday afternoons together with the children who are part of Don Bosco programs. One celebrating International Women’s Day where we participated in a program they put on and community march through their neighborhood.
The other was a community service day where our CSC team organized an educational afternoon, sharing our respective cultures with the children through song, dance, games and arts and crafts.
These two afternoons in the slums were significant for me.
Although I have worked in and experienced conditions like this before during my time in the Peace Corps and with the many trips to third world countries Damon and I have taken, it was different this time. I now have a son, a baby, who has changed my whole perspective on life.
I looked at the children and mothers in a different way. I was overcome with emotion.
The two worlds in India, the haves and have nots, never seemed bigger. Seeing the conditions they were living in. The malnourishment of some of the children. How difficult it would be for them to overcome and to make a life for themselves.
But what they also showed me will hopefully stay with me for years to come as we raise Nolan.
They are loved.
They have heart.
They have strength.
They have strong heads on their shoulders.
The mothers and caretakers are doing their best to figure out a way to give them a better life.
The pure joy and happiness on their faces with the simple games and songs we played and sang.
The compassion you could see in their eyes when they looked at you.
Their confidence as they reached out their hands immediately to new, foreign people they had just met.
They showed me how important it is not to pack our lives with activity after activity but to enjoy spending time with each other. How much we can do and experience with little supplies or toys.
They asked for our autographs and I in turn asked for theirs back. They were confused at first but immediately demonstrated their confidence and spelled out their name the best they could and proudly gave it to me.
I am so proud of our IBM sub-teams who worked full-time with the local NGOs during our CSC experience. I know it was not easy emotionally but I know you made a profound impact. They will always remember you. Bridget King Kevin McAveeney Begüm Öztan Kathleen Prince-Sayward Troy Pariag
I too will go home from this experience a changed person and more importantly a changed mother. For that I am grateful.
