Weeks Five & Six
Time goes by WAY too fast! It has already been six weeks and I am now headed back to the US. As I await my long flight home, I am reflecting on my time here- I am extremely grateful for my time in India.
It has been such an AMAZING experience interning for Destiny this summer…I learned more than I ever could have imagined. I feel like my eyes have been opened to the realities of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Asia.
[PS Last week, Andrea and I finished redoing Destiny’s website! Check it out at destinyreflection.org]
Before coming here, the previous Global Fellows told me that it is challenging to explain what Destiny does in words, you have to actually see Destiny’s work in action. After visiting all of the projects- the shelter home, community center, and homestay- I understand what they mean. Last week we went to visit the shelter home, where Destiny teaches young girls sewing skills so they can find employment when they leave the shelter at age 18. These girls come from all sorts of backgrounds: domestic violence, victims of child marriages, survivors of sex trafficking, abandonment, street children, etc. Yet, despite such a challenging history, I am always so amazed to see them smiling and joyful when I arrive. When I visit, there are always several girls surrounding me, all wanting to hold my hand and show me their artwork or sewing. It warms my heart to see them so happy when we visit, but I hate to think about how sad they must really be at all other times of the day when are aren’t there.
This weekend, we celebrated Destiny’s 10th birthday with a party at the Khidderpore community center. We enjoyed getting everyone together for some cake, games, and music. I was so sad to say goodbye to everyone at Destiny today.
This past couple weeks we have been busy almost everyday, checking various things off our Kolkata bucket list. We went to a yoga class, we went to Tolly Club with Kushal to watch him feed wild jackals, we went to various restaurants on Park Street, we visited the Shibpur Botanical Garden, we went to the Mother Theresa House, we went to the cemetery, we rode an auto-rickshaw, we ate at our favorite restaurant Momo I Am (several times), we went kurta shopping for Nick and Owen, we went out to dinner with Destiny, we went to a nice Bengali dinner with Diti and Kushal, we went to Smarita’s house for dinner, we tried some new street foods, and we got street chai & Kwality Wall’s ice cream as much as possible ~I am just now realizing how many of our activities involve food :)
In preparation for this trip we were told that the transition home is more challenging than the culture shock going into it. I never understood this, until now. I am worried about the adjustment back into American culture. I think it will be challenging to experience so much affluence and excess, meanwhile, I know about the struggles with poverty in India. On the less serious note, I am worried that home will now seem so boring in comparison to the chaos of Kolkata. When I am home, what will I look at out the car window? The streets will seem so empty. There will be no chickens being butchered in front of me, no random men proposing marriage to me, no motorcycles with four people on them, no cows roaming, no piles of trash, no goats riding in auto-rickshaws, no giant bats, no men peeing on the side of the road, no stray dog fights, no beggars, no rain puddles the size of lakes, and (likely the most noticeable) no constant car honking. In the strangest way possible, I am going to miss all of these things…
I feel blessed to be so sad to leave this place. Thanks for all the memories India… TaTa for now!
