We are back and our last day

We are back...healthy and feeling very blessed and humbled by our experiences over the past week

We landed last night at around 7 o'clock... In Delhi time that is 2.30am in the morning... After warm welcomes from those who had come to collect us from the airport and excited chatter about our experiences, we suddenly felt very tired.

What were those last days like?

As we awoke on Saturday morning it was to the realisation the painting was over and a celebration lay ahead. We all got dressed in our resplendent (bling!) outfits to go to Seelampur for the last time on this trip.

We were greeted by the usual throng of excited children and led to the gates of the clinic, which had been cleaned and decorated with garlands in anticipation of the celebration. Amidst all the preparation we were shown some dance moves that were to be part of the ceremony....great fun! A growing sense of excitement built as people slowly gathered dressed in their best clothes, chairs surrounded the central courtyard where mats had been laid, the adults filled the chairs whilst the children sat on the mats. The colour and the sound was wonderful as the excitement and anticipation built. (you have to see the photographs for it was truly beautiful and one that we will remember for a long time.)

At last Sebord called the ceremony to a start by ushering us all out of the building and arranging a ribbon to be placed at the entrance. Amanda was given a pair of scissors, made a brief speach and with photographers cameras flashing the ribbon was cut and the newly decorated clinic declared open!

The little children started the celebration by placing garlands of flowers around our necks, which was followed by a speach by an older boy (Mohit) and then by a representative of the womens group. After these initial speaches we were treated to a dance display by Shiv....if you have ever seen a Bollywood film, you will know the type of dance routine. To say that Shiv had all the moves is an undertstatement-he had them all and more!

It then fell to us to speak. Amanda spoke first thanking each and everyone for their support and help, transalted by Freddie and this was followed by us all performing two songs, one in English (Strength will rise) and one in Hindi (Jai Yeshu) and then performing an English country dance. Big thanks to Heather for having shown us the moves the day before...what made the dance really special was being joined by two of Asha's Seelampur team (Ashima and Pooja).

Finally, Jez presented an 'original' Indian International cricket team shirt to the best player from our match on thursday and gave a brief speach on never giving up and keeping your eyes on Jessu. Freddie followed calling us to do two thinks; Love the Lord our God and our neighbour as ourselves...we were particularly touched by the way the group listened to Freddie, a father figure to all.

The whole event conlcuded by a free for all dance...we saw some great St Stephens movers and shakers... there is clear Bollywood talent in the team!

Sometime later after most had left we had a final time of prayer with the Asha team. Amanda handed out presents and we had a very emotional farewell. We left to go out for our final meal in Delhi, where we had the opportunity of extended our thanks to Amanda for her fantastic organisation and leadership (she has been truly amazing)

By 9.00am we were all in the van ready to be taken to the airport, each of us carrying the reflections of all the ways we had seen and heard the Lord move in Seelampur and in us.

With love

Chris and Helen

Last Working Day

Hi All. Today is our final day - painting and prayer walking. We tackled a really nasty bit of the health centre as well as the loos!!!!!!! All in a good cause!!!! The morning began with a group of us praying for the Asha team - a very special time with pictures and words of knowledge for individuals - all were very blessed and so were we. A group of us went for a visit to the slum houses and were invited in to pray for specific needs - cancer, exams, jobs, new roof, new home and an elderly lady with a son unable to support her - it was a privilege to be asked into their homes and they were so open to being prayed for.

Tomorrow is the celebration, so we have been preparing our little contribution - a dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! much to most of the teams surprise!! Alan is dancing so no video of this event!!!!! SORRY! As the afternoon came to an end there was a chance to sing and dance with the young children - they were thrilled with the Hokey Cokey! Half of the team (John all day) were clinging to a ledge above the centre courtyard, scraping and painting with all their might in the hot sun - they have lovely tans!!! Not sure how much of it is dust t! So now we have complete our tasks at the slum. The sum of five days hard toil and labour as we stood in the courtyard and looked at the myriad of rooms which we have now transformed with murals, borders , posters, bunting etc. Everyone feels relieved and excited about the future of this transformed Asha building, It is well equipped to serve the needs in the slums and especially with the staff who remain so loyal in all they do each day. Our prayer is that God continues to bless them richly in their work.

On the way home, some of us went to see Old Delhi - we were taken round by two of the older children from the slum, excellent guides. None of us had seen anything like it in our lives. One street, very narrow, only sold wedding decorations - it shone from end to end with sparkle and colour, Amazing!! Took the metro back to Connaught Place and then a hair raising trip in a tuk tuk to a restaurant for a South Indian meal - yummy!!

Thank you so much for all your comments and prayers - so appreciated by all, Cant believe we will be packing tomorrow and soon home.

Hugs and kisses, Karen and Heather xx

Today has been a sunny day in New Delhi. After our usual breakfast and prayers at the YWCA we set off at 8.30am for the slum. The team divided into two for our morning activites - painting some remaining unpainted rooms in the clinic and a game of cricket with the boys at Seelampur on a pitch they had not played on before.

The cricket match was a great success (as was the painting!). Alan and Chris B joined me in participating in the game whilst other team members gave inspirational encouragement from the sidelines. It was a ten overs per side game - more than enough in the Delhi heat for us - and nearly all the players got a chance to bat or bowl. We were joined by one or two motorbikes and passing cows on the pitch - not sights usually seen on a cricket pitch in England! - and fielding the ball was definitely quite hazardous on a somewhat bumpy outfield. The spirit of the game was tremendous and at the finish we had a little team talk congratulating all the players and awarding an Indian cricket team official shirt to the player of the match who had caught our eye with some fine wristy strokes and attacking footwork.

Back to the slum clinic for lunch on the roof as usual - the painting team had made short order of the remaining rooms needing painting, so after lunch we could all get involved in painting the central pillars and next storey of the building. With one painting day to go the building is looking very different to its appearance when we arrived and tomorrow should see us complete the upper storey too.

Because of the painting and cricket game today there were no prayer walks / visits in the slum but we plan to do another one or two tomorrow before the inauguration of the building on Saturday - for which we are beginning to practice our team dance - watch this space!

Tonight we are all relaxing and 'doing our own thing' having been out togther as a team every other evening. Last night we had a team meal with Kiran and Freddie which was a lovely time hearing more detail about the story and history of Asha as well as more about the current opportunities and challenges they face.

Thank you for all your prayers for us - we are all in good heart and spirit and health. Tired but energised by all we are seeing and experiencing and already begining to realise we will miss the extraordinary affection, curiosity, smiles and openess of the children (and many of the adults) we are mingling with in the slum each day.

Signing off now for a post cricket match glass of something cold....

With love from all the team, Jez

Day three

Today is day three in the slums, not sure if anyone has mentioned the almost comical hour long ride there, imagine rush hour with no rules of the road, and at times not even a road! then add a few million tut tut's and few more million bicycles, mayhem doesn't really do it justice:). We saw the record broken for the most people in a tut tut today , 11 people crammed in this little yellow sardine can on a motorbike!

Today we finished the rooms with the fish and the dinosaurs, I forgot to mention in the last post but we also did the IT room yesterday , putting up all the posters of our round trip of London, they look amazing lined up around the room, we hung some red, white and blue bunting to finish it off! There was some face painting going on with the young children today, batman, dragons, pirates etc which they really enjoyed.

After cleaning up the rooms we all changed into our Indian tog's as Dr Kiran Martin is coming today, after a little wait she arrives with crowds of women and children cheering and throwing flowers they are thrilled to see her. After saying a million hello's and looking at all the work we had done so far we sat in one of the children's rooms and had a workshop with the children. A young girl stand up and tells the story of how all the children give money into a collection, when there is enough money they all decide who to help with a gift of medicine or whatever they need. These are a group of children no older than 12 I think,I can't help but think what an inspiration these kids would be back home. Another explains how her home had lost it's electricity and it was very intense in her house especially for her as she had exams coming up, she wrote a letter to the electricity board explaining she couldn't study and was worried about her exams, the electricity board came and fixed the homes supply straight away. Without her writing skills she says this would not have been possible.

Kira tells us of when she used to come to this slum years ago in just a van and saw patients by the road side, where there was an open drain, often children used to fall into the drain catching all kinds of infections, many died over these years. After a while they were upgraded to a toilet a big relief when it rained, everyone laughed. We continued to listen to may stories from the children, it was a very special time. Then the older children came in, Kira told us how this group of children are the first from Seelampur to go to university! They tell us various testimonies, how it is impossible to study in a slum home, so dark, so noisy, at Asha they can have a quite room all to them selves.
As well as Kira coming Amanda managed to get an Indian lawyer to come and visit the slum, a really nice guy, this is a work contact of Johnathan's, he is really impressed by the work Asha has done and is very interested in helping the children achieve their goals of becoming a fully fledged lawyer. This could be an incredible opportunity for the children, a respectful job and work!
So far none of the team has suffered any Delhi belly type of illness so thank you all who have been praying, Jez was unwell last night with a cold but after a good nights rest has managed to shake it off, unfortunately I seem to have got a cold today so am hoping and praying I can do the same by tomorrow, Amanda like myself is finding it very hard to sleep, so please keep praying.

Also thank you for all your comments they are great to read, I shall read them to the group tomorrow, I had to take picture of them with my phone as the printer here doesn't work either:)
Again excuse any errors it's quite late now and the computer keeps loosing the text when it crashes.

Alan..

Tuesday work continues

Well apologies for if we are a little behind with the blog and the previous disconnection, a combination of little time, weary bodies and an Internet facility that is as reliable as a sundial at midnight. Tuesday morning we arrive to "devotion time" where the team sit with Sabot (phonetic spelling) who is the leader of the Asha building and the women and children, we join in the worship to the lord in Hindi and thanks to Heathers resource fullness we sing them a few English songs too.

Afterwards the team crack back into the painting, the creations are really starting to come alive now as more animals are filled in, shading is applied and little touches are being added. I have discovered a new talent in my life as a shark I had drawn actually looks like a shark and not just a blob of colours which is how I expected it to turn out:)

At lunch time we sat on the roof, one side looks straight into the slum buildings, the are arranged in all sizes, shapes and colours, extension after extension is built skywards most finished off without just a sheet of plastic held down by bricks for a roof, and a variety of materials holding the building together, it all looks like one big storm would bring the lot down. Around the rest of the building is waste land full of litter but there is a toilet block next door, we sit and eat our peanut butter and marmite sandwhiches as we watch a boy on one of the roofs play with a flock of birds, he whistles to them whilst he is waving a rag around, we watch in amazement as he controls their flight around the sky periodically landing them where he grooms them, cleans their wings gives one a kiss then waves them back into the sky. (We watch this boy and clap every day)
In the afternoon two groups leave for the slums for a prayer walk, visiting homes and meeting the people within. A few people are in extremely dire conditions, in small darkened rooms and left to fend for themselves, I didn't go but when the group when they returned and told their stories you couldn't help but notice the effect of the experience on their faces it was so dramatic.

Heather did some singing games with the children whilst work continued on the painting, the day finished very quickly it seems though we had only just arrived.

In the evening I got to see my daughter Hannah Branch and Geni Corbett who are working at two other slums for Asha teaching English. It was good to see them well and full of God's blessing ,I also got to meet Joti's lovely sister Shamilla and her husband Randel who are providing the accomodation for them, they are an amazing christian couple full of Gods love and are simply a joy to be with. I can't thank them enough for looking after the girls.

Alan..

PS this blog crashed 3 times trying to post it so excuse any errors..I am also trying to rid it of the virus window that was bouncing around the screen whilst typing!

Part blog from John and Eleanor

First I have to say that if you have a birthday while an Asha mission is on - its definitely the place to have one - it was mine (John) yesterday and the team gave me a day to remember with lunch in an American diner, in the midst of an English imperial style hotel, in the midst of an Indian city - one of the endless contrasts of India we are becoming used to.

After our days of preparation today was our first working day in the slum. The day began with a sense of nervous anticipation, with some of the team feeling slightly unwell and some short of sleep. However, by giving the day over to God, we felt a sense of safety and encouragement and as sonn as we arrived at the slum we were met with such a warm welcome that these difficulties were quickly forgotten.

After dividing into two groups to begin transforming the rooms - one quickly became an undersea world populated with starfish, seahorses, and a very cheerful looking shark -painted by Alan who previously professed to have no artististic talent! The other became a panorama of dinosaurs, soon to be joined by pterodactyls. With God inspiring our brushes we made much quicker progress than we'd expected and now hope to be able to paint more of the building than originally planned.

Throughout our work we were accompanied by many smiling faces as the children popped their heads round the door to check on our progress.

Blog was disconnected yesterday before posting to be continued later...

Orientation!

Most of us had a good nights sleep, despite being woken up by the call of a temple at 5am

As Chris and Julie said, we were invited into some of the homes of those that we had met earlier. The lanes in the slums were like a maze; the alleys were dark and narrow, each lane has about 40 homes, each home consisting of a single room, each room is no bigger than 8' square with 6 to 8 people living in each room..they eat, sleep, cook, wash and live in this one room. Everywhere there was activity, children playing in the lanes with sewers running down either side, women washing clothes on the roof whilst men worked in tiny work rooms. Our guides consisted of some of the women and children we had met, one women was a 'bare foot doctor' - a woman who has been through three months training in basic health by Asha, they cover 200 to 300 households each, helping to solve basic health problems and are the focal point for reaching every home. She introduced us to some of her patients; one was a lady going through her first pregnancy and another was a family who had a father suffering from TB, with a disabled child that was malnourished. We were shown the Asha cards used by the lane nurse to monitor both patients. In the case of the child it was so sad to see how the childs weight was very low, with limited opportunity for the weight to increase whilst the father was unable to work, due to TB. These two cases seemed to illustrate both the great work of Asha and the immense need for what is being done.

In another house, we met a family with one daughter at college. She needed to be able to study at home but with so many people in the one room house and all the comings and going of so many people, they had erected a small plastic covering on the roof under which she could study.
After saying goodbye to the Asha team, we went shopping in a local market to buy traditional Indian clothes. The girls spent ages making decisions - there were so many choices as well as rich and beautiful colours...where as the boys were finished within minutes, allowing them to then buy a second outfit with a lot of bling..... we will all be wearing some stunning outfits when we return. We returned to the YWCA and ate in, as after a very busy day we were all very tired.

Today we went on a tour around Delhi visiting some of the great sites, ably led by our wonderful guide Amanda. Although we do not drive far, everywhere takes a long time to get to as we negotiate the miriade of cars, lorries, bicycles, pedestrians, tuk-tuks and motorbikes. We have started to count how many people we can see on a single tuk-tuk or motorbike - so far we the record is 5 on a motorbike and 7 in a tuk-tuk.

Our first stop was at the Presidents Residence and the sectretariate. As we walked down the Rajpath (the Indian equivalent of The Mall) towards India Gate we nearly lost Jez as he was diverted by one of the many casual cricket matches in progress on the roadside. Yes, he did go and join in for a very brief over. Once we arrived at India Gate and joined the throng of very colourful people looking at the monument we bumped in to Geni Corbett and her friend Claire, who are out here working in another slum with Asha. The day was concluded by a visit to a beautiful garden and tomb where we had time to relax in advance of tomorrow

Helen & Chris

Landed!

For those waiting for our first post thank you for your patience... We arrived safely and all intact at the YWCA Delhi early afternoon yesterday... Most of us took the opportunity to grab a quick snooze while Jez and Chris went off exploring... Those who were asleep were woken up by huge crack's of thunder whilst Jez and Chris B experienced the weather first hand.

In the evening we ventured out into the rubble and puddles for our dinner which was at a delicious vegetarian restaurant. There we met up with Hannah, Alans daughter who has been here for 6 weeks and got to hear about her teaching experiences so far. She seemed to be quite settled in and savvy to Delhi already. Returning back we noticed more and more the many people living on the roadsides, some in shelters, some simply lying on the pavement in front of us. The shocking thing was the fact that whole families and even small communities seemed to be living quite permanently in these makeshift shelters.

Today most of us got up early to be ready for our first earlier than expected visit to the slum. After breakfast we piled into the minibus and marvelled at the chaos and colour that is Delhi's traffic. Our welcome at the clinic was surprising to us 1st timers with garlands and lots of expectant faces and joyful clapping. After a quick tour of the clinic we met some of the many groups that Asha facilitate. 1st there were the youngest, full of joy and excitement, followed swiftly by the youth group, more sedate this time until the boys exploded when Jez mentioned cricket! Finally, the room filled with many of the women volunteers who seem to be such a crucial link into the slum. We realized they were a force to be reckoned with as we heard how they had met with many high ranking government officials and brought about significant changes to the quality of life in the slum.

We then were led into the slum in two teams for a tour and were welcomed into some peoples homes. More on this tomorrow as its quite late now...

God bless you all

Chris and Julie on behalf of the team...

Prayer Points

We would love to be supported in prayer whilst we are away.

Here are some suggestions:

• For good health, esp tummy-wise that we avoid "Delhi belly"!
• For safety travelling, esp in the mini bus on Delhi's busy roads.
• That we gel as a team, working well together and supporting one another
• That our painting is productive and creative, and the murals all get done!
• That the workshops we run with the children and young people are useful to them, fun and interactive. (We do not want to be at all patronising, but instead supportive and encouraging)
• That we can be a blessing to the people we meet in Seelampur, esp those we pray with.
• That we can bless and encourage the Asha staff team working in Seelampur
• That we can take the light of Jesus into the slum, bringing hope, healing and blessing.

We will update the blog as we go, so please keep a look out for latest prayer requests!

Thank you so much! Amanda and the team xx

Previous Teams

Here are some photos of the teams that have gone out from St Stephens in the past.

This will be the 5th team in 4 years.

Here is the 2009 team, in their Indian clothes, ready to go off to Mayapuri slum.

Here is the first 2008 team, going off to work in Dr Ambedkar Basti.

Here are some of the 2007 team, ready for their camp out.....

Introducing the 2010 team

We are a team of 11, consisting of two people that have been to work with Asha before (Amanda Clegg and Heather Brown) and nine others, for whom it is the first time.

1. Amanda Clegg (team leader)
2. Heather Brown
3. Jez Barnes (the vicar!)
4. Chris Brecht
5. Helen Putland
6. Karen Jones
7. Julie Ward
8. Chris Gavin
9. Alan Branch
10. Jon Pickston
11. Eleanor Pickston
    

Here are some team photos from our team building fundraising day in January, where we did a Sightseeing Tour of London, visiting 11 destinations around the capital that we thought the children in Seelampur would like to know about.

Photos of Seelampur

Here are some photos of Seelampur slum colony that Asha have sent us. This is the slum that our team will be working in. It is the east of New Delhi on the other side of the Yamuna River. It is a mainly muslim slum that Asha have been working in for quite a few years.

Parts of Seelampur look quite open and parts look more built up.

All of it looks very poor and dirty....a hard place to live!

But the smiles of the children speak of hope, dignity and life!

Its strange to think that we will be there to see for ourselves next week!