India: Nine

Happy weekend all, explore somewhere new!

India: Eight

The Monday of my second week in India was a holiday, Gandhi Day. We went to Dr. Mukkamala's home in Vijayawada for the afternoon. Throughout the day beggars would walk up to the houses and play songs or have performing cows. After they would open their capes and wait for your donation. This gentlemen played us a few songs, and we asked him to bring back his cow, Dr. Mukkamala said that they normally have them all decorated in paints and flowers. He came back but he was cow-less.

India: Seven

Our second day out to the villages began with a stop at APPLE, the Association of Positive People for Living Excellence. The villages that we were going to that day were highly infected with HIV and Ronny wanted to highlight this organization that was trying their best to make a change. This is also where we picked up our guides. At APPLE we learned about the life packs that they distribute throughout the villages to the families that are plagued with the disease. They also hold educational seminars to help promote prevention among future generations. For those familes that are infected they provide counseling and encouragement. Visiting with this group of individuals was such a blessing because we were able to see that they wanted to help make a difference in the lives of people that are often shunned in society. It challenged me to recognize that I can do the same at home. We've all met someone in our lives that has felt alone, that has felt overlooked, abandoned, lost. This weekend take the time to reach out to someone you would normally over look, your willingness to offer help could change their life. Be the difference.

Happy Weekend All!

India: Six

Part of our day in Agra was spent exploring the Agra Fort. (Pictures and stories to come.) On our way out we ran into these little guys. There were about 20 of them total, that was including about 8 babies. They were so close I was tempted to try and pet one but I was too much of a chicken or too wise, you decide. Haha
Monkeys were everywhere in India but this is the closest Meaghan and I got to them, we were total tourists trying to get a pic standing next to one (those are on Meaghans camera, I will hopefully get a copy when she gets home) but we were not alone. There were people from all over the world standing there at that exact moment doing the exact same thing we were. It was quite entertaining hearing all the different languages and knowing although we couldn't understand them, we had an idea of what they were saying because we were saying the same thing. "Just scoot in there a little bit closer [insert name], he isn't going to jump on you." "Smile!" "Oh crap, watch out!" "Hahahahaha" "Wow so cool." Something along those lines.

India: Five

After two weeks of documenting the villages, hospital and orphanage Meaghan and I decided we wanted to see another side of India. We hopped on a 24 hour train to Agra, and set out to take in the beauty of the Taj Mahal, one of the 7 Wonders of the World. Our adventure began Wednesday at 3am, we got on the train around 4:30am which at that time of day seemed more like a haunted house. The aisles were incredibly small, there were dark curtains on all sides and all the heavy breathing made it impossible for Meaghan and I to get much sleep. After the rocky start, we ended up having a pretty great time with the people sharing our bunk. We talked about religion, the indian culture, and hollywood. Haha. We arrived in Agra at 3:45am where we met our driver Vijay. While in Agra we took in the Taj Mahal, the Agra Fort, an Indian Market Place, a Cashmere Carpet Company, a Gorgeous Jewlery store and we hunted for Elephant rides. We had a wonderful time. Vijay dropped us off at the train station around 8:00pm where we began our 24hour trek to Hyderabad.

India: Four

On our first day out to the villages we had the chance to visit the Bay of Bengal and experience the fish market. It was an awesome sight. The boats were coming in with their catch in tow, there were people ready on land to prep the fish, women ready to transport them and there was even an ice cream cart for those of us on lookers that wanted a treat that didn't squirm on the sand. Ronny treated us all to an ice cream, which was just what we needed to get on with our journey to the next village.

India: Three

Walking through these villages it was easy to recognize all the things that were missing, whether it was something as basic as clothes or something so vital as parents/guardians. All the things that we as Americans see as essential; shelter, clean water and food are rare. Witnessing an entire family sharing one cot or learning that a child has no clothes of their own, seeing this first hand has the power to put things into perspective. Things in life will never be perfect, we will experience pain, loss, heartbreak but we need to remember the blessings we've been given.

India: Two

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." -Helen Keller
Each one of these pics has their own story, the first is of a lil girl who's parents had died from aids, she was left to take care of her little brother, she spends her days begging instead of in school.
The second is of a family who has no home, the cot that they are sitting on is their only belonging. They move it each day to a neighbor who is willing to share cover.
The third pic is a fun example of one of one their beliefs. When they think their child is extremely beautiful and that a lot of people will be looking at them, they draw these black dots on their faces to steal away any wrongful thoughts. They are a form of protection. A lot of the babies have them, which makes sense, what parent doesn't think their child is the cutest baby they've ever seen.
The fourth is of this adorable little boy that chased me around with his food. If you look at his hand you can see the rice that he was eating. He thought it was funny because I didn't want to try it, and because I didn't want to try it he was even more driven to share it with me.
The fifth is of this beautiful grandmother. She was taking care of her 3 grandkids after their parents passed away. I desperately wanted to get her a pair of glasses that had both lenses. I offered to have them brought to her but she said she didn't need them...she just likes wearing the frames. I thought that was funny because when I was younger, I always wore glasses with no prescription because I loved the frames.

Lots more to come!

India: One

Hello All! I'm back. It was an amazing trip. I have so many stories and images to share with you. India was nothing like I could have imagined, it was definitely an experience like no other.
I have lots to catch up on as I'm sure you can imagine, but I wanted to leave you with some of my favorite shots from my trips to the slums. We visited about 6 villages, where the orphanage gets most of their girls from.
One of the main reasons these girls end up at the orphange is because HIV and Leprosy are rampant in these communities and the majority of their parents have passed away or are so sick they can't provide for their families. I hope to share many more images and stories soon...and I can't wait to catch up on all your posts :)