What I Know for Sure

On October 25^th, I returned from a 16 day trip to India and Bali, organized by Project Concern International as a Vision Trip. The purpose was to showcase the culture, challenges and successes of PCI’s efforts in these Southeast Asian countries. I was told by many friends that my time in India would be emotional, exhausting and exhilarating – all at the same time. And looking back, that is the first thing I knew for sure!

After flying 26 hours, my sister and I arrived in New Delhi at 5:30 AM and were greeted by Peter, one of the managers of the local PCI office. With flowers in hand, we stepped out into the pollution-laden landscape of Delhi at sunrise and began our Indian odyssey. Just 3 hours later, after a shower and breakfast, we set off on a 3-hour ride to Agra to see the Taj Mahal – one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. The wonder of the day was not the Taj – though it was magnificent and inspiring – the wonder was the journey there. For three hours, my face pressed to the window, we navigated roads overflowing with trucks, wagons drawn by water buffalo, auto rickshaws, bikes, and carts – anything with wheels and always loaded beyond imaginable capacity. The luxury of our transportation was stunning in contrast to what surrounded us. What looked like it should carry four people – carried twenty. This was my second lesson of the day – the ingenuity of these people to work with what they had was unbelievable.

Over the course of the next several days, we visited remote villages where humanitarian projects included polio vaccination, micro-financing for women developed by Nobel Peace Prize 2006 recipient Muhammad Yunus, and shelters for abandoned and orphaned children. One of the most moving days of my life was the day I presented a check for a loan to one of the women in the village. This assistance had the power to change her life – and I was humbled by the privilege of representing this possibility. We met with Muslim religious leaders who were the first to be educated in the benefits of vaccination so that children in the villages could be protected from childhood disease.

Traveling on to Bali, we were the guests of John and Cynthia Hardy – famous throughout the world for their signature silver jewelry. Since selling their jewelry empire, they have re-directed their talent, passion and resources to the building of the Green School, a global academy with students and faculty from more than 20 countries – their purpose to develop renewable resources and education that will leave a gentler footprint on the world and future generations. Imagine studying in bamboo treehouses in the jungles of Bali . . . it was a stunning and inspiring day.

So – what do I know for sure after the privilege of this trip? I know – that no matter how depressed our economy is, no matter how worried we are about our personal fortunes, we have blessings beyond measure in this country. Ours is a world filled with billions of people who struggle to simply survive. The beauty of this trip was not the Taj; not the landscape, but the irrepressible beauty of the people we met and their unwavering faith in wanting to improve their lives. Though I live half a world away – I can and will make choices that will touch these lives and help save these children. I am just one woman – but I have been in their villages, their homes. I have touched their children, they have touched my heart and I will not forget that I can and must make a difference.