Today’s officially the one week mark from leaving Kathmandu. Next Monday, we’ll be flying through Istanbul and on to Chicago, then home on Wednesday. It feels strange to be leaving so soon after I feel like I’ve got this city down- I know, I’ve only been here over a month and I’m far from independent here. But I know my way around. In this city with no street names, I recognize landmarks everywhere I go and can get from place to place on my own. I’ve got my hangout spots and favorite coffee shop where the staff knows me by my order and can speak to the locals with broken Nepali.
One small victory that I celebrated today- going the right way around a stranger! Let me explain. When you’re about to run into someone in the street, you go one way if they go the other way, you avoid them. And since the walking streets of Kathmandu are so busy, this happens quite often. I don’t know if it’s a which-side-of-the-road-you-drive-on thing, but my default is to go right to avoid someone, while I have noticed that the Nepalis’ default is to go left. This normally equates to collision. But this morning, upon almost walking into a stranger, I moved to the left (as did they) and I kept walking, happy that I had finally figured it out. So many small cultural things like were confusing at first, but I love learning to understand, follow, and blend in. Instead of a nod, they bob their heads side to side to show agreement. I find my head bobbing in conversation with kids now. There’s things you can learn in Lonely Planet about how to fit in and avoid major faux pas, but some things just come with time. For the first time, I really feel blended in to another culture and like I can make a home on this side of the world. I am aware every day of the limited time. I want to spend the next week invested in the people here, the natural beauty of this place, in my team and leaders. But I also know the deep longing in my heart to continue to wander and to someday establish roots here. I have loved the chance to get settled in to the life here of Sunday night rooftop worship, team movie nights and laser tag, Saturday children's home talent shows, lentils and rice, hills and valleys, mud and monsoons. Thanks for following me on this journey, and thanks to all those who've given me the opportunity to be here. Jaimasihi, Becca
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This week, we have spent time as a team back in Kathmandu visiting and volunteering with different ministries in the city to learn about their work and support them, The abuse and sale of human beings is a complex problem. And for as deep and multi-faceted as the problem is, the solutions are just as complex. Wherever in the world you see people working to fight trafficking, you'll see people working in prevention. Intervention. Protection. Rehabilitation. Legal, financial and psychological help. Governmental advocacy. Fulfilling physical and spiritual needs. Business and employable skills training. And no one organization can do it all, so it's so important to have different groups with the same goal working together to fill different necessary roles in the process of restoration. We have visited and learned about many inspiring organizations and ministries dedicated to many aspects of the solution. We spoke to the founder of Women LEAD, a leadership training and empowerment organization that helps young girls question the patriarchal cultural traditions they grew up with and gives the necessary skills to become leaders in government and business. We visited Beauty for Ashes, a beautiful business that employs survivors of sexual exploitation and teaches them sewing and jewelry skills and builds community. We have worked with Iris, a homeless ministry and Agape, an outreach to girls working in the sex industry here in Kathmandu. We visited Mercy Works today, a wonderful organization that takes in orphans, abandoned or abused children, and gives them homes and family. They have a preschool-8th grade school for all their students. Mercy Works also helps widows and their children by giving them fair trade work and a community. They have sustainable business ventures, a woodshop, a vegetable garden, a covered sports court... it was so so cool walking around the grounds and seeing all the wonderful things that have been set up for these precious people who would otherwise be rejected from society. As the girls on the team and I spent time with the girls at Mercy Works, jumping rope and singing songs from Frozen, I noticed all their radiant smiles and thought of the joyful future they have now, thanks to this redeeming opportunity. Each child that finds a home here is a break in the cycle. Each abandoned, abused or exploited girl that comes to Mercy Works and is educated and given trade skills and the joy of Christ is one more victory for freedom in our world. The team will decide on our individual projects soon (one or more ministries or areas of THI's work that we will hands on work with for the remainder of the trip) and start those in a few days. I am so excited about so many things that are happening here and can't wait to step in to be at least a small part of the beautiful picture.
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Becca LambChristian, feminist, idealist, wife, poet, abolitionist, dreamer, adventurer. Archives
June 2018
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