Billy Bob's Big Adventure

I'm 1/2 way home! Where do you park YOUR goat?

2010-01-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

I will be here 3 weeks tomorrow and, as Judy pointed out to me tonight, I'll be 2 days short of 6 weeks when I come home. I didn't realize it was that long. I've worked a day at the U of Delhi and yesterday I put in about 5 hours of reading/writing and I'm now up to 68 pages with a need for 85. After I edit and pull out duplicate thoughts I'll probably be at 55 pages and then I move onto a different portion - applications. I've got that one pretty well figured out - I hope!

I had a fun day today, I went to the movies with Amod and his family and the theater was in side the biggest mall in all of Asia. It was beyond belief, especially when you lay out the slum next to the gargantuan, glittered and marble floor cathedral of the wealthy - it's sick. We went to see Avatar and it was AWESOME! I can't wait to get home and take Judy to see it. Last night I went out with Amod to deliver blankets, it's still darn cold here at night. We cruised around until 2 Am and gave out several blankets. On this trip I've seen several albinos. One was a young man singing in a choir. He has lighter skin than myself but thick dark hair/eyebrows. When I was told he was an albino it threw me off. Yesterday when we went to the movie, Amod's niece came and before I was introduced I thought she was from the UK. She had bright red hair, like in red almost orange, eyebrows and all. When she spoke with a perfect Hindi accent I was thrown off tract again. She is a nice young lady, Deputy Director of a department of inviromental importance. She was schooled in DC for a year so we had things to talk about. All for now.

one more try

2010-01-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures one more time (I couldn't figure out how to attach them to a saved file!). Thanks Steve I went w/GIF files.

Shopping and living area where I work in the daytime

A Bed to Die In

2010-01-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I started to write a story with that title after visiting here for the 1st time. I had read several stories about how people would abandon the hillsides and farm land and come to Delhi, hoping to find a better chance to survive, but living on the streets. I thought they came thinking the lure of the city would solve all their problems. I've experienced now that's not the case, they really do come, to live in the streets, to survive. Another person died last night when my brother was transferring him from a government hospital to his hospital, St. Stephen's, from health complications because of the weather, and another this afternoon. The Times of India reported this morning that 10 have died since December 30th. The honest number, they won't publish is at about twice that many. I've been in conversation with Mercy Corp in Portland to learn how to get my hands on a large quantity of space blankets and I appreciate the guidance I got from them. They advised to stay away from space blankets because they are highly flammable, which I didn't know and I do know that even tho these people had a space blanket, they would cuddle around any fire that provided warmth. So now I'm trying to source sleeping pads of some type to insulate the people from the cold ground. I've not resolved anything yet but, because of right-intentions, something positive will happen. My studies improved tremendously this morning when ALL my books for my thesis project arrived today - 5 weeks after I sent them! The whole trip was beginning to resemble a farce because I had only one book to report on. I taught my English class this morning to 4 students. I enjoy them and I think the feeling is mutual. As I was teaching them I had the option to introduce the word 'opinion' & 'respect'. I helped them understand opinion and then I asked each of them their opinion of Indira and Mohatmas Gandhi. They all sparkled as they answered the question. Then respect. Asking for their understanding, they said they must always do what adults told them to do - they must respect them. In a society where the Dalit's, these children, are treated horribly by some adults, and because 3 of the students were girls which places them so far down the ladder of humanity, they don't have a rung to hang on.

Horrible evening spent

2010-01-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

Last night (Saturday) we were supposed to have a Bible study but my brother Amod was to upset to concentrate. During the day the police came to an area near the hospital I'm attached to and tore down the shelters of 7o families, with wild estimates running upwards to 5,000 (the news here is not always definitive and often debatable). An estimated number of up to 3,000 children were effected by the police harassment. The story behind this incident: This large group of people have been 'squatting' on this railway overpass for 35 years and all come from one region in Bihar, a divided state. Many of the adults in this community were born here, on the brick walks. Yesterday day at noon the police came, without notice, and tore down their shelters, burning all their contents, including their woolen clothing. When we arrived last night the situation with the police was over but hundreds were standing around trying to stay warm. Reports in this morning Times told about the relentless beatings the police gave to these people. Amod arranged for blanket donations and fire wood to sustain the night's weather - 44 degree w/wind. I cried walking home last night. I was angry, frustrated, depressed. The God of the Old Testament, who walked with us to war, allowing us to defeat thine enemy is gone, replaced by the unconditional love of our God who gifted us with Jesus. I embraced the idea of our loving God not being able to control our everyday life's some 25 years ago. God who weeps with us during tragedy, in our lowest moments and celebrates our accomplishments. But for one brief period last night I longed for the God of the Old Testament to return and defend the least among us.

Billy Bob's Big Adventure Newsletter

2010-01-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

This a post I made yesterday and it's not showing up on the blog - for whatever reason. I haven't gotten this blog business all figured out yet! I'm not so sure the photos will come out on this page.

It is Saturday afternoon. I have spent the morning at the office of the Chair of the Social Works Department, Dr. Sanjiv Bhatt. I met Dr. Bhatt on my last trip here and he is a wonderful contact. Also his wife was helping this morning. She is a freelance librarian who works for different organizations. She was teaching me how to access electronic journals from the U of Delhi library. It was very valuable information. I have been working with my Indian brother Amod on his huge project of caring for the homeless. It is still unseasonably cold and we lost another person to the cold last night. That makes 5 now this week. I'm trying to get my hands on copius amounts of space blanket material so we can sew together sleeping pouches for the homeless. I've been searching the world for the fabric and yesterday I made a connection with a disaster relief person at Mercy Corp in Portland and he has promised to give me some help. Yesterday we went to the auto show and it was INSANE!!! This is a country of greatwant. I went to the show to take my nephew who is a car nut @18 years of age. There was a gazillion people and it was a horrible experience. But he enjoyed it. I've been a bit under the weather but coming round. I hope all is well and that you are staying warm.

This is the shopping are adjacent to where I'm working in the days. Next pictures are the hovels adjacent to the Community Center - where I'm working.

I'm too busy!

2010-01-06T02:25:00.001-08:00

Hi, I've been in Delhi now for one week. My Indian brother (soul & heart) has had me far too busy helping out with projects he has been looking forward to completing after my arrival. He has asked me to set up a marketing program for getting the Women's Empowerment projects on ebay, something I had hoped to do. But also I'm teaching conversational English twice a week (if ONLY my junior high teachers see me now!). My brother has signed a contract with the Delhi government to meet all the physical and medical needs for all the homeless in Delhi - a mere 250,000 est. He has had me go with him to buy and deliver fire wood for some of these people because the weather has been frightfully cold at night plus sometimes rain and high winds. This week alone, in the camps he cares for 2 persons have frozen to death and the night before there was a fight over a blanket and a man was stabbed to death. The government is ridiculous here - from a Westerner's experience. Here Amod has signed this contract and yet local police are tearing down the shelters provided for the poor and chasing them off. The right hand knows exactly what the left is doing but ignores it. What's up with that? I'm trying to figure out how to input pictures for my blog but haven't figured that out yet. I have written 8 more pages on my thesis so I'm behind my self-imposed schedule of 2 pages a day. I'm having a moderate case of Delhi-belly today. I ate at a food stand yesterday that was supposed to be bacteria free. Started taking some Cipro today for a sinus infection. That's all for today until I figure out the picture thing.

Call it what it is!

2009-12-29T23:51:00.000-08:00

I arrived at midnight last night and had an uneventful journey - until I reached Delhi and my Indian brother Amod was so caught up with work/projects, that he forgot to pick me up! Not a problem, I hopped a taxi and went to a reasonable hotel nearby and I'm waiting now to be picked up so I can settle into my guest house. India is sometimes known for unabashed honesty. Today's example comes from the help wanted ads from The Times of India. WANTED: PEON, OFFICE Boy for HRD Centre. Good S. Only English fluent, Computer Skilled, below 23 yrs. Walk in interview on January 2nd (10 AM to @ PM) at E62 2nd Flr. Lajpat Ngr., Part 1-I,ND

Why don't we advertise for peons?