Odd subject I know, but more on that later!
Firstly, thank you to all you lovely people who have sent me encouraging replies, I really appreciate them :)
This last week had been a pretty average week, apart from Shashi's wedding on Friday. It was a lot smaller and less extravagant than the previous wedding we'd been to on Tuesday. As it was in a village (where people are generally poorer than people living in towns or cities) Shashi's father had put everything he had into this wedding. So we arrived at village school on Friday evening (near to Shashi's wedding) and we saw her with all her make-up, jewelery and henna on, we found this quite hard as a team and didn't really know how to react in this situation, as weddings here are neither particularly happy times, or sad times.
We then walked round to the wedding where we were greeted with lots of 'Namaste didi's from all the children and women at school who were also attending. It was so good to see them all dressed up in their fancy salwars! Unfortuantly this wedding didn't really have much of a happy ending as a fight broke out, before we'd even properly seen Shashi and the groom hadn't even arrived. Apparently this is common in village weddings, as thier are often fights over money or food. This led to the majority of the guests leaving, our hosts ushered us out pretty swiftly as it could have, and did, turn into something more serious. On the way home we found out that her husband was already drunk before he's even arrived at his own wedding. My heart just broke for Shashi... So the way home from the wedding we all prayed for her. As a team we've found it very easy to judge arranged marriages, just because it' not in our western culture, but I pray that they will fall in love, and treat each other with respect.
As a said this week as been a pretty average week, teaching at both village and city school. It's been lots of fun with the children.
Now it comes to the subject of this email/blog... well a mouse update for you all - we currently have two resident mice in our flat. Freddie, the big mouse and Frankie, the small mouse. And it was Freddie that kept me up since 4am this morning - mice are so noisy. So I'm tired now, and I'm feeling hungry. Today our church is having a day of fasting and praying. So we're all fasting until 8pm, and everyone has been allotted an hour to spend praying for Anusaran and it's members. I've already had my hour, and found it really good just to be able to focus for a whole hour on praying for Anusaran.
Thank you for your prayers about health - we're all better now, except Lydia who's been to the doctors and now has medicine, so hopefully she'll be back to herself soon.
Thanks for reading once again,
Love Hannah x
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Thursday, 18 February 2010
1 wedding down, 1 wedding to go...!
Time for an update again… As a write this to you I’m admiring my new henna (ready for the second wedding of the week tomorrow) and praying that this laptop doesn’t crash too many times on me. We haven’t been able to make it to an internet café today as 2 of our team members are ill, so instead using our rubbishy laptop in the flat.
Last Friday we went to Arnold’s award ceremony. The singing went well, after the brief panic when we couldn’t get the accompanying keyboard to work, the girls did fantastic in the dance and Arnold said a great little winning speech. (Oh, and during this time we had the 5th rain since arriving here!)
On Saturday we visited a place called ‘Dilli Haat’. It was a posh market full of Indian scarfs, clothes, bags, jewelerry etc – I could have spent so much money there!!
This week we’ve been back at village school, which had been great. We really missed everyone here – women and children so it was brillant to see everyone again and get back into our routine of teaching. We also had a chance to visit Shashi (the girl who’s getting married tomorrow) at her home. I found it quite hard seeing her knowing it’ll be the last time I see her before her marriage to a man she’s only met once. It was lovely to have a chance to see her after so long though.
Tuesday was a very fun day for us. As it was Shrove Tuesday we stuck with tradition and made pancakes – very yummy! In the evening was our first Indian wedding and it was amazing. On Tuesday there were 42,000 weddings taking place in India (some special day in Hinduism as certain stars line up… something along those lines.) Anyway, the wedding venue was a huge beautiful open topped marquee. We started off the evening with the starters and chatting to a few people. We then left to join the groom’s procession. He travelled on a horse-drawn carriage behind a band, and many of the groom’s guests were dancing along. Of course us 4 were dragged into dance A LOT! It was quite a surreal experience but lots of fun. Once we’d travelled about 200m in an hour we arrived back at the main marquee with even more dancing. Once inside we ate more food and had a photo taken with the bride and groom whilst they sat on thier thrown type chair on the front stage. It was a good night.
Yesterday (Wednesday) the celebrations continued with it being Tabi’s 19th birthday. It was a normal day really, with added cake and of course cake fights. A very different birthday for her but she enjoyed it.
The celebrations continue tomorrow with Shashi’s wedding. We’re excited for another wedding, but sad as this will be the last time we see her before she moves away to live with her new husband and his family.
If you would like to pray for us then the main prayer request would be for our health, as not all of us our feeling 100% at the moment and I’m feeling quite tired and lacking energy at the moment. Probably due to many late nights and lots of planning, so prayers for feeling refreshed and re-energised would be great.
Hope you’re all doing well. Please do let me know if you have any prayer requests, as I’d love to pray for you.
Love, Hannah xx
Last Friday we went to Arnold’s award ceremony. The singing went well, after the brief panic when we couldn’t get the accompanying keyboard to work, the girls did fantastic in the dance and Arnold said a great little winning speech. (Oh, and during this time we had the 5th rain since arriving here!)
On Saturday we visited a place called ‘Dilli Haat’. It was a posh market full of Indian scarfs, clothes, bags, jewelerry etc – I could have spent so much money there!!
This week we’ve been back at village school, which had been great. We really missed everyone here – women and children so it was brillant to see everyone again and get back into our routine of teaching. We also had a chance to visit Shashi (the girl who’s getting married tomorrow) at her home. I found it quite hard seeing her knowing it’ll be the last time I see her before her marriage to a man she’s only met once. It was lovely to have a chance to see her after so long though.
Tuesday was a very fun day for us. As it was Shrove Tuesday we stuck with tradition and made pancakes – very yummy! In the evening was our first Indian wedding and it was amazing. On Tuesday there were 42,000 weddings taking place in India (some special day in Hinduism as certain stars line up… something along those lines.) Anyway, the wedding venue was a huge beautiful open topped marquee. We started off the evening with the starters and chatting to a few people. We then left to join the groom’s procession. He travelled on a horse-drawn carriage behind a band, and many of the groom’s guests were dancing along. Of course us 4 were dragged into dance A LOT! It was quite a surreal experience but lots of fun. Once we’d travelled about 200m in an hour we arrived back at the main marquee with even more dancing. Once inside we ate more food and had a photo taken with the bride and groom whilst they sat on thier thrown type chair on the front stage. It was a good night.
Yesterday (Wednesday) the celebrations continued with it being Tabi’s 19th birthday. It was a normal day really, with added cake and of course cake fights. A very different birthday for her but she enjoyed it.
The celebrations continue tomorrow with Shashi’s wedding. We’re excited for another wedding, but sad as this will be the last time we see her before she moves away to live with her new husband and his family.
If you would like to pray for us then the main prayer request would be for our health, as not all of us our feeling 100% at the moment and I’m feeling quite tired and lacking energy at the moment. Probably due to many late nights and lots of planning, so prayers for feeling refreshed and re-energised would be great.
Hope you’re all doing well. Please do let me know if you have any prayer requests, as I’d love to pray for you.
Love, Hannah xx
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Practice makes perfect
Hello everyone!
Time for an update again! Not too much to say though...
Church went well again on Friday, with another new face turning up. On Saturday we all went into Old Delhi again to buy new sarees (as we didn't get them after updating last time) and we visited Phyllis and Valerie again. It was so lovely to see them again, they love to chat so much and they really are our Indian Grandma's!
Sunday was an... eventful day... We went on our first trip to the hairdressers in India. (no, we hadn't had a hair cut since arriving, I guess it just wasn't one of our priorities!). I'm NOT having my hair cut in India again... none of us are... Tabi and Lydia looked like the Pink Ladies from Grease, and Louise and I looked like Bon Jovi! Definitely an experience!
The dance is looking good for Friday. All the girls have been practicing LOADS and have got really good. I love their enthusiasm for it, and their willingness to practice. They're all very excited to perform on Friday.
The only other news I have is that it rained on Monday!!! Only our 4th day of rain since being in India and lets just say I'm not missing British weather!
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Take care,
Love, Hannah xx
Time for an update again! Not too much to say though...
Church went well again on Friday, with another new face turning up. On Saturday we all went into Old Delhi again to buy new sarees (as we didn't get them after updating last time) and we visited Phyllis and Valerie again. It was so lovely to see them again, they love to chat so much and they really are our Indian Grandma's!
Sunday was an... eventful day... We went on our first trip to the hairdressers in India. (no, we hadn't had a hair cut since arriving, I guess it just wasn't one of our priorities!). I'm NOT having my hair cut in India again... none of us are... Tabi and Lydia looked like the Pink Ladies from Grease, and Louise and I looked like Bon Jovi! Definitely an experience!
The dance is looking good for Friday. All the girls have been practicing LOADS and have got really good. I love their enthusiasm for it, and their willingness to practice. They're all very excited to perform on Friday.
The only other news I have is that it rained on Monday!!! Only our 4th day of rain since being in India and lets just say I'm not missing British weather!
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Take care,
Love, Hannah xx
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Only 2 months left...
Hello everyone,
Hope you are all well and have had enjoyable weeks.
So yes, I'm two-thirds of the way through, and I find it sad to think I'll be home in 2 months. I love it here so much!
So update since last week...
Friday saw the first of Friday Church Services in our hosts house. This is the new ministry starting up in this area. On Friday we had 2 new faces, which was great and we're all praying that it continues to grow. This new ministry is hoped to reach more people in this area of Dwarka and encourage more people to come to church, as the other church is in a slum area so many people are relectant to visit there.
On Saturday, we went to an awards ceremoney where are hosts son, Arnold, recieved 1st runner up in a national fashion designing competition. We all enjoyed the day as we got to wear our saree's again, and eat lots amazingly yummy food!
All this week we've been at city school and all really enjoyed it. In the mornings I've been teaching a boys class and teaching the alphabet to a group of small children. The afternoons consist of the team doing a skit and teaching songs, followed by craft or games. Lydia and I then take 12 girls upstairs to teach them dance. Arnold has won 1st prize in an art competition out of 14,000 people and so Anusaran have been asked to perform a dance at the ceremony so we've been teaching the dance to 'Every Move I Make' to perform.
For those who would like to pray, please pray that:
- the dance prepartions would come together on time.
- A lady from church who is moving out of Delhi as their family are having water problems, involving needing to travel 11km to collect water.
- For the team as we prepare various services and church groups.
I'm off to buy a new saree now, as we have mnay saree events coming up and can't be wearing the same one to them all!
Love and prayers,
Hannah xx
Hope you are all well and have had enjoyable weeks.
So yes, I'm two-thirds of the way through, and I find it sad to think I'll be home in 2 months. I love it here so much!
So update since last week...
Friday saw the first of Friday Church Services in our hosts house. This is the new ministry starting up in this area. On Friday we had 2 new faces, which was great and we're all praying that it continues to grow. This new ministry is hoped to reach more people in this area of Dwarka and encourage more people to come to church, as the other church is in a slum area so many people are relectant to visit there.
On Saturday, we went to an awards ceremoney where are hosts son, Arnold, recieved 1st runner up in a national fashion designing competition. We all enjoyed the day as we got to wear our saree's again, and eat lots amazingly yummy food!
All this week we've been at city school and all really enjoyed it. In the mornings I've been teaching a boys class and teaching the alphabet to a group of small children. The afternoons consist of the team doing a skit and teaching songs, followed by craft or games. Lydia and I then take 12 girls upstairs to teach them dance. Arnold has won 1st prize in an art competition out of 14,000 people and so Anusaran have been asked to perform a dance at the ceremony so we've been teaching the dance to 'Every Move I Make' to perform.
For those who would like to pray, please pray that:
- the dance prepartions would come together on time.
- A lady from church who is moving out of Delhi as their family are having water problems, involving needing to travel 11km to collect water.
- For the team as we prepare various services and church groups.
I'm off to buy a new saree now, as we have mnay saree events coming up and can't be wearing the same one to them all!
Love and prayers,
Hannah xx
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