Dalit Freedom Network Canada

Happy International Women’s Day to you all!

We celebrated the occasion by visiting two village women’s groups. It always amazes us to see how vibrant, confident, and funny women are when they are surrounded by their peers and away from their husbands. This congregation of about thirty women, ranging from a 20-year-old to many grandmothers, shared openly with us about how joining these groups has changed their lives. Together they collect and save money, then distribute loan to each member in turn; now these women, largely uneducated and relegated to fieldwork, are running shops, selling milk, or sewing. Now they are holding their heads up high, earning their own income, and raising their families out of poverty. After sharing their stories we coaxed them into interrogating us, and they found it hysterical to hear about our “love marriage” (versus arranged), our wedding rings (versus gold chains), and our cold, cold climate (versus today’s 34 degrees). It was a privilege to meet and hear from these women.

We left Hyderabad yesterday for a three-week trip to the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. We are closer to the ocean than we have been in three months and are itching to lay eyes on it later this week.

We sent Dallas and Nate home on Saturday after a whirlwind two weeks, an unexpected few days in the hospital, and many amazing adventures. They are now safely back in Canada.

We are doing well, and every day the number of remarkable stories we carry grows. The memories we are accumulating are so beautiful, whether they capture today’s games of stella-stella-ola and duck-duck-goose with a houseful of parentless girls, or witnessing the second ever DFN graduation last weekend. We still love curry, we learned three words in Tamil today, and we can now confidently speak at least twenty in Hindi! Our hearts are very full.

Thank you yet again for faithfully reading our thoughts and sharing our moments. In our hearts, you are all in India with us. 

Yes, we are still alive. Sorry it has been so long since we last updated, but since Dallas and Nate have arrived we have been on the go non-stop. Since we have had such a busy week and are exhausted, we have spilt this update into two. I (Jon) will write the first half and Suzi will write the second half.

Well Dallas and Nate arrived on the 20th early in the morning and we gave them no time to rest. They arrived at 12:05am and we had booked a flight out of HYD at 6am to Karnataka to visit some projects there. So we arranged a 4-hour napping package at the airport for the guys, which included a shower, food and a bed. We arrived, met the guys, and headed back into the airport to catch the plane. After two hour-and-a-half flights we arrived at our destination. We were visiting a project that was designed to work with women suffering from HIV/AIDS, as well as working with women who were formerly trapped in ritual prostitution, and preventing other young girls from being caught in this heartbreaking form of slavery. We listened to these women share their stories, heard the pain, and saw the glimmer of hope in their eyes. They had beautiful dreams for their children of a different life – one full of education, empowerment, and a new world of opportunity. It would take hours to share all that we saw in our time with these women, and we hope to put together a short video and article to share their stories, but the main thing we saw was the hope that comes from having people who believe in you, who cheer for you and walk the road of recovery with you. It is a beautiful thing to witness. I promise there is more to come on this trip.

Once we arrived back in HYD we hit the ground running with visits to 4 schools in 4 days. We had an amazing time at each school seeing so many students thriving with the opportunity of a good education. We were able to see the impact the school is having on the community, weather through Micro-Finance, Healthcare, Women’s Empowerment, or just relationships that are being built. It is truly remarkable what is happening in these villages. We were also able to see the need as we visited some communities suffering in extreme poverty, worked alongside Dalit labourers (more to come), and squatted in houses made of straw with uneducated stone cutters who were dreaming of a new life for their children.

(Suzi’s turn:) Today we visited our favourite school for the third time. I know, we shouldn’t have favourites, but for us this school holds so much significance. Our very first project with DFN, back in 2007, was raising the funds for the well with our youth group; since then we have signed up to sponsor three of their amazing students and have watched the progress of the school construction. Today we were reunited with two of our sponsor kids, which nearly brought me to tears. Then, we went to visit the finished, gorgeous, cupcake-coloured, absolutely perfect new school building – where the students will start studying on March 15. Their current rented building has claustrophobic, suffocatingly hot rooms and no yard; the new build has bright, large, breezy classrooms, desks, round tables for the youngest children, and the biggest school yard you can imagine. My heart just swelled. I was so overcome with pride, joy, and hope for these students that I literally jumped up and down, while of course fighting back tears. It was just unspeakably beautiful to see where these kids will learn. Afterwards I went to visit the school tailoring program and ended up spending hours with the lovely, Telugu-speaking women, giggling and making stabs at conversation. One woman insisted on doing henna on my arm – it is absolutely beautiful, but contains the unusual; bonus of having “Jon Suzi” written next to a heart. Because we had a love marriage. It’s quite comical. All in all, it was easily one of our best days in India.

This week has been so full of everything and as we sit and write this we feel a surge in our souls as we wrestle with the images in our heads. Images of the hope of the kids studying in the school and those of the kids suffering in some of these communities.
So, unapologetically, we are going to ask you all to help. You can sponsor a Dalit child for only $25 a month - and enable these kids to study, to have a chance to dream, and to transform their future. It also has a huge impact on the community, empowering women and men to seek a better future for themselves. $25 a month, that is like 5 Starbucks coffees, or one meal out, or… We can do this, we can make a difference. We have seen the tremendous impact of sponsorship on the future of India’s oppressed children, and we want to invite you to be a part of it with us. Together we can help!

Dallas and Nate have safely arrived in India. We met them at the airport and promptly put them on another two flights to the state of Karnataka. We will keep you posted on their adventures!

We are happily settled back into our Hyderabad routine, which includes significantly more sleep and less oily food. We feel much more rested and are looking forward to the many adventures to come. 

This week we visited our twelfth school of the trip, SRC, for two days. It was so exciting to pull up on Monday morning and see a beautiful, complete, well-painted school building; many schools we have visited are in the very early stages and still make use of a small, rented building. It was so encouraging to see this school eagerly moving forward and growing. Uniquely, this school had a massive, thriving garden from which they gather vegetables to prepare nutritious lunches for the students. They grow every vegetable you can think of, as well as something that they call “drumstick” and swear is not from a chicken.

We spent a lot of time in the three classrooms at SRC, observing and occasionally teaching classes. In one class they were reciting the names of domestic and wild animals, so I ask them to tell me the sounds each animal makes. They were shy at first, so I tried to coax some noise out of them by demonstrating the cries myself. The students absolutely could not get over the hilarity of a teacher, a foreigner no less, imitating a monkey! They just howled with laughter, but afterwards were far more obliging with their voices.

After school on both days we were able to visit the surrounding villages and homes of many students. This is truly our favourite part. One highlight included watching a man scale a gigantic palm tree at a remarkable pace in order to retrieve his day’s production of palm wine. Many students were proud to show us their homes and families, and proceeded to trot along behind us as we visited their neighbours and classmates.

The most difficult part of our time at SRC came at the very end, when we were visiting the farthest village from which students come. At the outskirts of this village live a semi-nomadic tribe who are currently housed in somewhat solid tents. Even in a poor community, their quarters were shockingly ill-provisioned. We met a girl of 15, married at 11, with a 3-year-old daughter. Enraged parents shared with us how they are making the effort to send their children to a local school, but once there the kids are not permitted to sit with the other children and are even discriminated against by the teachers. The parents have heard of SRC school and the manager encouraged them to send their children there, where they would be loved, respected, and treated equally. However, because the village is such a significant distance from the school, these families cannot afford the transportation fee to get their children there. We left disheartened and committed to raising funds for a school bus. These are, after all, exactly the children we are fighting for. The ones who are told they are worthless. The ones who start to believe that maybe they are in fact worthless. The ones who have nothing to give, but everything to lose. These children need education, yes, but even more importantly they need to grow up playing with other children, “higher” children, to be told by educated adults that they have value, to be given the opportunity to dream. This tribe and their beautiful, dirty children will remain heavy on our hearts.

Thank you, as always, to those of you who read our thoughts faithfully. It is incredibly encouraging to know we are not wrestling with these realities alone, but with a team of people cheering us on from home. 

- Our train from the state of Madhya Pradesh to neighbouring Chhattisgarh was 16 hours late. Of course, they don’t tell you that outright – they say 8 hours late, then you come back to the station and they announce another 2-hour delay, and then another… We eventually made it.
- We had an amazing time in Chhattisgarh, a state where there is only 1 DFN school. We went to visit a village where DFN runs a tailoring training program and were greeted with a tribal dance program. It turns out we were the first foreign visitors to the area and people assembled from many neighbouring villages to honour us. The dance consisted of half a dozen young women in traditional white dress, dancing to the beat of a large, portable drum. Afterwards the villagers presented us with flowers – just about every person present handed each of us a bouquet! We literally could not carry them all. This was followed by a lengthy photo shoot (all on cell phone cameras), which left us feeling a little like movie stars. As soon as one portrait had been snapped someone new arrived for their chance at immortalizing their encounter with the white couple. It was an altogether memorable experience.
- This same day, a local high-caste family invited us for lunch in their home; they are a tremendous support to the school. I’m not sure what we were expecting, but we arrived to find the most lavish feast I have ever seen! They had covered an entire table with dozens of traditional dishes and sweets. We have learned that Indians do not accept “no” when it comes to hospitality, so they refilled our plates several times, long after we were fully satiated. It was delicious, and a tremendous honour. Oh, and they gave us more flowers.
- While in Chhattisgarh we stayed in the nicest hotel we have seen in India. The reason for this uncharacteristic luxury was that the hotel was offering a 25% discount to all guests. We shortly discovered that this was due to the massive, ongoing construction project – taking place immediately on the other side of our bedroom wall! So much for relaxation! That said, the bathroom in this hotel made up for all the hammering: it featured an overhead shower, with hot water, AND – a proper bath! Rather than a showerhead which soaks the whole room! (Anyone who has traveled to Asia knows how unbelievably rare this is.) Needless to say, we had a lot of showers.
- We moved on to the state of Maharashtra where we visited our last school in the “North tour.” The manager and his family also went out of their way to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. They took us to see a wildly popular new Bollywood movie: “3 Idiots.” Despite not understanding most of the dialogue, it was hysterical. The song-and-dance numbers were absolutely beyond cheesy and we laughed until our sides ached. They also took us (are you ready, team?) to a national tiger park! We drove around for hours and never saw a tiger, but we did thoroughly enjoy the nature and other visible wildlife. Only complaint was that they charge 10 times the entrance fee for foreigners! This is true of all major tourist attractions in the country, and I am fully committed to the idea of writing a letter of complain to the Indian government.
- We are now back in Hyderabad. When we arrived on Sunday morning it honestly felt like we were returning home: a familiar campus, our own schedule, and most importantly, people we know and love. It is unspeakably wonderful to not have to introduce yourself and recite your summarized life story every day. We are resting, enjoying the sun, and trying to catch up on reports.

That’s all for now, thank you again for keeping up-to-date on our adventures. We couldn’t do this without you!

On January 25 we said goodbye to Lucknow and eagerly welcomed the sunshine that drenched the state of Madhya Pradesh. We stepped onto the train platform and peeled off the layers we’d acquired over the many previous weeks of cold. My toes looked so peculiar there in their sandals, exposed to natural light once again. I confess that out of desperation I had taken to wearing wool socks with my Birks. (Thankfully my husband is a good man and has decided to continue loving me.) We were thrilled to welcome the summer weather until we quickly realized this is still winter by MP standards; summer drives the mercury level up to 47. My brain threatens to melt merely contemplating that temperature.

Despite the lack of sleep on the overnight train and the fact that BTL was to be our ninth full-to-the-brim school visit, we quickly fell in love with the area. The paved, even road that led from our hotel to the school is easily the nicest we have driven in India. The journey took us over many hills in a very remote part of the state. Trees, trees, trees, a deciduous jungle. We drank in the beauty. Quite at home in all this green were more monkeys than we have ever seen, happily performing roadside antics in order to earn the substance of their new addiction – packaged food from charmed passers-by. Black-faced and red-rumped, they claimed the cement as their own dominion.

Although the scenery was spectacular, the long drive to and from the school each day often lulled us to sleep. However, the rest never last long – there are only so many times one can tolerate being abruptly awoken by the sound of impassioned honking or the crack of one’s own skull slamming against the window as the car careens over yet another speed bump. Bruised and deafened, we inevitably spent the remainder of the journey attempting to cling to the elusive fabric of consciousness. To be fair, this particular driver was the least liberal honker so far, electing only to use the horn when he careened around narrow, blind corners in the wrong lane, into oncoming semi-truck processions.

The students at BTL gave us the delightful opportunity to see kids being kids. The school currently only has two classes, lower and upper kindergarten, so the children are small and especially charming. While they waited for their van-ride home after school they charged around the small schoolyard expending their energy and laughter. We loved just sitting and watching them have a rare opportunity to embrace their childhood.

We continue to experience a range of emotions daily, many competing for supremacy: heartbreak at the living conditions of so many, joy at the leaps the school is making, hope that these children and their children will change this country, and anger at every obstacle in their way. We know we are not alone in feeling these emotions and feel privileged to be part of this journey with so many of you who are wrestling with the same realities. We tell people in villages every day that we represent so many more people who are thinking of them, standing with them, and fighting for them from far away. Thank you for being those people.

You are well missed.

Well, we are now officially halfway through our time in India. Crazy to believe! 

(Later note: I didn't expect that update to work! We are having difficulties posting my last, lengthy write-up, so I was testing. Unfortunately it's still not working, but I hope these few sentences serve to reassure you that we are still alive and well!)

Today’s update is a little heavier than usual, but we wanted to share these thoughts and emotions with you while they are raw and unaltered in our hearts and minds, and to invite you to consider some of the many thoughts that plague us daily.

Untouchability still exists in India. Many people in India and around the world have declared that untouchability no longer exists here, that it is a thing of the past. The Government has even declared it illegal to practice untouchability, but I say to you today it does exist. I have witnessed it with my own eyes. I have watched as people avoid crossing the line into “their” part of the village so as to avoid pollution. As they mark the village well with the name of this group so everyone will know they are Untouchable. I have huddled around a fire in a village of Untouchables, laughing with the men and women, boys and girls who suffer this abuse as Upper Caste people yell from the road that we shouldn’t be there. I have heard the words from the mouth of an untouchable saying, “You see the truth” as I shake his hand.

This past week has been one of many feelings. We have witnessed the great success of DFN. Seeing many students being educated, seeing the impact of the school on the villages and surrounding communities.

We have also seen the many challenges ahead. The challenge of getting “untouchable” children to join school as they are to afraid of the violence and abuse they will receive if they show up, or that others will leave the school because of them. The challenge of convincing families of the value of their girl children. We heard one story of a 7-year-old girl who had pneumonia, but the parents didn’t want to spend the money on medical treatment because they didn’t think it was a good use of money, so she died. We saw a school of 172 with only 19 girls. We saw men who would rather spend their money on chewing tobacco or alcohol than put their children in school. Men who would rather sit around and gamble than work to earn money to provide for their families. We saw the abuse of power over and over again, the exploitation of the Dalits at every turn. This was a week of reality. A week of immense and overwhelming frustration. It was a reminder of the work that needs to be done both here in India but also in the West.

We hold one of the keys to Dalit freedom. To ending the abuses of these people, to ending the abuses of these young girls sold into sexual slavery, to ending untouchability. Political pressure on the Indian government will bring change. It seems like a huge challenge and yes there is great need but does that mean we do nothing? How many of us will spend hours on the phone with customer service to get money refunded for an over charged bill? Will we put the same effort into freeing these people? Into fighting for justice? A simple letter to an MP explaining what is happening can go a long way. It is not as glamorous as having a school built with our name on it, but who is this really all about anyways? We cannot only write cheques and throw them in the mail. It is not about charity, it is about justice! It is about the right of a human being to be treated like a human being. Every day we try to discern our role and the role of those in Canada. We have no answers, only the conviction that something needs to be done. Sorry for my crass words, but today I am feeling the “righteous anger at injustice” and the poke of truth that those who do nothing are part of the problem – including myself. Today I am feeling the heart of the Father for His children, and it hurts.
 

Just wanted to let you all know I have actually posted new photos! There are a few typical Indian scenes so you can see what we see every day, as well as a fair few of our faces in case you miss seeing them! 

 A few unrelated events and musings from the last week:

- While driving from HRD school to our hotel this evening, the teacher accompanying us commented that he loves Western music. He proceeded to blast Celine Dion and then Enrique from his cell phone! What made this moment all the more priceless was that the driver had no qualms about playing his cd simultaneously, meaning Enrique’s sultry classic was peppered with Hindi melodies and various flute solos.
- Few things break my heart more than poor, filthy girls in tattered party dresses. I look at them, disheveled and likely wearing their complete wardrobe all at once, and I just know that the dress was discarded by some wealthy child living somewhere near me who no longer thought it was appropriate for all the birthday parties she would attend in the coming year. I know people give clothing with the best of intentions, and that little girl in Canada or the States probably thought a girl in India would love her ruffles and velvet. But seeing that dream dress covered in village dust just makes me realize how far apart these girls’ dreams are.
- It is still very cold in the North and all the schools remain closed. The government has again pushed back the start date; classes are currently scheduled to resume on the 21st, nearly three weeks late. This is a problem because now the students are far behind on the curriculum, but will still have to sit their exams at the originally scheduled time at the end of the term.
- Our current hotel room has a hot shower and a heater. I am beyond thrilled.
- In addition to being thrilled, I also feel deeply guilty about the above luxuries. Only a few hours ago we visited a student in his home, in the dark, and saw that he was wearing only shorts and a thin sweater despite the temperature. Turns out his only other set of clothes was being washed. His home had only a couple brick walls, the others comprising only hanging tarps. The family had lit a small fire on the floor and were crowded around trying to warm themselves. As poor as this student and his family are, I also know that have more than many – we have seen homes with nothing but tarps to shelter them, and children who can only dream of a second set of clothing. I think about all of them as I lay in my warm bed.
- We survived the delightful train ride describe in our last update, arriving nine hours late, as well as the 16-hour return trip. We were rather pleased to reach our latest school by car.
- We celebrated Jon’s 24th on Sunday! We slept in (after our train got us back at 3 a.m.) then had lunch at Pizza Hut! We went to a creepily Canadian-feeling mall where Jon got an Adidas jacket for his birthday gift, then had dinner and a delicious cake at a friend’s home. Perhaps the best part was that these friends did all our laundry in their semi-automatic machine!!! Our clothes smell amazing for the first time in over six weeks!
- A mouse just ran by me in the hotel room I previously described as thrilling. Charmed, I’m sure.

Well I hope these few anecdotes give you a taste of our life here. I promise to post photos soon, when the internet cooperates long enough! Thank you as always for reading about our adventures, and an extra big thank you to all of you who regularly comment, email, and facebook! We love hearing from you!

 Last Wednesday found us sitting at the Lucknow train station, bound for Allahabad. We were up at 4:00 to ensure enough time to catch the 5:40 train, but shortly after our arrival at the station they announced a two-hour delay. So we sat, half-frozen, on the platform to wait. I perched on a hard bench, wrapped in my Indian shawl and most of my wardrobe, and tried my hardest to avoid looking at the hundreds of rats…which were absolutely everywhere… I kept thinking that if my Mom were with us she would plumb die on the spot! The train eventually arrived and took us East with no further complications.

Despite the many obstacles leading to this trip, our time visiting the school near Allahabad turned out to be a wonderful highlight to our time in India so far. Because the Uttar Pradesh government continues to require school closures due to the weather, we had the amazing opportunity to visit students in their homes. This particular DFN school has 83 Canadian-sponsored students and we were able to meet more than 30 of them! It was such a privilege to meet their families, drink chai in their homes, and acquire a glimpse into their lives outside of school. We also got to spend endless hours with the remarkable teaching staff as we toured more than 10 villages. Suffice it to say it was awesome!

The journey back, however, was another story! Friday morning Jon noticed an article in the newspaper saying many trains had been cancelled until January 31; the fog has caused many accidents and authorities have decided to suspend certain routes in order to clear the debris and prevent further incidents. We left for the train station with plenty of time, to determine our fate. As chance would have it, ours was among the unlucky trains. We proceeded to the bus station, chorusing our favourite refrain of “no problem,” and purchased tickets back to Lucknow. The bus was surprisingly luxurious, complete with Greyhound-style reclining seats. Don’t get too comfortable though! Our driver laid on the horn for 10-second intervals at the slightest provocation. It was the most obnoxious, endless, screeching sound. Dave Sattler, I do believe I red-lined. What’s more, apparently the passengers in the back of the bus were overheating and so requested the driver to turn on the A/C; this aggravated those passengers near the front, who were reportedly freezing. What ensued was a whole series of grown men lunging into the aisle and positively shouting at one another! Dramatic, to be sure. I’m not sure whether the matter was ever resolved, but we all made it to Lucknow in one piece. Oh yeah, then there was no one to pick us up from the station, so we climbed into an auto-rickshaw, only to discover that the driver had no idea where we were asking him to take us! Once we sorted it out we cruised happily along…until he ran out of gas. No problem! So, we and our bags walked the rest of the way back.

Today, Monday, we were once again up before 5:00 to board a train to Dharbanga, in the neighbouring state of Bihar. We were dropped off at the station again only to promptly hear an announcement that our train was delayed five hours. Too late, our driver had already left! So we returned to the base in another auto and collapsed back into bed with all our clothes on. Back to the station at 11:00 where we learned of another hour’s delay. We are now finally aboard said train, which will last, drum roll please, 16 hours! We are currently battling legions of cockroaches and mice. Team, we need you for this Day of Fun!

Think of us today if you get a chance, and will us patience and humour for this journey and the many, many more train rides to come. We love you all!

Happy New Year!

We rang in 2010 with our church congregation. The evening consisted of a typical service, followed by a surprisingly upbeat party involving fire crackers, the Cha-Cha-Slide, and some hysterical children dancing on a temporary stage. On January 1 we boarded a plane for Delhi for a couple days of playing tourist  before our month of school visits in the North. The flight was uneventful. We disembarked from the plane onto the tarmac, par for the course in India, and proceeded to board an airline bus designed to take us to the terminal. When the bus finally pulled away full from the plane it drove precisely 100 metres before parking in front of the terminal entrance. Useless! Just as Jon and I were beginning to discuss the ridiculousness of this journey...Jon spotted the Dalai Lama out the window, boarding his own plane! He had a little entourage and was waving as he climbed the steps. So, the IndiGo bus was worth it!

Before all this, the first thing we noticed about Delhi was how unbelievably COLD it is here! It seems Delhi has been cursed with all the awful weather in India: oppressive heat coming from the nearby Rajasthani deserts in summer, and then bitter Himalayan cold in the winter. The freezing temperature has had many consequences already, some comical and some tragic:

- Jon and I spent the better part of our time in Delhi shopping for warm clothes. Between us we acquired three long-sleeved shirts, a wool sweater, a wool shawl, a toque, a scarf, and gloves. We are now barely equipped to endure the next month.

- The cold brought with it a dense fog which led to dozens of planes and trains being cancelled, rescheduled, or delayed by hours. There was also a serious train collision. With the timetables in utter disarray, we were rather fortunate to board our train, punctually, from Delhi to Lucknow, where we are currently staying. 

- Sadly, we learned this morning that 60 people died in Lucknow yesterday due to the cold. These were people who lived on the street, who had relocated their families to the city from their villages in hopes of a better life. We only hope they have found it now. 

- The government of Uttar Pradesh has closed all the schools in the state until at least January 11 due to the bitter weather. This includes all the DFN schools.

Despite all this, we are sticking to our original schedule and heading out on another, painfully early train tomorrow morning. We will be visiting a relatively nearby school, where 83 students are sponsored by Canadians, for three days. Although we will not get to see the students in their classes, we will use the time to speak with the manager and visit many of the surrounding villages. We are very excited about the opportunity to see the students in their everyday lives and hope that these days will be rich in an unexpected way. 

We know many of you are also back to work and school this week, and we wish you the best in that. We hope you think of us as much as we think of you!

Jon & Suzi 

 As most of you know, our purpose in India is primarily to collect stories about the impact of DFN's work across India. We hope to use these stories both to encourage those who are already part of the work, as well as to invite new people to partner with us. One way we will be sharing these stories is through this website.

For the month of January, the website will feature stories about a particular school, RSP, which is located in a sprawling slum in Hyderabad. We have had the opportunity to visit this school three times and have compiled text, photos, and videos of our experiences there. 

We would like to invite you to check out this RSP feature over the course of the month; it will allow you a glimpse into all the incredible things happening in India and may also serve to give you further insight into our job here. You may find the reports either by visiting www.dalitfreedom.net or simply by clicking Home at the top of this page.

Thank you for your interest and support!

Jon & Suzi

PS- The powers that be inform me the reports will be posted starting January 11.

 We survived our first Christmas in India, and what a Christmas it was. This is the first time Suzi and I have been away from our families at Christmas and we missed them very much. Aside from that we had a great time. We were blessed to be able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with two amazing families. Christmas in India is different from our tradition in many ways. It is not celebrated in the entire nation, only amongst Christian communities. There is very little materialism in Christmas: no pressure to buy gifts, or to buy the right gift – there is actually no gift exchange at all. We felt so free without the pressure to consume. It was a breath of fresh air to be honest. We did enjoy singing Christmas carols at Church, and the sight of the decorated Christmas tree in the dinning hall. Santa even showed up at church in full costume including a white skinned mask (I think that was the skinniest Santa I have ever seen). The one part of Christmas that was exactly the same was the overeating. We ate and ate. Plate after plate of mutton curry (we made the mistake of thinking it was lamb, but discovered it was actually goat, and if any of you know my last experience with goat in Rwanda, I was eating and praying), cakes, rice, treats, chai, and so on. All in all it was a great Christmas.

The last few days have been full of parties for us. Christmas last week and then yesterday we celebrated Suzi’s 24th birthday. It was a great day. After speaking with her family on the phone, I took her out for a nice lunch at a hotel in the city. They had a full buffet of western food including pasta, salad, cheese, and ice cream sundaes. Suzi was in heaven! In the evening the family we spent Christmas Day with invited us to their home for dinner. I had arranged a special cake for Suzi, so we sang happy birthday and ate some cake. As it was my beautiful wife’s birthday and I would do anything for her, I even consented to playing a few rounds of Dutch Blitz, which as some of you know is not my favourite game. Suzi’s brother encouraged my by saying, you can lose this time as you are playing with people who have never played before. Let me tell you he was wrong.

From the 26th-29th of Dec there was a large Youth Camp held on the base. At first it was nice for us to have some people around and some activity on the base, but after the first evening session went until 12:30am with full on rock and roll worship team right outside our window our feelings began to change. This continued each night, climaxing on the last night with an 11:30-2am camp fire and rock concert on the ground below our window. We could do nothing but laugh… sort of.

to be continued...

...continued

Well, Friday we are heading off for our hectic month of travel. We are looking forward to getting out to visit some more schools and seeing more of what is happening across India. We are scheduled to visit 7 schools in 5 weeks.

I will share one story we have heard so far. In one village we visited we encountered a man with one arm and one eye. As we stood and listened to his story our hearts began to break. Last year as he was returning from the field he was attacked and robbed. The thieves were after his gold bracelets and so hacked off his arm. They then proceeded to remove his eye so he could not recognize his attackers. Later he realized it was one of his relatives who had attacked him. As a result of the injuries this man needed immediate medical care, which is not free in India. The cost was so great that he could not afford it. The only option was to sell his 7-year-old daughter into child labour in another village to pay for the medical expenses. He sold her for $100 for 12 months of labour. She has been working there for the last 8 months. Due to his injuries he is unable to work and is struggling to provide any food for the rest of his family.

As we visited this family we were able to work together with the manager of the local DFN school to begin the process of buying the family a buffalo that they could then use as a source of income. The income from the buffalo would provide enough money that the young girl could return to her family, thus freeing her from slavery. We were also able to begin the conversation of having this young girl and her younger brother join the DFN school starting in the next academic year. As the manager shared with the family what he was willing to do for them, they were overwhelmed, as were we. We saw hope flood back into the eyes of this family.

For some of you hearing this, your initial reaction is to be angry with the man. How could he sell his daughter? Until we are in a situation as challenging and desperate as that of this family, we have no right to judge anyone.

As I look into the new year and think of our Dalit friends across this nation, my hope is simple. Freedom. We have heard some horrific stories or slavery, human trafficking, and oppression over the last month and we know there are millions of other stories that have gone unheard, but our hope and prayer is that this will be a year of hope. This organization, this movement is not about charity, it is about justice, it is about the right for children to dream of a different future, it is about restoring value to a people who have had every ounce of dignity taken, it is about hope. Change is happening and we believe we will see the freedom of these people in our generation.

Thank you for your support and encouragement. We hope you had a great Christmas and have a safe and happy new year.

Blessings
Jon and Suzi

PS - 9 new photos posted! They're mostly of us, hope that's okay!

Hello readers!

Well, we are beginning to feel truly Indian – we are honestly cold at night. We are making good use of our sweaters and the wool blankets on our bed that we initially laughed at. Everyone keeps warning us that January in the North will be freezing and we’re now starting to believe them. Canadians, cold in India! Who could have imagined such a thing…

In the past week we have had meetings with many of OM/DFN’s top leaders, which has as always been inspiring. We are truly part of an amazing work here.

A highlight of the past few days was interviewing two students from the school on the base. One lives in a village by a rock quarry where her father spends long, arduous days breaking stones for construction; the other lives in the infamous Pipe Village. It is amazing to see students who come from such impoverished families being given the hope of education. We were able to visit the rock quarry student’s home and meet her extensive, colourful family. We hope to visit the boy from Pipe Village in the new year.

We are headed to THM school tomorrow for two days. We are especially excited about this visit because our youth group purchased the well and we personally sponsor three students there. We can’t wait to meet them and to see everyone again! We will have the opportunity to attend their school Christmas program on Wednesday, which promises to be adorable. We’ll be sure to tell you all about it!

And now for some more trivial updates: Suzi bought a Christmas saree and has found someone to show her how to wear it. Our (crazy busy) January schedule is slowly coming together, but purchasing plane and train tickets is always eventful. Jon has actually consented to an evening of board games at our friends’ house on the condition that he can also use their tv to watch soccer games. Oh, and we have pretty much mastered the art of eating with our hands.

Lots of love to you all, and of course, Merry Christmas.
 

Just wanted to let you all know we have posted a few new photos related to our last update. The Internet has been down here for the last couple days, so sorry they're late.

Enjoy! 

 ...continued...

On our work:

With the political climate considerably cooler we have been able to make a couple more school visits. On Friday we returned to the remarkable school we had visited earlier in the week and had the opportunity to interview the manager, three students, a teacher, and a local vegetable vendor. We learned lots and our respect for the work OM and DFN are doing continues to grow. We were able to accompany the vegetable vendor to her field to see where she grows tomatoes, radishes, and the other items she sells to support her family. It was incredible to see her pride in running her own business, thanks to a loan provided to her by the school. We are constantly armed with our notebook, camera, and video camera to capture all the remarkable stories we encounter.

Today we returned to the slum school – we had visited last weekend and posted the adorable video of students dancing. It was truly delightful to be there again. We spent most of the morning sitting under a lovely tree in the school courtyard, speaking with students and their parents. The five students we interviewed are sponsored by Canadian families so it was very exciting to hear their stories and see the impact Canadian donors are having on their lives and futures. One student and her father invited us into their home, which was a great privilege and opportunity. It is a one-room brick home directly opposite the school. The parents sleep on a double bed and the four children share the floor. As is often the surprising case in developing countries, this tiny space incongruously contained a large television. The family was very gracious, even buying us cold drinks while we sat and chatted with them. We felt very honoured that they welcomed us so openly into their lives.

On our “off days,” when we are not visiting schools, we have had some great opportunities around the base to meet with the staff and hear about all the projects. We have also had a few opportunities to participate in different aspects of DFN’s work. Wednesday night we accompanied the health team on another medical camp, this one to a slum. This community consists of workers who are building a massive, affluent resort that they could never afford to visit. They and their families have constructed makeshift homes on the land surrounding this project, which has been going on for ten years and still shows no signs of approaching completion. Jon took on the role of organizing patients who had been admitted and were waiting to climb the stairs into the mobile clinic. I of course assumed the role of photographer and for once had as many adults as children asking to have their picture taken. 75 slum-dwellers were treated in the two hours we spent there. On the drive home we pulled over and had a roadside picnic, complete with a starry sky and two hungry stray dogs. We are indeed keeping busy.

On India:

A few observations we have made…

The women here are so vibrant. Despite living in dusty homes and walking often filthy streets, they always appear immaculate in their brightly coloured clothes. They are so elegant and preserve so much dignity and grace in circumstances that are often unspeakably bleak.

Many of us have had the experience of walking or driving past an orchard. The trees appear to be haphazardly planted anywhere at all in the field – until you reach a certain angle, a certain momentary point of view, and you realize they are in fact ordered into faultlessly straight lines. What appeared to be chaos is in fact art. I propose the same to be true of driving in India. It is definitely insane – cars everywhere, constantly overtaking one another, veering around speed bumps, holy cows, jaywalkers – and yet there are moments when you realize that every driver knows their exact role in this choreography. They yield, they pass, they honk in some strange, intense system that actually works for everyone involved. At least, this is what I ponder as we constantly start and stop, weaving through the streets of India.

That’s all from us for today. To be honest, I’ll be impressed if anyone reads that whole update! Thank you as always for keeping up to date with what we are doing. Your comments encourage us so much – we check them first thing every morning (and usually before going to bed, despite knowing it’s the middle of the night in Canada). Hope you are all well and getting ready for Christmas!

love Suzi & Jon

 Today’s will be a longer update, as there is much to comment on. I am dividing it into sections for your reading facility!

(Adding new note: the update is so long I can't even post it all! Thus there will be two parts!)

On us:

We are doing well! Despite being easy, tasty prey for mosquitoes, we are settling in nicely. We are over our jet lag and are mostly managing to get enough rest. We are continuing to build wonderful friendships with the staff here, particularly the younger people. On Thursday we went out for dinner with five good friends; we told them it was a party, but really we just wanted an excuse to eat out and have naan! That said, we had many reasons to celebrate on that particular day: it marked our first complete week in India, it was Miracle’s second birthday, and it was two years to the day from when Jon proposed. Worthy of a party!

There have been a few very exciting developments in our Indian lives this week: on Saturday we went to the market and I bought a beautiful new salwar! It was the first time I have had one made. I chose the fabric, purple and blue with gold design, and then they tailored it to fit me in an hour! I was impressed. We also bought some simple Christmas decorations that I put up in our room; I’m now starting to believe it’s mid-December despite the heat. Then on Sunday we received some amazing treasures from a departing missionary nurse: a printer, a broom, and a mop! Truly I have never been so excited to clean. Our room now looks spectacular! Oh the things that make us happy overseas… In other news, thanks to the Smiths we are now addicted to Lost and spend much of our spare time watching episodes and hypothesizing about the various mysteries. Thankfully we only brought two seasons!

On the strike:

The strike has officially ended and things are virtually back to normal. It is probably time we explain a little bit about the cause of the unrest. The abbreviated story is that Andhra Pradesh, the state where Hyderabad is located, comprises three distinct people groups. One of the groups would like to form their own state and have been lobbying to this end. One of their political leaders declared a couple weeks ago that he would go on a hunger strike until the government agreed to their request for statehood; this is when all the trouble started, as his supporters took to the streets. The AP government has now agreed to discuss the matter, the fasting leader took a public sip of juice, and things have quieted down. While we were safe on the base the entire time, there is now no need to worry about safety anywhere in the city and we are able to travel freely.

...to be continued...

 Us again.

Well we told you last night that we were excitedly headed to our first Canadian school. That changed with a middle-of-the-night phone call informing us that the strike has resumed, reportedly for four days. That said, we are still here at the base. 

In other news, we have now actually posted the photos and video we promised you two updates ago! Our apologies for the delay - the Internet is inconsistent at best.

Finally, if any of you sponsor children through DFN, please email us their name, age, and school to suzil@dalitfreedom.net - that way if we are visiting their school we can try to get a photo for you! No guarantees, but we'll do our best. 

We love and miss you all. We'll let you know when something happens...

Hello again, soon after the last post!

We literally have time for a 3-sentence update - just wanted to let you all know that the strike has (at least temporarily) ended. We were able to visit a local school today and it was just one of those days where we loved our job. Tomorrow we head out for 3 days to a school in the north of Andhra Pradesh state. This is our first Canadian school and will be a busy time. Pray for safe travels and effective reporting!

Thanks as always,

Jon & Suzi 

 Blog Update Dec 7th

Well it has now been 1 week since we left. What a crazy journey it has been so far. It feels like we have already been gone for a month. We are still recovering from jet lag but are now sleeping through the night (except for 11pm rock band rehearsals) which is great, and the weather here is perfect. Not too hot but hot enough. What a change from last time we were here.

We have already had many great opportunities. On Friday of last week we were able to join with the medical team and head out to help with a mobile clinic. We went to a small slum not far from the base and set up shop. The clinic bus is amazing. Equipped to deal a wide range of problems from small cuts and wounds to x-rays to a full pharmacy. That night we maybe saw 40 patients, which we were told was a slow night. The medical branch of DFN is exceptional. They provide a clinic on the base as well as bi-weekly mobile clinics to the slums and poor villages. They also run health camps on all the school campuses and each school is equipped with a well-trained healthcare worker who deals with the health issues of both the students and villagers. They are doing amazing work and we have more stories to share later.

On Saturday we were able to go and visit a DFN school in a large slum in Hyderabad. This slum has over 50,000 families. It was quite the experience. The school meets in a small building and has 200 students, nearly three quarters of whom are sponsored by Canadians! We had a great time visiting with the teachers and students as they were preparing for their Christmas program. We were able to watch them practice a dance that was to be preformed today, which was excellent (see video). Again we will have more stories for you in time.

Then last night we had a great time at the Youth Christmas party. It was crazy. There were over 600 youth and young adults from across the city. The program was great and full of fun and laughter. They did this crazy freestyle dance that was unreal and Santa even showed up! Suzi was employed as the event photographer and I was a snack server. It was great to be involved and help the team.

While the last few days have been great and we have been adjusting to life here really well, we are facing some challenges. There is some political unrest in the city right now, which has caused most of the city to go on strike and everything to close including the schools. There are mobs of people protesting in the streets and most of this city is shut down. While there is no concern for our safety, this does mean we will have to stay on the base until things settle down. We are hoping all will be cleared up by Wednesday.

We have already made some good friends with both Indians and some other ex-pats working here. It is a great community and team to be a part of. We have settled into our home for the next 4 months and Suzi has nested putting up pictures and getting everything organized. It is great and feels as much like home as we could hope for. Check out the new photos of our room!

As we have been thinking and reflecting on our role here we truly feel honoured. We feel honoured to be working with such great people. We feel honoured to be partnering with others for the freedom of the Dalit people and we believe that this freedom is coming. The exciting news yesterday was that the headline of a major newspaper in our state proclaimed that the Supreme Court asks the Indian government to abolish the caste system as soon as possible!!! Great things are happening, and great change is coming but there is more work to be done, more stories to be told and we are honoured to play a part in that. You are also playing a role in this and we thank you for being willing to partner with us and with others to bring hope to this beautiful people.

We have a jammed-packed schedule over the next month, which we are really excited about. Lots of travel and lots of schools to visit.

We would love to hear from you so please write a comment or email us with updates on you! We posted a few photos, so please have a look!

Miss you all!

Jon and Suzi

 We have safely arrived in India! INDIA!!!!!!! It feels like we never left, and yet we can’t quite believe we’re here…

We left Vancouver Monday night with remarkably little luggage. Suzi held it together until we got to security and then sobbed thinking of all those we are leaving behind. After experiencing that sadness though, excitement overtook us. The flight to London was surprisingly smooth, particularly as we got a last-minute upgrade to comfier seats! We landed at Heathrow and joyfully left the airport with only our carry-on luggage to go stay with Jon’s relatives. It was lovely to reconnect with them, besides which it was much more comfortable than spending our 24-hour layover on the airport floor! Our only complaint is that the clothing we packed for warm India were not entirely sufficient for rainy London in December!

Back to Heathrow Wednesday morning where our flight to Hyderabad was delayed but otherwise uneventful. The immersion into curry at all times of day began promptly! We were beyond jet-lagged at this point so we both slept for most of the flight. After landing, speeding through customs, and waiting half an eternity for our luggage, we walked into 25 degree Hyderabad – before the sun had risen. It’s quite the change from miserable Vancouver, but significantly more pleasant than the weather this summer. In fact, by Indian standards it's rather chilly - every other person is wearing ear-muffs or a toque! 

A driver came to take us to the base and it became obvious quite quickly that he hadn’t a clue where we were going. We eventually sorted it out with the help of most of the gas station staff and a few interested passers-by and arrived by 8am. We collapsed in our room for a few hours of sleep and are now up and ready.

We have had happy reunions with many of the friends we made this summer. Of everything on our horizon, Jon seems to be most excited about playing cricket with the guys this afternoon!

We expect to spend the next couple days being oriented and planning our upcoming adventures. We will let you know what we’re up to as soon as someone tells us!

We miss you all already – yes, particularly our India team. It’s strange every minute to be here without you. Thank you to everyone for reading and keeping up to date with us! Truly we feel your support all the way in India.

Love Jon & Suzi

PS- Mel, we drove on an overpass which had a black-and-white striped retaining wall with a red railing. It made us both think of your zebra salwar. Intense.

 So here we are. Leaving today. It was one month ago Suzi and I set the arbitrary and unrealistic departure date of Dec 1st . This seemed hardly feasible as we had no money raised and no support team formed. What an amazing journey the last month has been. We have been so overwhelmed with the response of friends, family and community at our invitation to partner with us to fight for the freedom of the Dalit people. We heard the call to go and serve these people and you have helped us get there. We could not do this without you. In the last 3 weeks we have raised over half of our year’s salary and have been overcome with encouragement and support. We are so excited to have you be a part of this journey as we go to care for the oppressed and outcasts of India.

We are ready. We are packed. We have eaten our last non-curry meal, we have sipped our last JJ Bean coffee. We are excited. To be honest I don’t think you can every be fully ready. How can you be prepared to encounter the pain of oppression? How can you be prepared to encounter suffering, sadness, brokenness? You cant. Be we are ready to do one thing. We are ready to love. Ready to love people who don’t understand the concept. We are ready to love people who are broken and downtrodden. Ready to speak life into those who have had every bit of dignity and worth stripped from their core. To speak value to those who have resigned themselves to accepting the lie that they are worthless, and untouchable. We are ready to learn, to love, to serve and to have our lives transformed by the amazing people we meet. People who may seem to have little, but who actually have so much. We believe that where there is injustice, there is a call of God to stand for justice with those who are being oppressed. We have responded to the call “Who will go?” by humbly saying, “ Here we are, send us.” Thank you for walking alongside us as we do this.

It is not easy to leave friends and family behind but knowing we have such an amazing support team makes it easier. We have been so blessed by the encouragement we have received from so many of you. As we reflect back over the last few months we are in awe at how amazing you all are. It is an incredible feeling to know you are loved and supported by so many. Thank you for building us up.

So keep us in your thoughts as we travel (we arrive Thursday so that’s lots of thinking). Please leave us a comment every time you stop by, we love getting them. We will try to update every week with photos, stories, and hopefully some videos.

If you have any questions about donations please email Suzi at suzil@dalitfreedom.net.

Thanks for reading!

Love and blessings,
Jon & Suzi

 Just wanted to let you all know we posted a new "countdown" video! We leave in 2 days!!!

Elli and Zoë this is for you!

Last night was our information evening and fundraiser. We were utterly amazed by how many people came to support us and commit to standing in solidarity with us and the Dalit people. To those of you who came, know that I hardly slept a wink last night due to all the emotion. We are so blessed to have each of you in our lives and we cannot wait to walk this journey with you.

In terms of numbers, if we add up the incredible number of one-time gifts and the annual total of monthly gifts, we raised just over half our need for the year. We are so overwhelmed by this massive outpouring of love in one brief evening.

For those of you who were unable to attend but who may be interested in partnering with us financially, whether through a single donation or a monthly commitment, please visit www.simplycove.ca and give through the Canada Helps link. 

Well it's officially real. Today we start applying for visas, booking tickets, and packing. Thank you again for making our dream, passion, and calling a reality.

WE'RE GOING TO INDIA!!!!!!!!!!

 Tonight is our big information, support raising night at NSAC. We are really excited to have the opportunity to share our hearts and invite others to be a part of this exciting journey. Thanks to all who are planning to come, we really appreciate your support! 

Please check back again this week as we will give a report on how the night went. 

Thank you again! 

Jon and Suzi