Pictures of the Ashram, Savarsai Village and city of Pen

Hello from India........

We had a special guest on Sunday, a Dr with 18-20 of her colleagues and family came from Mumbai.

The Silk Factory provided the food and a cook. The cooking was done mostly on the floor.....the cutting, the propane burners with pots bubbling and the deep frying too. There were 6-7 of us in the kitchen at one point all preparing the food on the floor. We served breakfast and lunch to them.

The children performed for them. They did some yoga, a skit, some songs and prayers. I gave a history of "Child Haven" and the founders, Bonnie and Fred.

It was a lovely day and most of the doctors spoke English well so I was able to have several discussions with them. They made donations of Books, school bags and towels for the children.

I have included a couple truck pictures for the boys at Sunflower.. ..I would have liked to send more but the uploads take too long.........next time maybe.......Namaste to all........

A bit about the Hindu Gods

Hindu Gods and Goddesses

The area I am in is predominantly Hindu and they have many festivals and many Gods.
I thought I would mention just a few to peek your interest.

Shiva God of the universe. Draped in serpents and bearing a 3rd eye on the forehead. Nandi, his trusted bull escort.

Ganesha is a chubby, smiling elephant headed god. Son to Shiva and Parvati. Invoked before every undertaking (except funerals). He is seated on a lotus flower. His image is often placed above temple gateways, shops, and houses. He is regarded as the god of learning, lord of success, prosperity and peace. (The city I am in is world renown for making plaster cast Geneshas.) His friend is the rat, who is always with him.

Vishnu is in charge of keeping the world in order, restoring and protecting. He is blue skinned and has 4 arms.

Krishna is one of the most important Avatars. He is the hero of the Bhagavad Gita (famous Hindu story) He proposes 3 routes to salvation(moksha) Self-less action(karmayoga) knowledge (Jnana) and devotion(bkakti). He has many faces, the most popular is as a cowherder.

Durga is a fierce female deity, and is an aspct of Parvati (Shiva's wife) also known as Kali, Mahadeva. Called the Great Goddess

Lakshmi is the goddess of loveliness, grace and charm. Also the goddess of prosperity and wealth.

Hanuman is the monkey God, featured in the story Ramayana. He is Rama's chief aid in the fight against the demon-king. He is the acrobat and wrestler. As protector for Rama and Sita, monkeys in India find sanctuary in temples across India.

Saraswati is the most beautiful goddess, wife of Brahma. She has white complexion and sits on water lily or peacock, playing the lute or sitar. She is the goddess of purification and fertility. She is also the inventor of writing, queen of eloquence and goddess of music.

Khamdenu is the scared cow. He recieves devotion through respect shown to all cows all over India. Not sure where the origin began....said the Brahma created cows at the same time as Brahmins so that they could have ghee (clarified butter) for their ceremonies. To this day cow dung and urine are used to purify houses. In fact it keeps the insects at bay. Killing or harming of cows by any Hindu is a grave offence. The cow is referred to as mother of gods.

HOLI festival is not one of the gods but it is a festival that is coming up next week. It is celebrated on the full moon to mark the beginning of Spring. They decorate a tree and then on February 28th they will set it on fire. They will spend the day bombarding everyone on the street with colour.........water, paint and powder is thrown at everyone. Very colourful

Enough for now Stay well everyone!!

Namaste

Love Beth

donation Ideas

I have had people ask if they can make any donations and now that it looks like Kerry is coming here to visit for a few days before we head up to Nepal and Northern India, he would be able to bring a few things on the flight. Some suggestions are children's clothes sizes 3-16 ( all the children here are thin, so no big waisted items) Some suggestions would be fleecies, T shirts, boys shorts, and pants, girls shirts (no tank tops) skirts, dresses, (to knees or so) Other ideas are hair accessories, mini shampoos, Children's vitamins, Nature books or basic English story books, Where's Waldo search books too ( no hard covers as they are heavy)

You can give them to Heather or Kerry.

Thanks everyone.

Happy Valentines day everyone

Some flowers for you for Valentines day!!!

I read the following recently and thought it was approprate for Valentines day.

"The key to community is the acceptance--in fact, the celebration of our individual and cultural differences is the key to world peace."

Happy Valentines day everyone

some pictures around the Ashram and Pen

Here are a few pictures of the Ashram and the village of Pen. (where I am writing this blog from) The road is just outside the Ashram gate and the trucks, cars, ox carts and Rickshaw taxis all blast along here (horns blasting that is) day and night. The ashram has an office and living area for the manager and her family, a room for the volunteers, a large girls room with bathroom area and a large boys room with bathrrom area. There is a kicthen separating the two rooms and a large outdoor area with a garden and play area. The children do homework either inside in the boys room or on the front veranda. The laundry is hung on the fence each day and the climber overlooks the garden and also the valley and river below.

The bus the children are getting on is one of the government buses. That's the type I rode to Penvel on one of my outtings. Old and very basic but cheap and they run often. 5 rupees to town (12 cents)

Tomorrow is a holiday, "Shiva" festival. Lots of festivals here, one day each month is a holiday for the Marathi school children for "Genesha" day. (the elephant god and friend to all)

Hope everyone is well and warm. Love and hugs Beth

field trip pictures from January 31

This is my second attempt to post pictures........

After nearly 1 1/2 hours of uploading pics, I lost everything. They moved me to another computer but I think I will send this in a few postings.

These are pictures from last Sunday's field trip.

We went to silk factory, biscuit factory, craft organization, the beach and fort at Alibag and partied on the bus the whole day. It was fun

Here’s some info about the area and where I am staying
*There are 89 million people and is the largest state.
*Manufacturing is big and accounts for more than 1/4 the national output.
Mostly textiles and electronics; yet a majority of the people work in agriculture, including sugarcane, cotton, peanuts, su;flowers, tobacco, pulses, fruit, vegetables, millet, and maize.
Fields are mostly along the river as rain is uncertain.


*Here at the Child Haven ashram up until just a few months ago, the water was brought in by truck. Often it was delayed and several girls had to haul water in jugs on their heads from the village a kilometer or so away.
*The wash was done down by the river each day and it was difficult to get drinkable water for the children. Now they have the water line hooked up and we have water on tap.


*I have a good sized room with 2 single beds, a toilet and a shower area. It is quite comfortable and at times it seems I am at a camp of sorts as I can hear the girls each morning and evening having their bath (bucket bath) and calling out to each other. They are not quiet so no alarm clock is needed.

Things I have noticed.

People are hospitable, warm and friendly. Traditions and protocol are important and I am learning lots of things that "dumb Canadians" didn't know. (that's what I say when I make a big faux pas)

*If invited into a home, they will serve water and chai. If invited for a meal, the woman spends ages in the kitchen preparing foods and then serves the guests and the men. She doesn't eat with us. Indians eat with their fingers and always the right hand. The left hand is for toilet duties. They often will offer a spoon if you want one. Rice and chappatis are served with each meal and children call all candies "chocolate".

*All the homes we visited had shrines, as do all stores and factories. Prayers and blessings are very important and are a part of each day. *In this area, in the villages especially, the women wear saris once married, a marriage chain, and toe rings. The women in this state wear green glass bangles and gold earrings
*There is always room for one more, especially in the rickshaws :-)

*The head wobble means "yes", "maybe", "I don't know what you said," and "I’ll think about it". *They turn their head away if they are done talking or ignoring you. The children do this a lot when I ask if homework is finished.

*Often the "f" sound comes out as a "p" sound.
*Often heard questions are "how much, rupees?" How old are? Are you married? Come from where?

*The women love to show us around their homes. When the chia or meal is finished so is the visit. It ends abruptly with the phrase "chela" (lets go) from our manager, once the food is gone.

*Always walk with your back facing the traffic, that way if you are hit, it is the drivers fault (you couldn't see him) If you walk facing traffic and are hit, it is your fault, as you should have gotten out of the way.

*everyone wants to be sure I'm olay and to look after me.