Caleb Hope Foundation

CHF Goes South by Ilyse Sanford

October 05, 2009

This is my third trip to India and just talking about it that is India just makes me break into uncontrollable smiling; my eyes light up and I can’t stop talking about it.  When we landed in Delhi all of my senses were immediately engaged and I began the process of getting reacquainted with India; like when you see an old friend or go to a favorite place you haven’t been to in a while. India has rich culture, colors that are so vibrant and beautiful people that are there as well as some that aren’t.  The smells of a developing country go from really good to really bad quickly, but they are familiar and what makes India. There is so much beauty in some of the ceremonies and traditions.  In Bangalore I was part of Jeremiah’s engagement ceremony which entails us carrying a procession of gifts that are presented to the family including a sari and jewelry that the bride to be changes into during the ceremony.  It was almost as intense and exhilarating as a wedding.  All of us wearing very vibrant and festive saris, meaningful toasts were said and lots of great food shared.  Again all mingled with the smells and sounds of India. 

The next day we road a few hours to Nandi Hills (was it really a hill if it had switch backs and when you reach the top everything below was very tiny?) with about 20 young people from the second largest slum in India.  It was so beautiful up there at the top, you could see for miles all around.  Monkeys!  When we reached the main parking lot we got out and walked the rest of the way to the top. We had a big pot of curry and a big pot of rice, bread and water. Not to mention a trail of stray dogs and monkeys.  The monkeys aren’t the cute ones we see at the zoo.  They wanted the bread so they tried to intimidate us with hissing, baring their teeth and grabbing.  They stole a loaf of the bread and later on our during our hike stole our three pack of disposable cameras and scrambled up a tree but once it realized it wasn’t food, promptly threw them out of the tree one by one.  You can laugh but it wasn’t funny at the time.  Over the next couple of days we worked with the kids on their English.  We were there to help them appreciate their value and to encourage them to set goals and attain them.  They in turn shared very personal parts of their life with us.  We left them feeling as excited if not more so than they were. 

Ilyse Sanford
CHF Board Member & Summer 2009 Witness