last week

The last week has been full of good things. On monday the 22nd we had a big meeting at Sari Bari for all the new ladies who will start work on the first on february. it was beautiful watch them trail in...some greeting us like old friends, some unsure. but we they sat down together oh what a beautiful image it was...9 women seated in a circle on the verge of something new. you could see the anxious hope in their faces. i was the one who got to share the vision... the hope we have for their freedom and the belief that we have they can do it...they can reach out with their own hands and take back what has been taken from them. They can learn to read and write, they can know God's love, they can have healing in the mind and their bodies, they can try something new and do well at it. I told them it was would not be easy but that we would help them. i felt something the God's pleasure sitting before those women...something of what it must be like for God to sit on the throne and welcome someone new into the kingdom. i just saw beauty and light and hope...the pain they have suffered, the hard rough they walked did not show on their faces for those few moments...only HOPE. i feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be apart of this freedom road, this exodus with these women.

after last monday everything else was bonus....beth is here so we did a little shopping for her room on tuesday and wednesday i spent time at sari bari finishing up 2006 financials--yes that was really fun! and we had staff prayer and devotion that morning and that is always good. it was hard week for staff as we tighten up a bit and make sure everything is ready for the new trainees...there are so many hard cultural differences in work ethic...i am want to empower and had off responsiblity but culturally the one seen as in charge gets asked about the tiniest things and no one wants to make decisions for themselves....i am seeing this as struggle but one that is more my issue...i just need to remember to be teacher and walk with them on their exodus of a different kind...the poor are disempowered no matter where they come from and sari bari will not only empower women to freedom from the sex trade but other bengali's to help them walk that road by handling the details with confidence.

okay so then on friday, on my goodness, i went to a picnic with my long time friend maya with her work. she is apart of the housecleaning department of a bank here. so it turns out that we went to someone's ones house---and it ended up being really ackward for me....maya ended be responsible to do all the cooking, so the whole point of it which was to spend time with her was lost a little, i had three guys from the bank hitting on me--one was young, one my age, and yes one my dad's age--nice to know i have appeal all on these levels but frustrating to have to deal with inapproriate advances on a picninc i was told would be all women. the best part---the part that has to be blogged is that at one point everyone sat around and SANG...yes they sang...they played game boys against girls where you sang part of a song and then someone had to start signing a new song based on the first letter of the last word...they did this for an hour and a half. i wish i had video...before the girls where all very traditional and the boys where all like sharuk khan dancing while they sang.

i did take the local train home by myself and them walked to my house from howrah which was really cool...it was relatively empty and peaceful (relative being that you are never alone in kolkata). i love walking along the river by our house...so much life and craziness goes on there.

so i guess that is all for now... more one this week as it happens....