India

Jan 21

Imagine, cars screaming, horns honking, as you hold on to a unscrewed piece of metal hanging off the side of a motorcycle with a bench seat in the back. You are weaving in an out of traffic as you try to hug you knees into the vehicle as tightly as you can, in fear of being hit by the passing cars that are literally three inches from you. This is India. Now, just as chaotically as this all started it stops. Probably because of a red light some 400 cars in front of you. The driver is the competitor during the green, but now during this brief stop, you the passenger are on the field. Quickly put on your poker face as look straight ahead of spark up a intense conversation with the people sitting next to you, because in the next few seconds you will see everything you never want to see.

A girl will run over and rest her head on your knee and just weep. She will display her completely unusable, burnt, hand right in your face to evoke pity. While this is going on a little boy will be doing the same exact routine to the person next to you. In an effort to avoid the sadness of the girl you will look away from her, but you will find no safe haven for your shaken eyes. A man with no legs will be seen pulling himself by his arms, a girl will bend her unnatural looking body for unaware on lookers to enjoy, things will be sold, arms will be grabbed, and you will be stuck waiting and wishing for that light to change so you can get back to frightening drive.

This sad reality is the stuff that you see on the streets in the city, but the issue goes much deeper then just starvation, beggars, and poor children. What you are actually looking at is a business, a sick, corrupt, unbelievable business. Most of these children are forced to work for people who make them look helpless in order to get more money. The children’s hands are burnt so they can’t be used, each night kids will be beaten to freshen up their large wounds, girls bodies are twisted and mangled to make them able to bend in unnatural ways, the list goes on. After all this is done the children hit the streets and bring back whatever they make to the person who did these terrible things to them.

Another big form of income for these “businessmen” is prostitution. I was told that prostitutes in India often are painted like dolls so that people can find them easily and you don’t really need to hide prostitution from cops here. Since I was told that, I have seen girls as young as ten on the streets painted with rosy cheeks and red lips, just like a doll. To see these girl’s faces and know what it means is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen. Being a prostitute is bad enough, but the fact that these children are forced into this goes way past shocking. The problem is there is just no help for this children and no crack down on these criminals.

India is such a competitive country that if you have any set backs you are simply left behind. I have seen many people with unnaturally small legs who can’t walk probably because of a problem like polio. I have seen hundreds of people who need a wheelchair, yet I have seen zero wheelchairs. People often give money to beggars who can’t walk or use their arms over beggars who appear fine. This is because people know the people with a physical set back cannot get jobs. They are stuck begging for the rest of their lives, which leads back to the children and why they are physically abused or destroyed. It is so they will be good beggars; it is so they will stay beggars. Children from birth assigned to a life a pain and poverty, against their will, just because someone wants to make an easy buck, an easy buck at the cost of the children’s lives. So many hurt by so few.

I hate to have a strictly negative post so here are a few photos of one of my classes.

Hindi lessons

This little boy cried everyday he came into class for the first week. He would hide his face in his bag every time he saw someone new. Now, he speaks in class and smiles for the camera!