So another morning starting with yoga, and this time it seemed like our instructor was pushing us a bit further, new exercises and more focus and explanation today.. - i am getting all adicted to this, i feel i am more relaxed, my breathing is getting better (i mean i have always had problems with my breathing, i breath mainly through my mouth - and yoga is all about nose.. - what a challenge that is for me), so after yoga, a fast wash in cold water, and then off to meet my colleagues for breakfast, and to be honest i am starting to get more and more into the food here, really nice and tasty..
Kumar is waiting for us, and he is taking us direct to a local slum community, this community is for "domestic workers", we enter what seems to be a small little school, or at least something like that, it is a 2 x 4 meter room, with no chairs, a door, a couple of old fans in the sealing, a table and some children drawing on the wall, besides that nothing... - it takes around 2 min. before the room fills up with women, all from this community - all domestic workers, we get introduced as so many times before, and we start with our interview, i want to share with you the story of "Mythili", another wonderful story of doing the impossible..
Mythili is i would guuess in the end of her 40s, a strong women, full of humor, and energy, she finished school when she was 11 - so she didnt speak and write proper, she is sitting and teasing the other "girls" there, she is called a direct and powerful women (which is shown when she slaps our translator hard on her back - in a very friendly way..) she tells us that she was use to do domestic work, until she started to prepare "snacks" and sell it on the street, now she is making more money - it was the organization that i work with that made this happen for her, with self-help programs, with education programs and more.. - now she is better off, what a wonderful story.. unfortunately the story takes a sad turn, when we find out that she lost both her son, and her husband, she lives alone with her mother, nobody to take care of her when she gets older..she starts to talk to us about what has changed, and what stills needs to change, and although these women has done a great job till now, almost the impossible, there is still a long way to go, it is clear to them and clear to us, right
now the are trying to get the minimum wages enforced with a partition signed by the community. But there is something worse coming, something much worse, the local government has decided to evict them all, to make place for new apartments, the bulldozer has already been here a couple of time, every time Mythili has been able to "scare" them off, half of the community has been moved already, it is only a matter of time before the rest will move, unless Mythili takes action, she has tried to get support from the other women, however it seems like they are not willing to support her on this, it seems like the are scared of speaking up, even speaking through Mythili, they are scared, scared of what might happen, to them and their families.. we leave this topic as i can see that she is getting to emotional on this, we ask her what she would like to accomplish still, she tells me that she wants that every "older" woman should have the possibility to learn how to read and write, once again a noble thing, and i believe that Mythili can do this, she can ensure that her community will learn to write and read, the question is really if it will be here or in a different community... Mythili is a strong women - in every sense of the word, it is fantastic and truly amazing to see what she has gone through and still her smile lights up the whole room (that has gone dark because the electricity turns off 11.00), i have found another role model, another community leader, and like some many others like her, it is not about her, it is about her community .. Susanne asks her one last question, "who will take care of you when your mother is not her, when you get old?" - her answer is "Jesus Christ will.." and Mythili he will take very good care of you - with all the good you have done...
Kumar is waiting for us, and he is taking us direct to a local slum community, this community is for "domestic workers", we enter what seems to be a small little school, or at least something like that, it is a 2 x 4 meter room, with no chairs, a door, a couple of old fans in the sealing, a table and some children drawing on the wall, besides that nothing... - it takes around 2 min. before the room fills up with women, all from this community - all domestic workers, we get introduced as so many times before, and we start with our interview, i want to share with you the story of "Mythili", another wonderful story of doing the impossible..
Mythili is i would guuess in the end of her 40s, a strong women, full of humor, and energy, she finished school when she was 11 - so she didnt speak and write proper, she is sitting and teasing the other "girls" there, she is called a direct and powerful women (which is shown when she slaps our translator hard on her back - in a very friendly way..) she tells us that she was use to do domestic work, until she started to prepare "snacks" and sell it on the street, now she is making more money - it was the organization that i work with that made this happen for her, with self-help programs, with education programs and more.. - now she is better off, what a wonderful story.. unfortunately the story takes a sad turn, when we find out that she lost both her son, and her husband, she lives alone with her mother, nobody to take care of her when she gets older..she starts to talk to us about what has changed, and what stills needs to change, and although these women has done a great job till now, almost the impossible, there is still a long way to go, it is clear to them and clear to us, right
now the are trying to get the minimum wages enforced with a partition signed by the community. But there is something worse coming, something much worse, the local government has decided to evict them all, to make place for new apartments, the bulldozer has already been here a couple of time, every time Mythili has been able to "scare" them off, half of the community has been moved already, it is only a matter of time before the rest will move, unless Mythili takes action, she has tried to get support from the other women, however it seems like they are not willing to support her on this, it seems like the are scared of speaking up, even speaking through Mythili, they are scared, scared of what might happen, to them and their families.. we leave this topic as i can see that she is getting to emotional on this, we ask her what she would like to accomplish still, she tells me that she wants that every "older" woman should have the possibility to learn how to read and write, once again a noble thing, and i believe that Mythili can do this, she can ensure that her community will learn to write and read, the question is really if it will be here or in a different community... Mythili is a strong women - in every sense of the word, it is fantastic and truly amazing to see what she has gone through and still her smile lights up the whole room (that has gone dark because the electricity turns off 11.00), i have found another role model, another community leader, and like some many others like her, it is not about her, it is about her community .. Susanne asks her one last question, "who will take care of you when your mother is not her, when you get old?" - her answer is "Jesus Christ will.." and Mythili he will take very good care of you - with all the good you have done...
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