Some times the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about!

For JoDee

3:00 am Monday

I woke up and quietly said “Are you up?” Jane answered “yes” We tried to fall back asleep but couldn’t. We got up, and climbed into a warm shower. We commented to each other on how easy it was to get clean and I thought about the bucket and picture that had been our bath for the past weeks. Shaved, and went to my closet and flipped a switch and noticed how instantaneously the light responded. I picked through my neatly folded stacks of clean laundry and thought about my new friends and cried for a moment. I ironed my shirt put it on and wrapped a freshly washed red plaid scarf around my neck and remembered the old man on the street I bought it from. I can recall thinking that I might have over paid for it, now it is price-less to me. And I cried again. I gathered my things for work, my camera, the back up of the pictures I took, and my new bicycle seat, a gift from Jane. And with a kiss I was out the door and off to work. Driving into work the road was quiet. I didn’t use my horn once. I thought about the motor rickshaw rides into our village and the faces that greeted us upon our arrival and I cried again. I stopped off at Maverick for a morning hot chocolate and the machine was out of order. It felt a little bit like India and I chuckled. Climbed back into my car with a new bag of jerky and cried again. I’ve gone through the two weeks worth of emails sitting in my in box and re-read a bunch of the posts the kids made from India. I looked at the “just one picture” pictures saw the faces of our teens and the faces of the children and cried again.

I am sorry that I do not have the ability to better share what I am feeling and help you to understand why simply flipping on a light or a putting on a red plaid scarf will bring me to tears. Just know that when I began this journey so many months ago I was told that I would fall in love with my village, with my teens, with the people of India and with the children we taught. I had no idea I would fall so far and so hard.

Thank you JoDee. Thank you Robert. Thank you Eden

All our love,

Jeff and Jane

A Gift from India

It is hard to find the words to describe the whirlwind of the last 17 days. Amazing, Incredible, Surreal, Unexpected, Exhausting,Rewarding and Joyous come to mind instantly, but - maybe I’ll try by picking a few that we have all become a little bit more familiar with over the past year.

Integrity - “ Great leaders do the right thing, even when no one is watching” and let me tell you “everyone” ( well not quite all 1.5 billion people of India ) but everyone we came in contact with was watching “everything” we did. There are watchers, there are listeners and there are doers, and I have never been more proud of what these teens have done and how they exemplified integrity.

Vision & Courage - “If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants” Sir Isaac Newton - For the teens, it takes a tremendous amount of courage and commitment to travel and teach in a foreign country. For the parents, there is a great deal of uncertainty about sending your children off to make a difference in world. I am grateful for all of the trust, support and sacrifice that all the parents, spouses, children and others have offered in making this trip an overwhelming success. It does not go unnoticed and this experience could not happen without you - so thanks for cheering us on in so many ways!! There are also countless hours of behind the scenes preparation that takes place and I am thankful for those that do so much to make this expedition not just a dream but a reality. No matter how much you prepare or think you are prepared... in India you never know what is just around the corner, it is often unusual and unexpected. Our teens were able to deal with whatever India threw at them and maintain their vision and clarity of purpose.

p.s. - “ It is a normal day in India!!”

Inspiration - I can imagine few things more inspiring than seeing the light in people’s eyes as genuine and lasting friendships are formed. Our expedition was very aptly named “Prakash”!

Service & Learning - Two of my personal favorite projects while in India were:

1. Placing the bricks and continuing to build on the “Pathway of dreams”
2. Painting the classroom, shutters and trim at the school.

I know these were both physical acts of service and probably the longer lasting and more effective service was done through teaching, learning, lifting the spirits of the children and giving them hope of a brighter future. Sometimes it only takes a little spark.

Forgiveness & Gratitude - I had many opportunities to practice and witness both of these virtues come into play on our trip. I would not always choose to use them in the same sentence but here goes... I am extremely grateful for the patience, understanding, flexibility and forgiveness that was shown one to another on this trip. Everyone let the seemingly “little” inconveniences or irritations slide right off their backs and worked extremely well with the “fluid” Indian time schedule. Little things did not turn into big things and hence the big things never happened. Everyone was amazingly helpful and considerate, for this I am truly thankful!!

By the way - here is a picture of the tiger I saw...

- Little known fact, the Royal Bengal Tiger is almost as elusive as the Sasquatch but not quite as elusive as a good nights sleep while in India with 23 amazing high school students and 6 incredible adult leaders, all of whom I am lucky to call my friends!

“It is a gift from India!” and one I will always treasure in my heart.

Chad

Change in Flight Times

The flight from New York is due to arrive 30 minutes early. The current estimated time of landing is 10:42pm. See you there. It could still change. Also, keep in mind that even after they land, all of the teens have to go to the bathroom and look all cute and handsome. To get 34 people to do that takes awhile. It is usually about 30 minutes after they land before we see their smiles.

Dear Indian Market Squatter . . .

. . . please give my phone back.

Sarah

One Final One!

Well we have made it! These past weeks have truly been the most amazing weeks of my life! I have learned so much about myself but also about everyone else i am with, we all have become so close and I really am going to be being with everyone. If I had the chance to do this again I would in a heartbeat, the only thing I regret is that I didn't take that many pictures of everyone! I know that everyone has taken some amazing pictures and I know I will see them all on Facebook but I will not be able to look back and see what I really did. but this really has been such a great experience and I know that none of this could happen with out our great leader Greg Stewart! Thank you everyone that has helped me get here and I promise i lived it to the fullest!
By Sean

Like Beef?

I had a Baconator at a Wendy’s at the airport and it was delightful.

-Andy

I'm surrounded by things I have missed. by Nathan Hogan

Nathan Hogan

Right now I am sitting in JFK eating Wendy’s, surrounded by things that I have missed for so long. Air conditioning, good food, flushable toilets, cleanliness. It feels like I am on a different planet after being in India for two weeks. I look around me at all of the luxuries we have in our country, and I am barraged by a mixture of emotions. Happiness for finally being somewhere familiar, sadness after leaving India and realizing that this experience of a lifetime is almost over, excitement to see my family and friends, and guilt and almost anger. I feel guilty for having enjoyed such an easy life after seeing the difficult conditions of people who I have grown to love, and anger when I look around me and see commercialism, and people so obsessed with themselves in nice clothes and buying as much as they can, obviously oblivious to the children who have basically nothing that I was with only a matter of days ago.
I remember one bus ride, where after being glued to the window, unable to take my eyes away from the unbelievable scenes that were flying by outside the window. I saw pitiful people lying on the side of the road in rags, and the look in their eyes told all of the pain and sorrow they had felt throughout their lives. Long after the bus had passed them, I sat in shock wishing I could do something for them.
With the plight of these people still fresh on my mind, we continued driving. Still unable to tear my eyes away from the scenery, I looked up and saw a billboard with a photo of the Statue of Liberty, and the sparkling skyscrapers of New York in the background. It looked to me like a magical land of perfection, and I was taken aback. Even though I lived in the same world and had even seen almost that exact view before, it looked completely different with the slums of India in stark contrast below it.
With a few more hours on the bus, I had a lot of time to contemplate the experience I had just had. This experience has given me a new perspective on life. Before, I was like the people I am now among in this airport, selfish and living a life where I took everything I had for granted. I now realize that halfway around the globe, there are people who live lives that I can still only imagine, even though I have had a taste of what they experience as a flew by them and looked into the dark filthiness of their huts and into their eyes. I cannot ignore that now. For the rest of my life, I will live with these people always in the back of my mind. The thought of them will play a part in every decision I make. I will never take anything for granted again, and I will make my decisions so that I won’t feel guilty because of my selfishness.

Back on American Soil!

Hey all, operation Prakash has made it back to America! We are currently at JFK airport and everyone is filling up on American food. If I can get someone to blog I will but all the teens say they will be home soon enough that you don't need an update. Oh well I tried! See you at 11:15ish!
Greg

December 3rd! Flight Info

Currently your teens are scheduled to arrive in Salt Lake on Delta Flight #0795 at 11:15 PM from JFK.

We will keep you updated if there is any change in the schedule. You never know!

10 best things about tiger camp

So as Chad and I were having our straight shave at the Hotel Taj Bengal, awaiting our sauna, massage and steam bath treatment I was thinking about my ten favorite things about Tiger Camp.

#10 A big hive of bees outside the Cobabe’s cottage. It was huge, thousands of bees. The tiger camp staff said, “Its ok. You don’t disturb, they don’t disturb.” That makes me feel better. (Also the real life food chain going on in the drop ceiling above my bed. Something is getting killed up there.)

#9 Ringing a bell whenever anything important is going on. A piercing bell, you can’t miss it. It could be tea, a tiger movie, a walk to a village or maybe a dramatic play about a tiger goddess.

#8 Late night card games in the watchtower and card games on the boat. Listening to the teens telling each other how much they have loved their experience or how they don’t want to go home.

#7 Push up challenge. So the teen boys started a little pushup game. Whenever you said the word “mine” you would have to do 10 pushups. Some adult leaders and I sweetened the challenge a little and added the word “like.” I never realized how many times I said “like” especially like when there are like a bunch of like teens around. I’m sore today.

#6 Baby crocodiles lying in the mud, fiddler crabs and monkeys. Our translator Abivjeet asking me if I got to see all the mud today. He thinks it’s pretty funny we don’t see any tigers only mud. The guide got pretty angry with him.

#5 Pork and beans and something that tasted much like tuna oatmeal for breakfast. Yummy. Luckily for the great little bananas.

#4 Scalding hot water delivered in a big silver bucket to your hut on demand. A hot bucket bath shower. What more could you ask for?

#3 Bonfires with eucalyptus leaves and other spices burning as you watch folk dances and listen to songs.

#2 Listening to our guide Naranjan Raptan tell his story of survival when he and his uncle were attacked by a tiger. His uncle threw himself over Naranjan and saved him. His uncle didn’t make it. Then listening while Chad told it again in English.

#1 Enjoying a little down time with some great friends.

Greg

She is My Sister

I was blessed with a tremendous experience while in Baruipur, West Bengal. In the village schools and the day boarding school, it is not difficult to establish an emotional connection to any number of the children. They are so willing to open their hearts and make room for us and we come with the intent to find room in our hearts for them.

They eagerly anticipate our arrival and as the week goes on, the welcoming committee grows larger and larger. As every day passes, you become less concerned with the shower in a bucket, the ants in your bed or the complete lack of privacy. You wake up looking forward to the next moment with your new found friends.

In my village school, I made a very special connection with a group of girls in their early 20's and 30's. Soma, Bianca, Pimu and Namindar were a bright spot in my day and I couldn't help but smile and feel uplifted each day as I arrived and they greeted me with a beautiful grin.

As my teens ran the education groups, these girls would sit by side and fill my time with questions about life in the United States and attempts to teach me Bengali. By day three it was clear to me, upon departing, my heart would ache the most for these girls. They were now my dear friends.

On several different days, at different times, I would cry when considering the thought of leaving or how I how I could successfully communicate I loved them dearly with such a prominent language barrier. Each time they would see my cry, they would adamantly grab my face, wipe my tears and say, "NO crying. Happy." We would giggle a bit together, but sometimes I would have to excuse myself because I was overwhelmed by my emotions.

Our final day at the village school came and I was not mistaken, departure was extremely difficult. These beautiful women, who had encouraged me to maintain my composure all week broke down and sobbed as they thanked us for making their dreams come true. My heart feels heavy when I think about never hugging them again, but my heart also feel joyful when I think about what my teens taught them and the increased opportunities for success and happiness they have pushed them towards.

That evening a number of the mothers of the village students, women from Nishta and one women in particular whom I loved, Namindar, came to Nishtha to perform a spritual ceremony to thank our group for what they had done for Nishtha as an organization and each of the schools. Namindar lost her composure when she saw me in the audience and walked toward me to give me a hug. I laughed a little as she fell apart and grabbing her face I said, "No Crying. Happy."

When the ceremony was over, Namindar brought Mina, the women who runs Nishta over to introduce me. Namindar and Mina spoke back and forth in Bengali for a time and I was completely in the dark. Mina then looked at me and said, "Namindar has no sisters. She says that she loves you and you are her sister."

Namindar is my sister and I love her too. So, what makes more sense than to travel the world to help make her life a little better?

Sarah

Here Comes The Sun by Callie

I know we chose the name for our expedition for a reason so I wanted to talk about the different ways I’ve experienced Prakash (light) while we’ve been here. I don’t know if that really makes a whole lot of sense, but hopefully it will. When the kids lit up when they finally understood something. It’s so cool because with some of the kids they were confused or didn’t understand for a while, but you could tell how excited they were when they finally got the concept we were teaching. When the kids lit up when they answered a question right or said the right word on a flashcard. When the girls would light up as soon as we got to the Day Boarding School. The dinky flashlights at tiger camp that I used instead of trying to stumble around in the dark and almost run into my bed. Light has been shed on me as well. I’ve learned so much while I’ve been here. I’ve learned that I should have a more optimistic attitude and I’ve learned that complaining gets me nowhere fast. It’s reinforced the leadership skills I’ve learned throughout this year. One of my favorite days in the village school was when we were able to hand out school supplies. Those kids were so happy when they got a box of crayons or colored pencils. They lit up then for sure. This one is gonna be cheesy (I guess it all kind of is). I’m usually the first one asleep so I’m “out like a light” every night. Clever, yeah? All the other YMAD kids and the adult leaders have been lights in my life. I’ve looked to them as examples and as people I can go to with anything I need. Which is awesome. When we wave to little kids on the side of the street, their face is the epitome of joy and light. It makes them so happy that someone would care enough to simply wave to them. Finally, the last thing I want to talk about is the smiles. A smile can spread so much light, and like I said before, I’ve been smiling for literally the past week and a half. And other people have been smiling and all this smiling has brought so much light and joy into my life. When I get back to the United States, I want to spread that light even more. Really quickly, these are the top five things I miss: My family, my friends, my mom’s cooking, my bed, and ice. Loves from India! :)

It has been an amazing couple last days

Hi Mom, Hi Dad, Hello everyone, I can not believe I’m going to be home in three days. It went by way to fast and I loved every second of it. I’m going to miss India and my YMAD family. I hope we are all going to stay in touch and be friends. It has been an amazing couple last days. We had stuff to cry about and laugh as well. It was way sad and hard to say good bye to so many awesome girls that I fell in love with. I really do hope that I have made a difference. I will never forget the faces of the little girls that were having so much fun while I was teaching them. They gave me a better perspective on life, my education, and my relationship with my family and friends. During this couple of short weeks I have learned many lessons that I would never learn anywhere else. For the last couple of days we were in tiger camp, looking for tigers..... zero were seen while we spend about 15 hours on the boat. Now we are on our way back to Kolkata and I’m getting really sick from the smooth ride... well we got about 4 hours on this bus so I better get used to it. I miss you Alicia and Neil and I can’t wait to see both of you. Mom we need to have some serious snuggle time. Love you and I hope you still remember that I’m coming home this Saturday. Love, Inna

Saying Bye To India.. by Emily

Saying Bye To India..

Teaching the girls at Nishtha was an amazing and rewarding experience but it was nice to spend the last couple days in India just hanging out with the team at Tiger Camp. Tiger Camp is a resort where you stay in little huts and try to see the endangered Bengali Tiger. From Kolkata we took a bumpy four hour bus ride and then a two hour long boat ride to get to camp right on the Bay of Bengal. At tiger camp we went on long boat rides searching for tigers during the day. Even though we didn't see any real tigers we did see alligators, deers, and lots of monkeys. Last night we saw the local drama about the legend of the Sunderbans. Even though it was in Bengali it was still cool to see how different our cultures are. Its going to be hard to leave such an amazing place that I have learned to love so much. Just coming here for two weeks has changed my perspective on so many things. The people of India have been such examples in my life and have taught me so much about being happy with what you have. I already miss the Nishtha girls and saying goodbye to them has definitely been the hardest thing I have had to do here. This group of teens and adult leaders is amazing and we have worked so well together. Although I am excited to come back and see my family, I will miss everything about India. See you soon!

-EMILY HUNTSMAN