Tuesday, 19 March 2013

Ganges River


                       Assi Ghat, Ganges River, Varanasi


                        Washing both bodies and clothing



                   Preparing the funeral pyre to receive the body





The Ganges, Varanasi - people, washing, boats, animals and rubbish


Sunday, 17 March 2013

Ganges River

In true Indian style there was a change of plans today and so we were able to go over to the Ganges River in Varanasi.

The beautiful photos of the Ganges must have been taken with amazing cameras and cleaver lighting, because the reality (at least where we were) is very different.
The rubbish, people living everywhere, westerners getting stoned, many naked men, and the ever so dirty river is a sorry sight. There was a real darkness and sadness over the place.

We were privileged (?) to be able to watch two families prepare and cremate their loved ones and learnt a lot from a local guy who explained it all and the symbolism that goes with this act.
While I understand a little of the 'whys' this practice happens, to my western mind, it was hard to watch a body burn and remember that this was someones loved one. There was no celebration of the life lived or even any displays of sorry, because that would hinder the body from entering the next life peacefully.

I am extremely thankful that I believe, when a person dies in Christ, while there is sorrow, there is also hope and the promise of Eternal Life. 

Saturday, 16 March 2013

Unexpected Friendships

While we have been living in this house, there is a Australian/Netherlands YWAM family living above us and they have a girl and a boy similar in age to Azariah and Jvarn.  It has been awesome for the Azariah and Jvarn to be able to hang out with them playing soccer etc.  These children will also be at swimming for the next 10 days and again awesome for our children.  God is good at providing unexpected friendships in new places. 

Saturday 16th March


Sarnath, Varanasi - For the past 5 nights we have been staying in a house while the YWAM owners have been away at a conference.  Its been wonderful to have a few home comforts around us again and being able to cook for ourselves.  Tonight we are back at a hostel which is nicer than the one we stayed at during our time in Delhi.
While we are only approx 12 kms away from the centre of Varanasi and the Ganges River, due to the poor roads it takes over 1 hour to get there, so we will stay here in this colony of Sarnath for the next 10 days and then the plan is to find a hostel closer to the Ganges River and spend some time over there.
For the next 10 days, we will be joining the Christian School teachers here, for 2 hours each morning and teaching 50+ local children how to swim in a hotel pool approx 30 minutes from here.  A large percentage of people drown during the floodings each year and so these lessons are aimed at giving the children skills on how to survive floods.  Last year over 2 feet of rain fell during a 12 hour period and many lives were lost.

Varanasi Veggie Shopping


Tuesday, 12 March 2013

Hair Cut Varanasi Style


Building Indian Style


Note the building code - the shoes, safety gear and scaffolding....

Tuesday 12th March

Varanasi - what a place!  Our accommodation is just down the road from where Budda preached his first sermon and as a result the chanting and music go on all night as the locals celebrate the festival of gods with parades and elephants and men dressed up to look like the gods.
Today we went to a local school and lead the children in Epic Kids songs  and stories for 1 hour.  The rest of the morning was spent teaching these children English lessons.
In the afternoon, Juanita, Makaia and Azariah joined some other Christian ladies and went to jail!
Thankfully, the jailers did let us out at the end of our visit unlike the other ladies who have not yet been convicted but are locked up until their court date.  Some of these women have been waiting for up to 8 years for their court date.  The women are accused of murder, child trafficking, stealing and other have just been framed.  We spent an hour with these ladies making jewellery, sharing stories, sharing Gods love and colouring in with the children who are allowed to stay with their mothers until they are 6 years old.  There were 72 ladies from a variety of ages but a lot appeared to be in their 20s and 11 children of which several had been born in prison including a 6 week old little girl.  As I (Juanita) spent time cuddling this little girl, I could only wonder what her life will turn out to be like.


Sheep


Sheep have the right of way in Delhi

Friday, 8 March 2013

We have left Delhi and have traveled to Varanasi via a 14 hour train ride.  We have met up with the YWAM base here in North Varanasi and will spend the next 2 weeks with them, engaging in their ministries.  These ministries will include the Leprosy Colony, Jail Visits, and volunteering in the Christian School to start with.  Running the ministries here are a married couple - the husband from Australia and the wife from Holland. 
ps - Internet is hard to come by, so we might be out of contact for the next couple of weeks.

Thursday, 7 March 2013

Sunday, 3 March 2013


Richshaw, Took took or ox - are but a few options of transport.

                       Rice anyone - freshly delivered.


Waiting for our dinner of rice, curry and roti.  This meal costs approx 500 rupees which is about NZD $12.00 for all of us.
It was nice to get a birds eye view of our street while eating dinner.


This is the size of this mans house - just one room with a bed behind him and all his belongings just behind me on a small shelf.
He has a pull down door just above our heads but his feet hang out into the alley when he is in bed because the room is so small.
He gets his meals off the street in little paper plates that he then throws away and in case you are wondering - the bathroom is the street with a street tap to wash under (in public), so one must be VERY careful where one walks and where one looks!