India & The Aruna Project

Matthew and I were fortunate to be able to travel to Mumbai, India with The Aruna Project, a non-profit company here in the states that frees and employs women from sex-trafficking.  I honestly don’t feel like I have the words to describe our brief time there, but I will do my best.  For starters, to say this trip was life-changing would be an understatement.  We went with our friend, Ryan, who started Aruna, and Abby, the designer for Aruna.  I went as a photographer to document what is happening over there, and Matthew went as a pastor, offering support to Ryan and the other staff in India, as well as spend time with a new ministry partner (New City Church) for our church, which he was able to preach at on Sunday.

I’ll never forget walking into Aruna the first day we were there.  I was taken back by all the women, standing in a circle, ready and waiting to greet us, with huge smiles on their faces.  These women are no different than you and me.  They are mothers, daughters, sisters…..all with a story to tell and a life worth living.  I could not bring myself to think of the atrocities they have been through before getting to this point because it would just bring me to tears (although that did happen anyways).  But as I got to know them throughout the week, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh alongside them as they expressed true joy and freedom.  Yes, there are still many tears for them and many minutes, hours, days of pain as they deal with their past and what has happened with them, but the fact that they are even able to smile at all is a true gift from God.  I know not all the smiles all the time would be real or even that there would be real, substantial joy behind it, and I know many times, they are trying really hard to smile, but what I observed most of the week seemed to be very genuine.  And that was a privilege for me.  All week I just kept thinking to myself “How am I so blessed to be able to be here and do this?”  I do not want to take for granted the rare opportunity I had to spend so much time with those women.

So most of the trip was spent at the production facility with the girls.  Ryan and Abby had much to do in terms of design and working with the staff at Aruna in Mumbai, making sure everyone was on the same page.  While they were busy with their tasks, I was busy taking pictures.  I spent most of my time photographing these beautiful women as they worked and sewed the bags that will eventually be sold to help provide for them and Lord willing, free more women from the brothels.  I also spent a lot of time with Seena, who helps run Aruna with Ryan, but in Mumbai.  Seena and Amos are Ryan’s right hands in India, and the Lord has truly gifted both of them in the jobs they are doing.  Their different skill sets serve both Aruna and those girls very well, and it’s no accident to see them in those roles.  Seena spends most of her time in counseling of the girls and just loving them.  She’s like a mother to them, offering a gentle word when needed, and a strong word when needed as well.  Most of these girls have not been in a home with a parent for a long long time, so they need discipline and guidance, as well as love and grace.  Seena is a good balance of both, and it was a privilege to spend so much time with her, talking with her and learning more about the girls and their stories.  Don’t forget your tissues if you should choose to have a conversation with her!!

We also had the privilege of spending time with Anand and Aji, the pastor and his wife at New City Church.  What a great blessing that was as well!  They are truly wonderful people doing wonderful things in Mumbai, and spending time with them, Felix (another pastor at New City), and the congregation at New City brought so much joy to my heart, I was about to burst with thankfulness and happiness.  Seriously.  I told Matthew that I have not been that full with love and joy for a long time, and it made it very difficult to leave.  New City Church has some of the kindest, most welcoming people I have ever met.  I wish I could have brought them all home with me!!

I have been very fortunate to have done a lot of traveling in my short life, but I must say that this India trip topped them all.  I spent a summer in Florence, Italy, five weeks in Shanghai, China, two weeks in China and Thailand, and yet not one of those trips were as rich or full as this trip to India was.  The difference? The people.  Those other trips were fantastic, I will not deny that, but our time in India felt much richer because we spent the entire trip with Indians.  All day, every day, I was having conversations with Indian people, who could share about their life, their culture, why they do what they do, what life is like, etc.  In all my other trips, I could observe what life was like, but there were some things I just couldn’t figure out or know why they do it that way, etc.  By talking with people about their life, I could understand so much more where they were coming from and it allowed me to love them even more.  I absolutely love other cultures and love learning new things, and seeing life though their eyes made that country that much more beautiful.

I learned a few things about how to do life in India as well….

-Skying the bottle: This is a technique done in order to share drinks.  When they drink from a bottle, they pour the water into their mouths without putting their lips on the bottle.  Just one way Indians are nicer than everyone else – they even drink in such a way so as to be able to share!!

-Eating with one hand:  I got really good at tearing my Naan with one hand and eating with just my right hand!! Most of the time, Indians do not eat with forks or spoons, just their right hand. Then, after your meal, you are given a warm bowl of water with a lemon wedge in it in order to clean your hand off.  That was a fun experience and took a bit of learning, just like learning to use chopsticks 🙂

-Riding in cars and/or rickshaws is an absolute act of faith.  Driving is totally a free-for-all, with no lanes or rules to go by.  The only rule – honk as much as you can so everyone knows you are near by.

-To cross the street without getting hit by a car or rickshaw (I don’t know how many close encounters we had where our driver almost ran someone over!!), the trick is to look confident in doing so.  The more confident you cross the street, the less likely you are to get hit.  Did a rickshaw come within inches of taking you out?  Don’t show your fear, but keep on walking.  🙂

-The head bob:  I was told Indians do this, but to experience it yourself was so much fun.  Trying to interpret what they bob meant was quite the challenge for me.  Abby and I even ran a little experiment to see if we could differentiate between a “yes” and a “no” and we were unsuccessful, although Seena said she could tell when the answer was a yes or no.  But even in conversation, they would bob their head to acknowledge that they are listening and following along, and at many times, agreeing with you.  It’s actually quite comforting, and another way to show that Indians are some of the nicest people.  Their natural inclination is to not only listen well, but to show you they are listening and following.  I may even adopt the head bob myself 🙂

If you want to know more about The Aruna Project, or how you can help this cause, definitely go check out their website.  Pretty soon, they will be launching the retail site where you can buy bags made personally by each one of these beautiful women.  (A big shout out to Abby for her awesome design work and heart towards these women!!) Aruna also has 5k runs that you can participate in to run for their freedom.  Please consider participating or donating in this wonderful cause!

For their safety, I am unable to show any pictures with the full faces of the women.  While I was able to photograph their glowing faces and the light in their eyes, I will not be sharing those here.  But let’s just say, the girls loved the camera and wanted me to take many pictures of and even with them!

One of the first things I noticed when I entered their workplace was all the natural light.  The back wall was all windows.  Do not underestimate the power of natural light in the healing process!

Just some of the beautiful bags these women are producing that will soon be available to purchase to help employ and free more women!

When you participate in an Aruna Run, you are given a drawstring backpack personally made from one of the free women!

We got to experience an adventurous ride on the train, which was definitely an experience and gave us many laughs.  But while we were waiting for our train, a train from outside the city came in an parked for about 10 minutes.  The people waiting on that train were so gracious to let me photograph them and took great pleasure in seeing their photos on my camera!  Of course, I asked permission each time and took time to show them the photo.  I only wish I had a way to get these pictures to them!

These kids were absolutely precious…

And their mama….wow!

This was even the slow time of day on the train.

These wonderful men are doing their part to free and empower women from the sex trade.