Since I joined Asha-Kiran in 2007, I have been travelling to India three times a year. The country never seemed foreign to me. Quite on the contrary, it always felt like home, probably because, having been born in a third-world country, the beneficiaries of our projects reminded me of the people from the disadvantaged social groups I grew up with - different language, different dress, different religion, but so much the same heart.
Spending time with the children from our projects -‘our’ children- brought me very close to them, just as if they had been part of my family. Considering the terribly hard lives they had led, their blooming after joining Asha-Kiran is something to behold. It is hard to imagine children from ‘developed’ countries having so much resilience and being so grateful.
Soon, I’ll get to visit and communicate with our children in sign-touch language once more… a most welcome prospect. I will also meet my Indian coworkers and see our new Day Care Centers at construction sites. I look forward to feeling the warmth of the people and their relaxed inner pace, seeing and hearing the bustle and constant horn-blowing in the streets, watching the monsoon rain pour, and feeling the mosquitoes mercilessly eating up my legs in the evening.
As my journey is about to begin, my wish is that everyone who hasn’t felt the welcoming embrace of these unassuming and sincere people will have the chance to do so some day.
Sadhana – Volunteer at Asha-Kiran
