"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain until you see their specks dispersing?- it's the too- huge world vaulting us, and its goodbye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
-Jack Keroauc On The Road
Here I sit, in my comfortable home, among familiar people, on my laptop checking out the latest facebook statuses and tweets. In 5 days, my life is going to look a lot different than it does now. And I am okay with that. In 5 days, I will be on my way to southeast India to a city called Ongole. There I will be working with an organization called "Sarah's Covenant Homes". Sarah's Covenant Homes rescues and takes in abandoned children who have mental and physical disabilities. SCH creates a family style home while providing special education, physical therapy, medical surgeries and treatments, and ultimately striving for a better life for the children that have been named "untouchable" by the social caste system. For 2 months, I will be living in an apartment with other volunteers and taking a rickshaw everyday to the homes to spend some good time with the kids and help out. In India (and many other countries too), anyone with a disability is immediately put into the lowest caste of their hierarchy social system. The group of people in this caste are called Dalits otherwise known as "the untouchables". They are seen to be so dirty and impure that they are not even worthy of being touched. With a passion for India and people with disabilities, God really delivered an opportunity for me this summer. As July 5 approaches, I can feel myself become more anxious and ready to leave my home here in Seattle and set out for a new adventure. Although there will be long and tedious hours of travel alone before I arrive in Ongole, I am excited to do something I have never done before and walk into something I know little about. I'm ready to get a little uncomfortable, see something new, see something familiar from a different perspective, take time to learn from someone across the world, and ultimately see God in the faces of kids that society calls unworthy. Without a doubt, I know that I will be challenged and stretched in ways that I have never been. I also know without a doubt, it will be entirely worth it. Thank you all for your support, encouragement, and prayers as I set off for my adventure in India. You all make me one blessed girl.
