Greetings from India! I arrived in Delhi late Wednesday night and hit the ground running on Thursday. Sarah, my partner and crime, and I spent all day Thursday working and planning the Googler orientation for the weekend. Our Googlers arrived Thursday/Friday and we kicked off the weekend with a tour of Delhi and a team dinner. Here are some photos from the trip :)
No big deal....just a camel in the street! It's festival season so the animals are decorated!
Group rickshaw ride
Me and my wife in our little rickshaw
Just riding in the middle of the road....kind of crazy
In the middle of the street next to a truck...NBD!
Another camel sighting...We also saw a painted elephant :)
On the day before the festival, the goats are painted and sold as they are sacrificed on the day of the festival
So many goats!
Big bull amongst the traffic
Worship spot on the side of the road
Goat just eating off the counter
Streets decorated for the festival
Tiny streets with stores on both sides
Some of the team
Sihk Temple - we visited the Temple in May and loved seeing it lit up at night
People praying
View of the reflection pool - here's the post from our last trip
Love the reflection
A visit to the soup kitchen
On Saturday, we spent the day in training and then ended the evening with a fun team dinner - check out the huge chair and lighting!
Art project to kick off Sunday
Stopped for buffalo crossing
We spent the afternoon learning about the Yamuna River and all of the population that is being dumped into it each day...so sad
Worship ground next to the river
Look at the trash!
While we were looking at the river, a large worship procession made it's way to the banks of the river. Part of the pollution is caused by sacrifices to the gods
The truck carrying a statue to sacrifice
Continuing the celebration with some dancing
Preparing to throw the statue into the river
Participants just watching from the banks
Just some buffalo making their way along the banks
A monkey chained to the side of a hut
This was the second stop along the river and it was the dirtiest and smelliest water I've ever encountered. Three different power plants dump their toxic wastes in the river.
This was our third stop, which was the most disturbing. The river is so polluted and people throw trash and religious offerings into the river. It's completely polluted and extremely dangerous to drink or bathe.
View from the river
People literally stop their car on the bridge and throw stuff over.
This was a slightly creepy picture of Sarah and me...we look super imposed in the photo
A view down the river - You can see a flame burning in the background. This is one of the many crematories along the river and the ashes of the deceased are also thrown into the river.
Praying alongside of the river
The rest of the week we spent working, visiting partners and projects and observing the program. Everyone seems to really love their project placements, which is always such a relief! We did manage to make it out to an Indian village called Harpur on Wednesday to see a Microfinance institution (MFI) disburse their loans and collect payments from their borrowers. It was so cool to be able to witness the meeting as I taught courses in Microfinance and Social Business as USF. The visit really brought everything to life for me :)
Two groups of women waiting for their loan officer to begin the meeting.
The adorable children waiting for their moms
Loan officer collecting their first payment
One of our participants interviewing the women about the types of businesses they are running. The businesses varied from general store, to raising buffalo for milk, to seamstress. So powerful to hear their stories and how their loan is helping them.
Patient kids :)
Women borrowers during their loan meeting
Buffalo just chilling...they are so massive!
Really cute kids looking out from their classroom
Post a Comment