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Shelley Seale
Return to India - 2006

Last Day

Friday - 17 Mar 2006
Cuttack , Orissa - India



This morning we go first to the outlying village, about 40 minutes into the countryside. The landscape is really lovely here - rice fields, palm trees, and mountains on the horizon. When we arrive, we walk first to see the new community center which has been built since the donation was given last March. We enter and sit, while the children crowd in the doorway and stare at us solemnly. I break the ice by taking photos of them and showing them, while Baxter does it by handing out candy.




I look around and can't believe it - at the window stands the very same woman who was standing there last year, holding the same (although slightly larger now) baby. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More money is donated to the community. "Take a snap!" Papa demands of Sweetie as the money changes hands. We traipse out and walk through the village to Manus' house - the boy that Caroline went to India to see when she first met Papa in 2000, and the Miracle Foundation was born.

Manus is not to be found. We hand out more candy and take more snaps as we return to the car. After 15 minutes Manus comes jogging up. Turns out he was playing in a cricket match.





Back at the ashram we eat lunch and talk with Papa and Babu for a while. Caroline, Chandler and I put together 108 gifts for the kids - toy cars, hair clips, coloring books, stickers and puzzles. No child will be left out.

Afterwards, I wander out to the play yard where Baxter has set up a water balloon toss. Kalpana needs a partner. I stand across from her and we begin. It's a bit of a madhouse, because most of the kids are getting the concept of stopping after each toss and taking a step backward. They just keep on tossing the balloons. The game is fun, though, especially when they start bursting. We all have a blast.

When I tell the older girls we have brought henna for them, a group of us head to the dorms. Sukru sits down and starts on my hands while Sangeeta decorates Chandler, and other girls form partnerships to henna each other. Soon Caroline and Tracy join us and it's a party.





By the time the henna is finished it's prayer time. Again we have prayer outside. I close my eyes and savor the sweet voices, trying to breathe them into my soul. This is our last night. The love, peace, and happiness in this place surround and envelope me. It's hard to feel anything but joy here. "Shanti, shanti, shanti."

The last voices fade into the night stars. A silence descends. After a moment Papa asks the children to remain seated so we can hand out the gift bags. The volunteers call out the children's names as one by one they come forward to receive their gifts. Not one of them fails to say thank you - my grandmother would be proud of the manners they are taught. I look around, memorizing their faces, comfortable and content to just be here. I will carry this feeling home with me.



Previous
Thursday
  Shelley Seale - Bio and Journals
  Return to India - 2006 - Intro Average Rating of 5 Viewers
Chapters of Return to India - 2006
  Welcome to India: The Taj Mahal
  Jaipur - The Pink City
  Udaipur - City of Lakes
  Back to Papa's Home
  First Day
  Tuesday
  Happy Holi!
  Thursday
  Last Day

       

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