Mercy Action 2005 – India

From student Marthese Bezzina, Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta

On December 27th, 8 girls departed for India along with Paul Lentern, Maria Pearson and Deborah Marriott. We had all been thoroughly prepared for the Indian experience, yet the actual experience is impossible to imagine – the smells, tastes, colours and people that make up India.

One of the first experiences, and one of the most eye opening, was a visit to a group called Chetanalaya. This Delhi group is associated with Caritas, and works to empower the poor through education. We were lucky enough to meet a number of people living in the slums ourselves - we played with children, visited vocational classes and a women’s self help group, and attended a town meeting as special guests. As occurred throughout India, the children were amazingly open and friendly and were always eager to shake our hands or smile for a photo.

This was just one of a number of amazing organizations that we visited – including the South Asian Human Rights Centre, South Asian Coalition Against Child Labour, a Loreto school for street children and a L’Arche community for the disabled. One thing that all of these groups had in common, was that they were run by people facing incredible challenges such as appalling poverty, ignorance or government inaction –yet who remained dedicated and optimistic.

As well as educating ourselves as to social justice and social welfare in India, we were able to see many of India’s well-known sites, including the Taj Mahal, a Gandhi memorial and the Ganges. We also spent one evening with a Jesuit organization in a rural village, and spent two days hiking in the Himalayan mountains in Darjeeling.

I think that we have all come back from India with a few new skills – such as eating spicy food, crossing busy roads, speaking a little bit of Hindi and bartering! More importantly though, we met some amazing people and had unforgettable experiences in the process of becoming more aware of how the other half of the world lives.

Kitty Guerin    kguerin@olmc.nsw.edu.au