After the Study Tour to India

Yasuko

Before I went to India, a friend of mine said to me, ‘there are only two types of people who have visited India; those who really love India and those who hate it. ‘When I heard these words, I thought they might be true but I was skeptical too. Is it that simple? I saw the contrast between desperate, everlasting poverty and the ceaseless bright shining of people's lives. India is a place where two completely different things can exist together.

The research tour was organized by the congregation of the ‘Daughters of the Heart of Mary'. The sisters took good care of us, arranging our schedule so that we can do research and meet ordinary people, children, students and priests. We had a chance to do some sightseeing. The tour was very rich and inspiring. I had a really good time during the tour. The most impressive thing to me was the smiles of the sisters of DHM. Their smiles resemble those of Holy Mary. I am very happy I could meet a lot of people in India.

The misery of poverty was shocking to me. I cannot forget the endless slums. The people's lives are just incredible and beyond imagination. I saw the poor, young and old, men and women, on the streets. Before I saw this place, I thought that we could not judge happiness by wealth, but their poverty was beyond my concept of so-called financial shortage.

I learned that so many people are suffering from utter poverty. Poverty deprives people of various opportunities. I blamed myself for my ignorance. Watching children in slums, I shed tears because I don't know what to do to break this vicious circle of poverty.

‘Can we do anything for them? Does anything we do to try to change the situation have any meaning?'
I asked myself. It seemed to me that our supporting project would be worthless. However, I was assured that I have to do what I can when I saw children studying hard in an over-populated classrooms, and when I saw the sisters and social workers helping them in the slums. I stopped saying to myself, ‘I cannot do anything and the problem has no end.' Instead I said to myself, ‘I will do whatever I can.'

Now I desire to support the people whom I met in Kerala. This is nothing special, but people in India became my neighbors. Through the study tour, I came to understand the meaning of ‘international co-operation' a little better. xxxxx