Cultural Differences and a bit of Rain Dancing

Currently, Angela and I are in a bit of a limbo period. We are preparing to teach the business curriculum to the Chidiya women, however, it's turning out to be a bit difficult. Not only are there difficulties organizing the women together, we have sensed that there could be a better way to run the cooperative to make it more beneficial for the women. However, implementing our views on how it should be run is not the way to go. We have to remember that we are foreigners coming here to observe their culture, and we need to make sure that anything we do keeps their gypsy culture in mind. Thus, trying to find solutions to some of the inner problems of the group has been a challenge. We want to make sure that we help keep the cooperative sustainable for the women while also helping to provide them with a beneficial income.

We have been having various meetings with the facilitator and her husband, as well as members of the group to see how they feel and where they would like to see the cooperative go. Today we will be meeting with everyone to just see how they interact and get their final opinions on everything. We are hoping that this will bring some regularity to the group and establish a path forward.

Besides the work with the women, we have continued to bond with the children at the colony. Yesterday, around 230pm, one of the little girls came into our room to call us outside, as it began drizzling. We went outside and playing hand games with them. As the rain came down a bit harder, they would get more excited.Yet, it was very sporadic and they would get disappointed when the rain would stop. All of a sudden, however, it started to downpour! We began dancing and playing and just goofing off with the children. Additionally, it was around the time many of the kids were coming home from school so there was a steady stream of kids running to safely get their book bags in dry shelter. It was quite a sight and a wonderful experience. Dancing is a huge part of the gypsy culture, so the children have been trying to get us to dance since we've been here. It was fun to finally share that with them!

Here are two photos from the trip so far, as promised!

This was taken on our first day of work. This is one of the Chidiya women, who, as you can see, decked me out in various pieces of their work!

These are two of the girls who live in the children's hostel that is in the colony. The hostel houses children who are here to attend school and get an education. If you couldn't tell, they are sisters, and two of the sweetest girls I have ever met.