Hot Stuff

Friends,

It has been a hot few weeks. As the temperature has been rising, I have made some mental notes on living in South Asia during the summer. It’s time to share some of them with you (But bear with me. It gets gross.):

Here, I drink water by the litre.

Dry heat causes nosebleeds too. Not cute.

Construction workers and street sweepers hose off the roads and their construction sites to keep sand and dust from blowing away.

It is possible to sweat while standing still.

Tap water is too hot to drink, even if it were potable.

Riding in an auto rickshaw (I describe them here) feels like sitting while someone holds open your eyelids and points a blowing hair dryer at your face.

Bananas last longer in the fridge. So does bread.

I have ring tans from commuting at 9am every day.

The Taj Mahal is so hot that it burns your feet. The masses tour it by following skinny rows of mats placed out by tour guides.

Some cement gets too sticky to step on.

Everyone knows the difference between cotton and other poly-blend imitations.

Midday napping is less luxury and more necessity.
 

It is possible for heat to affect the appetites of an entire state of people.

The metro is wildly popular. AC is cited most commonly as the perk for that kind of transportation.

The best way to sleep comfortably is by jumping in the shower and getting onto (note my usage of the word “onto”) bed without toweling off.

Clothing dries on the line in 20 minutes, always a shade lighter than it was when you hung it out.

When the electricity is cut, I eat watermelon to stay hydrated, while watching my neighbors get into their air-conditioned cars for respite.

Lying down to sleep reminds me of how hot my hair feels.

I shower at night or early morning, in hopes that the water tank has cooled off.

It is impossible to ever “towel dry”.

 

No one in India comments on sweat marks. They are a given.

While adjusting to extreme temperatures in May, our office was busy responding to some claims made about bonded labour on behalf of a national initiative called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA or NREGA). The initiative is aimed at improving the lives of low caste, impoverished members of the rural community in South Asia, by providing unskilled manual labourers with 100 days of work in agriculture per year. This employment guarantee hopes to protect some otherwise vulnerable rural families from being forced to migrate seasonally to other states in search of cheap labour. So far, it has been successful in making benefits available to otherwise helpless families. Although the act is making positive impacts on those who qualify for its benefits, a recent article entitled “Thanks to MGNEGRA, no bonded labour anymore” misrepresents the state of bonded labour in South India.

In the same month that the article on MGNEGRA was published, multiple rescues took place around South Asia, in which families were freed from years of bonded labour. In this story, 20 men, 9 women, and 11 children are taken out of sugarcane fields and investigated for bonded labour. Here, 17 people were rescued from working in rice paddies. Just this week, 273 people were freed from bondage!

In the face of these overwhelming stories, our office and various partners have been trying to redirect the media’s attention toward evidence of the egregious exploitation still taking place throughout South Asia. We hope that responses to this recent article highlight the situations of those who have been overlooked and the amount of work that can still be done on their behalf.  If you pray, please pray that the recent news coverage of bonded labour in South Asia can serve to inform the wider reading public of labour issues in their own regions. Pray that the right people will continue asking the right questions about how to systematically provide bonded labourers with more access to their rights, building on the work of MGNREGA. Finally, pray that each member of my office continues to joyfully seek the Lord’s direction in this Campaign, with renewed vigor to reach our goals every day, despite a massive task. There is so much hope yet to be realized and I love watching it unfold. 

Personally, pray for smooth transitions as we welcome our first IJM Fellow (and my future apartment mate!) to our office. Pray for my health as the heat continues. Pray for sustained energy on my part. After almost five months of continuous work, I look forward to a break at the end of this month!

Every month, I am reminded in different ways of the incredible generosity of those who have chosen to prayerfully and financially support this year. As I pay for electricity bills, know that I am thanking God for every cent and every prayer!

Sincerely,

Alice

 

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