First Exchange is Complete!!!

Hello! I am back and the trip was immensely successful. The children were so very excited to receive, and to give. I wish there was a way to convey how touching this was.

I started the trip in Croatia where I worked on a floor of 2-4 year olds. The rest of the Orphanage was out on "holiday" as most of Zagreb heads for the coast in August. They were very adorable. (Please see the picture on the home page.) They were delighted with the pictures from the US, and very happy to send off theirs.

In October we landed in India. The first program that I worked with here was Ruchika in Bhubaneswar.

Ruchika
Bhubaneswar, India

Ruchika is an amazing program. They run schools on the railway platforms for homeless children, schools in the rural villages where the children would otherwise receive now education, and they also have a school on the back of a bicycle that goes out into the rural areas bringing some basic literacy to the children that work full time along side their parents to support their families. They also have schools in the slums and a hostel for children that are found abandoned, rescued from trafficking, or have families that are unable to take care of them (such as brothel children.) Their philosophy is "if the child cannot go to the school, bring the school to the child". Their program is INCREDIBLE. I stayed with them working in all of their programs and doing art with many of the different groups.
The schools in the slums and in the rural villages are constructed by the people that live there (the building supplies are donated) so that the people have an ownership and are more likely to support their children going there. Ruchika is also working to build latrines (as open defecation is still in practice). They are also teaching water sanitation and and building containers for catching rain water during the monsoons.

Many of the children I worked with here were orphans, brothel children, or victims of trafficking, but not all as I thought would be the case. Some had families, but lived in the slums or in VERY rural villages. I hope you as the artists on this end are understanding of this. Please trust that all of the children that I worked with were indeed touched by your work, and had a once-in-a-life-time experience to have the gift of your art and the gift of giving back. They were SO excited to know that their art was going to the United States. In Delhi and Kerela I worked solely in orphanages.

Delhi, India

We connected with an orphanage in Delhi, made an appointment, met with the Director, and were just about to met with a group of children when we were informed that due to a Dengue Fever outbreak the children were to be kept in and not disturbed. We have an appointment for this July.

Kochi, India
In Kochi I had a very special opportunity to work in a Muslim Home for Girls. They RARELY let any foreigners in. In fact, the girls were so amazed to see a white person that they kept rubbing my skin to see if the white came off. There were also at least 4-5 girls at a time wanting to see what blonde hair felt like.

They were very afraid at first. Finally, one verbalize her fear that I did not like them because they had heard that Americans hated Muslims. Once I had assured her that I liked them very much they felt much more comfortable and we had an incredible discussion about politics, life, and womanhood.



The project was tremendously successful. These programs and many more are awaiting the next exchange. I am currently trying to raise money, gather drawings, and plan the next leg of this adventure. If you can help, or know of someone, PLEASE let me know!

Thank you again, it is the care and compassion of all that sent me artwork that made this a success.
-nance