Daily Happenings of Bronte Didi

Hello out there.

Well, unfortunately, this week has been filled with a bit of sickness.. at first I thought it was from eating bad food, but it turns out there's a virus going around Ooty (100 of the kids from the international school here got it..). Still not exactly sure what the deal is, since mine seems to be lingering longer than anyone elses.. but I should be up and running in a few days, as I slowly gain my appetite back.

Anyway, I thought I'd fill you all in on just some little bits and pieces, cultural tid bits, from my life here in Ooty (I've been here 7 weeks already, can you believe it?) :

As a sign of respect, people are referred to with some title, which takes the form of a family member. For example, I am "Bronte Didi" - which literally translates as "Bronte sister". Men are referred to as brothers, or uncles if they are older.

The girls in the program speak Kannada - a langauge from their state, Karnataka. But, they are learning Hindi and English in school. Locals here in Ooty speak Tamil - so, there's a lot of languages floating around, which, unfortunately means I haven't picked up anything! Which is ok, because it's good for the girls to learn more English from talking with us.

We walk a lot here in Ooty - basically eveyhwere, unless we want to pay for a rickshaw - one of those little three wheeler things (http://conqueringthecenturyclub.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/autorickshaw.jpg - glamourous, huh?) ;) We live on the top of a hill/mountain so we get a bit of exercise in ;) Which has caused a few pairs of broken shoes.. hopefully my last pair or two last the next 5 weeks!

While we are walking, we see lots of cows, since India is so heavily Hindu. They kind of just roam about aimlessly, eating rubbish off the side of the road, some with decorative head bands and painted horns. There's a few dogs and goats (and monkeys) around too.

While we walk, we are also very wary of the men - in Indian culture, it is a bit provocative to make eye contact with a man, so we tend to just stare past them, as to not give the wrong impression! Women are definitely seen as the "weaker" "less valuable" gender here in India, which is a bit troubling.

We are required to dress appropriately - all shirts/tops must be longer than our bottoms, have a high neckline, sleeves, and loose fitting. It is rare to see an Indian woman not wearing a punjabi (a long tunic top with matching puffy pants!) or a sari (mostly the older women wear saris).

Hygiene is a bit of a different story in India.. they don't use toilet paper, they use.. well.. other things..

Which is why when we eat we are only allowed to eat with our RIGHT hand.. the left hand is for.. well.. other things.. We eat rice with samba, which is like a vegetable curry. We don't use forks or spoons or knives.. it's all done with our hand! Quite messy, but a bit of fun.

That's all I can think of for right now..! That's my educational post for the time being ;)

Thank you all for your continued support. Only 5 more weeks! All your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement means more than you know - thank you! (Please pray for my health to completely return!)

-Bronte.

Address:

Bronte Hughes

C/O Freedom Firm

78/85 Indu Sadan

Glenrock

Ooty, Tamil Nadu 643001

INDIA

Comings & Goings!

We've had a few more changes here at Freedom Firm the past few weeks.. In my last post, I talked about how how of the girls left the program, reunited with her family. Well, coincidentally, the very next morning, someone showed up on the doorstep of the girls' house...

The girl who arrived is a previous Freedom Firm participant. She was here about 7 months ago, but her father also came to collect her, with the promise of having a marriage arranged for her. For whatever reason, it seems that didn't happen, and due to an intense amount of conflict (suspected abuse) within her family, she ran away and came back to Freedom Firm. It's been quite an adjustment, and I can see that this girl is still very vulnerable, even after being in the program almost 2 years previously. I'm definitely in need of some God-given peace while spending time with her.

So as one leaves, one comes.. but then another leaves! This past Friday, we had a graduation celebration for one of the girls who will be leaving to go start another workshop in another city for rescued girls. She's a very strong individual (which can be both good and bad..!), and I feel so excited for her to start a new time in her life. She has also faced an intensely difficult time earlier in her life, but the way God has redeemed her and brought her strengths out to glorify Him is very evident. We all have a feeling she's going to impact many people in a very strong way - she will surely be used by God!

We had another very exciting celebration today, as two of the girls were baptised! They shared a short testimony in front of the church about how God has reached them, the way He loves them, the way Freedom Firm staff have ministered to them and taught them, the way they hold Jesus in their heart, and the joy they have experienced in knowing Him. It was a really beautiful and exciting time. The pastor shared with the congregation beforehand about how if you look at the genealogy of Jesus, God used people who were unfavourable in the eyes of society; particularly prostitutes. He shared about the way God redeems people, washes them clean, and uses them for such good things. It was such a beautiful reminder of how these girls who have been subjected to such evil are now beautiful creations in the eyes of God, and of us! It was really wonderful to witness :)

As far as I personally go - I am doing well. The girls can be quite draining at times, but I have some nice down time (and time with my housemates) to recuperate. I am learning that I need to continue leaning on God the same way I did in Rwanda, when I was feeling so low, even when I feel so much stronger than I did then - even in the times where things are going well, I still need to go running to him. I have had to take some time to re-surrender this trip to Him, and allow Him to do with it what He wants, instead of sticking to my own agenda. Already I have seen results of this (only one day after I prayed about it!) in the way I have been able to support a missionary family I know here. They work with prisoners, and this specific project involves bringing supplies for women to make jewellery in order to: give them something to do, and to also bring in a small wage. I've been really excited to be able to sell some of the pieces in the States to help fund the project, as all the money used so far was my friend's personal savings. If you're interested in looking/purchasing (I will be making deliveries once I return to the States in May) there's a link at the bottom of this post (it's all hand-made and really cheap!) :)

I thank you all for reading, please continue in praying for me as I finish out the last 6 weeks of this long journey! I appreciate you all so much.

Much love,

Bronte.

Click HERE to see handmade Indian jewellery to support prison ministries!

ALSO! I have really been enjoying sending/receiving MAIL :) so if you'd like to write or receive a letter my address is:

Bronte Hughes

C/O Freedom Firm

78/85 Indu Sadan

Glenrock

Ooty, Tamil Nadu 643001

INDIA

:)

a good, eventful, cultural day in India.

So, I was going to do a boring blog post with some random bits of information about my daily happenings, but then I had a more eventful day than usual, so I’ll share with you! (Sorry I’ve been so lousy at keeping you all updated!)

So. We have a particular girl in the program who we’ve had trouble getting all the correct info about her story about how she was trafficked and her family situation and such. She has been attempting to contact her father for a few weeks, but wasn’t able to for whatever reason, but it wasn’t until a few days ago that some information about his email and phone number came to her mind. She seems to have a lot of trouble remembering things, which is most likely a result of her trauma. In the office they had a day of prayer on Thursday, and this girl was asking for prayer about seeing her family. We all seemed pretty skeptical that anything was going to come of it, given her inability to tell a consistent version of her story. But, as I walked into the office today, she seemed extremely happy, she told me with a huge grin on her face that her parents were coming today! I couldn’t believe that just two days ago we were thinking how unlikely it was that we’d be in contact with her father, and now it was just a few hours till he arrived. It was really precious to see how excited she was, but I was still a bit nervous about how things were going to go.

But, I arrived back to the office after a trip to the market to find her parents both there! Her father was really sweet and they both seemed to be so relieved to see their daughter again. We found out it had been two and a half years since she’d been missing, and they’d been trying to find her, but the police system in India didn’t make the task easy.. or possible. It was a pretty emotional time, for everyone – her parents, herself, and for us to watch. She was able to go home with her parents today! There are still definitely concerns over her mental state, as we see some pretty heavy effects of the trauma she’s experienced, but it’s beautiful to know she is back in the company of her family and loved ones, and that she’s safe. Usually we think about the girls and what they go through, but this experience made me stop and think about what her parents must have gone through, their child missing for over two years with no idea whatsoever where she could be. It was sad to see her go, even though I am excited for her, because I was really enjoying having her around - she had the strongest English of all the girls so it was much easier to form a connection, and she's very sweet natured. But, I feel really blessed to be able to witness something like this, and it makes me even more excited about the work that Freedom Firm and IJM do.

After work, I visited a church with a friend of mine and Sheena, my housemate. Sheena has been doing some speaking here in India to try to let people see that women are valuable! We parked and walked up through a lot of houses that were not as nice as others in Ooty.. these were more like shanty houses, instead of holiday homes. We arrived at the church to very lively music (sung in Tamil). We sat on the women’s side.. the men were on the other side of the room.. very culturally different to churches I’ve usually been to. Sheena began to give her talk, but half way through was interrupted by a cow outside mooing loudly. Only in India!

It was great to see how excited the pastor was to share with his congregation, who are mostly new Christians. It’s always refreshing and exciting to interact with Indian Christians, since Hinduism is so prevalent here.

So, yes, an eventful day indeed! But a good day!

Thanks for reading.

(Feel free to ask questions – I feel like I haven’t done a very good job of explaining much!)

- Bronte.