Slums Near SNEHA

Dr. Reeta and Hari took us into the slums of Dehra Duhn. I’m having trouble finding words to describe the dire poverty. There are certain varying images that flash through my mind that I will never forget. A naked little girl squatting down in front of me to relieve her bowels to her smile when she looked up into my eyes. At one point I peered into a small hole in a wall to find three fat, snorting pigs munching away on garbage. Supposedly they are a commodity in India, ranging from 3-4 thousand rupees. I find that bizarre because nobody eats pork!

As we walked the slum, dozens of children began to follow us. They screamed and yelled with so much laughter, you would have thought Shakira had arrived. It was such an incredible welcome and to see the joy and hope in their tiny little faces was mesmerizing. Many of the older folks were kind but their faces expressed concern, perhaps about our nature of business in their territory.

We spent some time meeting Ashu, the child Kirsten and her family sponsor at Sneha. The Dickerson’s have been praying for them for nearly 7 years and it was not only a joy for Kirsten to finally meet Ashu but to see many of the family prayers answered.

Joe and Rod had the privilege of going deeper into the slums and when they got back Joe said, “the smell of death was lurking.” They both said it was much worse than what we had witnessed, which is very hard for all of us to even fathom.

Juliette’s comments regarding the slums were, “I was overwhelmed by the surroundings, and I’m still digesting it.” She also said she was thinking of how to reconcile this with her own life and how the two will coexist.

-Erin