Back at Sooch- Back at Home
Well, life at Sooch has been busy as ever. By the time I got back from my adventures in Delhi, I had roughly 4 weeks to enjoy being with the children, house moms and staff before I flew back to America. Talk about a whirlwind!
On the 18th, a group of 17 American college students were coming to volunteer at two of the homes. While they arrived in India at the beginning of the week, they didn’t end up at Sooch until that Thursday. In preparation for 24+ people coming, I worked to prepare the house for the arrival. Sankia, the boy who assists in the admin building, became my best friend. I have always loved this boy- every morning after my run I usually head in the house to see him doing some sort of upkeep. He generally keeps his head down but after my booming, “HI! Good morning!” I get a huge smile and a “helloooo!” back. A few minutes later I hear a couple taps on my door and find a cup of chai and another huge smile. I mean really….?! He is very kind- always smiling and willing to do anything, anything! I refuse to ever let him clean for me- after all, he is my brother.
(Sanika- my brother)
One morning, after a quick run, I went inside and found Sankia in the lobby. Without saying anything I got a “Heeeeello! Good moorrnning!” Best moment ever. I wanted to run and give him a huge hug for initiating such a great morning hello- but I controlled myself and said hi and went upstairs to shower (well, bucket…). It was one of those moments that continues to keep me smiling. Ever since, we have been best friends- always laughing at each other, saying hello – etc. He really is my younger brother. I think he is pushing 18 so I’m allowed to say that I suppose.
ANYWAY- he and I have become buddy-buddy while trying to prep for all the volunteers. He speaks very little English so it is a lot of hand signing. **Point to a bed…show 1 finger…point to another spot in the room** IE- ‘We need one more bed over there’….We got by just fine.
To my delight, Lisa (the marketing director for the Miracle Foundation), her friend Laura and Janie (the Social Worker for the MF) came to Sooch 4 days before the volunteers did. I went into Ranchi to pick up all the volunteers, Laura, Lisa, Barbara- the whole gang. Most the group was just stopping for a quick lunch then heading to the train station. Laura, Lisa and Janie came back to Sooch with me. It is amazing how great friendships are formed so quickly here. I’m not sure if it’s the stress of being in a different country and the ease of connecting with people from a similar culture or that the Miracle Foundation has an incredible staff -but I have been fortunate enough to have made some incredible friends. Regardless, the next four days were great. It was amazing to have an American family at Sooch- I think it was also a way to start my culture shock back to reality. Not having any Americans (steadily) for 10 weeks- I think it was the beginning of my transition back to the America.
In any case, the next few days were spent talking about everything I had sponged up the past few months. It was wonderful to spread knowledge about what I had learned and figured out. We went from house to house and introduced the new visitors to the staff and children, we all went to prayer together, we all played outside with the children, we all enjoyed the stars at night. We had dinner together- I showed them how to make chapati (actually, Nanki did) but I helped to initiated the lesson. It is the little things- how to blow on your chai at the perfect time so the layer of sugar on the top will stick to your cup. How to ‘properly’ take a bucket bath. It was just fun to see what I had learned through the newcomer’s eyes- relived it all, if you will.
With that and many more stories to come-
Much love from India
Katelyn
