A New World

It amazes me to think that in less than 24 hours I left the subzero temperatures of Wisconsin and entered the busy streets of New Delhi where I was woken up throughout the night by a Sikh guru chanting meditations from the next-door Sikh temple! It's another world! Although I only saw a glimpse of Delhi today, I was surprised by some of the impressive development and the well-paved roads. The driving is of course scary, with Rickshaws and mopeds zooming in between larger cars regardless of lanes, but there are some spectacular sights.

I did some shopping today to outfit myself in the traditional Salwar Kameez that women in Northern India wear. I am required to wear these outfits whenever I'm on the hospital campus seeing patients. Zarema (a really great woman from EHA who met me today) took me to a few shops and I tried on a bunch until I picked my favorite patterns and scarves!

Zarema spent a lot of time today telling me what to expect at the hospital during my experience. We talked about some of the cultural beliefs and practices here in India that effect health care, as well as common things I will likely run across that might surprise me. There is one cultural practice particularly that I know I will find very difficult to face; this is the mourning placed on the birth of a girl vs. the celebration associated with the birth of a male. Males bring prosperity and wealth, so their birth is celebrated. Female births, on the other hand, are looked upon as punishment to the family, a burden for the father, a useless addition to the household. A father needs to give a dowry in order to "marry away" his daughter. Many mothers who give birth to a female will refuse to feed her daughter in the hospital, or else they will abandon them somewhere. Many mothers are threatened by their husbands or in-laws if they don't give birth to sons, so they abandon their child instead of taking her home to someone who might kill her. Can you imagine growing up as a female in a culture that views you as so unworthy? The worth of the woman becomes her ability to bear sons for her husband.

If practices such as these break my heart, I can't even imagine the heartbreak and righteous anger of our Heavenly Father, who created these girls in His image, and whose compassion for humanity is so much greater than mine! I pray that I can demonstrate this love through my actions and service to these people, so that they might glimpse His love for them.

Tomorrow morning I will catch a train that will take me to Dehradun, and I'm off to Herbertpur from there!

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that I would have compassion for the people I will be serving, regardless of whether I agree with their practices or not.
- Something I struggle with constantly is giving up my own ambitions and desires (specifically my exercise routine and diet). I will not have control over these here and I really don't want that to get in the way of my what I will be doing here and learning. Please pray that I can let go of these things, and allow God to teach me and use me.
- Continue to pray for safety and good weather

Praises:
- I'm here! and so far travels have ran smoothly and safely!
- I feel very well taken care of my the staff from EHA
- I've gotten a few emails from people saying they are praying/thinking of me, and this is a huge encouragement! I want to praise God for all of you supporting me! =)