Education

I used to pass through the village like a tourist – admiring the variety of sights and sounds, the colour, the amount of life lived on the street. It was like looking at a bright wallpaper. But I can’t do that happily now because I know too much. I “read” the wallpaper.

The villages I walk through are each within one or two kilometres of one another on the outskirts of Bangalore city in south India, some commercialised and some still rural.

At a water tap women stand with the yellow and green plastic water-pots that have replaced the traditional brass – red saree, blue, floral, another red. Of course, it’s women standing and women who will carry the heavy load. Well, let me be fair. Things are changing. Men carry pots too, these days. But there’s a difference. Men bring a bicycle and carry six pots slung around it to ease the burden and finish the job quickly. Women carrying are usually stuck with one 15 kg pot at a time on head or hip, back and forth, back and forth.

A group of boys playing volleyball. Good – young people need games and exercise. What are the girls doing? No games for the girls? Nothing. They are never seen playing games.

Oh, I see some girls there. They’re carrying their younger siblings. More girls come by from a further village, returning their goats and sheep after the day’s grazing. Of course, that’s work for old people and teenage girls. Boys have to go to school.

I’ve come to a construction site now. Women work hard here carrying dishes of concrete, concrete blocks and sand, and get paid more than they used to. Their wages have gone up from 40 to 75 rupees a day. Men on the same site stand at the top of the chain gang and put the blocks in place. They get 150 rupees a day.

Wait, here’s something for young women – I have reached one of the six new nursing colleges on the way out from the city. Scores of young women and some young men train to be nurses. I hear the high number of training institutions is because of the demand for nurses in the Gulf, and that these young people will head overseas. But why? Parents invest in their training so they can send them off to earn and remit money back to them in India. So that’s why they get the opportunities! For whose benefit is the education then?

I head back to the Theological College where I teach mostly single and married men, with wives looking after the children.

The college welcomes women students. A single women’s hostel, built nine years ago, has rooms for 22. There have never yet been more than 14 young women. There were only two new girls this year. What’s the problem? Parents. They will pay for their son’s further theological education but few pay for a daughter’s. That would waste money. Anyway, our college offers Master’s degrees after earlier study, and everyone knows one must not let a daughter reach 24 still unmarried.

“Girls don’t need Bible training,” parental thinking goes. “People might say they are not ‘home-makers’ when you are arranging their marriage.” But aren’t women needed to reach out to women? “Yes, but let someone else do that.”

It’s a bit like the ancient Vedic saying, “Let a girl be born, but let her be born in someone else’s house.” Population statistics reflect that – more males than females, especially aged under ten, since the widespread use of ultrasound technology, and termination of female foetuses.

There are so many ways of keeping women down.

Beulah Wood has been in and out of India for 40 years, and longs for change for women and men whose family life is damaged by the traditional system.

Education

Education

Education

It’s a question I often ask myself while I’m being force fed sheep’s ears and other nasty bits, or travelling by minibus across town with my nose pressed in the armpit of some guy I’ve never met, or working in a system where corruption and exploitation seem the norm.

I am a nurse working in health related community development work in a Central Asian republic. I joined IS in 2003 when I decided it was an excellent way to combine my desire for travel and adventure with my desire to use my profession to truly impact the kingdom of God. I’d never even heard of this little country in the middle of nowhere until IS introduced me to it… now, almost five years later, I am about to return for my second term as an IS partner in Central Asia. It is strange, but oh so exciting how God takes you on such incredible journeys for Him.

Central Asia is a huge landlocked area of Asia, with China to the east and Russia to the north. It has high passes and mountains, vast deserts, and treeless grassy steppes, and the Great Silk Road and the mighty Genghis Khan are exotic memories woven into the fabric of its history. More recently, though, it was part of the USSR – a legacy which many are still trying to recover from. Central Asia is an incredibly fascinating and beautiful place; the culture is diverse and multi-ethnic, with Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Russians, Ukrainians and Germans, and a small number of Uighur, Dungan (Chinese Muslims) and Koreans.

Economically, the countries are not in great shape. Unemployment is high in the area I live, and many live a ‘hand-to-mouth’ existence, living off the land and selling anything extra. The majority of the people are literate, and education is available to most, including women. However the health care system is inadequate and illnesses resulting from poor diet and hygiene are a major health issue, as are mental health problems. HIV/AIDS is becoming a major problem as drugs are trafficked through Central Asia from Afghanistan up into the north.

My first term in Central Asia mostly involved language learning. Russian is not the indigenous language of the country but is commonly spoken, particularly in government, educational and health areas. It was my first attempt at learning a language, and it was often quite a humbling experience! I studied at one of the local universities, which are not well equipped like NZ universities, and frequently suffered with a sore back from being squished into wooden benches designed for children! The buildings were cold and damp and we would often be interrupted part-way through our lesson because the room had been double-booked.

Since finishing full-time language study I have worked with a non-government organisation committed to sustainable community development. Much of my time was spent visiting rural areas, visiting nursing schools and trying to ascertain the health needs of communities and the educational needs of nurses. On my return from Home Assignment I will relocate from the capital city to a ‘less-served’ provincial centre, where I will be involved in helping translate ‘A practical guide to Mental Health Problems’ into both Russian and the ‘heart language’ of the people.

Lives and communities transformed through encounter with Jesus Christ… it has been such a blessing, as a relative newcomer to mission, to see how that is lived out through my fellow workers, going about their normal lives, doing ‘normal’ jobs, seeking to serve communities in ways which best suit the interests of the people. It’s tough work though, living in post-Soviet Central Asia. We are often treated with suspicion (I was told that it stems from a Soviet mentality coupled with a deeply imbedded Islamic mind-set) and ministering to people takes time and a whole lot of effort. But it is a work in which we persevere, doing our jobs as best we can as God’s people, trusting that He is in control, and being willing wherever and whenever possible to testify about Jesus.

How in the world did I end up here? God brought me here… and when He calls, He always provides the strength and resources needed to get through the challenges. I work alongside people from all walks of life – some are fresh out of university whilst others are using their retirement years to serve, some hold PhDs but others never attended university – what we have in common is that God called us and we responded. Is He calling you?

Rhonda is on Home Assignment until April 08, and can be contacted through the Interserve office.

Education

It’s a question I often ask myself while I’m being force fed sheep’s ears and other nasty bits, or travelling by minibus across town with my nose pressed in the armpit of some guy I’ve never met, or working in a system where corruption and exploitation seem the norm.

I am a nurse working in health related community development work in a Central Asian republic. I joined IS in 2003 when I decided it was an excellent way to combine my desire for travel and adventure with my desire to use my profession to truly impact the kingdom of God. I’d never even heard of this little country in the middle of nowhere until IS introduced me to it… now, almost five years later, I am about to return for my second term as an IS partner in Central Asia. It is strange, but oh so exciting how God takes you on such incredible journeys for Him.

Central Asia is a huge landlocked area of Asia, with China to the east and Russia to the north. It has high passes and mountains, vast deserts, and treeless grassy steppes, and the Great Silk Road and the mighty Genghis Khan are exotic memories woven into the fabric of its history. More recently, though, it was part of the USSR – a legacy which many are still trying to recover from. Central Asia is an incredibly fascinating and beautiful place; the culture is diverse and multi-ethnic, with Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Russians, Ukrainians and Germans, and a small number of Uighur, Dungan (Chinese Muslims) and Koreans.

Economically, the countries are not in great shape. Unemployment is high in the area I live, and many live a ‘hand-to-mouth’ existence, living off the land and selling anything extra. The majority of the people are literate, and education is available to most, including women. However the health care system is inadequate and illnesses resulting from poor diet and hygiene are a major health issue, as are mental health problems. HIV/AIDS is becoming a major problem as drugs are trafficked through Central Asia from Afghanistan up into the north.

My first term in Central Asia mostly involved language learning. Russian is not the indigenous language of the country but is commonly spoken, particularly in government, educational and health areas. It was my first attempt at learning a language, and it was often quite a humbling experience! I studied at one of the local universities, which are not well equipped like NZ universities, and frequently suffered with a sore back from being squished into wooden benches designed for children! The buildings were cold and damp and we would often be interrupted part-way through our lesson because the room had been double-booked.

Since finishing full-time language study I have worked with a non-government organisation committed to sustainable community development. Much of my time was spent visiting rural areas, visiting nursing schools and trying to ascertain the health needs of communities and the educational needs of nurses. On my return from Home Assignment I will relocate from the capital city to a ‘less-served’ provincial centre, where I will be involved in helping translate ‘A practical guide to Mental Health Problems’ into both Russian and the ‘heart language’ of the people.

Lives and communities transformed through encounter with Jesus Christ… it has been such a blessing, as a relative newcomer to mission, to see how that is lived out through my fellow workers, going about their normal lives, doing ‘normal’ jobs, seeking to serve communities in ways which best suit the interests of the people. It’s tough work though, living in post-Soviet Central Asia. We are often treated with suspicion (I was told that it stems from a Soviet mentality coupled with a deeply imbedded Islamic mind-set) and ministering to people takes time and a whole lot of effort. But it is a work in which we persevere, doing our jobs as best we can as God’s people, trusting that He is in control, and being willing wherever and whenever possible to testify about Jesus.

How in the world did I end up here? God brought me here… and when He calls, He always provides the strength and resources needed to get through the challenges. I work alongside people from all walks of life – some are fresh out of university whilst others are using their retirement years to serve, some hold PhDs but others never attended university – what we have in common is that God called us and we responded. Is He calling you?

Rhonda is on Home Assignment until April 08, and can be contacted through the Interserve office.