Mumbai, India

Saturday, June 20, 2009

by Naomi Zacharias

We arrived in Mumbai at 1:00 am this morning. Our flight was delayed and then our luggage the last to appear on the belt. That's always a nervous moment, when the passengers next to you retrieve their bags and disappear one by one. And then you start to slowly become less hopeful, reprimand yourself for putting faith in the baggage system and checking in luggage against better judgment and looking at the outfit you put on 36 hours ago and wondering how long you'll have to stay in it. But this time, ah, relief! We walked outside and were met with a wave of heat even at that hour. We jumped in the car and sat through traffic on the busy streets of Bombay, a city that seems to truly never sleep.

I am on this trip with Emily, a recent college graduate who will be working with Wellspring for the summer. All of her assignments are overseas, beginning in Mumbai. She is researching selected projects to help us maintain Wellspring standards of due diligence and taking an in-depth look at finances and project management. She is a great travel companion and ready to begin her work. It is her first trip to India, but I know she will love it and it will love her.

We decided to eat as soon as we arrived at our hotel and finally went to sleep at about 4:00 am, our body clocks beginning the path of sleep confusion. We wake up and begin our day. We go to the red light district and walk through the streets. Beads of sweat immediately form in the high heat and we refrain from crinkling our noses at various smells as we step past animals and discarded trash, weaving through the crowded streets. Emily points out an unusually large black goat in front of us, contentedly chewing on a phone cord. We go into a brothel and speak with its owner, a woman who looks to be in her late forties. She was once forced to work here and now manages the business. It is a tiny room, divided with a thin curtain to create the false sense of privacy.

We then go to the children’s shelter funded by Wellspring International. Seventy children shake our hands and ask our names. Many are the children of women working in the brothels and the shelter provides them with safety outside of that home. Others were found living alone on the streets. They dance and present us with brightly colored daisies and warm smiles.

We spend some time in the clinics that offer free treatment to women working in the brothels, including ARV treatment.

And as we return to the hotel, Emily talks about what she has seen. Her heart is heavy and she expresses honest ache over what we witnessed. We stroll along the waterfront and talk it through. We watch people eating popsicles, feeding birds, and Indian families posing for pictures. She steps up and asks one if she can join their picture. They smile and quickly agree and welcome her into their family for a few seconds. The picture is priceless.

We are exhausted and pack our things before falling asleep. Tomorrow we will be driving a few hours outside of the city to Emily’s new home for the next three weeks.