Journey to India
Here is an article I wrote before going on this trip. Rather altruistic and seemingly idealistic, but definitely a successful trip in terms of brainstorming ideas and creating projects!
H.K. Khaira
October 11, 2006
A new journey into India... to explore, examine and assess the needs of people who have little to nothing but their hope and faith. Even in the midst of immense beauty, culture, tradition, and the numerous gardens, it is difficult to look past the poor and decrepit conditions in India. Congestion and squalor of all kinds can be found from homelessness, begging, malnutrition, and endless traffic jams. The lack of proper health care, basic education, clean drinking water, sewage disposal, and other environmental protections are the biggest challenges in a country with a whopping billion people.
A small team consisting of wealthy philanthropists, interested humanitarians, and resourceful scholars from the Bay Area may be taking part in this unique mission. Upon returning from India, the hope is that the various members of the team will put their cash or resources to good use and create pilot programs that will be sustainable in the future.
I will take part in this mission, and utilize my background in social justice and education. I have a deep understanding of the many societal and economic problems in India. That is the reason California Assembly Member Rebecca Cohn and other team members are taking part in this new mission. Cohn has never been to India, and desires to benefit women and children who have limited access to education and basic needs.
The trip will begin in Delhi, where the team will meet with key government officials to discuss the possibility of constructively aiding lower caste Dalits and other disadvantaged groups. The team will then head to Punjab and visit the dynamic Pingalwara Society, which is home to some of India’s forgotten people including orphans, elderly, cognitively impaired, abused women, and the homeless. Further, some poor rural schools, shelters, and the proposed site of a much needed hospital in a village of the Jalundhar District, Punjab will be assessed.
Part of the trip will be spent in Dharamsala, a town in Northern India where Tibetans fled to avoid persecution from the Chinese government. Once a sleepy, undistinguished village, Dharamsala is now the home of the Tibetan Government in Exile, as well as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There, the team will spend time with the Dalai Lama and visit various Tibetan refugee centers. Tom Nazario, Professor at the University of San Francisco, who set up the trip to India, is committed to helping the Tibetans. He plans to donate his funds to Tibetan nunneries and schools.
In a country with plenty of human resources, the amount of poverty and illness is staggering. Certainly the team recognizes that the needs of impoverished people in India are great and that they are committed to create and support the many initiatives providing long-term sustainable programs for all people in need, particularly women, and children in India.
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