Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:43:03 -0800WeeblyFri, 18 Jun 2010 16:02:01 -0800http://www.sevalifeproject.org/1/post/2010/06/update-3-june-2010.htmlApologies, for it has been months since the last update. JP and Meghan returned to the United States and with the help of Michael Burak, of Burak, Anderson and Melloni law firm in Burlington, Vermont we have filed for our 501(C)(3) to make the Seva Life project an official NGO. The name will be The Seva Life Foundation. We will continue to raise money for the Seva Life Project and hope to build our network of connections with others doing similar work in India and other countries.
      We are in desperate need of volunteers to help at the children's home and school and to help get the farming project running strong. Right now Jesus Babu is running the home of 41 children, the school and the projects in the colony all on his own, with the help of a local teacher in the school and sometimes a cook at the children's home. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Meghan at megimcc27@gmail.com
]]>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:54:12 -0800http://www.sevalifeproject.org/1/post/2009/11/update-1-the-start.htmlWe have been getting many kind donations from our friends and family for this cause! We still need about $2500 to make sure the project gets completed. However, we have all decided to use the money we have raised to start clearing land and building the women's toilets. When we can see the cleared land we will be able to map out what goes where in the garden and where to put piping for irrigation, where the chickens should go, etc.
We would like to thank everyone for their kind donations! Please tell your friends and family to keep donating so we can see this project through. Thanks!
]]>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:52:39 -0800http://www.sevalifeproject.org/1/post/2009/11/update-2-rain-rain-go-away.htmlRainy Season came later than normal this year, and because of that work has been slow. We have cleared the land as much as we could with the first machine and people work. We are waiting for the land to dry a bit so we can get a tractor to smooth the land over and dig up some of the harder roots. The rain has been coming every few days, so by the time the land is dry enough to work on it begins to rain again. This is good for the farmers in the area and those who depend on rain water for survival. This late rainy season shouldn't last too much longer and our work will go much faster once things dry up a little.

We have decided that instead of making toilets for the women, we will make a bridge to go across a very narrow river so they can go in the bushes that we didn't clear. The women prefer this, and asked us to do it this way. They are used to going outside, and we were afraid that if we built toilets for the women they would not use them. Hopefully tomorrow if it is not raining we can build the little cement bridge they requested.

We have raised a little over half of the money needed to fully complete this project with chickens and cows. The villagers decided that since we have enough money to definitely complete the garden, they wanted to get started on that. We would really love to be able to get chickens and cattle for the villagers, and in the future build a school for the children so they do not have to live so far away from home in order to go to school. Please spread the word to your family and friends to consider donating in someone's name for the holiday season.

Please check out our photo page for updated photos on clearing the land and our community dinner that was a kick off to the start of the project. The able bodied villagers cooked over a big camp fire for 200 people! It was an amazing feat, and everyone was happy because there was enough food for everyone and it was delici

]]>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:43:57 -0800http://www.sevalifeproject.org/1/post/2009/10/death-by-the-roadside.htmlAs I am eating my cold ice cream in a nice air conditioned restaurant while digesting my huge lunch, I can't help but wonder if the woman we left by the roadside was dead yet. I would bet money she was. Meghan and I hadn't talked about what we saw earlier but it is obvious from our lack of conversation that we are both trying to process it all.

Only an hour before lunch Meghan, our new friend Babu, and I were crammed on a motorcycle riding back from a leprosy village we had just visited. (That story to come later....) It was a very hot day and I was exhausted from the heat. Even the wind felt hot as we drove down the dusty road. My mild suffering was laughable compared to what we were about to see... a skeleton of a woman lying in the red dirt by the side of the scorching hot road with her head covered by her sari clothing. We all turned to look at her as we sped by. I noticed Babu turning his head often to look back and see if she is moving but she didn't move so we all decide that we should go back and see if she is ok.

The woman was lying by the hot road during the hottest part of the day with no protection while a shaded concrete bus stand was only 10 feet away. As we approached her I couldn't tell if she is dead or alive. Babu tried talking to her and after a few tries we saw her head raise up only an inch or two off the dirt and then lie back down. He tried again to "wake" her to see if she could move to the shaded bus stop but she only peered at us through her sari which still covered her head. We could clearly see her ribs, sagging skin, and sunken stomach.

Babu asked Meghan if she had water (which she always does) and uncovered the woman's face to help her drink it. She was old, and bony. Her hair was almost in dreads and she was missing most of her teeth. Her eyes were bloodshot and when Babu tipped the bottle to her lips she tried to hold it and drink but it appeared as though most of it was just spilling into the red dirt.

After a few minutes of silent thinking Babu said "Let's move her to the bus stand. At least it is shaded." First Babu tried to pick her up himself but quickly Meghan helped support the woman's head while I just watched without knowing what to do. They quickly moved her to the bus stand and laid her on the hard concrete slab. At least it was out of the direct sun.

"Is here anyone we can call to help her?" Meghan asked. "No. No one will help her." Babu states with regret. All the while cars, motorcycles and buses raced by and watched us but didn't stop to help.

After a long silent pause (which Babu took the opportunity to put his hand on her and pray) we decide to leave Meghan's water bottle next to her and just leave. It wasn't an easy decision to leave her to die alone and we were all trying think of possibly ways to help but here in India, this is the sad reality of many poor people's lives.

As we drove away, a flood of questions raced through my head. Why didn't anyone stop to help her? How did she get there? Where was she going? How did she get to this point of extreme poverty? What is going to happen to the body? How much longer does she have to live? Is she dying peacefully or in extreme pain? What else could we have done to help her?.....]]>