Remember

The only constant in life is change...

Monday, September 5, 2011

Back to Reality

          I knew Maiti Nepal had effected me, but I didn't realize how much until I moved back to New York. I have my girls in NYC, and every time I was around them, I thought about my girls in Maiti Nepal. How different their personalities, and lives are... I wish I could give my girls in Maiti Nepal a chance to just meet my girls in NYC. I remember, when I showed the Maiti Nepal girls pictures of my friends they were so excited and so eager to know about them. All they did was ask me about their personalities, their choice in style, and their hair color....which also led to a gazillion questions about America. Oh boy they were interested!! They asked me how many floors a building had, if there was electricity all the time, what they ate,the style and of course the BOYS. I loved answering all these questions, and I realized after about an hour of interview that they were trying to live and experience America, through me. Some had never seen tall buildings in their life, none of them knew that people actually ate beef, they raised their eyebrows when I told them how short the shorts in America are (haha)...the only thing they were sure of was that boys tare jerks. hahaha
           When I look back at how they were, all I can think to say is they were so...eager and appreciative. They were always eager to hear me talk and tell them stories, they were always eager to do a new activity I had thought of, always just eager to hear and learn new things. And trust me I CAN TALK...and most of the time it's nonsense....But I think and hope that I have learned to acquire that trait of eagerness from them. Even though i was just babbling away, they listened and made me feel important, and to be able to make someone feel worthy is such an amazing trait...
          They are also so  sooo appreciative. Around 12 girls share a bar of soap as shampoo for them. Now, I don't think I've ever used a bar of soap as shampoo and I don't know how I would feel about using that AND sharing it with 12 other girls...oh, and I forgot to mention..they have to make that soap last a month!!!!! But you know what....They don't mind. They see each other as sisters and don't care about how much who used and what they're using...all I ever hear them say is how thankful they are to be where they are today. Sharing a bar of soap as shampoo with 12 other girls is heaven to them; compared to being abused, raped and shunned by the age of 13. Hearing that makes me want to slap myself for being such a brat.
But you know what, I have changed. I have matured. I hope I have changed for the better, and matured just enough, but not enough to loose the eagerness in me. These girls have given me so much love that every time I think about it I start to tear up. My last day at Maiti Nepal, about 15 of them sat me down in a circle and said a little something to me. It started off with "Miss, please don't forget us" and moved to saying things like "I will never forget you because you taught me, a 28 year old woman how to write her name in English". That. Right there Was the best moment in my life. To have someone say that was the best gift I could have ever gotten. I really truly hope that I am able to give back to them. I love and appreciate life today because of them and I wanna just really do this, fight human trafficking, for them.



** I just wrote what I thought...not just in this blog, but the entire blog...Please don't judge? I know I have the worst grammar in the world, and most probably doesn't make sense... :-/ sorry**

Shimali P.

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