Part of my heart was left in India

I wrote this 3 years ago today and wanted to share it here.

They say India changes you. It's true.

Yesterday was CSR day in our India offices. CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and the object of yesterdays service was a Catholic organization, the Home for the Disabled. To gain some perspective, India is approximately 2 or 3% Christian. This is 24M out of 1.2B. They are the smallest religious group and considered the smallest minority.

Being Christian is a difficult task in India, you give up your caste, which means you give up your family, identity, and much of the protections afforded by Hindu law. Priests and nuns in India are promised to God while in the womb. They are born into the service. It's a lonely road.

Another thing you need to know is that India doesn't have a program like Social Security that cares for the disabled. Families are also unofficially restricted to two children (for example, health insurance only covers two children per family), so when an child is born with a disability, they are often abandoned or killed. They are literally at the mercy of charity.

The Home for the Disabled is home to children and adults with various disabilities, from Down syndrome, to blindness, to mental retardation, to extreme physical disabilities, they take them all. Four nuns run the organization and they are heavily dependent on donations. There is one resident, Media, has extreme disabilities and has lived there since 1961. Her parents sent her away when she was a baby. When she was an adult she returned and they made her leave again so she came back to the Home and now cares for the younger children.

Our office brought two large bags of rice and several boxes of biscuits (cookies)  and we were honored to be a part of it.It was amazing to see the power of the love of God and Jesus. I know religion can be divisive, but I promise you, God is working in these people's lives. There were so many to love on. They were extremely friendly and introduced themselves heartily. I saw a blind man deliver food to the other boys and men, using his other senses to travel between buildings back and forth to feed those that couldn't leave their beds.

We have so much, they have so little, yet we are all still Sisters (and Brothers) in Christ. This may have been the best part of my trip. Words just don't seem to be enough. From now on, when I hear the phrase first world problems, I can honestly know that I have seen true third world problems. No matter your struggles, please count your blessings and hug your loved ones and be thankful you live in grandeur.