The Monsoon has arrived. Weeks' Five and Six.

So, after weeks without rain, including a monsoon season earlier in the year without any rain, it finally arrived and boy did Chennai feel the effects of it. If you thought that the sea wall crumbling at L’Eree, flooding all that area was bad, then you haven’t seen real flooding and this has been a good year for drainage! Put it this way, every year the same areas flood with water up to your waist and those living on the rivers (basically sewage waterways) or lakes, end up with their home and possessions washed away or at least severely damaged. Thinking about what happens to those living in slums when it rains this much, how they cope, what they do and how badly it affects their lives, has really challenged me this week. Consequently I have questioned myself over the past few days as to why I’m here, am I here for a nice spot of poverty tourism? For a ‘feel good’ experience, feeling sorry for these people and feeling better about myself/my life as a consequence? Or am I here to serve these people just like Jesus did and do this for Him?

So firstly something about what these children, adults and families face when the monsoon season arrives twice a year, not that every day isn’t tough enough for them already. It’s Saturday 7^th November, the rain hasn’t stopped for two days straight and looking up at the sky this trend is set to continue, boy do I feel glad that even though our flat is on the ground floor and that our particular area drains well. However I open the front door to find choppy water lapping up to our doorstep and our outside doormat floating away, but setting out during a brief dry spell later on, makes you realise that water lapping up at your doorstep isn’t a big deal. We decided to venture out to see what damage had been done, we walked through SD Puram the road cut up by all the water, but this slum is built on a river (just rubbish/sewage) which had swelled massively to flood all the houses/huts built next to it. On Friday (the day before), Eunice (education co-ordinator) said when it started raining heavily that the parents were invited to the competition Oasis was holding at the Kelly’s office, but because they have to stay and stop the water from destroying their homes they haven’t come, seeing the river confirmed what she had said. So basically most of the slum areas are built on rivers and lakes because it’s free land (both from government and existing buildings), but very dangerous when it’s monsoon season, but all they want is a spot of land to set up home. So now almost two weeks on, I’ve seen photos of children sitting in their homes on chairs with ankle deep water surrounding them, I’ve heard of families who sleep on beds with rocks under the legs to get out of the water and seen many roofs being temporarily patch up to try and protect all that these people have.

I realised this week, especially after being ill on Saturday, that life is so comfortable in the West and that as bad as the recession is, we’re all living with plenty of food on the table, more than sufficient shelter and money enough that if you want something, you can buy it. I feel really challenged when I say, these sandals cost this, this camera cost that and I went skiing earlier in the year. Now I’m not saying there is anything wrong with these items and holidays, but are we giving our first fruits to God and his mission or are we spending our money as we please, giving God what’s left. What shocked me today was talking to a guy at football training (we’re teaching him English) called Dana sheka, who said he used to earn Rs.80 (£1.11) a day, sometimes working into the night too, and even here that would only just get you 3 basic meals a day, but what about shelter, travel, healthcare etc. But the question is, that after experiencing slums washed away, livelihoods destroyed and the struggle to survive, what can I do about this? How can I make a difference? What impact can I have here? Hopefully as my experience here develops I can begin to answer these questions both in my heart and on this blog, as I hope and pray God continues to shake me up, so as Micah (and Tim Hughes) writes, I can ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly’ in this world.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by,

God Bless,

Tom xx