Education

In many ways, this post is related to my first one. However, these pictures were taken about 1,000 miles away from those.

This is another view of a classroom, except this one is outside on the ground, underneath a big tree providing a bit of relief from the scorching sun. You have to leave the big cities of India and venture into the countryside to experience what daily life is like for many of the 1+ billion people living there. This particular village is so poor, that literally, other villages have made up disparraging names for them, and will have no interactions with them. Some friends of mine have set up this school here, and also schools in many similar villages. What struck me as interesting was that while this school was going on, most of the women of the village were gathered around the edges, just within listening distance of the teacher. They seemed to be listening and learning just as intently as the young students.

Faces of India

Just for the record, I am not the photographer in the family. I'm not even the writer. But it is through my wife Anna's encouragement and proding, that I am venturing out into blogland to share some of my photos from my recent trip to India. You can't go to India and not be effected by the masses of people, the sights and sounds, and the vibrant culture.

These first two photos are of a school I visited, and it's the first of some wondrous faces I saw, and amazing people that I came across on my visit. These particular children are living in extreme poverty, and yet they seemed to have a genuine joy you can see in their smiles. They really made a profound impact on me.

In the days and weeks to come I will be posting a series of pictures from my travels across India.