Richard Sarker's Blogs

Lunch With Sex Workers

2009-12-14T09:44:00.010+05:30

On Saturday, November 14, accompanied by my two colleagues Megan Bradfield and Phil baker, I visited the HIV/AIDS project implemented by HKBP - the largest Lutheran Church in Asia. Our first stop was to visit a Don Bosco school and then to a local prison where they work among the people who have been imprisoned for various crimes including drug abuse and sex offenses. We were very impressed with both of these visits.

As we came out of the prison, Megan asked me what was next. I replied “lunch with sex workers”. Megan started laughing so loud that I wondered why she was laughing. Phil was curious too. I asked Megan why she was laughing, and she replied “Because you said “lunch with sex workers.” I said this was true and our next program is to have lunch with sex workers and drug abusers in a restaurant. Megan said “it was not because of what you said; I was laughing because the way you said it”.

We were met by about a dozen men and women in the restaurant who came at the invitation of the HIV/AIDS staff. This was an incentive for them to come to talk to us. After lunch we went back to the project office to have a conversation with these people. To me, (and probably to my colleagues) this was the most emotional part of the visit. All of these men and women described their stories openly and were seeking help.

A man described that he was HIV positive and his wife was not only HIV positive, but she also had tuberculosis. They have four minor children; two of them were also HIV positive. He was in tears when he described that his wife was unable to work because of her poor health and that the entire family was dependent on his income alone. He told us how hard he works for a small income driving a mini cab as he pays major portion of his earnings to the owner of the mini cab. He told us that he is grateful for the treatment and care he receives from the HIV/AIDS project but asked if there was anything else we could do to help him to come out of this misery.

A newly married couple told their story about how they realized that the husband was HIV positive immediately after their marriage. They do not want to have any children at this point. The wife told us that she is trying to support her husband and praying for his healing.

Two young women involved in sex trade told us about their painful stories. One of them was HIV positive. They told us the stories of how poverty and hunger brought them to this trade, and how they don’t like what they do but they do not have any other alternatives.

We left the meeting with much sadness as we could not give these people any immediate answer or hope for their future.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, with the abundance we enjoy in our lives, let us not forget the true meaning of the celebration – the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to this world, walked amongst the sick and the trodden, and died on the cross for us all. No matter what the politics of the Church, or differences we have among us, one issue remains a constant – there are many out there who need our help and our prayers. I pray that we all make a commitment for the upcoming New Year that we will come together as one and serve those who the world sees as “one of these leasts.”

My House Guests

2009-09-28T23:17:00.002+05:30

This is long over due. I did not have time to write about my friends who looked after my house in Chennai while I was in the USA and gone for a month from Chennai. I was away from the end of June to the end of July to renew my Indian Visa, and spend some time with my family. To be precise, I returned to Chennai on July 28, and the story of my house guests begin here.

I arrived at Chennai after about 20 hours of travel, including four- hours of waiting at Brussels Airport to get my connection to Chennai. My Jet Air flight arrived Chennai Airport at 23:30 hours and by the time I was cleared through customs and immigration formalities,it was almost 1:00 am. I took a taxi and arrived at home at about 2:00 am on July 29. I was exhausted!

I carried my heavy luggage upstairs to my apartment and unlocked the door. As I entered into my house and switched on the lights, I found about a dozen of Cockroaches running all around to welcome me, the real owner of the house! Before I could bring my luggage inside the house, I decided to respond to the warm welcome. I took a broom from the kitchen and went after my house guests, one by one and managed to kill about a half dozen of them. The rest managed to save their lives by hiding in some corners that I could not find.

It was an interesting experience. Here I was, early in the morning just having arrived from the United States, exhausted, and in a very hot and humid apartment ( Chennai is very hot and the apartment was locked for a month with all the windows shut), and the first thing I do is go on a killing spree!

After my mission was accomplished, I was laughing to myself for what I just did. Running all over the house to kill my house guests who lived here for a month and welcomed me when I returned from an enjoyable and relaxing vacation!

Sorry, I was too tired to take pictures of my dead house guests!

Barkat Found a Home

2009-07-03T08:27:00.031+05:30

Barkat Anugerah is a five-year-old boy who was born with HIV/AIDS. Barkat in Indonesian language means “Blessings,” and Anugerah means “Grace”. Both his father and mother died of AIDS two years apart.

His parents were separated for several years, and one (or both) of them contracted HIV/AIDS while they were separated. After two years of separation, they decided to make peace and live together again. About a year after their reunion, Barkat was born. The parents rightly named him Blessings and Grace as he was born since the reunion after two years of painful separation of this couple. Obviously, Barkat was born with HIV/AIDS.

After the death of his parents, life for Barkat was very uncertain as the people of the community knew that his parents had died of AIDS. Barkat was also very sick from the time he was born. Because of social stigma and lack of knowledge, his relatives were unable to take care of him as they feared that they will have HIV/AIDS if they care for Barkat in their home. The relatives were threatened to be driven away from the community if they had kept Barkat in their house. One of Barkat’s aunts was isolated in a one room house because she took care of him for few days after his parents’ death. Even his 55 year old grandmother refused to take care of him as she feared having AIDS virus and thrown out of the village.

One of the distant relatives contacted a local doctor to find out what could be done for Barkat as they were not really sure what was wrong with him as no one actually did an HIV/AIDS test. As Barkat was a member of a Lutheran church of HKBP, the doctor suggested that he should be taken to ELCA Global Mission supported HIV/AIDS committee office in Balige for a test. However, for some unknown reason, Barkat was sent to a hospital in Medan, the largest city in north Sumatra district, instead. The doctors tested him to find HIV positive. By this time his condition had become worse. He became very sick and skinny and seemed to not have any chance of survival.

As Barkat’s situation was brought to the attention of the local media by the authorities, a local journalist visited the hospital and published an article about the story of Barkat’s journey to the hospital and asked for help from the community and social welfare institution.

A local member of HKBP church who knew about the program called the staff of HIV/AIDS committee and informed them about this situation after reading the article in the newspaper. As soon as the coordinator of the program learnt about this situation, she took immediate action and sent two staff members to Medan Hospital to be with Barkat. They stayed in the hospital and took care of Barkat for several weeks till he was out of danger and was able to move around.

In the meantime, HIV/AIDS committee decided to take full custody of Barkat. They worked with the social welfare department to make necessary arrangements for them to have the paperwork done. They also started a foundation in the name of Barkat so that people could contribute towards his medical care and future education.

Barkat is now living in Balige with HIV/AIDS staff. Four of them keep Barkat in their home for one week each and they plan to continue this process till Barkat can go to an orphanage managed by HKBP in a nearby town. Barkat has three other siblings who are in the same orphanage.

When I visited the HIV/AIDS committee office in Balige, I met Barkat. He was very charming, smiling and lively young boy who always wanted love and attention. When I sat on the mat he jumped onto my lap and gave me a big smile.

There is HOPE for Barkat. As the HKBP program gets full custody, they plan to take care of him till he gets a good college education and stands on his own feet. His host families have big dreams. Some say Barkat will be doctor specializing on HIV/AIDS.

I am grateful that Barkat found a home. I am glad that due to our partnership with HIV/AIDS Committee of HKBP, it was possible for Barkat to survive and look forward to a life with many possibilities. I pray that the dreams of those who are engaged in taking care of Barkat will come true.

I MET ONE OF THOSE LEASTS

2009-04-26T23:45:00.020+05:30

Recently we celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who came to give new life to us all, and bring freedom to people from poverty, hunger, injustice, discrimination and exploitation. This reminds me of those I met in my recent trip to Nepal. There I met many of the “one of those leasts” that we are called to serve.

LAXMI THOKAR

I met Laxmi Thokar in her small tea and Momo shop in a local park - near Hetauda in Makhwanpur District. Like many others in this region, she was born into a poor family. Her parents put her to a school when she was six years old. Due to financial problems, however, Laxmi had to leave school to help her parents with household chores and work as an agricultural laborer to earn wages to help support the family. When she was eighteen, her parents found her a boy to marry and within four years, she was also the mother to three children. Laxmi was diagnosed with tuberculosis when she went to see a local doctor for her fever. Within a few days of this tragic news, her husband disappeared and later divorced her. Having no other alternative, Laxmi moved to her parents’ home with her three children and worked odd jobs to help support her parents and providing food for the entire family.

For the last several years, Laxmi has been associated with Center for Community Development in Nepal (CCDN), a local NGO and ELCA partner. As Laxmi showed great interest in the nutrition program, CCDN gave her an opportunity to become a nutrition volunteer with a small amount of money for her travel and food allowance. She attended several courses on nutrition and ultimately became a key person in bringing health-related messages to her community.

Laxmi saved some money and set up her tea and Momo shop in a small local park and increased her income. Now she is able to feed her family and send her two children to school.

I was happy to see that CCDN was able to reach “one of these leasts”

GOMA PANDIT

I met Goma when I went to visit Shanti Nepal, a local NGO and ELCA partner in Gajuri, Dhading district. Goma works as an office help - cleaning, cooking, and taking care of other errands. She has four children. Deepa-12, Dipesh-9 and two six year old twin sons Dijen and Dipendra. She sent her nine-year-old son Dipesh to an orphanage in a local town and lives with the other three at home.

Goma’s husband borrowed money to start a business from a local rich man. Unfortunately, his dream to start a business never materialized. In the meantime, his loan became a burden as it multiplied into a huge amount that he could never pay back. Therefore, he found the easy solution and took poison to end his life. In addition, Goma was left behind with a responsibility of taking care of four children, her mother-in-law and a huge debt. She started selling water bottles in a local bus stand to earn about a dollar a day to feed her family.

One day, one of the Shanti Nepal employees came to know her situation and asked her to come to the office. They hired her to work as an office helper, which has much more dignity and safety. However, her struggle to find ways to overcome her difficulties in paying off the huge debt her husband left her and to feed the family and educate her children continues.

I saw “one of those leasts!”

At breakfast the morning after I arrived in Dhading, Goma served Chapatis (kind of an Indian wheat bread) and curried beans . As a special guest, she also served a boiled egg only for me. As I was eating, I noticed Goma’s son Dijen sitting in a corner of the kitchen staring at me as if he was counting every peace of bread I was putting in my mouth. I asked Goma if he ate anything this morning but she did not answer. Instead, Mr. Sharma, the person in charge of Shanti Nepal office, answered for her saying that Dijen would eat later.

I had a feeling Goma and Dijen were waiting till we are done and eat the leftover (if there were any). I had three Chapatis on my plate, more than what I needed, so I ate one and stopped. I asked Goma to give the rest to Dijen and sat there to watch. Dijen ate those two in no time, looked at his mother and asked if he could get one more. Goma looked around a little and gave him the third one she had saved for herself.

I saw “one of those leasts!”

In the afternoon when I was leaving from Dhading, I asked Goma if I could take a picture of her and Dijen. She agreed with a nice smile. The picture to the right is of her and her children.

I saw “one of those leasts!”

MAN KUMARI

Man Kumari lives in the bank of a river in Hudgikhola with five children. Her husband disappeared from home for an unknown reason several years ago, leaving all five children for Man Kumari to take care. Her oldest daughter Sarita, 15, works in a local restaurant and attends school in sixth grade.

Man Kumari, inspired by Shanti Nepal, an ELCA partner, enrolled herself in school in the fifth grade. She participated in income generating training offered by Shanti Nepal. In addition, she joined the cooperative and saved money. She took a loan to buy goats three years ago. When I visited her small make shift shed, she proudly showed her four goats she has been waiting to sell.

She told us that often she is subject to harassment by the local officials for occupying government property and threaten her to evict for her small house she lives with her minor children. I had to cross a river when I went to visit her. She helped me by pulling heavy boulders to make sure that my shoes and clothes do not get wet. She put her school uniform when I wanted to take a picture.

I saw “one of those leasts!”

WOMAN WITH HER DAUGHTER

While I was on my way to Mankumari’s house, I saw a women walking through the river with a small child on her back. I asked where she was going. She said her daughter has fever from last night and she is taking her to a nearby heath post. She looked very tired and exhausted. I asked how far she walked. She said she walked for three hours through hills and rivers to come to that spot because there were no other health facilities available anywhere nearby. Later, I visited the health post as Shanti Nepal provides medical supplies to this health post and saw the women waiting with her child to get her turn to see a paramedics.

I saw "one of those leasts!"

From this particular trip to Nepal and meeting many of these leasts, I have seen the true face of resilience and humility. Perhaps, people like Goma, Man Kumari, Laxmi and the women carrying her child on her back for minimum medical care, have the most to teach me and the rest of this broken world that Jesus came to this world to save all of us by sacrificing his own life on the cross.

As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, let us remember that He called us to serve our neighbors and “one of those leasts!”

May God bless us all and give us the widom and courage to face the challenges ahead of us at these difficult times around the world.

First Two Months of Deployment

2008-12-05T08:05:00.005+05:30

On September 29, 2008 my wife, Mary Ann drove to Philadelphia airport for my trip to India on my first two-month deployment in the Asia-Pacific region. I left Philadelphia on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt for my connecting flight to Chennai, India. I arrived in Chennai in the early hours of September 31. This deployment from ELCA Global Mission for two months to the region was mainly for orientation. During these two months, Rev. Joseph Chu, Director for Asia-Pacific Region met me twice, once in India and later in Indonesia to introduce me to various leaders of our companions and partners in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

During the two months of deployment, I traveled by road and air twice to Bangladesh and once to Indonesia, in addition to traveling extensively within India by rail and road to various churches. I met their leaders to learn more about their ministry, specifically in health and development. It was a wonderful experience as I was able to connect with many church leaders, take part in many social and church activities and also dialogue in a spirit of companionship with many partners. I was able to convey the message of companionship and building relationship to do God’s work with our hands.

It was an assignment that opened my eyes and ears towards the brokenness of our world. I experienced that the Holy Spirit is working in most parts of this region. In India and Indonesia, the churches are growing. Many new churches are being built. Small church buildings can no longer accommodate the growing number of believers. So they are building larger churches to meet the growing needs. I attended many worship services during this two months and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in every congregation. The songs and praises inspired me immensely and enriched my life.

In Indonesia, I took part in long term strategic planning meetings for two major programs for our companions. First one was the HKBP committee on HIV/AIDS and the second one was for Center for Disaster Risk Management and Sustainable Development through Nommensen University in Medan, one of the largest Lutheran Universities in the region.

In Bangladesh, I attended the donors’ meeting for RDRS (Rongpur Dinajpur Rehabilitation Service), one of our companions for many years. It was encouraging that this organization is working in one of the poorest geographical areas in Bangladesh rather than spreading too thinly around the whole country. I was encouraged to witness the affirmation given by many partners who have been supporting this organization for many years. The long term plan for RDRS is to achieve self reliance through micro-credit and other income generating activities.

I also visited Lutheran Health Care, Bangladesh (LHCB) with which ELCA has been in partnership for more than 15 years. In addition to providing primary health care for the people in Dumki, one of the remotest areas in Bangladesh, they are also working to provide safe drinking water and reducing the risk of serious arsenic contamination, which has been a problem in that area for a long time.

They recently started the popular micro-credit program through formation of co-operatives for women. I attended two meetings of these women’s groups and have a sense of satisfaction in what the LHCB is trying to achieve. It was heart breaking to see many men and women who have been affected by the contamination of arsenic in drinking water. Due to ignorance and the lack of early detection of this deadly poison in the drinking water, many lives are in danger today. However, I came back with a sense of relief - it is “BETTER LATE THAN NEVER”

I feel fortunate and humbled by the opportunity to be part of the ELCA-Global Mission to reach to the poor and oppressed who are in need. People in this region may be poor and hungry but they are strong in spirit. They know how to survive in severe adverse situations and how to live with less. Our mission is to walk with them, learn from them and work to find solutions.

Dealing with gender equality is a large part of the work we do with the oppressed and poor. I have come to realize that it plays an important role in our approach to eliminate inequality and poverty in these societies. To quote the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan: “Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a pre-condition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance”

Please pray that everyone in this world may live in peace and, I/we, as God’s people may be the instrument for peace and justice in this broken world.

May the God of peace and mercy be with us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours.

Richard Sarker

New Believers!

2008-12-03T21:05:00.001+05:30

New converts in India

New Converts - Mother and daughter

These are two pictures of the new converts in India which I referred to in my previous blog. It is the direct result of the work of Bible Women Group in India.

Deployment in Chennai, India

2008-10-27T05:31:00.006+05:30

I returned from a trip to southern part of India. After my orientation to different companion churches, I went back to visit Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church to learn about their Bible Women Group. I visited three different Synods and met the members and leaders of the groups to learn about their ministry. I was really happy to see some of the fruits of their labor.

The Bible Women Group reflects the mission of churches. Most group leaders are trained clergies. They conduct regular meetings where they pray,share each other's joys and concerns together. They try to solve each other's problem by sharing their experience. They also deal with issues such as women's role in family, church and society, atrocities against women, women health and economic development. They visit the homes of the inquirers and preach the good news. I have visited few churches where many of the women came to Christ and were baptised due to the wonderful work of the bible women group. I visited some new converts who were traditionally from the prostitute community. It was only possible for the Bible Women Group to work among this community.

Yesterday I went to three different Lutheran Churches as a guest to worship/bring greetings. Two of these churches were only 500 yards away from each other. I asked one of the pastors the reasons for having two churches so close to each other although both of these churches were not very big. He just smiled and replied "because of the caste system." One of these Churches are made up of newly converts from Dalit (Untouchables) community. These converts are the fruits of Bible Women group's work. Christians from the mainstream population still can't accept the fact that in God's eye everyone is equal. In order to keep the churches together, they have different place of worship. (This reminds me of Gay and Lesbian issues in America which seem to divide churches at times).

This was my first visit to one of the programs after I took over my responsibility as Regional Representative,for Asia-Pacific Region. And my first impression is, I am glad that I am here. God is working here in this part of the world. People are poor but they are very rich in spirit. Many new churches have been built, many old small churches have been rebuilt with local initiative as these churches are growing through new conversions. In one instance, every family donated 50,000 rupees per family(US$ 1200 approximately) although they are not really wealthy.

There are lot of opportunities and also challenges. I see myself in the midst of these, God sent me for a specific purpose. To live among them, walk with them,learn from them and be part of their community to find ways to address common concerns and together do what God has commanded us to do.

I returned to Chennai(Madras) this morning by an overnight train, and could not sleep much. I leave for Bangladesh on the 29th and after two weeks, I will travel to Indonesia for more orientation. But, if you have any questions, please feel free to write to me and I will respond as quickly as possible depending on my time and availability of Internet connection.

God's blessings and peace,

Richard