Hello friends!
There have been so many things to think about, to do, and to decide since I last made a post that I can barely decide what to say first. I'm planning a lot of big changes in the next few months! I've been accepted to the Word Made Flesh servant team going to Kolkata (Calcutta) India in late August. I'll be there for about four months, the dates are not set in stone yet. While I'm there I'll be working with an outreach of WMF called Sari Bari. Sari Bari works with escapees of the sex trade in Kolkata, helping women to leave the red light districts by offering love, support, and alternative employment.
For a little more information on what they deal with here is an excerpt from the Sari Bari website:
While with Sari Bari, I'll first spend at least a month learning the Bengali language and developing relationships with the women already at Sari Bari. Once I've learned more about the culture of human trafficking I will be able to go with the Sari Bari workers to speak with and care for the women still involved in the sex trade. I may even get a chance to employ my art and theatre skills in projects with the women at Sari Bari, Word Made Flesh is very open to arts as a form of healing and outreach.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently was in Kolkata and visited a Human Trafficking focused event where Sari Bari participated! You can read about it on Sari Bari's blog: here. She even bought a bag from them and got to meet one of the women who Sari Bari has helped. Totally cool!
Before I go to India however, I have a lot to get done! I'm going to take the GRE test for graduate school admittance in about a week, and I'm studying/practicing like crazy. The test costs a LOT of money and I don't want to waist it and have to take it all over again.
After hopefully passing the GRE, my task will be to apply to as many places as possible before leaving for India since I won't have much time between August and December to complete the applications. Programs I'm looking at inculde North Western, NYU, Cornell, Brown, and Columbia University, so you can see how essential it will be to have strong test scores and applications. I want to go back for a PhD in Theatre at a program that will allow me to choose my own topic of study, blending theatre and social justice. I think that learning more about what others have done with theatre and justice will help me be prepared to practice it myself. I hope that one day I'll have a job either with a university or a non-profit that allows me to go abroad and do the social theatre that I am so passionate about.
Well, there you have it. That's the current plan! I'm sure it will change many times in the next few months, but I'm very excited about its current form! Stay posted for more info on the upcoming India trip, GRE scores, and impending move back to Indiana before leaving the continent!
Much love to all! - A
There have been so many things to think about, to do, and to decide since I last made a post that I can barely decide what to say first. I'm planning a lot of big changes in the next few months! I've been accepted to the Word Made Flesh servant team going to Kolkata (Calcutta) India in late August. I'll be there for about four months, the dates are not set in stone yet. While I'm there I'll be working with an outreach of WMF called Sari Bari. Sari Bari works with escapees of the sex trade in Kolkata, helping women to leave the red light districts by offering love, support, and alternative employment.
How Human Trafficking Happens: A young village girl, probably from a poor family, is lured, tricked or
cajoled by a “trafficker” who promises a good job, a marriage or a
better life in the city. The “trafficker” could be a woman who has
previously been prostituted herself, a young man promising marriage or
jobs, or a family member. The young girl is illiterate (or close to it),
unsuspecting and has hopes for a better life for herself and/or her
family, but she soon finds herself in a horrible nightmare of slavery
from which she will likely never be able to escape...
From Sari Bari's vision statement: Sari Bari seeks the sustainable restoration of red light communities and
the prevention of the exploitation of women and children in the
commercial sex trade... Sari Bari does not rescue women, but rather seeks restoration for those
who have been trafficked or held in the sex trade by poverty and lack of
empowerment. Approximately 65 percent of women in the red light areas
no longer qualify for legal action in the form of rescue. While they
were likely first trafficked in their teen years, many are now
middle-aged and are trapped by circumstances that have bound them since
childhood.
While with Sari Bari, I'll first spend at least a month learning the Bengali language and developing relationships with the women already at Sari Bari. Once I've learned more about the culture of human trafficking I will be able to go with the Sari Bari workers to speak with and care for the women still involved in the sex trade. I may even get a chance to employ my art and theatre skills in projects with the women at Sari Bari, Word Made Flesh is very open to arts as a form of healing and outreach.
Before I go to India however, I have a lot to get done! I'm going to take the GRE test for graduate school admittance in about a week, and I'm studying/practicing like crazy. The test costs a LOT of money and I don't want to waist it and have to take it all over again.
After hopefully passing the GRE, my task will be to apply to as many places as possible before leaving for India since I won't have much time between August and December to complete the applications. Programs I'm looking at inculde North Western, NYU, Cornell, Brown, and Columbia University, so you can see how essential it will be to have strong test scores and applications. I want to go back for a PhD in Theatre at a program that will allow me to choose my own topic of study, blending theatre and social justice. I think that learning more about what others have done with theatre and justice will help me be prepared to practice it myself. I hope that one day I'll have a job either with a university or a non-profit that allows me to go abroad and do the social theatre that I am so passionate about.
Well, there you have it. That's the current plan! I'm sure it will change many times in the next few months, but I'm very excited about its current form! Stay posted for more info on the upcoming India trip, GRE scores, and impending move back to Indiana before leaving the continent!
Much love to all! - A
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