Working, a Volunteer and the Dupatta

I haven't wrote in many months. My life was chaotic and going at 100MPR while i was at school. I have been out of school for almost two months now and i feel as if i haven't done anything great to recount. So here is what you missed out on, which is not much...

I obtained a job at GAP and enjoy the staff that i work with. There is a bit of everything in that store, theres the gay, fun loving guys, the straight well dressed guys, the hippies, the conceited girls, the sweet girls and the ones' you never want to cross. Luckily the ones that work with me in the baby/children department are really nice. I'm glad that i don't work in the Adult department, there is too much competition down there to look a certain way, I'd rather work with moms/dads whom are interested in getting in and out in a timely fashion.






I have also started to volunteer in my church Immanuel Presbyterian in a program called WORKUP which helps at risk youth obtain Financial training, Educational and Vocational assistance as well as assist the youth in a social entrepreneur endeavor in their own community. Its a great program and i am loving the relationship that I am building with the youth. Since i am living with Prabha she has also volunteering in the program which makes me happy because we are doing it together.

I have also started wearing my Dupatta's (head scarves) when i walk in my neighborhood. I am tired of being blown kisses, told "mamacita" and "Hey what's your name?" by young and older men whom are clearly not looking at me as a human being but a piece of meat, therefore, i have found a guy repellent. When i don't wear my Dupatta over my head and i walk in my neighborhood i hear the whistles and the like (not that it has anything to do with my facial appearance) But when i do i hear nothing. The men that would usually whistle at me and tell me derogatory terms are silent, and not only silent, they won't even greet me with a hello, or look at me. It didn't take me long to realize why...they are uncomfortable with me because they think i am Muslim. It is a universal truth that people fear the unfamiliar and will avoid it because many people cannot step out of themselves to engage someone different from their norm. If people can't understand, or feel comfortable around a different culture group they will stay away. So i am using this to my advantage. I am walking down the streets of Koreatown and Downtown Los Angeles with my head up and with no whistles and cat calls. There are those who still cat call at me but the percentage has decreased exponentially. I have demanded their respect and have obtained it with their silence. It might not seems like respect to you, but it is to me. I feel respected by their silence and the lack of cat calls. I feel invisible and not another fish that men want to catch for their pleasure. I was blessed with a face which allows me to blend in with the South Asian and Arab populations that are Muslim, so i am not questioned. If i were white trying to wear the Dupatta everywhere, i know i will draw attention, but Thank God i look the way i do. By saying this i am not advocating that I am trying to be something I am not and that i follow the teachings of the Koran by wearing the Dupatta. If asked I will gladly tell people that i am Christ follower, if they are confused, that is not my problem. I am just repelling men.

So that is the highlight of my summer thus far I will keep you posted on the rest.

SHALOM

Aha moment

Its funny how as human beings we can give up on things if they get too hard or if we simply can't see rationally how it will work out. About a month ago i renounced he Idea of going to India due to my limited finances. I set my heart in Tijuana, Mexico where i would be great aid in Casa del Immigante. I was bummed out that i wasn't going to be able to do my Global Learning term in India, until my professor spoke really serious with me. He shared with me that there are options and that he could help me obtain the funds that i needed to go to India. He said he knew people who finance learning terms like my own, to promote peace and to better humanity through service. I cried many tears of joy and fear, because i didn't want to get my hopes up to just have them shattered. I looked into the organization and they give up to 25,000 for the year for those that are wishing to serve abroad. I don't know if i am going to get that amount but anything right now is helpful. So GLT update.. God is doing something, he is telling me not to forget about India, and so i can't pass up this opportunity.

If everything goes through i will be serving in an organization called SANLAAP located in Kolkata, India within the red light district. Its goal is to protect women and children from the vicious cycle of the sex industry.

They have partnered with many other organizations that work for similar relief. They fight the idea of legalizing prostitution, for the state to profit from it, which is what other organizations are trying to do in the area. Sex workers are demoralized, and their children are forced into the industry with no choice of their own. Sanlaap provides vocational, training, shelters, among other problems for the residents of the red light district.

Currently, there are 10 millions prostitutes in India, 400,000 children are forced into prostitution, 100,000 women subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in Kolkata ( 40% of them are under 18 years of age.)
3 million girls killed at birth each year, 50,000 million girls and women go missing, result of systematic sexual discrimination such as foeticide (the fetus- homicide), the physical removal of the fetus from the womb. (Stats from Sanlaapindia.org).

I can't sit silently while these injustices continue year after year. I know that i don't have the power or money to stop this from happening but working with this organization will help.

I pray that this be a possibility. As of Mexico, i will intern there for a month before i head out to India. This will be good for me, and i won't feel bad for disregarding Mexico.

It's all in God's hands...Inshallah.
-Eveline

Azusa the highs, lows and in betweens

I have returned to the predictable, the routine, the very place i left to find new meaning in life. Now that i have returned to this place i try to take the good out of the bad. I must say that i dislike being here, amidst many of my fellow students that don't give about anyone else but themselves. People who live in a bubble we call "APU BUBBLE" and so they are blind to the people and social injustices that occur outside of it. I wish i could pop everyone's bubble and make them see the real world that lies outside of it. Life is not what you can buy from it, but why wish i could make them see, i wish i could make them appreciated "the other" without imposing on them their own beliefs. I guess my feelings are a bit imposing as well. Who am i to change anyones paradigm, people don't have to believe what i believe. I long to be away from this place, i day dream about being back in Los Angeles, far too much.

The reason i hate this place is because here i need to work to pay rent and to buy my own food. I don't have a host mom that does this for me anymore. I have to work really hard, two jobs to be precise, and on top of that i am taking 5 classes that all demand much from me. When do i study? the weekends. Therefore, i have little to no time to socialize. My roommate Rosy is worried about me, i see it in her eyes. She's worried because i work to much and hardly sleep. She worries because I'm always tired. She's a good roommate, I wish more people were like her.

Although living with 5 girls can be stressful (especially if not all of them believe in cleanliness) I am learning to be patient, and to not let everything get to me like it did the first month. My thoughts are random and unorganized but i finally let them out.