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Six Weeks' Sound Bytes
7/30/09
This week we debriefed in Bangkok our time in the Trek cities and explored ways to share our experiences with people at home.
Coming back to Thailand was a bit of a shock for some of the Kolkata team. There was little time to rest between goodbyes at placements, in-country debrief, dinner with Indian friends, and an early flight to Bangkok. For me, Kolkata ended once we got on the plane to turn on in-flight entertainment and choose our meals.
Being in Bangkok is strange because poverty takes a different form. Where we’re staying, the streets aren’t crowded. I can step in a puddle without worrying what’s in it. It’s been enlightening to speak to the Bangkok team who lived with host families in poor areas, with a different set of challenges.
I wish we had weeks to think about the issues that came up on the trip, talk about the people we met and share experiences, lessons and insights. I wish we could go back to enter a new journey, armed with the things we’ve learned together.
However, I also feel ready to move on, thanks to the work we’ve done with our leaders and the intentional time spent with Jesus.
Many of us are eager to return home and spend time with family and friends, and a lot of us are starting school in just a few weeks. Some of us plan to travel soon after the Trek: to Australia, China, Ukraine, destinations in the US, other parts of India.
We are looking forward to things like hamburgers, cold water, makeup, beds, coffee shops and wardrobe options. We will miss things like rich colors and textures, bargaining, auto rickshaws, flowing saris, children flying kits over their roofs, team time, and people, people, people.
I had the privilege of walking through another Red Light District before the Trek ended. It was a completely different experience to the one in Bangkok during orientation. During orientation, I had struggled to know what to think because I didn’t understand the situation or my role in it. This time, rather than seeing victims of a justifiably wrong global system, I saw my friends.
Yet the hardest thing wasn’t seeing the women “standing in line,” but rather saying goodbye to a woman who works at my placement and continues to live in a room right off the street. Is that okay? I think it might be, at least for now. I’ve learned there is an important place for relationships in development and addressing structures of injustice.
We’ve just practiced putting the last six weeks into sound-byte form. Destructively compelling is a phrase we like. For me, the summer has been challenging, convicting and confirming; or intense, interactive and inspiring.
The Trek has only been over for a day, but I’m already bumping up against old ways of operating and value shifts. I’m excited to see the ways we have changed and how God has used us to contribute, maybe a little, to world change.
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