Saturday, June 18, 2011

Almost time! Counting down the days

On July 3rd I'll be heading off to New York to meet up with the rest of the travelers. For two weeks I'll be staying in the rural village of Belchawadi in southern India and building a community center. I could not be more excited to experience the village life and markets of India! Thank you to everyone who has donated and helped make this trip possible.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Pat Yourself On The Back! Fundraising Update

I have now raised 1,635 dollars for the village project in Karnakata State! All of your donations have made a huge impact, as you can see. I really appreciate it. There is still time to order pictures, selling for 20 dollars each, with a check made out to me. 

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Channekeshava Temple in Belur




I will be visiting the Channekeshava Temple in Belur.  This is what I have found out so far:  The temple was commissioned by Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE.   According to some guide books and Wikipedia,   it is one of a few Hoysala sites still in use.  The front of the temple is reserved for images of dancers and characters from the Kamasurtra and the back for the gods.  Supposedly every Hindu deity is represented.  This is primarily a Vaishnava temple.  Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism.  It focuses on the worship of Vishnu, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God.   Check out the elephants I can't wait to see in the base of the temple.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Two ways to donate

1.  Donate directly to the 2 week rural village project in Karnataka State sponsored by my program, Global Routes.  Any amount you feel appropriate is greatly appreciated and 100% goes directly to the village and it is fully tax deductible.  It is fine to allocate how you would like the money to be directed, such as medical care, public health, education, art, etc.   Otherwise, once we complete the primary project, the other 15 volunteers, project leaders and I will vote on how best to allocate it.  Please make your check payable to Global Routes and send to me.  Global Routes has been around for 25 years connecting U.S. teenagers to community service projects around the world and has been written up in the New York Times.

2.  I am also fundraising to help pay for the $2000 airfare from NYC to India by pre-selling 5X7 photos for $20 each of village life and art, nature, or  one of the fabulous sites  I will be visiting and photographing during the other 2 weeks I'll be in India, including the 450 year old Paradesi Synagogue and the 14th century Channekeshava Temple.   If you are interested in ordering one or more photos, please make your check payable to me.

Great Indian folktales for kids



Sivitri is a great tale about a wife who outsmarts the God of Death and saves her husband.  The illustrations in this book are outstanding, but you can read the folktale here:
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/006.html 


Another  book I haven't read but looks very interesting is One Grain of Rice:  A Mathematical Folktale by Demi


A friend of our family suggested the folk tale Kannagi, which some claim to be based on a true story.  It is about Kannagi, a devout wife, who burnt the town of Madurai to defend her husband's honor because of injustice at the court.  http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/21698-Silappatikaram-one-five-great-epics.aspx

Also, a cool film about a kite running celebration in India (think celebration and kids and adults using their kites to cut off other's kite's strings  in the book/movie, the Kite Runner)  that my mom heard about on the radio and is playing now in New York City:
http://www.tribecafilm.com/news-features/news/The_Kite_Prashant_Bhargava.html 

Kerala

Kerala, where I will be visiting along with some Hindu sites, is
also home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world.  Settlers apparently arrived 
 in the first century AD. The oldest surviving Jewish
synagogue in India is the Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi (also known as Cochin).  
The temple was built in 1568 on the land gifted by the Raja Rama Varma, then ruler of Cochin.  It is is believed to have been built on the ruins of a previous synagogue from the 12th century. I am excited to see it.  It is located near the Dutch Palace, known also as Mattancherry Palace.   The temple was later destroyed by the Portuguese and was later rebuilt by the Dutch.  In most Indian languages the word ‘paradesi’ means "foreigner."  The Jewish community was once 35,000 but now is at about 35, due to the majority leaving to move to Israel.  In the last few years, the synagogue is being restored. 

An elephant in India I may see!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

My upcoming community service in Karnataka State


After orientation, taking place in Bangalore, the 15 other U.S teenagers and I will travel to Karnataka State. Here we will live with host families, where we will work on community service projects such as painting murals or building houses, schools, or cafeterias and working with kids on art and more. We may plant trees to support sustainable fuel production, or give community performances to promote health initiatives.  For those of you who know me from softball, I hope to try cricket with the kids.  

Thank you donors!

I want to thank all the donors for helping make this trip possible. It's amazing to get emails from people saying they will send checks and order photos. Donations of any size will really make an impact on the small rural village where I will be staying for two weeks. So again, thank you everyone! 
So far I have $850 dollars for the village, thanks to all of you!