City Chicks 4 Charity

Who: Our very own City Chick– Kristiana Tchir

What: Khushi Project in India

When: January 8-18, 2011

India was a life changing, enlightening, and overall amazing experience.  From the rickety Tuk Tuk rides and the emerald green Ganges River, to the breathtaking Himalayas and the cows that roam freely in the streets (and in the shops!).  But hands down the most fascinating part of the journey was the purpose behind my visit – visiting the children of the Khushi Project.

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of people on my first night in Rishikesh while spending hours with the group organizing suitcases full of donated items such as clothing, art supplies, medical supplies, and toiletries.  We had to start piling things on the floor because the tables were filling up so quickly!  We then planned the activities that we would begin the next day, (which would be our first day visiting with the children).  We split ourselves into 5 groups for various activities: 2 Arts & Crafts projects, a Letter Writing project to  be exchanged with children from a school in NYC, a Dance Group, and a Picture Taking group with cameras generously donated from Kodak.  I was in charge of one of the Arts & Crafts group – what a relief…those kids would have been really disappointed if I was in charge of the Dance Group 

After an hour long walk to meet the kids the next day, we still arrived with plenty of energy for our afternoon!  We were greeted by the most beautiful 150-200 curious faces I’ve ever seen.  They were so anxious to meet us and see what we were all about, but they respectfully stayed seated until we prepared our activity items and divided into our groups.  I broke the ice by introducing myself to the group with stickers in hand – stickers are a kid pleaser all around the globe!  Sure enough, smiles lit up around me, and our new friendship and projects began!  The next few afternoons were spent cutting, pasting, and getting messy with paint and glitter – all the while, laughing and getting to know the children better and better each day.

The kids in other groups were thrilled to learn how to use the cameras and were steady snapping away.  They loved saying a new favorite word, “cheeeese”, and were in awe that they could see the picture immediately after it was taken!  For the dance group, leaders were expecting to teach the kids some silly dances, but instead the kids put on a huge performance in true Bollywood style, dramatic facial expressions and all!  The letters to new penpals in NYC included their names, favorite hobbies, favorite animals, and the children even drew a picture for their new friends to send along with the letters.

I remember being nervous at first thinking that I wasn’t going to be able to communicate or connect with the kids as much as I was hoping to because of our language barrier.  But after the days spent with the children, I realize that language really poses no barrier in communication when you can communicate through acts of gentle kindness.  I left the children with more than a bag filled with final arts & crafts projects (gifts from the kids)…but more importantly I left with lifelong memories of their smiles and our time spent together!