Longitude

The Women of GP Village by Holly Schneidmiller

India is an amazing country. The culture, people and food are vast and diverse. Traveling to GP village certainly amplified everything I had experienced in India. Right away I knew this volunteer experience would be overwhelming, both challenging and rewarding.

Over the next two weeks my friend Carla and I built houses, talked with many people, played with the children and resided in GP village. We immediately saw how desperately the people needed support. We tried our best to be of service building houses, however, that was difficult only being two people. I feel the type of support that we best provided was friendship. We spent many days talking to people in the village, especially women.

I found many differences in culture immediately. People were amazed to learn that I was 25 and not married. They also couldn’t understand why I hadn’t had children yet. This was awkward at first but later I realized that marriage in GP village brings the women security, comfort and stability. I was taught all the signs of a married woman including looking for toe rings and necklaces that are a symbol of a woman’s marital status. Later people would test me on which women were married by checking their jewelry. Although there were many married women who I found interesting, the two that stuck out to me the most were not currently wed.

There was one single woman whom Carla and I spent most our time with. She was the new village teacher. It was interesting talking to her, asking her many questions and learning about her life. She taught me some words in Telegu, what celebrities she liked and showed me how her family lived. In turn, Carla and I taught her some card games. We spent many days playing card games after lunch and at night. It was funny to see how competitive she was. We even taught her how to shuffle and watched her practice. At night we would watch some TV together. She would always change channel and tell us she liked what was on. We would let her try on our clothes and teach her some words in English. She was always fun to hang out with.

I think my favorite person in the village was a widow. She couldn’t speak any English. Everyday she would come outside and watch me work. A day or two later she motioned for me to come join her. At first she would only touch my face and say some words. Over the next few days she showed me many things. She taught me how to clean and cut fish. She let me help her feed a huge pond of fish with a bag full of kibble. She called me over to show me a two hour old infant. She asked me about my skin, America and why I was not married. She even offered to let me eat one of her chickens. Whenever I saw her I would stop to talk to her. Sometimes we would only smile at each other when we had nothing to say. This woman was loving and gentle and I will miss her the most.

There were many people whom I felt a connection with throughout the weeks but none were stronger than those hard working and loving women. They made me laugh, feel beautiful and accepted me as a friend. I will always remember the women in the village.

Holly Schneidmiller