Working in the Muslim Slums

Okay, so I just wrote a long entry to this and, of course, lost it because the internet connection is never, ever consistent. AHHHHHH!! Take 2!

So, I have spent the past week training in the Muslim slum areas of Hyderabad. For those of you who don't know Hyderabad actually has quite a large Muslim population (roughly 40%). It is also considered very peaceful despite the religious mix.

These trainings have been truly eye-opening to me. In the four days I have been doing these trainings I have done one on a village roof top, one in the basement of a mosque (complete with chickens) and two in one-room school houses. It has been an experience!

The "Old City" is the area of Hyderabad where most of the Muslim population resides and although it is still HYD I must admit it is quite different.

First, there is the sudden pervasiveness of meat. Yes, meat. I know to most of you reading this that this comment will sound strange but it has been some time since I have shared space with meat eating culture and I must admit, it was a bit nasty. So many goats, butchers, and butcher shops. So many flies and blood caked shirts and meat sitting out in the sun all day. I guess perhaps it is the meat-eating culture of India which is slightly less appealing. It makes me WANT to be a vegetarian.

The other is the sheer number of burkas....or rather, women in burkas. There is something about working in a room full of women in burkas which makes me feel vulnerable (well, rather exposed). I find myself pulling up my pants and pulling down my kurta in an effort to cover any possibly exposed skin. I can feel their curious eyes on me .... certainly they are scandalized by my 'exposure'. It is intimidating. The first time I walked into a room of burka-clad women I wanted to walk back out, to start over again - to put on a scarf before I turned the corner and to hide the tattoos on my feet. Scandal! As I look out over this sea of black upon wave of black and find myself searching for some meaning before me and I fall short every time.

Most of them will take off the nose scarf (mouth cover) of the burka once they know that all men have been cleared from the room. I find this transformation astonishing. First it is the realization that these girls are just that...girls. It is amazing how difficult age is to decipher in a burka (interesting!). It is also amazing how much stronger my connection feels to these girls when I can see their faces - their shy smiles and uncomfortable laughter.

I am training these girls in Adolescent Health, Hygiene, birth spacing, age at first birth and age at marriage. To put this into appropriate perspective, most of these girls have never heard of menarche (or often period) and many use dirty rags during their monthly cycles. Nearly all of them have no say over who they marry, when they marry or when they have children. I have already met more than one girl who was 16 with one child and married at 14 or 15. (here, pregnancy directly follows marriage).

During these trainings I feel cautiously hopeful for these girls. I see their eagerness to learn and to be empowered. I watch as they nod and smile when we talk about proper hygiene and how they giggle behind their black mask when we tell them that men, in fact, are the determiners of the gender of a child and no one else. How they brighten when we tell them all children are a gift, irregardless of gender.

This hope is dampened when I what them clammer to hide and cover themselves if a man happens to appear or as I watch the elder women from the town listening in to evaluate the content of the presentation. I find it discouraging that these women are often the enforcers of the social norm, having an attitude of "i bore this burden and so will everyone else".

I admit that I don't understand it, this culture of cover. I also admit that I would never want to live my life this way - through a slit. But, I am eager to learn and understand and I think that is the most important piece. I am eager to have compassion and learn from these women.

What I can say is: WOW! What a diverse world we have.

I find myself thinking on how it will feel to go to my first outing in New York and see women in New York evening attire. Will I feel scandalized? What will it be like to wear shorts after all this time?

New York will certainly be a shock. As my friend put it, "you have gone native. New York is gonna be nuts". I, for one, think it will be fine but also forever different.

Meghan