Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that perpetual youth is in nature, and indeed it is!
I love how everyones inner child and carefree spirit breaks through in nature, especially at the beach! One afternoon it was decided what a wonderful idea it would be to take all of the girls and women we are working with to the beach for a picnic. They had all been working so hard, and some fun and fresh air were in order.
The younger girls, the women and their children, our volunteer team, Libby, our amazing local staff member, and myself all holding hands headed toward the sound of the ocean.
“When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.” - Rainer Maria Rilke
The path to the beach is a long dirt road through the slum community that is scattered with trash, cows, pigs, women cooking over open fire pits, and a dozen smells entering the nostrils simultaneously. It is amazing how you can walk through one world and so easily to another. From the intense poverty in the alleyways to the serenity of the beach. The community (which used to be the largest red light district in the area before half of it was torn down) seemed a world away from the calmness of the beach yet they are only footsteps apart.
What a joy to be with the girls for every little footstep. To be a part of helping forget troubles and worries, and provide an opportunity to be carefree children. Something that many of them have never had.
The pictures below are not just pictures. They are images that help tell a story about pain and struggle. Courage and strength. Happiness and joy.
Alisha
Goa Volunteer
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