Volunteering is unviersal language
By Sharon K. SobottaForeign Correspondent
In June, 24-year-old Jang-wan Kim from Korea packed her bags and left India along with many foreigners.
However, unlike many of the rest of India's international tourists and employees who were scrambling to get out of India as soon as possible, Kim simply went to Bangladesh to renew her visa and extend her stay.
Kim arrived in a village in Orissa last June to volunteer for a social development organization with the intention of staying six months. Now, one year and two renewed visas later, she is in Calcutta caring for the sick and dying in Mother Theresa's house.
Kim has been in Western India long enough to pick up on two dialects and hopes to stay long enough to learn Hindi.
"I wanted to do something more valuable than traveling and visiting famous places," Kim said. "Volunteering is for me and for other people."
Kim considers herself fortunate to be able to volunteer in Mother Theresa's Catholic organization in Prem Dan.
"I am very lucky because I can speak some Bengali and communicate with the patients," Kim said. "When they ask for my help, I feel valuable; like we can rely on each other."
While Kim's experience in India has been life changing for her, it has been a worrisome issue for her family.
"My family didn't want me to go to India because they thought of it as a dirty, poor place with mosquitoes and Malaria everywhere, so I lied and told my family I would go to England," Kim said.
A month after arriving, she broke the news to her family that she was in fact in India not England. Kim's family accepted the reality that she would not be returning to Korea or studying abroad. Their concern was aroused again when the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India over the territory of Kashmir became the center of international news.
"My family told me that I had to come back to Korea, but at that time, the top news in the India Times was the World Cup, so I didn't think there would be a problem," Kim said.
Unlike Kim, who was already in South Asia as the world monitored the region with a critical eye, Fred Garza from New York ignored the advisory and flew across the world.
"A lot of people freaked out and thought that I'd blow up and die if I came here, but now I'm here (in Calcutta) and I'm very happy I came," Garza said. "In some ways I feel safer here than I do in New York."
Although many travelers like Garza believed the travel warnings have been blown out of proportion, Kim believes that the governments who issued the warnings were just being precautious.
"It's always better to be safe," Kim said.
However, people like Mohmad Aiwa Ayoub, a Muslim shopkeeper from Kashmir, migrated to a popular tourist destination, Goa, disagree.
"It's up to the people to decide if they want to come, not the government," Ayoub said.
Ayoub is in regular contact with his family, still living in Kashmir and claims they are safe. From Ayoub's perspective, the situation in Kashmir that has brought India and Pakistan so much attention, is much more simple than it appears.
"Neither country wants the people; they just want the land, because it is very beautiful and different from the rest of India," Ayoub said. "The people in Kashmir just want freedom�not India, not Pakistan."
Ayoub feels thankful to the Bush administration for asking the two countries not to fight, but offered no feedback on America's involvement in Afghanistan, South Asia or the Middle East.
"I am an Indian, so I only focus on the issues affecting my country," Ayoub said.
Farrah Miranda, a Canadian Indian from Toronto who was in Goa visiting her grandmother when travel warnings were issued, can appreciate Ayoub's point of view.
"It's easy for people in the West to get involved with things that don't affect us, because all of our needs are met," Miranda said. "For people who are in a country where so many people are struggling to get an education, to eat and even to survive, it's hard to be concerned about other people's problems."
Despite the high level of visible poverty and the recent negative attention India has received, the decision to stay in the country is one that requires deep consideration.
When the next six months on Kim's visa expires, she is unsure if she will renew her visa or go back to Korea. For her, India has become a second home that no travel advisories will separate her from.
"I've learned so much since I came here and have seen many aspects of India," Kim said. "I feel very connected to the people."
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