On the road again

Every time I try to explain what I'm doing this summer, I don't seem to know where to begin. If someone (aka the Fund for Theological Education) offered to give you the funds to do any kind of project you wanted for a summer, what would you do? I decided to find a way to combine my love for Southeast Asia with my interest in economic justice. So, I'll be going back to India and Sri Lanka, and then to Namibia with a group from school, to learn from groups that are empowering minorities to overcome poverty.

On June 13 I depart for India, where I'll spend two weeks at Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, which does great work with the Dalit community. I'll also be making short visits to an organization in Kanchipuram called RIDE, which helps child laborers get out of the silk sari weaving industry and transition into school, and to see Global Ministries missionary Thandiwe Gobledale, who serves at an orphanage near Vellore.

After that, I'll go to Kandy, Sri Lanka, for two weeks with Satayodaya, an interfaith group which does organizing and advocacy work with the tea estate workers (most of whom are part of the minority Indian Tamil community). I'll also have a little free time to catch up with some old friends, hopefully.

My last trip to Kandy, with Jaffna College students.

Then it's back to the U.S. for a few days to join a group from Vanderbilt Divinity School for our immersion trip to Namibia, where I hope to focus on (among other things) how the country has dealt with the end of apartheid. We'll be there for two weeks, talking with leaders from all segments of society (politics, business, religion, health care, ordinary people, etc...).

Once I get back to Nashville and unpack (literally and theologically), I hope there will be some new insights that can be applied to both the Vanderbilt living wage campaign and to the way the church understands the connections between racism and poverty. I'm sure I will have a whole new way of looking at these issues.