Taya and Dilshaad

In February and March of 2009, the Wall/Davis family of Sherwood Park, AB, Canada volunteered with One! International in Mumbai. This was the first family to volunteer, as a family, in India. Perry, Wendy, Taya(12 years) and Harper(10 years) have been supporters of One! for over five years in a variety of capacities; both Taya and Harper are passionate in their desire to help their peers on the other side of the world.

The following story was written by Taya Wall about an incident that occured with her Mumbai friend Dilshaad.

Dilshaad by Taya Wall – 12 yrs.

Last year in February and March, when my family and I were volunteering for One! International in Mumbai, India, I made some very good friends at the Khar school. One of them, Dilshaad, I became close to almost right away. We first connected when we both started laughing at something funny in an English class that I was a student in. She spoke good English, so we were able to communicate easily, and we would talk and laugh whenever we were together. As her paid job for the school, Dilshaad cooked dinner for us and the other volunteers. Everyday we rode back to the volunteer apartments in a rickshaw with each other. One of the ways that she chose to express our friendship was to give me small gifts. These gestures really touched me because I knew how little she had.

Mum, Dad, Harper and I had been in India for two months and we were getting a bit uncomfortable with how hot the climate was. Both Harper and I were eager to go swimming, so we began the search for a pool. One of the other volunteers, Zoe, regularly went swimming quite close to the volunteer apartments where we lived. She offered to take us to the pool. On a hot afternoon after the school day, Zoe, Mum, Harper, Dilshaad and I were riding back to the apartments (Dilshaad was coming to cook for us). Zoe had the rickshaw driver stop outside the courtyard where the pool was located. We were a little surprised to see the clean and upper-class building, but excitement and intent on swimming rushed us past the guards. We were already most of the way in when I noticed that Dilshaad wasn’t with us. Immediately, with a numb realization, I knew something was wrong, I searched for her and saw her sitting outside waiting, not even attempting to try and come inside. When I think back on it now, I think this is what upset me the most. That Dilshaad knew her place, and was so used to being treated like she was in the lowest class, that it wasn’t a second thought to her. She just knew that she would not be allowed inside by the guards. For me, this experience was one of the most emotional and distressing during our stay. It saddens me to think that Dilchaad is the same as me, but is treated so differently by many people in her own country.

After that experience we decided that we didn’t want to swim at that pool anymore. One! is working at changing the kids’ attitudes towards themselves, as well as the attitudes of society around them. Already little by little it is working. For example, on Saturdays volunteers and teachers take the kids to the park or the beach. Afterwards, they take them to a restaurant. The restaurant used to not like it when we brought the kids in, but now they call Tania if the group is late, to check and make sure that the children are still coming. I still keep in touch with Dilshaad and my other friends over the phone and Skype. I miss them very much, and I’m sure that our relationships will still be the same when I go back.

Taya has very astutely described what the children and families face every day of their lives. As Taya says: “little by little” change is happening.

Tune in next blog for a poem untitled ” First Day” by Harper Wall.