Why India is not a Destination on my List

My time in India was a whirlwind. In 19 days, I visited 10 separate airports and boarded 10 planes. Besides airtrains and terminal buses, I slept on 3 overnight train rides and managed to see the 16 people in our traveling group — and all their luggage — exit a train at a station where it barely halted to a stop.

I started my trip with a day in New York City, and ended with a week in Florida. While in India, we navigated the traffic of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta); visited the hut village of Mypadu; touched the Untouchable Community in Visag; interacted with the prostitutes, descendents of the Kings’ concubines; Celebrated New Year’s Eve on a rooftop; and avoided political protests and rioting in Hyderbad.

A whirlwind.

That being so, I feel I’m still processing all that went on.

Undoubtedly, the trip was made by the group I went with. We had an incredible time together, and I sealed friendships that I hope to have for a lifetime. Our group was compiled by Faceless International, a humanitarian group started by Stephen Christian of Anberlin and his close friend, Sarah Freeman.

In short, Faceless exists to put a face on the unknown and forgotten in our global society. But they don’t do so through taking 10 people to another country, they take small groups abroad in order for them to return and carry the effort in their town and community, and within their circle of influence. I don’t know that I fully understood what that meant until I was in India.

Since returning from the trip, I’ve been frequently asked “What’s changed?” “How are you different now?” “What did you learn?” Frankly, I’ve been having trouble finding words for each of these questions.

The trip was billed as a Social Justice Awareness Campaign about Human Trafficking and the Sex Trade, but what we learned went beyond that.

“It’s all connected to Poverty.”

We were sitting in our first overnight train ride from Calcutta to Visag. Speaking, Vijay, head of St Joseph Foundation, is the patriarch of the family who received us into India.

Less than half of us in earshot, but those who were listened closely.

“The Prostitutes? Not even God can bring them out.” He continued. “If they are not willing to go, we can do nothing. If we try to take them out, they [their owners] will kill us.”

As we learned, the sad fact is that many of the Trafficked are too scared to leave the trade willingly. Lies bind them. Threats to their lives or the lives of their family are all too real.

Where St Joseph’s Foundation seeks to act is in prevention. And to do that, they unearth the root.

“Why does she do this?” Prem, Vijay’s son, asked, “because she needs money. Why does she need money? Because she has no job.” Poverty perpetuates, and lock its sufferers into a drowning downturn. “It’s all interconnected.”

Economic hardships, poverty, is the number one cause of the Sex Trade, but not necessarily in the ways many would think.

It’s a myth to say all, or even most, girls enter prostitution willingly. The sad truth is many are tricked into the trade by friends or associates promising a job to pay for family medical bills, and then sold to a brothel. Traffickers prey on the girls’ economic misfortune.

In Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), we visited a school that finds young ladies at high risk and teaches them sewing, knitting, and other skills. As a division of The Emancipation Network, Made By Survivors seeks to fight the oppression of Trafficking and Slavery through Empowerment.

At the school, we were able to handle the products made by the girls at risk and see what they are doing to rise above their conditions. It was encouraging, throughout our trip, not just to see how people of the Western world had committed their lives to assisting the people of India, but how Indian nationals had risen to fight the oppression of their country.

There is a grassroots movement happening in India. People are realizing that their help won’t come from the people with money or power, but the responsibility till lies with them. “We can’t keep blaming our government for everything,” Prem told us.

So they seek reform together. A peaceful protest that tells the neglecting authorities they don’t need to wait for change.

But their resolve was convicting. Early in the trip, I realized nothing I could do would be of great significance in India. No lasting change. In my eight days on ground in the country, I would not be leaving a legacy behind.

The change I seek to make, rather, would be change that happened in me.

Because I am not, nor would I ever want to be, the savior of India.

The change I made wasn’t going to be painting a school or giving out food and sarees. It was going to be in my life and through my community at home. The fact is, though, I can’t ignore what I saw there. If I went and painted a fence, I could leave thinking “Mission Accomplished.” If I designed and executed a youth camp or held a rally where a thousand people came out to hear our group speak, I could fold my trip neatly away in a box in my mind, dust off my hands and say, “My work here is done.” But that didn’t happen.

Instead, I interacted with beautiful people, experienced their vibrant culture, and saw the inhumane conditions too many call home. But I witnessed those unwilling to resign to those conditions, and came alongside them to support their fight.

So what did I learn in India? I learned that, with resolve, people can take action and make a difference. I also learned the burden of change lies first in me. That if what I saw and who I met in India truly changed me, then I won’t package my trip away as finished. And I know if I came home the same person I was before the trip, my travel was in vain.

While I’m still processing my trip and shaping how it will effect the way I live here in the States, I do know one thing:

India wasn’t a Destination to check off my list,
It was the beginning of a Journey.

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Photo Credit: All photos from
Ashley Marie (pictured above)
Visit her website to see more of her work.