Meenaben's story
If you could hop on a plane, travel across the globe to India, and talk with a mother like Meenaben...before she learned how to read and write...or heard about Jesus. What would she tell you about her life? What struggles does she face each day and what dreams does she have for her family? Over the next 8 weeks, we'll hear Meenaben's story and see how God is working to transform Indian women like her through literacy.
Part 1 - Life in an Indian village
I live in small village in western India with my husband Karsenbai. We have two sons, Ravi and Suresh, who are my greatest joy!
We cannot afford to send Ravi and Suresh to the nearest school, which is in a village several miles from ours. My husband went to school when he was young, so he knows how to read and write. But he is not patient enough to teach our sons. Ravi and Suresh spend most of their days playing outside with the other children in our village.
What kind of house do you live in? I live in a two-room hut with walls made of mud and a roof made of sticks and straw. There is one large room where we sleep and eat and live. Our animals stay in a small stable that is attached to our home.
My days are filled with work. We don’t have running water in our hut, so each day I must walk to the village well and fill jugs with water for cooking and cleaning. I know women in other villages who must walk over a mile to a river to carry home water each day.
Some of my neighbors’ houses have electricity, but most days it doesn’t work for more than an hour or two. I collect firewood and animal dung that I dry into small pieces and use as fuel for cooking meals. At night we use a kerosene lantern to light our hut.
If we need to go to the nearest town, we must travel over an hour on an old, crowded bus. I don’t know anyone who owns a car. Mostly we get from place to place on foot or bicycle. I've heard stories about life in the big cities, but I have never been more than a day’s travel from my village.
My mother and father never sent me to school. They thought it was a waste of money for a girl to learn how to read and write. Instead, I helped my mother take care of my brothers and sisters, cooked and cleaned, and fed the animals. There wasn't much time for playing games or making friends.
When I was 16, my parents chose a husband for me. We were married in a huge celebration that cost my poor family many months’ wages. My parents also had to pay a large dowry (a gift of money and animals) to my husband’s family. After the wedding, I went to live near my husband's family in another village.
My husband, Karsenbai, is a good man, but his job as a guard in India’s Border Patrol takes him hundreds of miles away from our family. He is only home a few weeks each year. I worry about his safety, because he is working in a very dangerous area along India’s border with Pakistan.
Someday, I hope that Karsenbai will come home to stay. Then I won’t have to feel so overwhelmed taking care of our family all by myself...
Enjoy this week's activities and be sure to check your email again next week, when you'll read part two of Meenaben's story!
