India Update

Dear Friends,
I write to you from the land of sari-wearing women, sacred cows, the 10 Gods of Vishnu, Ganesh with the elephant head and the originators of spicy food. These people amaze me with the ancient culture they continue to inhabit generation after generation. Many here are on the verge of breaking out of the dark cloud that has held them captive for so many centuries. I love to see them preserving their culture as they break out of the chains of beliefs that cannot exist in a new, educated and enlightened world. I speak of their caste system and their belief in the "Curse" of leprosy. Huge strides are being taken and we are on the front lines of the battle. Not an easy task but not impossible.

Some things that won't be changing anytime soon are the squatter toilets, the cows that ramble through the streets touting their elite status to all the cars in the traffic jam waiting for it to decide to saunter the rest of the way across the road, the 2 bucket shower system which isn't so bad once you get used to it (large bucket full of water and a small one to pour over you). Back to the squatters, I will probably carry TP in my pocket for a few weeks after I return to the states out of sheer habit. I forgot to cover my arms in Deet last night so I now have 5 new itchy evidences of the voracious vampires that have multiplied exponentially since the heavy rains.

After all the amazing success we had in Nairobi with The Boys Choir of Kenya taking on the teaching responsibilities of the 3 ongoing programs (Kibera slum, Soweto slum and Kamiti prison) I was trepidacious about what might happen or even worse what might not happen in India. Similar to Africa, the first Promethean Spark trip to India was hugely successful as a pioneering effort, however no continuing programs were established. Our wonderful sister NGO, Rising Star Outreach has provided us with a base from which to build. I am staying in the hostels with the children at the boarding school, all of whom are from the leprosy colonies. We have about 120 children and youths staying here. It was wonderful of them to remember me from last year and to be so excited for the return of "The Dance Master" as they have dubbed me. The children could not contain themselves the first couple of days of classes. We have no studio or room large enough to hold a dance class with 20 plus students so after the cyclone passed over and the grounds were still flooded, I took them up to the roof of the new school that has been finished between my last visit and now. We got rained on during class a few times but we just danced in the rain. Once things dried up a bit we found a clearing in a mango grove where we all are able to move about freely. Lots of ants and mosquitos, and dance class has been interrupted more than once by a monkey running by and climbing a nearby tree. Last week we were returning from a day trip to a colony and literally had to stop the jeep due to the families of monkeys crossing and playing in the street. We are in very rural southern India. After a heavy rain we find small fish in the puddles on the land. The critters in the jungle-esque surroundings rise to such a volume you can hardly believe it is not amplified. Nature's orchestra is truly amazing to hear even though it sounds nothing like Kiss The Girl in The Little Mermaid. The first week I was here I did not see blue sky. I arrived at the airport at 3:45AM and took a taxi 2 hours in the pouring rain in the pitch of rural Indian night with heavy cloud cover. Somehow I remembered each
turnoff and junction from the airport to Thottanaval village where we are located. It was actually 3 days after I arrived that the cyclone really hit. During those first days we had a flying ant infestation. My room had not been inhabited for a couple of months, thus the screen covers for the windows were loose. Every time I entered my room I would go on a swatting rampage and kill anywhere from 10 to 50 flying ants. I finally figured out how they were getting in. Sprayed vehemently and sealed my windows. Then the rains and flooding came. Most of Chennai was in waist deep water at one point or another. Then the next week we got a phone call from RSO staff in the U.S. warning us to go on emergency lock down. We were forbidden to leave the property. Terrorist attacks had stunned the world in Mumbai where foreigners were being targeted. Our Managing Director, Ron Hanson was on his way to Chennai for meetings when he heard the word and they turned around and came back. For 48 hours nobody left the premises. Then we began to venture out to the nearest grocery shopping town we have which is Chengelput, 45 minutes away. Security is still high but life is back to normal.

Well, despite all the drama, Promethean Spark has made huge strides forward in the past 3 weeks. Besides teaching 5-6 classes a day for the children at the school here (mainstreamed with the leprosy-affected children we also have nearly 50 youth from the
impoverished villages nearby attending). Along with the technique training and discipline we are teaching, we are also putting together 8 numbers for the Christmas Program that their parents and/or other living relatives from the colonies will be traveling great distances to see.

Being so involved here in the hostels and at the school I was worried that my intentions of getting out to the colonies to pioneer programs there and of networking in the professional dance world in Chennai for volunteers to help solidify the programs was not going to happen. Heartfelt prayers were offered as I wrestled with what I ought to do. I made a number of phone calls to put the word out and asked the staff here to do the same. Soon, the miracles started flowing. The marketing and HR manager at the Chennai Marriott called asking if I could come in to do an interview with their people and do an exclusive article for the India Express. It went extremely well and will be coming out this week.

I spoke to Padma Venkataram who supports and drives a lot of the micro financing in the colonies. She is the daughter of the past President of India. She responded immediately and set up a day for us to meet at the Vilivakkam Leprosy Colony. Very uncharacteristic of Indian women, she greeted me with open arms in front of the villagers. This followed by a long heartfelt embrace and kiss on the cheek. This told the members of the colony all they needed to know. When she encouraged them to welcome their new Dance Master and to start a program through Promethean Spark, that it would teach them many skills that would aid them in all areas of life, they informed her that they had already filled a sign-up sheet full of 50 names of individuals interested in the classes. I was then asked to perform for them impromptu so I pulled out the old iPod and speakers I carry just in case I may need to give a class on the spur of the moment (I was an Eagle Scout—Be Prepared)danced a couple of short ditties for them. They were overwhelmingly appreciative and all asked when we could start and if I would come every day. We set up the first class for 2 days later, on a Thursday, then Padma invited me to sit with her at a meeting of 8 colony leaders who had met to discuss the micro financing budgets and hash over the problems. This was a unique experience for me. She stopped the meeting every 15 to 20 minutes to explain what was happening since they were all speaking in Tamil. She also expressed to me that my presence there was to get them used to seeing my face and hearing my name so that in the future when their colonies open their
vision to more expansive horizons and see that our programs are working so well in Vilivakkam, that they will come seeking the
programs of their own volition rather than being told, "Here is something that is good for you. Do it." She wants them to seek it out it after they see its fruits. Amazing woman, Padma.

Thursday was a smashing success. 45 showed to class so I was able to bump the age limit so I was only working with those who could gain the most from the discipline. We set the age limit at 13 and up which whittled the attendance down to 32. Good full class. They worked so hard and I promised them I would come back on Saturday when we would continue where I left off.

Friday night rolled around and I was rehearsing the 15 and 16 year olds in the dark outside after dinner because they were so upset I hadn't had time to work with them the day before.  Mid-rehearsal I received a phone call from a man I had met with the week before who was an Art Director and Set Designer for television soaps in Chennai. He and his wife loved our cause and had made a connection for me with the director of India's response to "So You Think You Can Dance." It is called "Who Will Be The Next Prabhu Dheva?" Prabhu Dheva is alegendary director and choreographer of Bollywood and Kollywood films. The director told me they were shooting on set tomorrow and would like me to appear as a guest Dance Master and performer from NYC. We worked out all the details (it is not easy to get into Chennai on a moment's notice from the Mayberry of India) and I spent the whole next day on set with the competitors and judges for the show. I was asked to perform for the judges and television audience. I did so and really turned it on for them. They loved it. Went crazy. Then when I told them all what I was doing in India and how I spent most of my time out in rural villages and leprosy colonies using dance training to teach the kids off the streets life skills to help them help themselves, the response was deafening. Standing ovation that lasted for 3-4 minutes. The guest judge there that night was Sinaeha, a brilliantly famous heroine of the Tamil movie industry who is highly trained in Indian Classical Dance. I asked her to join me on stage and we improvised a bit of swing partner dancing as the audience went wild again. On a
break the director, Rajkumar came to ask me if I could stay into January to do a full grooming session with the remaining  contestants at the time. I will not be able to do that due to commitments I have back in NYC right after Christmas. My nephews are coming to visit me in NYC the day after Christmas and that committment was made before I spoke to him. So he has requested I stay as long as I can so we can do another shoot before I leave. I have extended my stay until Dec. 24th.

For those of you who know that I was supposed to return by the 15th to start rehearsals as the cover for the role of Tarzan in a National Tour of Tarzan the Musical, it has been cancelled due to the speculative nature of the show and the recessing economy.
Consequently, I was able to extend my stay here.

So many amazing things have been happening daily, I don't have the time or space to relate them all but the blessings are flowing freely and the programs are going to be strong here as well.  A man named Guna who runs a dance studio in Chennai with a 30 member company who do much of the background work for film and TV here pulled me to the side after the shoot was over and confessed he and his dancers had been looking for something to do to help the community and to give back through the arts in some way. He asked if we could meet asap. I am going into the city to meet him tomorrow and to teach again at the Vilivakkam leprosy colony. I had to cancel my second lesson with them due to the television shoot so we are doing a make-up session. They
are located about 3 hours from where I am so it is not just a quick jaunt to teach them a class. Once the 20th comes and the big event is over, and the children and house mothers from the hostels all go home for break I will not have a place to stay so they have invited me to stay with them in the colony for that next week. I learn so much from these people who have so little and yet are so willing to share anything and everything they have with a stranger.

I nearly forgot to mention the miracle it is that I am even here in India at all. I missed the plane in Nairobi due to ridiculous traffic
on the way to Kenyatta Airport. So I had to pay $150 and fly the following day. On my way through the gate to the plane mere minutes before take-off the yellow-fever vaccination Nazi asked if I had my little yellow card as proof I had been immunized. I had forgotten to bring it from NYC. As I waited all the energy of my soul was focused upward saying "Lord, you sent me here and I am giving all I have. If you open this door, I swear I will continue to give all I have to the work you have sent me here to do." I was rushed to the airport medical office to see what they could do. A woman was pulled from the room and I was sat in the seat opposite this large black woman in uniform. The door was locked behind me. I was lectured on what a difficult situation I had put them in and that if they let me fly without it I would be put right back on the next flight and sent back to Africa. Then she asked how much I could pay to take care of this "problem." It took me a few repeats with similar wording before it dawned on me what
she was asking me. I ended up paying 4000 kenyan shillings (about $60) cash that went right into her top desk drawer, for her to stamp and sign that I had received my immunization there at the airport soon after arriving in Kenya a month earlier. This took care of the 10 day waiting period after the shot you are required to wait before you fly. I ran through 2 wings of the Kenyatta Airport, slammed it on the counter and was taken through the now vacant gate and waiting room. They held the door of the plane and closed it just as I set foot inside. Once in my seat near the window I glanced out to the beautiful African sky. A big smile crossed my face and a sigh of relief preceded a prayer of thanks. My yellow fever card was never asked for upon arrival in India. It was merely a test of my faith.

Miracles are happening right and left. I know I am in the right place doing what I am meant to be doing at this time in my life. With hard work and perseverance great things are coming of singular small efforts. I thank God for the magnification of energy, strength, health and endurance. With others joining the cause my desire is that we will actually be able to fulfill the mission of Promethean Spark on the next level; that of established ongoing programs for the impoverished youth of the leprosy colonies and surrounding villages here in the Tamil Nadu District of Southern India. This will position us with a foundation upon which we can build and grow.

Love, Light and Laughter,
Shaun