“The wheel is come full circle.”
– William Shakespeare
Adventures have a way of finding me when I least want them – for instance, after I’ve had about two hours of sleep.
I wake up Friday morning in Delhi, well before my alarm clock would normally sound, to accompany my colleagues at the Schumacher Centre on a project visit.
All I know is that we’re headed about fifty miles out of the city to rural Uttar Pradesh, and that the reason for our early departure is that we have work in a school – and thus need to arrive while the children are still there.
On the way, the NGO’s director, Giri, explains that we’re going to distribute small “packets” to each child. A friend of his was recently given 5,000 of these packets, asked Giri if he could use any, and Giri accepted 500 – fifty of which we’ll be transporting to Uttar Pradesh this morning.
As he talks, a brief thought runs through my mind – that sounds like Operation Christmas Child. But then I think, nah, it couldn’t be, and get back to mourning all the sleep I didn’t get.
* * *
Have you heard of Operation Christmas Child (OCC)?
It’s an annual project run by relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, in which children across the U.S. pack shoeboxes full of toys, school supplies, hygiene items, hard candy, and the like. OCC then distributes the boxes to children in need around the world.
Over the last twenty years, they’ve sent these stuffed-to-the-max shoeboxes to over 100 countries – and this year, they’re expecting to deliver their 100 millionth box. #Insanity
I grew up packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. It was something of a Christmas ritual in our house, just as much as decorating the tree and hanging our stockings with care were.
Nowadays, you can “follow your box,” i.e. make your donation online, be sent a label with a specific barcode on it, and receive an email telling you the destination of your box. At risk of sounding all “When I was your age,” you couldn’t do this when my siblings and I were younger.
All we could do was pack a box, with little idea of where it’d end up.
* * *
Before heading out to Uttar Pradesh, Giri, Susan – Schumacher’s deputy director – and I swing by where the packets themselves are being kept. In the back room of their guesthouse, cardboard boxes have been stacked along the wall.
But it isn’t until I see the logo printed on these boxes that I stop in my tracks and say:
No. flipping. way.
Because naturally, just as life would have it, it’s the logo for Operation Christmas Child.
These aren’t packets we’ll be handing out – they’re shoeboxes filled with Skittles and Sourpatch Kids, tubes of Aquafresh toothpaste and Crayola crayons, notebooks and washcloths. One even has a plastic blue curly straw in it.
And, also naturally, I freak out. Giri and Susan, neither of whom have heard of OCC, look at me curiously.
“I used to pack these boxes when I was a kid!” I exclaim. Forget running on the fumes of two hours’ sleep – the boxes have me buzzing.
They want to know why the boxes are all different sizes; I explain it’s up to the person packing it to choose what they fill. They want to know why some have less in them than others; again, I explain there’s no set rules or regulations for how much you give.
In a wonderful yet entirely unexpected collision of cultures, I find myself straddling the world I grew up in with the world I now live in.
“These kids will have never seen any of these things before,” Susan tells me. “They are very poor.” In fact, most will have never seen toothpaste, as they would normally just clean their teeth with a small twig from a Neem tree.
“All of this will be very new to them,” she says.
* * *
We spend an hour drinking chai and filling the trunk of Giri’s car with boxes before leaving. Highway 24 leads us out of Delhi into Uttar Pradesh, where we soon arrive at the village of Badnoli. Dusty roads are lined with handmade cow dung patties, laid out in neat rows to dry. Fields of yellow mustard flowers grow next to bright green stalks of sugarcane.
Finally, a sign points to J.P.S. Global Academy – and to 47 young students, dressed in their uniform best. I could continue to tell you about what happened next, but I think this is the sort of thing for which only pictures will do.
At the end of our visit, my mind still swimming with the smiles of Vijay and Amir, Manisha and Madhu, I am left in awe of this full-circle moment – helping deliver boxes I myself once packed. Giving to foreign aid – whether in the form of money or a goody-filled shoebox – is a tricky thing; we don’t often know where it’s going, where it ends up, who the final recipient will be.
To see these shoeboxes in the hands of 47 young Indian students left no doubt in my mind: aid helps.
I fall asleep on the way back to Delhi, surprising given I can’t normally sleep in cars. I guess sleep deprivation and full-circle moments will do that to you.
The boxes:
Seeing boxes labeled from Atlanta, Georgia, and Boone, North Carolina – both relatively close to my hometown in Virginia, given I’m currently in India – was surreal.
The kiddos:
When we arrived, the kids were sitting – shoes off – in front of the school. “They took pains to be clean,” Susan said later. “Most of them do not normally wear their uniforms. They made an effort today.”
The community:
Gathered behind the children were their mothers and fathers, adorable baby siblings, even elderly villagers – anyone, it seemed, who wanted to know what was going on.
The big moment:
There was no mad rush to distribute the boxes. Students were called to the front one by one; they had to sign their name before being given their box. What moved me the most was the way each child would hold up their box, turn to the table of teachers and then to the crowd, and say Namaste – as a way of acknowledging the gift.
Your photos are breathtaking, C! What an incredible experience.
Thank you, Cat! Really appreciate your kind words, and I hope all is well with you 🙂 Will you be spending Christmas in Spain this year?
Aww! This is so sweet! I also grew up packing Christmas boxes for OCC. It must’ve been quite the treat to see what it was like on the other end. p.s. I had no idea you could now track your package across the globe!
Thanks so much for your comment, Audrey! That’s awesome you used to pack the shoeboxes, too. It was quite a tradition for us 🙂 And I know, right? When I saw the link about “following your box” on OCC’s website, I couldn’t believe it – that would’ve been pretty cool to do while sending the boxes ourselves.
What a wonderful experience – I love the photos of the children! I had never heard of Operation Christmas Child but it sounds like a wonderful program – my 9 year old would be thrilled to pack boxes to send to other kids. I must check to see if there is a similar program in Canada that we could get involved in next year.
Thanks, Lisa! I just looked up Operation Christmas Child in Canada and it seems like it exists 🙂 The deadline has unfortunately passed for this year, but check out their website to hopefully take part next year: http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/operation-christmas-child. I loved packing the boxes as a child and am sure your 9-year-old would too – it’s such a great way of learning to be aware of the world!
Love, love, loved this! Your beautiful retelling of your experience stirred up tears. Your experiences are a wonderul gifts to me. Thank you!
Thank you, Dawn! That really means a lot. Hope you and your family are well and looking forward to Christmas 🙂
I am still in awe that Jesus did this for you. What an incredibly moving day. Are you pinching yourself? Your pictures make me feel like I am right there. Oh how I wish I could have been! To think these children have ONE pen….and I have so many I don’t know what to do with them…..please keep being our eyes and ears. Love you!
Thanks, Mama! I so wish you could have been there…you would’ve loved it. It was such a privilege to see this, having packed so many boxes growing up 🙂 We’ll hand them out together one day! xo
Brilliant Candace, very inspiring, extremely well written and amazing pictures!
Just a little jealous (in a good way)
Thanks so much, Ben! That means a lot coming from you. Hope all is well with you 🙂
Candace, this is incredible! So amazing to read your work/what you are up to (I love living vicariously through people).
Thank for sharing you fantastic lady xx
Hey Sarah! It’s so lovely to hear from you – and thanks so much for your kind words. As soon as I realized we were handing out shoeboxes, I knew I had to share the experience here. It’s more photos than I would normally include in one post, but I thought this deserved to be an exception 🙂 Hope all is well with you in NZ! xx
Candace,
Just plain brilliant! What you have done in your childhood has obviously played a big part in the choices you have made throughout your life. Not surprisingly, you are having a “full circle” moment.
Who knows, those kids might take these memories and go on to do some great volunteer work themselves in their adult life.
All the best! Vinayakan
Thanks so much for your comment, Vinayakan! I really appreciate it. And I loved what you said about these kids possibly going on to do volunteer work themselves one day – we definitely have no idea what will come of the seeds planted in our childhood, but I have a feeling a few were definitely planted last Friday 🙂 All the best to you as well.
Hi Candace. I don’t often go on FB but so glad I did today and saw this link. What an awesome experience. Our family too has packed up OCC boxes for a number of years. I used to think it would be neat to follow where they go. May have to try that next time. Hope you are doing well!
Hello, Mrs. Pascale! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this story and leave a comment, it’s great to hear from you 🙂 It was definitely a highlight of my time here getting to hand the boxes out, especially as it got me thinking about all the ones I’d filled growing up. Please say hello to your family for me and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
You know what you’ve done here? You’ve brought us with you. Not only did you tell us what you did, but you showed us what you saw and felt. Who would have thought to include descriptions of the flowers alongside the road? My goodness Candace, this was…. incredible. One of your best posts, I think.
Did anyone ask you to explain what was in the boxes?
Hey lovely! So sorry to just reply to this comment, but I can’t thank you enough – sharing experiences in a way that makes you feel like you were there is exactly what I love most about writing. (And I believe the NGO’s director Giri did give a bit of an explanation to the kids before the boxes were handed out…unfortunately I was only able to smile and nod with them 🙂 A belated Merry Christmas to you! x
Candace, how incredible for you and those sweet children. That is a moment that will surely stick with you for life. I’d love to get involved in that next year!
Thanks so much for your comment, Kara! It was definitely an experience I will always remember. And thanks as well for saying hello…it’s great to ‘meet’ you here 🙂 I was just checking out your blog and loved reading that you did the Camino this summer. Funnily enough, I walked two weeks on the Camino in April, one of which I did with Erin Ridley – the travel writer/blogger you got in touch with. Such a small world!
That is amazing! Wow. Your pictures left me speechless. You can see so much hope in the eyes of those children. Your post is a testament to credible organizations like OCC that really do get to the children. With so many charities these days, it’s hard to know how much is really going to aid. It was nice to see this validated.
Thanks so much, Natalie! I definitely know what you mean…aid can be a tricky thing, but it was refreshing to see OCC’s shoeboxes being delivered – to know that everyone back in the States who’d packed them did so for a great cause. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas in Toronto! xo
Wonderful! Your pictures got me a little misty. Love the people and children of India!
Thanks so much, Jay! And I’ll be honest – I was definitely a bit misty throughout this entire day 🙂 I love the people here as well, I am continually blown away by their warmth and kindness.
I really appreciate what you’ve written here, Candace.
I have grown up in Delhi and traveled around the world – sometimes solo, sometimes in a group. While I do agree that traveling in India requires a little bit of more precaution, I also believe that it’s rewarding and unique.
Some bad experiences shouldn’t discourage others from experiencing India.
Most women in India have experienced some sort of harassment in their lives but I do not think that’s only in India. As an Indian girl in small towns of China, I’ve been stared at incessantly. Yes, I have been uncomfortable. I’ve been followed by a group of men in China. But will I go again? definitely yes!
Absolutely brilliant. The pictures are mesmerising.
These images are incredible! And what a cool story! What type of camera/lens do you shoot with?
Thank you, Kara! I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos and story – it was indeed a pretty incredible day in India. In terms of my camera, I shoot with a Canon T3i (or what I think is a 600D in European markets), and the lens I use most often is a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens – I can’t recommend it enough! I use it for 99% of my shots 🙂
Marvelous photography 🙂
Which cam and lens do you use???
Thanks very much, Aswin! I use a Canon T3i (which I believe is also listed as a 600D in some parts of the world), and my favorite lens is a fixed 50mm, f/1.4 lens – believe me when I say that it changed my life 🙂 (or at least my photography…). It’s well worth the investment!
Hi, Rose
I’m from India and i need a help from you
Can i get the details how to get shoeboxes as to give them to the rural, poor children ?
Please help me