Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Deborah Morehead's lecture on village life in India

The illustrated story told by Mrs. Morehead is based on a journey to Raipur, India, for mission activity in rural villages.

- Mrs. M wore a salwar kameez (spelling varies on these Hindi clothing terms), the traditional Indian tunic top and flowing pants.
- She showed us a sari, a giant rectangular fabric piece that forms the basic dress of Indian women.
- also: the filmy, long scarf - 6 to 8 ft - known as the dopatta, traditionally worn by both the Muslim and Sikh women in India.
- she had me model the longhi, a rectangle of cotton fabric worn as a skirt by working class men. When folded under the legs, it is called a dhoti.

One of the aims of the Morehead visit was to bring snakebite kits to rural people who have little protection from the bites of poisonous snakes.

A theme of her talk was the difficulty of getting water in India. Women walk to a well each day to get water for the house; they bring it home in pots perched on their heads. And nearly all their water is to some degree polluted. Many children in India die from water-borne diseases.

Indian students raised in the US have typically not observed Indian village life, says Morehead.

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