I’ve been back in the States for a couple weeks now, and when I think back on me being in India it seems a bit like a dream. The motorbike adventures, the bold colors and spices overriding the senses, and the hundreds of beautiful eyes staring up at me seem too out of this world to easily go back to in my mind. It is this world though… this very crowded, conflicted, beautiful, needy world. I can’t figure out if this has made the world seem smaller or much larger in my mind.

In India, just walking down the street will make you feel as if you accomplished something in the day. My long blonde hair and blue eyes didn’t make it any easier either, but if you can look past the heat and dust or exhaust and the crowd of people that never seems to thin, beauty remains. Each time I took the overnight train it was as if I had traveled to another country. The variety of culture and landscape throughout India will keep a traveler occupied for their stay, no matter how long it may be.

I was able to visit eight GlobalGiving projects in Southern India, and although I climbed the ruins of Hampi and explored the beach of Goa, the projects truly had the biggest impact on me. The hundreds of children who are being supported by GlobalGiving donors who share their living space with other orphans who seem to trickle in continuously (if there’s room) are what I think of first when I recall my time in India. They have nothing, and yet often they haven’t reached the age to understand self-pity. They amuse themselves with each other’s company and each thing that is given to them they treat as a gift that wasn’t expected. I saw a level of innocence that blinds poverty, but I know better. I know that these beautiful children will be stuck in a ruthless cycle of poverty if they don’t receive the proper education or support. India is struggling. I have traveled across five Asian countries in the past three months, and India remains to be the hardest story.

On behalf of those hundreds of children and from me personally, I want to thank all the GlobalGivers for your attention, your concern, and your gifts. These things are not wasted. In the next couple of days I will be posting a story from each of my project visits to give you a few examples of the good that is being done with the help of donors. Be on the look out!