After taking a couple of days to recover from jet lag some of the other initial sights that struck me as a westerner were the rampant poverty seen on the streets in Hyderabad. There are beggars everywhere from children to adults, some are able body some are not. The custom here is to only give, if you are inclined, to non-able body beggars because able body people can find work ; also not to give to children because it discourages them from going to school. In India if you have white skin you are a particularly attractive target for the touts as they are called here.

There are many other people , whole families sometimes, sleeping on the streets. I guess seeing poverty wide open on the streets and not hid away somewhere like in the United States has opened my eyes in a new way and brings to mind John 12:8 where Jesus said "you will always have the poor with you.......".

On a lighter note the traffic here is terrible and it seems that you take your life into your hands every time your cross the street because it seems like no one obeys any traffic regulations. So I have learned to cross at signal where there is a police officer or next to one of the locals until I get used to it.

The other main means of getting around town besides walking is by Auto-Rickshaw which is a glorified ATV modified for city use and carrying passengers.

These are my first impressions of India after having been here for one and half weeks. I will discuss my work at the Henry Martyn Institute in my next article because it has just begun in earnest this week and they are also letting me break in slowly so I can adjust to India and Hyderabad in particular.

In Christ,

Rich Hahn