Clay cups

At our India team support party this evening, we had available clay cups for our supporters, as a reminder of the Dalit people we're going to India to serve. What's the deal with the clay cups, you may ask? Here's the story that the DFN includes with them:

    The term Dalit is an ancient Marathi (west Indian language) word that may be defined as "ground" or "broken to pieces". It refers to people who have been broken or ground down by those above them in a deliberate and active way. As a result, the word 'Dalit' came to be the definition for a state of degradation. Dalit usually refers to the portion of the population falling outside the Indian caste society; those who are traditionally known as "outcastes" or "untouchables".

     Clay cups are commonly used by establishments in India. Decades ago, these cups were provided exclusively for the Dalits. The purpose is to destroy the cup, breaking it to pieces, after use, so no upper caste customer will use it and risk "contamination by a Dalit's uncleanness." Today, the use of clay cups is common and no longer limited to Dalit use. However, Dalits are still served in these cups and not other cups made of glass or metail so as to avoid polluting others. The Dalit Freedom Network has chosen the clay cup as a visual representation of the Dalits' brokenness and oppression.

One of the group leaders for our trip also explained that the "Share the Well" on the cup refers to the story of Jesus and the woman at the well (see John 4).  Jesus went to the well during mid-day, when only those who were not allowed to associate with the rest of society went to draw water, and spoke with a Samaritan woman, even though he was a Jew and Samaritans were traditionally enemies. This woman had been married several times and was living with a man to whom she wasn't married: not exactly the most respected member of that society. Yet Jesus set out with intention to reach out to this woman, who was in many ways an outcast, and through her reached many people. Such a fitting example to keep in mind as we go to serve people who are treated as the lowest of the low in their own society! It may seem like a daunting task to be of any help whatsoever, to such a large class of people suffering from deeply ingrained and long-standing oppression, but Jesus started by reaching out and "sharing the well" with just one woman.

Thought I'd also share a few pictures here of our India team support party this evening. I finally grabbed my camera just as things were winding down.