Priscilla and Purpose at Purple
The reason for coming to Goa was for the Christmas festivities, but mainly to attend the Serendipity Arts festival.
When I was in the shuttle one day, which takes you in between the 10 different sites-the Art Park, the concert areas, the exhibition halls etc. mentioned previously…
In this shuttle, there was the girl who was helping organize
the arts festival and she was talking with another girl about “The Purple
festival.” Panjim just has amazing festivals back to back(they deserve an award
really for the amazing festivals).
She said the Purple festival is the first festival made for
those with special needs including workshops, exhibits, talent shows, Olympics,
music, dance- everything in one 7 day festival…She was scattering through some
papers and I could see she was very busy, but I excused myself and asked if
there is anyway I could volunteer and participate. She gave me her contact
information, forwarded me to the director, and I signed up to volunteer at The
Purple Festival, which was one of the best experiences in life…not planned just
divine intervention in a shuttle in Panjim.
It started off with a younger man…let’s name him Anju..who
was the leader of the volunteers -he also had a disability with his right arm.
The volunteers were mostly younger Indians getting credit from school or
college. There was only one tourist volunteering and others who were foreigners
were speakers or had their own exhibit booths.
My role volunteering starts in an ordinary role and then turns into a lead role
within a day or longer. I was in charge of managing everything for Exhibit hall
A, which I went around checking in on what people needed for set up,
presentations, program information. The booths got to know me very quickly and
they became very comfortable making many requests and things became busy very
quickly. Anju had his main assistant,
which was the President’s daughter.
He had multiple people surrounding him at all time as he was
delegating tasks all day-many people needed direction and the whole role was a
lot for him to handle, but he did his best at all times. I had to remind him to
eat, drink water, take a rest, but there was little rest with the first
International event for those with special needs.
Most people visited from all over India and there were
foreigners, but not as many as anticipated. Each day there were speakers,
music, dancing, sports, fashion shows, drum circles, arts and crafts, political
discussions, boat rides, and it was action packed with things to do and food
available on sight.
I met a tremendous amount of people that absolutely touched
my heart, interactions that I did not even write about because there were so
many, but I was able to record quite a bit, which videos might be better to
show the feeling rather than writing, but I will try!
There was a painter Ab who had hearing disabilities, and he
had the most famous gallery in Northern India. I spent time with him and his
father adored me as he would say, “I’m a good girl and I deserve a good man.”
He was praising me for my constant efforts trying to put out fires and keep
everyone happy and content. His son really wanted people to buy his paintings
so I told him I would look out for people and sent them to his booth. He wanted
foreigners who could appreciate his work and hear his story.
There was some miscommunication with accommodation and food
for some people who came from small towns, villages, taking the bus and making
sacrifices to be there-but the food and accommodation was always listed as
separate. These people needed to be accommodated especially a group from Tamil
Nadu(12 of them) who were all in wheel chairs. I helped them get accommodation
and food vouchers and they also wanted to speak to the Mayor and the higher
officials, which I made the meeting happen and had them calmly address their
concerns. There were cameras surrounding us and I was just in the middle of
this peace treaty. At the end, they took a photo and shook hands and they
happily went to have their lunch. They were so grateful for what I did for
them, for how I treated them, and for how I made them feel….he said, “You are
our hero.” There is no woman like you.”
It is beautiful having reminders when you are not financiall
rich like your family that You are in the right place doing the right thing. It
is not charity work-it is God’s work and I will always advocate for this
population, those with mental illness, those encountering domestic
abuse/violence- I know my purpose and it never changes. It just needs to be organized in my own NGO
and specific contribution, but after suffering through some depression over
Christmas and ino January, I was able to stand up strong and reclaim my throne.
We went on a river cruise with famous jazz/classical
drummers- the Indian guitar… It was very mellow each cruise with people
listening to music and enjoying. This was different with me on the boat because
I wanted everyone to dance, feel alive, and enjoy. It was just a few people dancing and then
myself and another volunteer started dancing and dancing with everyone in their
wheelchairs, volunteers all got on the stage dancing (asking is it okay for us
to dance and have fun) Yes of course!
Everyone had the best time and people were so grateful for
me…the words of kindness and affirmation were neverending with people really
understanding who I was as a person….again these people knew me better than my
own family.
Things were not planned well with the buses so I had to load
the buses up with the wheel chairs and unload them onto the boat. Many people
did not want to help as volunteers and really need the encouragement otherwise
some would just stand and watch someone struggling.
The miraculously all loaded onto 3 buses and we made it back
and forth. Each day I ended up helped direct passengers on the bus(handicap
first) and guests would come after…people just wanted to see the cruise and cut
in front of those who had special needs-nope not on my watch.
The Olympics were amazing…a blind futbol match where people
listen to the ball and they were outstanding, race relays, rugby, chess,
volleyball, and basketball. I did not get to participate much in the sports,
but I ended up meeting the coaches and president of the association at the end.
The stories that these people had coming from Uttar Pradesh,
Gujart, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala-all over India to join at this
festival and network with one another, make friends, share new
technology/innovations, new political movements and active conversations to
make change within the work places and school. It was outstanding in so many
ways and having this amazing relationship with the attendees, the volunteers,
and my Anju and his boys who came from Hyderbad….we just had a great dynamic going
from start to finish. Things got hectic,
but we kept going strong all the way until the end.
When I was sitting at the fashion show next to a blind girl
and describing the clothing to her, the models personalities, the colors and
she was so happy.
The ability for people to experience such job when they have
such physical challenges is divine and beautiful. They are humble, carry
themselves with grace and humility. They are educating and making a difference
in the work they do.
I met two twins from Bangalore who both worked for Microsoft
doing IT work and they were involved with many events, conventions, tv
documentaries, and stayed so active. They never let their disability get in
their way and they kept pushin forward.
My depression is also a Mental disability, but this was the
ulitimate boost that I need to push forward because if they can do it , I can
do it too.
When I was communicating via a writing device tool to help five deaf people communicate, helping people with new prosthetics, helping others find their voice, and make business connections. The Hindi music was wonderful, the young blind boy who came to sing from “America’s got talent.” I spoke with his father who had such love in his eyes for his child and he was so proud of him.
Dancing with my friend in their wheel chairs and taking photos for them. Meeting with the politician to advocate for a group of handicapp men from the village who wanted to voice their concerns on what they want for change and being a mediator who helped them find a solution.
There were many things that happened where I just shook my head because I could not believe the signs....
IF you did not tune in for Christmas and New Years, it was a nice time, but I was suffering with depression and I felt sadness and loneliness..... and then take note of what happens....
THAT IS WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT-SUFFERING, SADNESS, AND LIVING....YOU GROW WITHIN THIS PROCESS AND YOU ARE THEN ABLE TO SERVE OTHERS WITH AN OPEN HEART AND A KIND SOUL BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE MEANT TO DO. YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO SIT IN SADNESS AND SELF PITY. YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR ASSIGNMENT AND YOUR ASSIGNMENT IS TO SPREAD YOUR JOY ALL OVER LIKE IT IS CONTAGIOUS AND MAKE PEOPLE FEEL HEARD, ACKNOWLEDGED, APPRECIATED, LOVED, NEEDED, AND VALUED.
THAT WAS THE GIFT THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME AT....
THE PURPLE FESTIVAL GOA 2024
It was just divine in so many ways that I was meant to be there for that
festival at that moment in time. I have so many cards and contacts and tried to
keep in touch with many people, but it is actually extremely difficult to not
use Instagram or facebook and travel…. I shut it down so I am not distracted, but
it is important to properly organize contacts, which I epically fail at doing,
but I did meet up with a few people after the festival.
I will never forget the smiles of everyone.
I will never forget the words of impact
I will never forget the gratitude people had with my prescence
I will never forget the Holy Spirit connecting me to people
every moment
I will never forget the love and acceptance from total strangers
I will never forget what they said or how they said it
I will always remember these moments as reminders to keep going,
stay in your purpose, and do not ever give up on people because they need you,
they crave you, the adore you, and they love you endlessly(just like God loves
you).
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