The Story
Five years ago during my first visit to Bodhgaya, I was introduced to Diane Kirwin, founder of the Kirwin International Relief Fund (KIRF). KIRF is a US based non-profit organization dedicated to helping others help themselves in a respectful and environmentally sustainable manner. I was very impressed with Diane’s work and interested in contributing to her efforts in some way. Unfortunately our timing was off and I had to leave before I had the opportunity to visit the KIRF project site.
Over the years I never forgot my meeting with Diane, or lost my desire to collaborate with KIRF, so when the vision for the ZIA PROJECT started to gel I contacted my old acquaintance. This time the stars were aligned. Winter break at the KIRF school in Shekhwara (7 km from Bodhgaya) corresponded perfectly with a brief window of time in my itinerary, so we fixed the dates (Dec 26-30) and started inviting the young women in the community to spend their winter holiday exploring yoga, meditation and Thai yoga massage.
The plan worked beautifully. When I arrived in Shekhwara there were 28 curious young women aged 7-17 waiting to greet me. We made ourselves comfortable on a few rugs that had been spread out on the field in front of the school and dove right in.
Taj, one of the teachers at Kirwin James International Education Center (KJIEC), translated as we explored some basic questions: What is yoga? What is meditation? Where does it come from? Why do we do it? What is massage? Why do we need it? In the beginning, most of the girls were too shy to contribute to the conversation, but the light in their eyes suggested that they were quite engaged by the subject and had plenty of ideas churning in their heads.
Then we spent a few minutes in meditation observing the natural rhythms of our breath, pulse and thoughts; listening to the distant sounds of birds in the trees; feeling the nourishing sun on our skin. Next we visualized ourselves as our favorite flowers – our sits bones rooting into the earth, our stem-like spines growing tall, our hearts in full bloom. When I opened my eyes they had transformed into a vibrant garden of lotus’s and marigolds!
Yoga practice followed meditation. They quickly got the hang of it and thrived on the challenging poses. We took turns counting and offering cues in Hindi and English – they got a chuckle out of my poor pronunciation and we all walked away with an expanded vocabulary. When we finished our practice the response was acha! “(I feel) good”.
Next we tried some Thai massage. The girls were more reluctant to touch each other than I expected, so we kept the techniques very simple and noninvasive. It was fun to watch their reactions to giving and receiving massage for the first time, and to hear the pride in their voices the next day as they reported the positive reactions that they received when they practiced the techniques on family members.
We finished the day with a period of sharing. I encouraged them to ask me questions about my life and I peppered them with questions about theirs. They sang me traditional songs and taught me some games and by the end of the day we had become friends. 
Throughout the week I watched their posture and communication style evolve. Each day they seemed to stand taller and speak louder with more confidence. By Wednesday, 14 year-old Sobha emerged as my assistant teacher. She helped me demonstrate and guide our practice, and promised to continue leading the practice after I was gone. We took pictures of all of the postures and techniques that they learned and made a book to use as a reference.
On the last day they invited me to visit their village, which was about a 2 km walk from the school. I remembered Diane telling me during our first meeting, that her first priority when she began KIRF India was simply to provide the girls with underwear. She described how materially impoverished they were and how vulnerable they were without access to simple undergarments. It was hard to believe that these were the same girls that she had described to me. They didn’t fit my image of the poorest of the poor. (Bihar is recognized as the poorest state in India and these Bihari girls belong to the lowest cast in the system) They seemed to be thriving; intelligent, disciplined, funny, beautiful – and they couldn’t have been more proud to show me their homes.
A walk through their village confirmed what Diane suggested. These girls were materially impoverished. They lived in small dark dirt huts with no electricity or running water. Furniture was scarce and it appeared that most families slept on the dirt floors or perhaps on a thin straw mat. There were plenty of kids scattered throughout the village, but we didn’t see any toys or playgrounds.
I knew that when the sun went down it would be cold enough for me to put on a fleece jacket and a wool hat, and I might still feel chilled. My students would make do with a thin sari or pant suit and not complain.
At some point in all relationships, the rolls become reversed. During my walk through the village it quickly became clear that my students had much to teach me. The take home message: whatever my gurus lack in material wealth they more than make up for in more rarefied realms. I bow to their resilient smiles and peaceful hearts.
Thank you for supporting this and future ZIA PROJECTS!
With gratitude and joy,
Sunny