ART for INDIA Fundraiser – Results

Thanks to all y’all who attended the Rise Up Art for India event. The third annual event was a shining success. Music for the masses, Drinks as a social lubricant, and Food to keep y’all happy. We met our goal and raised about $11,500!

Click Here to go to fundraiser page -details and photos of the event.

Peace to you all and thanks to our sponsors, donors, friends, family, musicians, attendees, and any one else who gave it up for the cause.

Planet Hair, Eyes on Wall, Klaver Landscaping, Monster Cookies, Kristi Brown Inc, John Thompson Land Surveying, Back Porch Coffee, Denfield Paint, Sage Ways Inc (buy your stuff from these folks).

Jessie & Maria from Rise Up, Mark from Boomtown for the place thanks alot, Tracy for the henna, Nancy for busting her ass, Jan for keeping it organaized, Amy and Cole from Sparrow Bakery, Matt for the sound, Chris Cabot – Lief James – The Autonomics for the music,  Deschutes Brewery, Kebaba, Hot Lips, THE PIE CART thanks for slaving away and making 25 pizzas for the event, Taj Palace, Lavoy Bakery.

Anita – Alex and Bailey for being great supporters, Carrie for your energy, Ron and Erin, Dawn for buying half of the auction items, Tamera, Becky, Jasmine for peddling the canvas, John and Robert for the chai, Jason for laying it down. Thanks to all the artists young and old: Casey, Lori,  Joe K, Joe, Dave, David K, Linn, Bob, Dana, Jesse and Erin, Christopher and Janet, Micheal and Julia, Tom

Art For India Fundraiser 2009

Click Here For Fundraiser Page

ART FOR INDIA FUNDRAISER 2009

Our annual blowout event to raise some cash for our school project in Bodhgaya, Indian is going to be held on Sunday, October 25, 2009. This year the owner of the eclectic and unfortunately defunct Boomtown record and gift store is donating the Boomtown space for the event (located at 910 NW Harriman Ave, Bend, Oregon 97701 – corner of Galveston and Harriman near Blacksmith restaurant).

Starting in 1632, 20,000 laborers worked on the Taj Mahal for 20 years

New Delhi Overload

New Delhi, India  – Scene in front of Delhi Train Station

Original Post March 2008 – Some overload being in a new place with fresh eyes. I walked from our hotel down to the corner and two blocks more. Overload. The street is full, hard to take in. The sidewalk is blocked with people, people talking, people spitting, a young girl with a bent leg softly grabs my ankle, a man has set up shop ironing clothes with an antique coal powered iron. The street is a river flowing with tuk tuks and bicycle rigshaws, cars and the occasional ox cart piled high with huge bundles and three or four riders. Everyone is swerving and honking and there is always a near miss. I think there is a system but it’s indiscernible. There is a small temple around a tree. Women are preying and draping garlands about, a sahdu holy man sits nearby smoking. There is a larger temple further on with men in orange robes on the filthy steps. I’m forced to the street. I avoid anything wet, occasionally someone will appear in a doorway and throw a bucket of liquid in to the street. The road is lined with shops, clothes, plastic stuff, shops with jute and cardboard, street side restaurants and men selling bettle nuts, a boy is washing dishes in the gutter. I walk by a line of bicycle rigshaws. Over and over the drivers ask “please sir you ride” following me for a short distance. A lady in a sari with a baby approaches indicating with her hand to her mouth and saying over and over “chipati, chipati”. The baby’s eyes are black in the Indian way. My eyes stay ahead. I come to an overpass, I go under. Men are sprawled about. Smoking, cooking, sleeping all in filthy rags. I step around a sleeping man with no legs. The noise is deafening, the smoke of exhaust thick. Grimy garbage piled high. I step in something horrible. I keep going. Young boys approach. Selling, “please sir please sir” selling flashlights, selling necklaces, selling a dance from a monkey, selling a hand made drum, selling something plastic. Keep going, no eye contact. Music blares, high and squeaky, maybe it’s chanting. The electricity is out, roaring generators run belching smoke to power shops. I walk by a row of open urinals. A man is pissing on the ground next to them. Groups of men sit around a stall drinking chai tea. Pots of oil at rolling boil cook food. All this in two blocks. Everything is chaos, but for them everything is as it should be.

 

Battle Of The Bands – Rise Up Event

If you are in or around Bend, Oregon this weekend (June  5, 2009)…come check out the Rise Up Battle of the Bands. This event will feature six young Bend-based bands and has been put on by the efforts of Rise Up High School Senior Intern extraordinaire Dana Munson!

Battle of the Bands

CHINESE NEW YEAR with RISE UP

Rise UP events, if nothing else, tend to be lively. Head on down and check out the efforts of Robert Tadjiki and Rise Up in China. 

 For more information about Rise Up, our efforts in China, and to see how you can get involved- check out our website www.riseupinternational.com

For the latest updates & photos visit our newsblog: Rise Up NewsBlog!

 Rise Up
869 NW Tin Pan Alley
Bend, Oregon 97701

Rise UP School – Second Story Rising UP

The good folks in India are working hard on the second floor of the Rise UP India School. Check out the latest photos.

Building Construction: Concrete post and beam with brick infilled walls. Flat concrete roof. Steel barred windows with no glass but with wooden shutters. Two more bathrooms and four more classrooms.

A good solid building that can survive the monsoons, the heat and rot, its fireproof  and can’t be blown down.

Thanks to Sheri and the generous time and contributions from the folks in Bend and elsewhere and to the crazy crowd at RISE UP international.

Pramod, Upendra, Rakesh, the other teachers, cook, handyman, and all the students, and the nine orphan boys will have some more room to live, learn and play. Children have the right to a childhood. An education, no matter how simple, can make all the difference in life. Like I’m sure, dear reader, you know all so well.

Pramod and Upendra check out the new digs.

The folks who run the Rise UP India school are a hardy lot. They are working hard under difficult circumstances.  You, dear friend, probably have no clue about the situation in India. But they shrug it off and plunge forward. Want to find out? Send them an email at:

 rakeshmishra8242@yahoo.com 

Think about supporting Rise UP. It makes you feel good, and definitely increases your Q factor. Peace  -  Love  -  Happy New Year.

Mission Statement

RISE UP INDIA is dedicated to helping children living in impoverished settings by providing education and other aid with the goal of stopping and preventing child exploitation.

went down to the beach – fuimos al la playa

Padre Island, Texas – December 2008 

The other sunny day, I cut out of work and went down to the beach for a late afternoon walk. I reached my turnaround point and I was walking back to the car when I saw something in the surf. A guy was standing there. In front of him something was thrashing around in the surf. A big fish, like a dolphin. I went up to see. We looked. It looked like a big dolphin with no dolphin nose. It was big and thrashing and stuck. A couple of other guys showed up. It seemed like the creature was stuck so we kind of spontaneously decided to push it further out into the surf. We got it turned around and pushed out a little. The water filled with dark rust colored liquid. Another fellow came up to us. He was talking on his cell phone. He told us to stop. Apparently he was from the beached whale response team. He said the troubled creature was a pygmy sperm whale. We stopped. He said that we should just try to keep the whale upright. It was about 10 feet long and big, probably weighted 800 pounds. In short order another guy, Tim, showed up and pretty much took over. We held the whale upright. Some other folks stopped and some cars stopped. We got some beach towels and fed them under its belly and hauled the whale up the beach so its blowhole was free. The blowhole for the pygmy sperm whale is offset to the left of center on its head. The poor thing was struggling and every once in a while it took a big breath. Tim said four or five of us should hold the whale upright and stay clear of the tail. If the whale slumped over on its side the blowhole could get blocked and it would make it hard to inflate its lungs. Tim sexed it and it was a male. Tim was on the phone; apparently he talked to the marine center in Port Aransas, in Galveston, in Houston, and to the state in Austin. Tim came back and told us there has never been a case of a beached pygmy sperm whale surviving and that there were no rehab facilities available anywhere. He said he had been told from above what to do. In his truck he brought out a huge syringe and gave the poor whale an injection of a sedative near its spine. It was getting dark, the wind was up, I had my sunglasses on, and I had been standing in cold water for over an hour. We kept out of the whale’s line of vision and kept peoples car headlights out of its face. We put towels over its back and kept its skin wet. We dug out the sand to make room for its flippers, but most of all we held it upright. A man held his hand underneath and on his chest and felt the heartbeat. I felt cold and stiff but this was nothing compared to the whale’s suffering. Tim came with two huge syringes of poison. He injected the whale and it didn’t take long. It had one last weak breath. We held it until it moved no more. The whale’s only encounter with humans; euthanasia. I felt like crap. We put a stretcher under it and hauled it up on to the beach. I was frozen and really didn’t want to look. I left in the warmth of my car.

I didn’t sleep that night

 .

 The next day I was emptying out my pockets. I found a penny from 1942. I remembered back to when I was a kid and when I collected pennies. 1942 wasn’t that uncommon back then, but I hadn’t seen one in years.

The day after, I was walking on the beach again, I found a shell. A shell like the Shell Oil shell, only black, shiny, jet black, like a shell I’ve never seen.

 Somehow these three things seemed related: the whale, the penny, and the shell. I can’t say how, but in my mind I could think of a hundred meanings. But the meaning seemed to me to be like most of the experiences in my life. My life, the world, is full of surprising, delightful and tragic things. And in the end, although we may deny it, we’re all ground to dust.

 

 

Contact the Rise Up India School

Contact the Rise Up India School

Why Not? Kick down an email to the lads and lasses at our Rise Up School in Bakrour Village. They’re friendly and want to practice English. Our main guy is Rakesh Mishra. He’s in charge of the computer and shows the students and teachers how to use the computer.

rakeshmishra8242@yahoo.com

Rakesh is self taught in English. he took computer classes. He grew up in Bakrour. Maybe some day he’d like to work for the railroad. Unfortunately his parents have passed away and he cares for his younger siblings. He has been involved with the Rise Up school for years. Drop him a line.

Or if you want to go to the top, try sending a message to our principal Upendra Pathak. He’s a friendly guy who oversees the day to day operation at the school. He is a teacher, a Bakrour resident, and truly a friendly person.

upendrapathak_123@yahoo.co.in

Or for some local color shoot one over to Jyoti at Hari Om Restaurant. If your heading out Bodhgaya way he’ll set you up at his place. Jyoti is a restaurateur, tour guide, and part time priest. Jyoti runs Hari Om restaurant which is an up start where we had many a meal.

jyoti_gupta2000in@yahoo.com

Tell ‘em all Curtis sent you.

Cheers and Peace Out.

Rise Up India Web Log Stats

Rise UP India Weblog Stats

Listed below are search terms used to find Rise UP India.

The vast majority are for ‘child labour’ and ‘child labour in India’.

Roadside food stand

All over India children work long and hard each day with some working seven days a week.

Rise Up India believes children should not work full time all the time. Children should have  time set aside for some education and some time to play and be with other children. Every child has the right to have a childhood.

Below are the search terms and number of views:

All Time

Search Term	Views
child labour	446
child labour in india	105
bihar flood	35
child labor in india	29
india art	23
child labour india	23
child labor india	19
poet house bend oregon	18
bihar flood disaster	15
indian art	12
art from india	11
child slavery in india	11

RISE UP AND VOTE

Greetings and Well Well - Rise up India has been shipped out to the Southern Republic of Texas for the duration.

Girl On a Fish - Sandcastle on South Padre Island

These parts are firmly in the red state category. Even so people are very concerned about the election and have aready been lining up to cast their vote. Whatever you feel or think, agree or disagree, part of RISING UP is to vote. So head on down or mail ‘er in like a good Oregonian. Yeah, Put up or shut up. Get’er done. Hey thanks to y’all for rockin the poet house and kickin down the booty for the kids at Art For India ‘08.

Construction on the second floor of the Rise Up India school is ongoing thanks to Sheri and all of you. So clamp on the hat, pull on the boots, header on down and tip a few Lone Stars for y’all.

Cheers and Peace Out