Wednesday, January 11, 2012


Thursday, 5th January, 2012

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw
Today was one of the most rewarding yet.  After breakfast, Kerry and I headed to SEAM to continue with the construction project.  Kerry was assisting the mason and my job was the same as yesterday, moving bricks 3 or 4 at a time balanced in a pail on my head from the large stack in the yard to the rooftop build site. There was a new worker today, a young guy in his 20s, who was also carrying bricks to the rooftop.  He had a very lackadaisical approach to his work. Indeed, at one point I carried up 18 bricks in the same time-span it took him to move 5. But to his credit, it is difficult to text and move bricks at the same time.  On a positive note, the young man’s lack of vigor seemed to energize me.  I really hit my stride and by the time we were ready to break for lunch I had moved approximately 120 bricks. It was amusing to see the other workers smiling at me, at one point commenting “you work fastly!” I have every intention of seeing this project completed so I wanted to make sure that the workers had enough bricks to keep going.
During our water breaks Kerry and I walked around inspecting SEAM.  After finding a number of areas that were severely lacking, we decided on a new approach, based on a point system that rewards good behavior and discourages bad behavior.  The points are based on the performance of each dorm room as well as individual acts displayed by the children.  There will be a competition each week among the rooms for a small reward and at the end of each month a prize or a field trip will be awarded to the top room and top 3 children.
After spending the afternoon fine-tuning the points system and evaluation criteria we headed back to SEAM.  It was chaotic to say the least, but after we got the children settled and explained the new system there was a marked difference in their attitudes.  I could tell immediately that these kids relished the opportunity to compete with one another for a reward.  This is absolutely a learning process and it will take time for the children and volunteers to adjust, but ultimately we think it will result in a cleaner home for the children and more time to devote to the emotional and educational needs of the children. Since Kerry is leaving on Saturday morning we decided to have a final goodbye dinner at a restaurant.  It was a most enjoyable meal and we were most pleased at the amount of progress we achieved in a relatively short amount of time.  I will miss Kerry’s company.  We worked well together and she was a true asset to the team.
Chris



Wednesday, 4th January, 2012

"Life is not a matter of milestones but of moments"- unknown


Today when we arrived at SEAM the local workers were there to start constructing the walls for the new library. Steven made some introductions and told them we were here to assist them. Then he left us with the two workers who speak NO English. We took our lead by following one of the workers and piling bricks in a certain manner so the other worker who was building the wall could easily reach them. Every once in a while one of them would ask us in their native tongue, Tamil, to do something and the point. Chris and I would take turns looking bewildered and then by process of elimination would figure out what they needed. Meanwhile, there was some singing and drum music coming from close by and I asked Chris where he thought it was coming from and he said downstairs, sure enough he was right. The pastor that runs SEAM was having a meeting of other pastors and they were singing and praying as well as discussing important matters or so I assume. It was a nice backdrop for us as we worked. Luckily we got to leave at 12:30pm as the day starts to heat up but the workers will put in about a 7 or 8 hour day.

When we return at 4:45pm we find some good progress on the walls, it actually looks like something now. The girls are excited since they know the other half will get their hair washed and blow dried tonight since I did the other half last night. There is no lingering they pull me straight into their room to get started. Saranya is the oldest in the room since Sunitha is away this week so she takes charge. We start with the little ones, lathering them up good, scrubbing and rinsing 5 times and then we are done. Next, I comb their hair and we blow dry it, they love the blow dryer, a wise investment I must admit.

When I come outside to hang their towels on the clothes line it's an hour and a half later and Steven tells me I missed the chaos,for which I am grateful. The reason it was so crazy is that all of the clothes that had been washed the night before were up on the roof and when the workers showed up to begin construction they had to be moved and some (most) were put on the brick wall which is covered in dirt so they had to be re-washed. The real problem was not necessarily the re-washing but the assigning of the clothes from the big pile to the right kid, for some reason they don't seem to know what clothes are theirs, or maybe they just didn't want to claim it because they didn't want to wash it. Either way it all got sorted out.

The day went by fast and it's hard to believe I only have 2 days left in my program. I will make the most of it!

My best moment of the day? Having the girls sit on my lap as I blow dried and combed their hair. Their giggles as I put the blow dyer in their face lifted my spirits and the way they closed their eyes and sighed in contentment when I brushed their hair moved me beyond words.


Kerry




Tuesday, 3rd January, 2012.

“Nothing got without pains but an ill name and long nails” – Scottish Proverb

After surviving a bout of what Stephen termed “Delhi Belly”, I was able to rejoin Kerry for a hard day’s work at SEAM. We are starting a large project that will result in a library/computer room for the children.  The logistics are somewhat challenging as the build site is atop the roof of the main hall. For several hours in the morning, it was just Kerry and I hauling load after load of bricks across the yard, up a staircase, and stacked along the rooftop. Coming from a place that relies so heavily on machinery to accomplish similar tasks, it’s quite humbling to move hundreds of bricks, four at a time balanced in a pail on your head. I’d be lying if I said my back wasn’t a little stiff. 
After a well-earned lunch and a short break we headed back to SEAM. Kerry spent the evening in the girls dormitories going over grooming techniques, braiding hair…girl stuff.  I on the other hand continued with the construction project, only this time I had a lot of eager little helpers to assist me. After a dreadful attempt at tossing bricks up to one of the boys on the roof, I suggested we try a relay approach where I would carry bricks across the yard to a boy who would then take them up the stairs and hand them off to another to stack.  This was far more successful, although it was pretty funny to see Siva, a 17 year-old eager to impress me with his physical prowess, strain under the weight of the first load I handed off to him.  He quickly resumed his stoic composure and proved to be an excellent helper the rest of the evening.
I’ve noticed in the past that the American non-profit and volunteer world is disproportionately female.  I have no objection with this….but the children at SEAM are so used to a majority of female volunteers that they habitually call me “sister”.  I correct them and say “no, brother” at which they grin and reply “sorry, brother”. We wrapped up the evening by having all of the children gather their dirty clothes for washing.  This is a much more manageable task now that we have taken an inventory of their clothing.  Tomorrow we will continue with the construction project and finish the clothes washing. I must say that even though we are engaging in difficult manual labor, it’s incredibly rewarding to know that this library and computer room will have an enormous positive impact on the lives of these kids.  I feel very fortunate that I am volunteering until mid-February.  It is my hope that I will see the project completed during my stay. Well, off to bed…I’m sure I’ll sleep like a rock tonight. Bonne nuit, à demain!
Chris



Monday, January 2nd, 2012

"We can do no great things- only small things with great love"- Mother Teresa


Today since the rain has stopped we have decided to prep for the construction project at SEAM. This project will build a library on the rooftop above the kitchen and prep area. Piles of brick were delivered a few weeks ago and have been sitting in the courtyard, it is my job today to begin to move the bricks up to the roof so construction can get under way later this week.

This sounds easy enough but the stairs are steep and I am still being gentle with my left knee and ankle since the swelling just went down and the pain has finally gotten better I don't want to press my luck my re-injuring it. After a few trips up and down the stairs carrying just 2bricks at a time I am a hot sweaty mess and decide to take it easy. There are two boys that stayed home from school as they didn't feel well and they begin to help by bringing the bricks I unload from the piles up the stairs. Soon Siva and Ajith Kumar are also tired so Jacob, one of the caregivers,who wants them to continue moving the bricks goes and gets a chair and brings it under the overhang of the roof by the wash area. I was wondering what he was doing but soon found out that what I though was odd what was actually ingenious. Siva climbed from the roof down onto the overhang and Jacob stood on the chair and began to toss a brick up in the air to Siva who miraculously caught it while balancing on the grooved makeshift roof that forms the overhang. Next Siva tossed the brick up the all the way to the roof, which is about 3 feet.

I left at 12:30pm to return to the guest hose for lunch and I think the boys were relieved as it meant they could also take a break. I took a shower and for the first time was happy it was cold water! It felt good.

Chris is still feeling under the weather still so Steven and I return to SEAM at 4:30pm and had to wait 45 minutes for the kids to return home from school, it ran late today. I went into the girls room oversee their changing and washing up and when I came back to the courtyard I was amazed at how well the boys were working together to unload the bricks and carry them upstairs. There were many different techniques being used. Kabilan and Siva continued the tossing the brick up in the air and then catching it while standing on the overhang while the younger kids keep the supply of bricks coming. Others are speedily unloading the bricks from the pile and handing off to other boys who are filling up their arms with 3-4 bricks and still others wrap a towel around their head and pile 3 bricks balancing on their head to transport the load. One thing all of these methods have in common is teamwork, they all work together and eagerly with a common goal.
When it got dark we gathered in the prayer hall and had a visit from some local neighborhood people who came to wish the children a Happy New Year. They handed each child a notebook, pencils with a case and colored drawing pencils. Then they ended by giving out candy, it was a great end to the night and well deserved by the children who worked hard and showed good cooperation.

We came back to the guest house and were greeted by Chris who looked much better than in the morning and was o. Good spirits despite a rough couple of days with stomach problems.
We had a delicious dinner and I slept really well after a long day of manual labor.
Kerry

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