India Service Program Blog

Tuesday, 13 March 2012


Janet

We began our day with the usual hearty breakfast –the food is brilliant here particularly the breakfasts thanks to Rani and Sheeba.

Angela shared her comprehensive journal and Stephen told us our schedule for the day Many and Lisa were no doubt anticipating a more normal day than yesterday.

Susan and I set off for GraceSchool bumping and rollercoasting. What a great way to start our day – what an amazing adventure we are sharing here.

We were prepared for 3 different groups of children of 45 minutes each, but ended up with only 2 which turned out well for me because I had a double session with six beautiful 3rd graders while Susan had the less envious task of keeping the kindergarten class entertained for 90 minutes. We never found out the reason for the change of schedule but we are learning to heed Stephen’s advice and Go with the Flow.

Although I did not feel I had achieved much with the children I am learning a lot and observing far more similarities than differences between the children of India and home.

After lunch and a little preparation time some of us joined Rani and Sheeba in the kitchen for a cooking demonstration of Vegetable Curry, Cabbage Poriyal, Tamarind Rice, Raitha and Eggplant. What a bonus for us to have an all inclusive cooking class and I spent more time than usual looking forward to dinner having watched all those lovely fresh ingredients being prepared.

After more preparation time we set off for our evening session at SEAMS. A twentythree dog and three cow walk everyone appeared to have a productive time with their three one to one students.

I had a specially gratifying night with three delightful students culminating in a great session with Kabilan having an animated discussion about cricket.

Our session at SEAMS ended with a surprise invitation to share a little boy’s birthday with the children.

Then it was home to the Guest House to devour that beautiful meal we had helped to cook. After dinner at Anne’s request, Stephen gave us a very informative explanation of India’s Caste System.

The Quote for the day.

The Smile of a Child makes it all worthwhile. (Can’t remember any Shakespear)

Monday, 12 March 2012

Angela

Well today was the first day of work some of us although it did not really feel like work most of the time. After a very tasty breakfast, we set off to our respective work sites. Ann and myself were tasked with painting at SEAM but as our Indian colleagues were on Indian Time, we had a couple of hours to wait before we could get started. We made the most of our spare time teaching two of the children on a one to one basis. So I worked with Tamil and Ann worked with Charin which was really rewarding and they both worked really hard. By late morning, the painters had arrived (although one was actually a supervisor) and we soon could get started with the work on the library. So we have made a start but there is still quite a lot to do before it will be ready for all those wonderful books!

When lunchtime came around,I think we were certainly ready for it and felt that we had earned the lovely meal! It seemed as though most of us had had a fairly full and perhaps challenging morning for different reasons so it was nice to come back together over the afternoon to support each other and share our stories. After some time spent exploring the exciting aisles of the local grocery shop, we made some preparations for the evening session at SEAM. Armed with books and flash cards, we made our way through the neighbourhood to SEAM where we were welcomed by the Pasteur Arul Pragasam who is the director at the home. It is amazing to think that he has been at the home for the past 37 years - that is what I call dedication.

Then we had time with the children which most of us seemed to enjoy the most. The children were very keen to learn some English and maths but also to show what they could do which was wonderful. They were also keen to have a go with our cameras and there seemed to be some budding photographers in our midst. Melissa was very lucky to get a gift from above during her time with the children so who knows what good luck will come to her? After some educational time, there was also time for play with games of Simon Says, running races and card games. The children really seemed to love seeing photos of our families and the places where we live and it was touching to see how interested they were in other people and places.

It was soon time to say good bye to the children as it was getting dark and we seemed to be playing a new game called guess who. So it was back to the guesthouse for some well deserved dinner and a chance to catch up on the days events. I think we all felt pleased about how the day had gone and for some of us, we had passed the first hurdle, which is sometimes one of the hardest hurdles of all, just to get started.

The quote for today continues the Shakespeare theme:

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

Sunday, 10 March 2012

Anne

Group 110 our first day

Three major events occurred today. Several of us ventured out for church, we spent time developing our team goals and getting oriented, and we visited the SEAM center

Our team is: Susan from the U.S., Lisa from Canada, Janet fromAustralia, Melissa from U.S., Anne from U.S., Many from US. Via Thailand and Cambodia, Angela from UK.

For a few of us going to church was our first foray into the Indian outside world! The streets were busy and we had to keep our wits about us . The Catholic church, St Joseph, was gorgeous, with lots of space available in the front of the church without pews for folks to sit on the cool floor. Little children littered the floor with fresh flowersin front the priests feet as he entered the church. This was also the moment for many of us when we realized how much the people love song, as there were many songs in church and the people sang with gusto.

We developed our goals, which were

1 to experience the culture of India

2 To grow, explore and have adventures

3 To share and serve

4 To visit Indianot as a tourist but as a member of the community

5 Result: by the end of the lessons, i would like the kids to feel special and to know that they encouraged and loved

We have the greatest goals !

So this brings us to my quote for the day. It comes from one of my movies, Shakespeare in love, when the young girl declares, “I will have adventure in my life. And love, love above all. Like a riot in the heart!”

I chose this because I believe all our team of women thinks this way. We have longed for adventure and also to experience love through service, and through our work with thechildren.

Our day ended with our introduction to the children at SEAM home. We were all touched by the childrens sweetness and their eagerness to meet us. The home is humble, but the children seem happy and are very well behaved . They also are full of joy, which was such a treat to witness. Two little boys danced for us while the children sang, and their smiles were gorgeous. A great treat to end a good first day.