Thursday, 7th
June, 2012
Quote - “Who, being loved, is poor?” - Oscar Wilde
My morning started again with my yoga
class in the roof top. It helps me to start my day with calm and peace.
Today kids at Assissi were much more
calm than yesterday. Just a few were crying, and the rest were enjoying playing
and looking the books. Dani still can’t let go Emily, I for the other hand made
several times a big tower of lego with Riona. She has been very calm and quiet
since her first day. She is gorgeous. All of us played “duck duck goose”. We
had a great time; the kids really enjoyed the game as they didn’t stop laughing
and running.
We came back to the guesthouse, and
had lunch. They made tomate rice, as I just told them the day before that I
really liked it. It was such a nice act. Emily and I both layed down for a
while in our rooms. The weather was very hot today.
Everyone at Grace school is astonished
with Emily’s material for teaching. They all want to keep everything. Today
children of the first group were very interested in learning. A pretty girl
named Shabana wrote on the board “I love you Lucy”, I didn’t know what to do
when I saw it. It really touched my heart. The second group though was very
noisy, they got distracted very easily, but still they did their job.
This time we went earlier to SEAM, as
we planned to go to see a classical indian dance. We played memory as usual,
and a new game that Emily brought. They were very exited about it. Keerthna
gave me a lovely kiss and hug me when she was sitted next to me. It meant the
world for me, she is beautiful and so cheerful.
After SEAM, we went directly to
Chennai main center were the dance was. Stephan, Sheeba and Roshan joined us.
The music was great, and the dance was lovely. Roshan fell asleep during the
performance, and almost everyone did during the way back to the house. We were
all so hungry that nobody talked during the dinner. We went all directly to
bed, it was a long, but very nice day.
Lucia
Wednesday, 6th
June, 2012
Quote - “The beautiful thing about learning
is that no one can take it away from you.” - B.B. King
Today is
my fifth day here, Lucia’s fourth, and only our third day of working with the
children, but a routine is now in place. Our morning started with breakfast
with Stephan and Sheeba, we had boiled eggs and noodles, which both were
delicious. Lucia and I both shared that we slept very well, and were ready for
the day to begin. As we have the past two days, we took the twenty minute drive
to Assisi Ilam, but there was a lot of traffic this morning, and it took us a
little longer. As we approached the street, there was a big truck blocking our
way, so we had to walk the rest of the way, which wasn’t bad. Once outside the
gates though, we could hear many children crying. There was no consoling the
children today, they just wanted their parents. The few children, who have been
there for a few years now, weren’t upset, and looked at the other children
weirdly. The crying did not stop, but we enjoyed ourselves anyways. We played
with the 4 out of 11 kids who we weren’t crying and tried our best to comfort
the others. We are slowly but surely learning all of the children’s names, but
new ones are coming daily. After spending time at Assisi America Grace School America India
Emily
Tuesday, 5th June, 2012.
Quote - “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great
love.” - Mother Teresa
As the passed two days, I couldn’t
sleep so well. I woke up at three in the morning, and couldn’t fall asleep
again. At 7:30am I was ready to take my first yoga class. It was good, the
breeze made disappear a little bit the heat; but it was still very hot though.
At 8:30 we had breakfast the four of us: Stephen, Sheeba, Emily and me. Roshan
just started school so he wasn’t able to join us.
We took the ride to Assissi, where we
played with the little kids. This time Dani felt much more confident with
Emily, and didn’t let her for a second. He seemed to really enjoy while Emily
was reading to him, he didn’t stop repeating everything she was saying. There
were some new kids that cried for a while, but then they stopped and stayed a
little bit more calm. I almost spend the hole time playing with Sandra and
Adina. They both ran towards me so I could carry them in my arms and spin
together. They also seemed very happy.
As we came home, we had lunch. It was
really really good as the passed few days. After cleaning the table, we each
went to our room to lay down for a while. I didn’t want to fall asleep so I
could sleep well during the night, but I could’t handle it and I fell. It was
good though, I didn’t wake up so tired.
As we got to Grace, all the kids
started yelling. They received us wih great enthousiasm. To the first group I
made them write and spell some numbers and things, and then we played bingo.
After we switched, I made the other
group talk about their favorite colors, meals, main hobbies and what they would
like to be when they grow up. Then we also played bingo. Emily told me that she
also did fine in her classes. Time passed really fast for both of us.
In the moment we got to the house, we
both went to our room again. I started reading a book that I found at the
guesthouse about India, and Emily rested as well. We didn’t take a nap, so
hopefully we both are going to sleep well tonight.
The children at SEAM are very nice.
They were a few that we didn’t know as they are still coming back everyday from
their relative’s house from holidays. By this time Emily was exausted, I think
the heat doesn’t help at all. We both played with the boys and the balls,
painted the girls nails and played a little while with the others that weren’t
in the playground.
We had white rice, beans and
vegetables curry for dinner. Time flew and that’s always a good sign. It was an
amazing day for all of us. Kids definitely make everything better.
Lucia
Monday 4th June,
2012
“Dwell in possibility” - Emily
Dickinson
Today was the first day of our volunteer work in Chennai , India Assisi Grace
School India
Emily
