Friday, August 8, 2008

Today was a day of celebrations, heartfelt goodbyes with the hopes for a future return to India. Karen, Ricca and George will be leaving and I will be staying on. Our celebrations are for the honor and joy of serving in this community; for the relationships we have established with the children and our peers; for the unique opportunity we each have had in living with and giving care to those we care so much about; for witnessing how each of us has grown in an awareness of the importance of team cohesiveness. We are thankful especially to the SEAMS children who celebrated our coming and going with festive song and dance. We are thankful to the sisters and novices of St. Josephs who celebrated with our tam our last meal together.

Tearful goodbyes because those leaving will be making their way back to their respective country seemingly leaving the children but knowing that the most important aspect of this relationship will always be within our hearts.

Our hope for the future is to return to India to once again serve in this special community guided by our group leader Stephen, who we all admire and respect for making our experience one ff the most memorable of our lives.

Kathy Dedrick

Thursday August 7, 2008

Everyone had a productive day at work and I had a chance to go to Grace School and meet the junior and senior kindergarten classes. We sang songs, read, worked on the alphabet and of course, recited Five Little Monkeys loudly.

At SEAMs, we gave the children a hygiene lesson in the courtyard. The big boys brought basins of watere and everyone cleaned up with soap and water and brushed their teeth. We distributed new toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, nail brushes, soap and shampoo, and the kids had a good time. Among ourselves, the team later expressed concern about headlice that we hope can be addressed by later teams.

Then a final shopping excursion to the Spencer Mall downtown where we got cookies for Ronnie and her family and other final purchases. We returned for a late dinner at ten.

Quote: There is just one moon and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to everyone. Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, it’s a small world after all. Disney.

Ricca Slone

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

This will be my last journal entry as team 68 winds to a close in 3 days. Today, the teachers and I took the children of Grace School on an excursion to Mamallapurum. This was an exceptional day. We left the school at 9:30 in two vans loaded with giddy children. Many of the parents were on hand to see us off. Before we were a few blocks from the school, the children began singing our top 40 hits which of course includes “Five Little Monkeys” and “The Wheels on the Bus”. Along the way we stopped at the Madras Crocodile Park and the Tiger Cave which dates to the 7th century. After a lunch on the vans, we arrived in Mamallapurum and climbed over and through the magnificent carvings. Some of the kids were familiar with the carvings which includes Arjuna’s Penence, the world’s largest known bas relief sculpture, complete with life size elephants. After our climb which included an encounter with some real monkeys, we headed to the beach. The waves on the shore of the Bay of Bengal were very strong and I had my hands full keeping the children from venturing out too far. They were dressed in their plaid uniforms and all were soaked when we retreated to the beach for ice cream then on to the vans. We were tired and wet on the trip home but not too tired to watch a DVD of Tamil music videos. The kids knew most of the words and danced in the aisle along with their favorite singers. The van dropped me off at the guesthouse around eight and I soon fell into bed exhausted and happy. I am so grateful to Stephen and the teachers of Grace school for making this day possible and to the students for their enthusiasm, joy, and open hearts for a day I’ll always remember with love.

Today’s quote:

“There’s far too much to take in here,
more to see than can ever be seen,
but the sun rolling high, on a sapphire sky,
keeps great and small on the endless ride,
In the Circle of Life” from The Lion King

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

What a day! My day began at St. Joseph’s School where I gave out candy to students and teachers as it is traditional to do so on one’s birthday. In India it is customary that on one’s birthday, that person give to others as opposed to the Western custom of the birthday person receiving gifts. It was a welcome and refreshing change. I went around to each of the classes handing out candy and when I did, each student would shake my hand and say something like, “many, many pleasant birthdays to come Miss.” It took me a while to go through the entire school because in each class I entered the class would sing a different version of the Happy Birthday song.
Today my seventh graders really stood out. India’s Independence Day is August 15th and earlier today I watched the students perform marches and dances in preparation for the upcoming celebration. The topic of discussion for seventh grade was therefore how India gained independence from British rule. The students conversed with me about the different leaders of India and their influence on this country. The students also recited the Indian Pledge which is included at the bottom of this entry. The class then sang their national anthem, which was written in, and therefore sang in Bengali. They pressed me to sing America’s national anthem for them in return, luckily there were no windows or video cameras in the room.
Following Stephen’s suggestion, I celebrated my birthday in the evening with the children of Seam’s orphanage. We brought cake, fruits, and their favorite dish (Chicken Briyanni) to share with them. The children performed dances, sang songs, and popped balloons filled with confetti over our heads. It was wonderful. I was deeply touched by the efforts of the children to make this time so special for me and they truly succeeded at doing so. After all of the dancing and celebration we sat down together for a meal. It was fascinating to watch the older children feed the others and a silence came over all of us as we focused on our full plates of food. I am profoundly humbled by the childrens’ generosity and love.
Thank you so much (Nandri!!!) Stephen, George, Kathy, and Rica and I am also especially thankful to the children of Seam’s. I will cherish the memory always.

-Karen

“Liberty is fantastic.”-Naren Dranath (a 7th grader at St. Joseph’s school)

Indian Pledge:
India is my country, all Indians are brothers and sisters, and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage. I shall always strive to be worthy of it. I shall give my parents, teachers, and all elders respect and treat everyone with courtesy. To my country and my people I pledge my devotion, in their well being and prosperity alone lies my happiness.

Monday, August 4, 2008

We arrived back in Chennai at 7 am having taken an overnight train from Mysore. We knew we were home as the temperature was no longer cool but hot and humid. By days end we agreed we all had experienced another good day at our respective work sites – Ricca at Assisi, Karen at St.Josephs, George at Grace School and myself at SEAMS and St.Josephs. George had an eventful moment in one of his classes when he tried to sit in one of the children’s small chairs and accidently fell off the small chair causing the children first concern and then much laughter. I had the joy of accompanying Rebecca from SEAMS to buy an outfit at the dress shop It was fun for her especially because she got to see her best friend who works at the shop. Stephen videotaped my and Karen’s afternoon teaching sessions at St. Josephs. My novices were practicing English tongue twisters so it made for an entertaining movie in which they were attempting to perfect Betty’s Bitter Butter! During our evening dinner we agreed that it was good to be back after a wonderful weekend once again working with the children.

Love is a fruit in season and all times and within the reach of everyone. Mother Teresa

Kathy Dedrick