Half way house! When
the 6.20 alarm went off this morning, Kim, Katy and I did not leap straight out
of bed to greet another day in our usual jaunty fashion. There were mutterings of is it really that
time already and oh my aching back.
However we were soon up and dressed and knocking on the doors of our
young people. We call it “spreading joy
and happiness” and Katy and I compete to see who can get a reply the fastest
(usually a grunt, but we’re not fussy).
Off on the bus at 7.30 – no monkeys this morning and a roof
top breakfast of very sweet poori again and then the most delicious bhaji
doughnut fritters – scrumptious.
The morning bell rang and we made our way to our
classrooms. Some great lessons taught
this morning, ranging from parts of the body to applied maths (calculating the
cost of an Olympic event) to English landmarks.
We were expecting a visit from Indian TV this morning, so we were all on
edge and wondering just how shiny our faces would look, but they postponed
until tomorrow – must remember to wear my clean and ironed clothes ha ha.
We all gather together for “hall time” – superbly run by
Paul, a whole school get together. Today
the five Olympic teams (split into year groups) were pitted against each other
in a tense competition of throwing a
bean bag into a selection of buckets (different scores for different levels of
difficulty). Black team won AGAIN. The black team leaders are Becca, Callum,
Ellie K, Emily, Dan, Rob and Maddie. They
are also very lucky to have an Indian teacher called Lipin, who is very tall
and very good at most challenges, amongst their number.
Straight into the first activity, which was in our case
showing 80 children how to bandage, both wounds and breaks. We rounded off the session by using the
bandages to tie lots of legs together for athree legged race. Quite hair-raising considering the undulating
and uneven ground between the classrooms and the amount of indian bare
feet! Luckily we did not need to use the
bandages for medical purposes.
Lunch – delicious again, pilau rice, plan rice, chicken,
egg, fried vegetables and chapatis.
There are those in our party who are longing for fruit – and others who
could eat this food forever!
After lunch and a welcome twenty minute break we were off
again for the second activity. This time
red team had the hall (Red team is me, Katy, Georgina, Ashley, Ayesha, Helena
and Rupert) and we played charades, splat (sort of circle game where the person
in the middle “shoots” one of the circle, they crouch down and the person either
side tries to “shoot”the other one first), and a very easy game which went down
a treat; the children put up either their right or left hand and are eliminated
if the other hand is called out. The
hour sped by and we were soon all back together for more hall time, this time a
rousing round of Old MacDonald complete with giraffes, monkey, lions and
pigs. Free time, with lots and lots of
lovely interaction between the young people and the children, football, basketball,
cricket, scoubidous, teaching (I can now count to 10 in Tellagu), and hand
clapping games.
We had an exciting but all too short rainfall today, and the
temperature has dropped a little. It is
now 4.55pm, and about half of us are sitting on our roof terrace, watching the
sun go down and the children get on the buses to go home. The other half of our party are visiting the
orphanage, and we know they will come back full of
stories about the lovey children and the very cramped and basic conditions.
You would all be so proud of our team – they are quite
amazing. You will perhaps have gathered
that our accommodation is basic to say the least, and our days are long and
very, very busy. The food is different,
the loos are holes in the ground and pour in some water when you’ve finished,
and it is VERY HOT! They have risen to
the challenge fantastically, and responded to the children, the teachers, the
orphans and the members of the leper community with enthusiasm and kindness,
despite being generally amazed at what they are seeing – they will need a long
time to tell you about their experiences, which for all of them has been a
series of events outside their comfort zone.
I’ve just asked the people on the roof if they want to send a message
and received a chorus of “Say hi,’” “It rained today,’” and “Give our love to
all the people at home.” So there you
are.
Off to shop for saris tonight, and maybe a ride on a tuk-tuk. We are all fine, and send our love to
everyone back home. See you soon and
much love from the India team xxx
2 comments:
I'm so pleased to have finally seen a proper picture of becca it made me cry I'm such a proud mum like all the familys we're all so proud of you all well done and can't wait for you to come home and hear all the wonderful stories love you heaps becca xxxx
Oh wow, looks fantabulous. The joy and happiness shared between yourselves, the children, staff and your trips is wonderful to see. Pictures and blogs amazing, thank you all for sharing your experiences.
Lots of love and hugs Daniel from the whole clan :) xxx
Missing you too xxx
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