Happy Thanksgiving to all! Though we miss our traditional Thanksgiving in the USA, our day has been one, for me, that has been full of much gratitude for all the gifts we have received in our lives. For the simple things, like being able to flip a switch and have the lights go on; to turn on the water faucet and have clean water flow; for good health that allows us to be here to be of service to the Indian people; for gender equality in the US that still does not exist here; for the financial wherewithal that provides us with food, shelter and all that we can take for granted. And, for all of you who have loved and supported us through your thoughts and prayers. And most of all, for our children, whom we love and miss dearly. We’ll be home before you know it. Thank you for the encouragement and support- Ian, Christine, Lindsay and Lisa.
Living in this impoverished region of rural India also provides us with daily reminders, not only of all that we have, and all that we’ve been given, but for the opportunity and privilege making this great adventure possible. We have learned how much we can live without, and how simple life is for much of the world.
Every day is action packed at Pardada which is why we haven’t updated our blog for more than a month. We’d like to highlight some of the happenings here at the school. Dewali, the festival of lights, which lasts 30 days has finally come to an end. The school celebrated the beginning of this festival, with an assembly that included fireworks inside of the school building. After lighting a variety of fireworks, shocking every American volunteer, the girls were given sparklers to light and play with. The staff didn’t understand why we had concerns about safety! Each girl was then given a large bag of sugar candy to either eat or take home. Because the bags are cheaply made(as is everything) they were breaking, so we wondered how far the candy would make it once they got on the very crowded buses to go home. Two weeks later, during afternoon snack, the girls were again given sparklers, which put a quick end to our class time.
Dewali ended this week, with school again being closed for 2 days. The festival ends with the people taking their final bath for the winter, in the Ganges. They say the water was freezing! This holy river flows through our village, so the festivities are endless here.
We have visited 2 villages where girls from our school live. The first visit was to the home of one of Pardada’s success stories, Preeti. Preeti attended and graduated, then was hired to work in the front office. Her little village was down a long dirt road. After many sharp twists and turns, we got out of the car and walked alleys, up narrow stairs, to her “rooftop” home. From this level we could see the roofs covered with dried cowpies, which they use for fuel. The entire inside of the house was about 5’ X 10’. We were invited in to sit on the only piece of furniture, a rope bed, where her parents sleep. The grown children sleep on the floor. We were served chai, heated on a small 2 burner stove on the floor. The mantle was covered with newspaper that was cut with a scalloped edge. Preeti was thrilled to show us her home. We‘re told that her family is among the well to do in the village, that her father is of importance. He is a farmer. It’s astonishing to see these people living as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, and wonder what they think of their girls now going to school. Our arrival brings out all of the villagers, mostly men and boys who love to stare at us. I've never been stared at this much in my life.
The school is building a community toilet facility in the village that the poorest children(we fondly refer to as the “urchins“) come from. This is for girls and women, and will allow them privacy when going to the bathroom. It is being built next to the Ganges, on what is currently a garbage dump. Remember, there is no garbage pickup here, no designated dumps. We regularly see young children, and women, rummaging through piles of garbage, usually in bare feet, in search of whatever. They often compete with the pigs and buffalo for what they might find in the piles! It’s pretty bizarre to us that we are no longer shocked by so many of this kind of scene.
Last week, 15 girls from an LA(Brentwood) prep school were at the school for a 4 day visit. They were a very privileged group, so their chance to share in the lives of our girls and the village, amongst the very poorest of the world, most likely came as a great shock. They did a village visit with us, took a boat ride on the Ganges, visited a temple, and attended classes with the girls. The temple visit included being a village with hundreds of monkeys roaming wildly about, and a corpse being carried through the street to the Ganges for cremation. The sights continue to be of surprise almost daily.
The rat infestation at the school was overwhelming until 2 weeks ago. Because the computer room was amongst their favorite rooms, Mike was on a mission to kill them off. The computer wires were being eaten, the room was covered on a daily basis with rat poop. Because the Hindi people consider ALL of life sacred(this includes the rats!) the staff was not open to putting an end to their lives. The opposition was fierce, but we held our ground and insisted something radical be done. Because the school is surrounded by sugar cane fields, where the rats tend to live by day, we were told there was nothing that could be done. We insisted, teaching them about the diseases they carry, as well as the risk of having someone bitten. The whole situation was beyond gross, as this is one living creature I’m not OK with. Mike has had a few jump out of places on him, and I even got to encounter a couple myself. We even had one in our apartment at night.
The story ends with an exterminator coming in and putting out a powerful poison and holes being sealed up. That worked well, but the next day we went to the computer room and there were 2 dead on the floor. I went to ask the administrators what they planned to do with the dead rats, I was told that the girls needed to pick them up and throw them away. Again, we were not OK with this solution. So, the rats sat in the hallway for 2 days, until the day the prep school girls were to arrive. Back to the admin. I went and suggested the visitors might not take well to seeing the rats. They disappeared almost immediately. We again have made it clear that the girls should not be the ones to handle this.
After being here for awhile, I identified my purpose and calling. We have started a sanitation program, in order to reduce illness and disease. Since most of the girls have not used soap before, at home or school, they are going to begin using it here. We are setting up this program, by purchasing soap dishes and soap, and teaching the teachers to teach the girls about hand washing. We can’t do this because their English is extremely limited. Along with this, because of the great success of the toothbrush project we started last month, we are expanding to the rest of the school. The elementary school kids, will be brushing their teeth at school., while the older girls will be given toothbrushes to take home. 1500 toothbrushes have been ordered.
Many of the girls come to school sick. Because they receive 10 rupees/day to attend school, and because many strive for perfect attendance, they come sick. It also happens that for many, this is the only place they get food(2 meals and a snack a day). Staying home while sick means they may have to work. When the girls are sick they carry a washcloth, which they use for their noses. We’re learning to not shake hands with the girls with washcloths, to reduce our risk of getting sick. I can’t tell you how many times a day we wash our hands. We really hope the soap project will reduce the spread of germs and illness here.
Mike and I bought dustpans and brooms last weekend when we were in Delhi. They use short brooms, made out of sticks to sweep. The girls do all of the cleaning at the school, so they do lots of sweeping. They pick up the dirt(bugs, rat poop, trash, etc.) with their bare hands to throw away. This is obviously disheartening, so we have introduced another new concept- the dustpan. We handed these out today and showed 2 girls how to use them. They seemed very excited. We‘ll see if and how they get used.
Besides addressing sanitary issues, I keep very busy teaching English, and doing artwork with the little ones, as well as 3rd graders on a daily basis. I have worked with the librarian cleaning out and organizing the library(3 small bookcases with books), doing art with the older girls, and am presently decorating the newly painted(badly needed!) prep school classrooms with their artwork and a mural. In between, we jump in wherever needed. Our days are full and busy.
Two of my recent highlights have been watching the sheer excitement and joy in the face of a tiny little 4 year old, who didn’t have a sweater(it’s cold here now). Her teachers put a new sweater on her yesterday. Her eyes lit up, her smiled beamed from ear to ear, and she strutted so proudly. This may have been the first new clothing she ever received.
Another incident was with a 6 year old, Jaya, whose chin has had a sever infection and scab since our arrival. When asking the teachers about her, they appear to not be concerned or worried. Last week, I gave her hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin and cotton balls. A teacher explained to her, through me, how to clean her chin and put the ointment on. When she came to school yesterday, she came to me so very excited, to show me her almost healed chin. These are the things that make life worthwhile!
We are learning so much. It’s not always easy, but we are doing well anyway. We hope that we will have a small impact on the lives of these children, who we love, and know love us. That’s what makes it all worthwhile, and why we’re happy to be here at this time of our lives. May you all experience the blessings and peace of the upcoming Christmas season.
Living in this impoverished region of rural India also provides us with daily reminders, not only of all that we have, and all that we’ve been given, but for the opportunity and privilege making this great adventure possible. We have learned how much we can live without, and how simple life is for much of the world.
Every day is action packed at Pardada which is why we haven’t updated our blog for more than a month. We’d like to highlight some of the happenings here at the school. Dewali, the festival of lights, which lasts 30 days has finally come to an end. The school celebrated the beginning of this festival, with an assembly that included fireworks inside of the school building. After lighting a variety of fireworks, shocking every American volunteer, the girls were given sparklers to light and play with. The staff didn’t understand why we had concerns about safety! Each girl was then given a large bag of sugar candy to either eat or take home. Because the bags are cheaply made(as is everything) they were breaking, so we wondered how far the candy would make it once they got on the very crowded buses to go home. Two weeks later, during afternoon snack, the girls were again given sparklers, which put a quick end to our class time.
Dewali ended this week, with school again being closed for 2 days. The festival ends with the people taking their final bath for the winter, in the Ganges. They say the water was freezing! This holy river flows through our village, so the festivities are endless here.
We have visited 2 villages where girls from our school live. The first visit was to the home of one of Pardada’s success stories, Preeti. Preeti attended and graduated, then was hired to work in the front office. Her little village was down a long dirt road. After many sharp twists and turns, we got out of the car and walked alleys, up narrow stairs, to her “rooftop” home. From this level we could see the roofs covered with dried cowpies, which they use for fuel. The entire inside of the house was about 5’ X 10’. We were invited in to sit on the only piece of furniture, a rope bed, where her parents sleep. The grown children sleep on the floor. We were served chai, heated on a small 2 burner stove on the floor. The mantle was covered with newspaper that was cut with a scalloped edge. Preeti was thrilled to show us her home. We‘re told that her family is among the well to do in the village, that her father is of importance. He is a farmer. It’s astonishing to see these people living as their ancestors did hundreds of years ago, and wonder what they think of their girls now going to school. Our arrival brings out all of the villagers, mostly men and boys who love to stare at us. I've never been stared at this much in my life.
The school is building a community toilet facility in the village that the poorest children(we fondly refer to as the “urchins“) come from. This is for girls and women, and will allow them privacy when going to the bathroom. It is being built next to the Ganges, on what is currently a garbage dump. Remember, there is no garbage pickup here, no designated dumps. We regularly see young children, and women, rummaging through piles of garbage, usually in bare feet, in search of whatever. They often compete with the pigs and buffalo for what they might find in the piles! It’s pretty bizarre to us that we are no longer shocked by so many of this kind of scene.
Last week, 15 girls from an LA(Brentwood) prep school were at the school for a 4 day visit. They were a very privileged group, so their chance to share in the lives of our girls and the village, amongst the very poorest of the world, most likely came as a great shock. They did a village visit with us, took a boat ride on the Ganges, visited a temple, and attended classes with the girls. The temple visit included being a village with hundreds of monkeys roaming wildly about, and a corpse being carried through the street to the Ganges for cremation. The sights continue to be of surprise almost daily.
The rat infestation at the school was overwhelming until 2 weeks ago. Because the computer room was amongst their favorite rooms, Mike was on a mission to kill them off. The computer wires were being eaten, the room was covered on a daily basis with rat poop. Because the Hindi people consider ALL of life sacred(this includes the rats!) the staff was not open to putting an end to their lives. The opposition was fierce, but we held our ground and insisted something radical be done. Because the school is surrounded by sugar cane fields, where the rats tend to live by day, we were told there was nothing that could be done. We insisted, teaching them about the diseases they carry, as well as the risk of having someone bitten. The whole situation was beyond gross, as this is one living creature I’m not OK with. Mike has had a few jump out of places on him, and I even got to encounter a couple myself. We even had one in our apartment at night.
The story ends with an exterminator coming in and putting out a powerful poison and holes being sealed up. That worked well, but the next day we went to the computer room and there were 2 dead on the floor. I went to ask the administrators what they planned to do with the dead rats, I was told that the girls needed to pick them up and throw them away. Again, we were not OK with this solution. So, the rats sat in the hallway for 2 days, until the day the prep school girls were to arrive. Back to the admin. I went and suggested the visitors might not take well to seeing the rats. They disappeared almost immediately. We again have made it clear that the girls should not be the ones to handle this.
Many of the girls come to school sick. Because they receive 10 rupees/day to attend school, and because many strive for perfect attendance, they come sick. It also happens that for many, this is the only place they get food(2 meals and a snack a day). Staying home while sick means they may have to work. When the girls are sick they carry a washcloth, which they use for their noses. We’re learning to not shake hands with the girls with washcloths, to reduce our risk of getting sick. I can’t tell you how many times a day we wash our hands. We really hope the soap project will reduce the spread of germs and illness here.
Mike and I bought dustpans and brooms last weekend when we were in Delhi. They use short brooms, made out of sticks to sweep. The girls do all of the cleaning at the school, so they do lots of sweeping. They pick up the dirt(bugs, rat poop, trash, etc.) with their bare hands to throw away. This is obviously disheartening, so we have introduced another new concept- the dustpan. We handed these out today and showed 2 girls how to use them. They seemed very excited. We‘ll see if and how they get used.
Besides addressing sanitary issues, I keep very busy teaching English, and doing artwork with the little ones, as well as 3rd graders on a daily basis. I have worked with the librarian cleaning out and organizing the library(3 small bookcases with books), doing art with the older girls, and am presently decorating the newly painted(badly needed!) prep school classrooms with their artwork and a mural. In between, we jump in wherever needed. Our days are full and busy.
Two of my recent highlights have been watching the sheer excitement and joy in the face of a tiny little 4 year old, who didn’t have a sweater(it’s cold here now). Her teachers put a new sweater on her yesterday. Her eyes lit up, her smiled beamed from ear to ear, and she strutted so proudly. This may have been the first new clothing she ever received.
Another incident was with a 6 year old, Jaya, whose chin has had a sever infection and scab since our arrival. When asking the teachers about her, they appear to not be concerned or worried. Last week, I gave her hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin and cotton balls. A teacher explained to her, through me, how to clean her chin and put the ointment on. When she came to school yesterday, she came to me so very excited, to show me her almost healed chin. These are the things that make life worthwhile!
