November 1, 2012

We have been in Annupshar at the school for one week today. It seems like it’s been months since we were left the USA. Things we encounter on a daily basis begin to seem like the norm now. No electric, so we use a candle or a headlight to see. The air always smells like something burning, never fresh like at home. No meat, meals are what we are served. I will never like cold white rice, but we eat it two times every day. Nothing is crisp or fresh. Veggies are cooked for hours.  Being unsatisfied after meals? Yes. The good news is we have our secret stash of food that villagers might kill for.
I had a cold diet coke yesterday, with ice, a major treat! Otherwise, it’s water, and it’s not cold.a

As we work on developing the health curriculum for the school, and look at the topic of nutrition, my heart breaks. I choked up today as I thought about this topic, coming from a country where obesity and excess are the norm. There are no girls here that are obese. Because they are in school, at least our girls are not starving.

So much for the food pyramid, healthy food choices, etc. For our 1200 girls there is no food pyramid. We can teach them what that might be about, but for what purpose? They eat what they are lucky enough to be fed. If they are fortunate enough to be fed. Here at the school, students get three meals a day, 6 days a week. This cannot be compared to how American  children are fed. No way…

For breakfast, served around 10 a.m., after being up for hours working before coming to school, they get gruel. Today, because of a special assembly, they got a piece of bread instead. Lunch may include dal(lentils) and rice, or a bun and veg. Before they go home, they get another carb.  No fresh fruit and vegetables, virtually no protein. Drink? Water. No other option.

                                         The school bakery

Mike and I want to provide the girls with fresh fruit, so we are considering 1 banana a week, paid for out of our budget. This would cost $120/month. We want so much more for them, but money is always an issue. We are reminded that if they weren’t in school, they wouldn’t be getting what they now get.  These are the fortunate ones, as so many in the village, young and old, are starving.

So many changes have happened since we were here in 2010:
-The girls no longer have to clean the school. Women are being employed to do that now, resulting in it being much cleaner than it was.
-The trash is now contained and burned, rather than blowing about the field with the kids and wild animals scouring through the garbage.
-The girls can now ride pink bikes(supplied by the school) to school, instead of boys bikes.

-There are 2 new buildings, one for the 200 preschoolers, one for the big girls. The new building has new computer lab, a science lab, a leadership room, and an English lab.
-The girls are no longer sewing 4 hours every day. The school now employees 80 women from the village, who are sewing to produce 8000 suit bags a month for a large company.  Rural development is happening, women are working and earning money!
-There was a first aid kit at Games Days this week
-There are still 135 kids on a school bus that holds 50. Terrifying to think of safety issues!

-Dish soap is now being used in the kitchen to wash dishes. Soaps and detergents are a new concept, thanks to the hygiene program.

We are also thrilled that a solar lantern project was started earlier this year, by a Harvard graduate who is volunteering at the school. Now, 100 families in the very poorest village safely light their homes at night. The recipients of the lanterns are those who have girls attending school regularly. It is amazing how many children are not going to school here, so we hope to motivate mothers to send their girls. Many refuse, even though the lantern is being offered. They will return their lanterns if they decide school isn’t for their daughters.  What is wonderful is that the girls can now read to their siblings at night.

The unschooled wander the streets, half naked, barefooted, with no adult supervision. Playing with stones or squatting over the open sewers to go to the bathroom. They carry heavy loads of wood and bowls of dung home with them.  They work in the fields with their mothers. They are filthy, dirty noses and faces. No hope for a bright future with so many.

Our days fly by. We ask what we do, and what we need to do before we leave here in 21 days. Each day unfolds, as soon as we walk out our door. “Good morning, mam, Good morning sir” is heard hundreds of times, as we’re greeted by big smiles, and outreached hands, looking to be held.

I stop to pull out some thin, simple books we brought along, and 25 girls  gather to listen intently as I read. They repeat the English words and love the pictures. They offer me a seat, so they can see and hear more.  As I move on, I hand out friendship bracelets(3 strands of embroidery thread) and show them how to braid and tie the bracelet on their wrists. (I‘ve now got 10!).

I take a bottle of liquid soap and stand by the water troughs and squirt the hands of the girls that come along,  telling them to wash their hands after toileting. They wash, suds, rinse and are told to see how good their hands smell. The smiles and excitement make it all worthwhile! I teach them the English words- soap, wash, water, smells good.  I  distribute bars of soap to all of the dishes we installed in 2010. They are all gone by the end of the day.

Great news! We had 10,000 bars and bottles of liquid soap donated yesterday, so the intent is to flood the school with soap. We are so excited, as soap distribution has been a 2 year struggle, as we have tried to determine the best option, since we introduced it to PPES.

I follow the kids to their daily teeth brushing, another project we introduced in 2010. I egg them on by asking them to show me their clean, white teeth. They do it so proudly! It’s great this project has taken hold and become a part of their daily activities.

Oh, and then there’s the hours spent in the Health Center. We love it! It is bright, well lit and furnished, and now very well stocked with medical supplies.  I tended to 10 girls in an hour this afternoon. Cut toes, earache,  stomach ache, finger cuts… Infections on cut toes are incomprehensible. It is so dirty, there is no concept of keeping feet clean. I clean the wounds, Neosporin, bandage and tell them to come back and see me the next day.  My goal is to show the girls that I will not hurt them. I use hydrogen peroxide, and they cringe, thinking it will hurt.  They love the fun bandaids from America.

Today was a big school assembly, to distribute trophies to the winners of Games Days. This took place 2 days this week, with 8 area schools participating.  The girls had lots of fun with relays, 3 leg races, sack races, long jump, etc.  Mike and I were among the honored guests who were on stage to hand out the trophies and have our pictures taken at least 50 times with the winners.  There is no end to the things that go on around here.

Yesterday was a day that will leave an indelible mark on my soul forever. We visited a hospital, and witnessed what is seen on documentaries and movies, in real life.  Upon entering the lane where the hospital is, an ox cart with 4 people sitting, and a body wrapped in cloth, was by the side of the road. An old man was laying on the grass on a cloth, obviously in need of being in the hospital.  When we walked in, the scene was indescribable.  Filthy, worn, sparsely furnished, rooms with nothing but an old bed and empty desks for the “doctors”. A dog wandering about. Hospital garbage, to include used syringes, scattered about the grounds. We have great photos of the day. I was left feeling ever so grateful to live in the USA, and hope to God that we never need a hospital here.

Today we visited another hospital, which was worse than the last. No electricity, dark, dirty. We met with the malaria, leprosy and TB doctors.
We came back feeling totally contaminated and ready for a good wash down. Again, incomprehensible conditions. We didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary, knowing that the patients wandering around the lobby were sick, with diseases we no longer have in America.

Do we miss the comforts of home. Sure, but not really.  Knowing the difference we make, makes not having a nice green salad, or ice cream, tonight worth it.