12th January 2019, part 2

PART 2

I have to report that wonderful as an iPad is when one is travelling abroad etc, it is a proving a bit of a pain when I'm trying to write this blog. So last night after a while of fighting with it and trying to contain the rude language I just posted what I could and decided to do episode 2 in the morning whilst fresh and hopefully, more patient! 

We were bidder to lunch at midday at the home of Santi and her daughters, in the village where Pachaikili is situated,  Seetaramanpet. Pam has a lovely connection and history with this family. Years ago when she and Brian were first visiting, in order to gather information for an education pack for schools, she met and interviewed Santi, then a widow bringing up three girls. Subsequently she interviewed the two younger girls who told her of their dreams of becoming.a nurse and a teacher. The girls were tearful, however, when telling Pam that they would not be able to complete their education because of their mother's straightened circumstances as a widow. From this interview came the germ of The One Candle Fund, through which we provided a small bursary for poorer children, to enable them to stay on in education. Over the years 100 children benefited from this fund, which is now closed. 

I can now report that all three of Santi's girls are now happily married with children of their own. The middle girl is a nurse locally and the youngest is on maternity leave from a good job in Chennai, in IT. Selvi -unsurprisingly-always greets Pam as the saviour of the family. She had prepared the most wonderful feast for us. Umma, her oldest girl who is a really sparkly  delightful woman, had even remembered that potato curry is a favourite of mine ( from three years ago!) The middle girl, Vijay Kumari, is married to Suresh, an old friend of ours. His English is good so between us communication worked and we discussed some interesting topics. He and Vijay are a love match, he being Forward Caste, whilst she is Most Backward Caste, so the marriage would not have been approved. However they persisted for seven years and finally they were allowed to marry. We heard how very well their daughter Adjita is doing in school. She has inherited her dad's chattiness and bubbles with self-confidence. Generously they attribute this to her good start in Pachaikili play centre. She is only four but is now in  kindergarten class where she is assessed and she was sporting a badge which declared she was 'First Rank'. 

After our time with this lovely family we moved on for coffee with the family of Balaji. He had been called to work in Vellore so was distraught not to see us, but for me it was great to meet his daughter, now two and a half, his wife Prya, and the rest of his family. His brother Shankar is currently working as a sari salesperson in Andra Pradesh- a long day or more's travel from home. Times are very hard in rural India for those with low levels of education and skills. Later we saw Balaji briefly and learned that in his current job he has to hang from a makeshift cradle to fix water pipes outside a high rise building.

The school, now a pleasing shade of green in the coconut grove. 

Look how elegantly Santi works. 

Traditional sitting on floor, wonderful food. Santi keeps pinching my cheeks and saying 'Nice, chubby ma!' Today she added another ' Your face is like an apple' ( but in a good way, of course!!)