January 26th
Today has been a sad, sad day, as we were woken at 6 by a call from a very distressed Balaji, telling us that Nagadevi had died in the early hours. For her it must be a blessed release from awful pain, but for her family and friends it is a great loss. At 7.30 Sekar rang me to say that of course now all the meetings we had planned with the people of Seetaramanpet for today, and our lunch with Padmini, would be cancelled. We asked for advice about how we should respond and Sekar suggested we buy a large special garland to take to put on her body and to show respect to her and the family.
Around 10 o'clock, this being Republic Day in India, we went across to the Tailoring Societies building for the raising of the flag (by myself, with some guidance about which string to pull from Arul) followed by the singing of the national anthem. I was then invited to distribute sweets to those present. We mused a little on the fact that the republic of India is almost the same age as Pam and me.
All of us felt somewhat subdued and spent the rest of the morning quietly, with the exception of Marilyn, who held her first sample lesson, for the best pupils. After lunch we went with Selvi, Arul and Dandebanni to Seetaramanpet, taking the huge garland with us, and some firecrackers. When we arrived we were greeted by Balaji, looking very sad, and taken to sit in the next street along from Nagadevi's house. There we found all our friends from the village; Padmini our teacher, Balaji's mother Santa, and brother Shankar, Raghu's mother and older brother, all exhibiting distress and welcoming with hugs and tears. As we watched a procession went by led by drummers and a very wild dancing man, and attended by the boys of the village who were obviously enjoying throwing very loud firecrackers. One can see why Indian children play at funeral processions in the same way that English children will act out weddings. They are so much a part of the fabric of their lives.
We followed the noisy procession down the street to the courtyard in front of Nagadevi's house, where we found a crowd of relatives surrounding her body, placed with garlands inside a glass case, on a table. We went forward to show our respects and Pam placed our garland on her. Nagadevi is from Ooty and so her family, her brothers and her mother, had travelled through the night to be there. Her poor mother was weeping and telling us she was her only daughter. Her mother in law, with whom she must have lived for 20 plus years, was equally distressed. Her two teenage daughters, crying, hugged us as we tried to express our own sadness for them and for their mother.
As we walked away, back to have coffee at Balaji's house, Padmini told me she thought Nagadevi was only 40 years old, less than I had thought. We then saw in the crowd Govindaraj, who used for several years to be the RCO for the village, and who has very strong relationships with many of the people still , even though he left RUHSA some 2 years ago for a government school teaching job. Several of them had called him this morning early with the news. It was so good to see him. We had supposed that we would not be able to fit in a trip to see him this time.
After talking quietly with Balaji's family, and learning from Santi his mother that Nagadevi was her closest friend, we bade them all farewell, and cycled home, all of us feeling very wrung out emotionally. Govindaraj came to call at 5.30 and stayed to share our supper and to regale us with his usual store of hilarious tales. He was just what we needed to make us feel a bit more cheerful. We all agreed together that a very special light had gone from the world, and from the small close-knit community of Seetaramanpet, in particular, with the death of the funny, bold, lively woman and strong community leader that Nagadevi was.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
BLOG 12 Twin triumphs and 10 go in a Tata Sumo
Feeling altogether more chirpy now after a weekend off from the bickerings and jealousies and 'you come my house, eat, eat' which together with the hot and sticky had made some of us at least a bit frazzled. On Saturday we had lunch at RUHSA with Dr Rita who had also invited Sekar and Joseph, and all of us cycled safely through the insanity that is the main road of KVK. An auto rickshaw failed to send me to discover my karma and next reincarnation by just a whisker, which did have Marilyn and Andy, cycling behind me, somewhat wobbly and weak at the knees for a few moments. Marilyn kept shouting a running commentary like BIG BUS COMING from then on, just in case I failed to see the loud and blaring coming towards me often on my side of the road. Not that I want to worry any members of family, nearest and dearest, reading this blog...
Dr Rita again proved a good listener and an extremely warm and friendly person. The canteen is now staffed by a self help group and - wonder of wonder- the food is really good and appears to no longer feature small crunchy creatures as a free extra. The only dodgy moment came when we were explaining to the Doc about the origins of the One Candle Fund, which faithful friends will know were in a distressing moment too far, when Pam became overwhelmed by the sad tales of children having to leave school early because of dire family tragedy. It was set up to run as simply as possible, with children suggested by the then RCO Govindaraj, vetted and agreed by Mr Immanuel, and then cheque paid out direct to the child, by Pam. There were only around 9 children originally but now there are nearly 100, 30 plus of them funded by BTC. Sekar told Dr Rita that the original plan had been that those children who performed best at school in exams would benefit. Since this absolutely was not the case both Pam and I immediately intervened to correct this, but Sekar was having none of it, and kept insisting he was right to Dr Rita. He only stopped repeating this when she said that would have been a bad idea since the poorest families will rarely produce the best students, for obvious reasons. I think more and more that Sekar is not a happy man. I was about to write something here about the challenges of working, as Sekar has, under the leadership they have all endured, but then thought better of it, given a blog is a public document....
In the afternoon we accomplished two major triumphs, the first being airline tickets online to Goa, for next Monday. Thanks and praise for perseverance under extreme provocation, to Marilyn and Andy. The second triumph was a board/bored meeting of the team- Andy Pam Brian and me, with mild heckling from Marilyn, to discuss The Way Forward. Pam had done serious money sums, and we now needed to decide whether we would go ahead with a very bare-bones, reduced to the simplest form, version of the day care for the elderly. Thanks to the HLF group from Seetaramanpet, we had some much more realistic figures for daily expenditure. We are already committed to the school and to the One Candle fund, and clearly they must be sustained. We decided that we would go ahead with the elderly, for just 10 people, and that we will have to start thinking about younger people who might succeed us in years to come, given that we are already in the ranks of the aged ourselves! Offspring and blog followers, you have been warned!
Sunday having dawned bright and clear (!) we were on for our trip to the Golden Temple in Vellore. This is a recent miracle- these happen more in India I've noticed, than in Hounoux or Brighton. An ordinary chap, poorish family, had a vision that he would build a temple made of real and pure gold, and lo! - opened four years ago, there it is. No one is sure how he raised the money, but it now attracts huge numbers of visitors and lots of VIPs from all over India. Our party of 10, Selvi, her mum, Vejaya ( who is intent on becoming Andy's second wife), we five, and the driver, squeezed into the Tata Sumo. Love that name, it being a 'big size one'! The driver, Siva, is not insane, a huge plus.
The temple did not disappoint, it really is astonishing. Our own children will be amused to imagine their father sporting first a red spot splodged on his forehead, then a white one on top, as we all walked through the walkways, beautifully clean and cool, winding our way with thousands of others, dressed predominantly in shades of red and orange. The gardens are glorious- grass everywhere and flowering shrubs, and even a waterfall. As you walk you pass large posters featuring the face of the man whose vision this was, whom they call ' Amma' - mother, as an honorific, despite him being the wrong gender. The posters offer words of wisdom, and begin with a justification for building a golden temple, instead of helping the poor and providing a hospital. People, he declares, will come to the temple and reflect there, be spiritually awakened, and then go away and set up hospitals and do service to the poor. Much for us to think on, as onlookers to this culture. Our Indian friends all performed the acts of devotion whenever we passed a shrine to a god, and again we saw how their religion is sewn firmly into the fabric of their everyday existence. Selvi did do a lot of muttering 'What is this? Is it a temple or is it for tourists?' etc etc, with some nose-wrinkling. It is beautiful, whatever. Andy occupied himself with working out, with Selvi's help, what the cost of the one and a half tons of gold would be. He's re-doing the sums as I write...He says about 40 million pounds. And he's muttering, 'What an absolute waste of gold...'
Late at night on our return, after a really good meal in the Punjabi restaurant opposite CMC hospital, featuring naan bread with serious quantities of garlic, I wrote this poem.
Dr Rita again proved a good listener and an extremely warm and friendly person. The canteen is now staffed by a self help group and - wonder of wonder- the food is really good and appears to no longer feature small crunchy creatures as a free extra. The only dodgy moment came when we were explaining to the Doc about the origins of the One Candle Fund, which faithful friends will know were in a distressing moment too far, when Pam became overwhelmed by the sad tales of children having to leave school early because of dire family tragedy. It was set up to run as simply as possible, with children suggested by the then RCO Govindaraj, vetted and agreed by Mr Immanuel, and then cheque paid out direct to the child, by Pam. There were only around 9 children originally but now there are nearly 100, 30 plus of them funded by BTC. Sekar told Dr Rita that the original plan had been that those children who performed best at school in exams would benefit. Since this absolutely was not the case both Pam and I immediately intervened to correct this, but Sekar was having none of it, and kept insisting he was right to Dr Rita. He only stopped repeating this when she said that would have been a bad idea since the poorest families will rarely produce the best students, for obvious reasons. I think more and more that Sekar is not a happy man. I was about to write something here about the challenges of working, as Sekar has, under the leadership they have all endured, but then thought better of it, given a blog is a public document....
In the afternoon we accomplished two major triumphs, the first being airline tickets online to Goa, for next Monday. Thanks and praise for perseverance under extreme provocation, to Marilyn and Andy. The second triumph was a board/bored meeting of the team- Andy Pam Brian and me, with mild heckling from Marilyn, to discuss The Way Forward. Pam had done serious money sums, and we now needed to decide whether we would go ahead with a very bare-bones, reduced to the simplest form, version of the day care for the elderly. Thanks to the HLF group from Seetaramanpet, we had some much more realistic figures for daily expenditure. We are already committed to the school and to the One Candle fund, and clearly they must be sustained. We decided that we would go ahead with the elderly, for just 10 people, and that we will have to start thinking about younger people who might succeed us in years to come, given that we are already in the ranks of the aged ourselves! Offspring and blog followers, you have been warned!
Sunday having dawned bright and clear (!) we were on for our trip to the Golden Temple in Vellore. This is a recent miracle- these happen more in India I've noticed, than in Hounoux or Brighton. An ordinary chap, poorish family, had a vision that he would build a temple made of real and pure gold, and lo! - opened four years ago, there it is. No one is sure how he raised the money, but it now attracts huge numbers of visitors and lots of VIPs from all over India. Our party of 10, Selvi, her mum, Vejaya ( who is intent on becoming Andy's second wife), we five, and the driver, squeezed into the Tata Sumo. Love that name, it being a 'big size one'! The driver, Siva, is not insane, a huge plus.
The temple did not disappoint, it really is astonishing. Our own children will be amused to imagine their father sporting first a red spot splodged on his forehead, then a white one on top, as we all walked through the walkways, beautifully clean and cool, winding our way with thousands of others, dressed predominantly in shades of red and orange. The gardens are glorious- grass everywhere and flowering shrubs, and even a waterfall. As you walk you pass large posters featuring the face of the man whose vision this was, whom they call ' Amma' - mother, as an honorific, despite him being the wrong gender. The posters offer words of wisdom, and begin with a justification for building a golden temple, instead of helping the poor and providing a hospital. People, he declares, will come to the temple and reflect there, be spiritually awakened, and then go away and set up hospitals and do service to the poor. Much for us to think on, as onlookers to this culture. Our Indian friends all performed the acts of devotion whenever we passed a shrine to a god, and again we saw how their religion is sewn firmly into the fabric of their everyday existence. Selvi did do a lot of muttering 'What is this? Is it a temple or is it for tourists?' etc etc, with some nose-wrinkling. It is beautiful, whatever. Andy occupied himself with working out, with Selvi's help, what the cost of the one and a half tons of gold would be. He's re-doing the sums as I write...He says about 40 million pounds. And he's muttering, 'What an absolute waste of gold...'
Late at night on our return, after a really good meal in the Punjabi restaurant opposite CMC hospital, featuring naan bread with serious quantities of garlic, I wrote this poem.
In hope of better karma
In the midst of the squalor
The stench, all human life
Teeming in millions, poverty
Beyond belief a mere existence eked
No hope, save, with luck, the next time round
Reincarnated more fortunately, an upgrade
Not bottom of the heap, dung heap
Flies, barrel scraped
A country which spreads no safety net
To catch its poor or sick, its
Elderly, or sad or mad
See here a miracle has bloomed
Green landscaped lawns
Shaded walkways, quiet order
And central, rising, glinting in the glare
Merciless, a Golden Temple
A wonder Bollywood or Disney might have dreamt
But this the vision of a local boy
So all the more miraculous
Astonishing
The masses come to marvel
And to pray, to walk in circles, chanting
And in hope the gods will then be good
Will ease their pain,
Or send the rains, a baby
Long desired, or marriage partner
Kindness, some better karma
B Sc for student son
Or doctorate for daughter
A way to climb beyond the filth
The struggle and the gutter
Where politicians lie and cheat
Corruption fetid in the air
No wonder then the people come
To marvel at the yellow gold
Whilst calculating weight and price
To bow their head before the god
And walk in circles, chanting
In hope of better karma
Friday, January 22, 2010
BLOG 11
January 22nd
Arrived early at playcentre to find good play already going on in several different areas of the room e.g home corner, a shop selling vegetables, a doctor treating someone with snake bite, water play, puzzles, construction and cars. Gave some input re using a game of opposites and the teacher then took over from me and seemed to be asking good questions of the children. Free play lasted till 10.15, then they went into involving the children in tidying up.
At 10.30 there was register and prayer as usual, followed by milk,which the children really enjoy. I think the ayah puts sugar in it as it is boiled. From 11 to 11.25 we had vigorous play, using their larger muscles, indoors as it would be too hot outdoors even with the shade of the coconut trees. Some children danced, some played with balls, and with skittles. They were very noisy and lively but it was good to see them really moving freely.
Small group time was then from 11.25 till 11.45 and the teachers each used games with the children, one of which was to teach about matching and the other about opposites. It was then nearly time for lunch so we had one round of Hokey Cokey, which they now really love and which they have learned from me very quickly.
Balaji called by then to get me a coconut down from the tree with a long pole and hook. It had what they call tender coconut in it, ie liquid, which is really nice. Andy had arrived by now so Balaji got one for him too. We then had some difficulty in explaining to Balaji what 'tender' means. He is so keen to learn English.
Pam and Brian then arrived, fresh from a very helpful and cheering session with an official at the bank, who had declared himself delighted to meet Pam, who does quite a lot of business through the bank, because of the One Candle fund burseries which go to individual children as cheques. We set off to lunch with Bavana and family, who are weavers from Kamanchemanpet. Politically speaking it was no bad thing for us to lunch with a family from this village, given the tensions between the two villages from which playcentre children come, and our close relationships with the other village, Seetaramanpet. One could get quite tired trying to sort out the intrigues, jealousies and rivalries in the small villages, but perhaps that is true of all village life (though I have to say not terribly evident to me in rural France!)
After a lovely lunch at which not too much was forced upon us ( one of our main criteria for judging a meal to be good!) we cycled to see our good friend Mr Immanuel, at RUHSA. We haven't seen anything like so much of him as usual of course, not living on the campus, so we wanted to go and have a chat. As ever he cheered us up and made us feel things would be possible. There is a rumour that the gate may be almost ready for the school!!! Not holding breath of course- that would be foolish, but watch this space....Also managed to see Dr Rita and to get ourselves invited for lunch tomorrow with her.
BLOG 10
January 22nd Deep breath, here we go- some tricky times to recount. Will try to be as brief as possible and just to give a flavour. Let us start with the positive. Thursday morning in school- and more loveliness seen in terms of the children playing and the teachers interacting with them. Lunch them with Indira, who is a leader of the HLF for Seetaramanpet, with Pam, Brian and Andy, and that was delicious if somewhat huge, as usual. Following this we had a meeting with the HLF ( habitation level forum) who will be the management group for the centre for the elderly, if we decide to go ahead with it.
We found them to be a very lively and seemingly intelligent group of women who were clear that we must start modestly and not raise expectations too high and set ourselves up to fail. Exactly what we've been thinking! They were very practical women too who were able to give us a clear estimate of cost of snacks, milk, gas, oil etc. They also seemed to be saying that they would ask for donations to help support the group from more wealthy local people, and would be willing to help out with making snacks themselves and donating for this. This meeting had us quite cheery and feeling less anxious and stressed about the viability of this project. Things were, however, about to get worse..
Sekar had facilitated the meeting and helped translate, with Joseph who has recently been appointed RCO ( rural community officer) for this area. Pam and Brian worked with him years ago and really found him helpful and effective. We then had a discussion with Sekar and Joseph about what we were going to discuss at the next meeting. This was with the other village HLF, in Kamanchemanpet, which manages the playcentre. Sekar was again fairly robust in his criticism of the teachers and ayah, though he did agree that we would reinstate the money docked from their wages by the committee. We agreed we must reiterate to the committee that children have to be minimum of 3 years old, and that we should limit the number on roll to 20 (currently there are 27, several of them 2year olds)
When we arrived at Kamanchemanpet- an hour late by now, Indian time- the women began their feedback to us with lots of positives about how much the children enjoyed the playcentre and all that they were learning. Then, however, something I asked opened the floodgates, and there was a torrent of accusations against the staff, whom they accused of laziness, not working properly with the children, not showing due care to them, unpunctuality, not cleaning their lunch boxes properly (the ayah) etc etc The accusations were almost exclusively directed against Padmini and Sarida, both of whom are Seetaramanpet people, whilst Rani is from their village. Sekar plainly believes these accusations to be well grounded and also has experienced Padmini as being very rude.
It begins to seem that serious harm has been done because this committee did not come into operation until 6 months after we trained and appointed the teachers, and long after we had gone. No one thought to bring the committee and the teachers together to make introductions and explain how things would be run, and even less did they think to spell out the roles and responsibilities of the staff, and of the committee. Sekar has not been much of a presence on any kind of regular basis, so has not been available to mediate, explain, or to develop the teachers at all. Joseph was the one flicker of light in this meeting, which I did find seriously upsetting and dispiriting. He was clear about what would need to happen now in terms of bridge building, and that it would be his responsibility to help do this.
We ended the meeting as quickly as we could, given that a bridegroom was being paraded through the room ( the mariage hall) to loudspeaker blaring music, and more importantly, it was getting dark and we had the twin terrors of the insane main road and the mosquito to negotiate. I was chased from the village by Pushparvathy with canisters of payasam (sort of special milk pudding thing, much in evidence at Pongal) and with wadai. (Oh but you must just stuff one more bit of my especially lovely food into your already over-stuffed face, please, please, just one...)
Went home and were not killed, surprisingly, on the road, though the mozzies were vicious. Head in hands time, very dejected all of us, especially Pam and I. Pam had also received a bit of a rap over knuckles from Sekar, connected with the distribution of Candle fund bursaries. It seems she had mentionned that the cheques had arrived in a phone call or email to Balaji, which had unleashed a flood of demands from students parents. Meanwhile RUHSA ( Sekar, being cautious and meticulous as ever) was waiting to see if the students passed their exams and were therefore going on with their education.
We have a general problem emerging here, which has to do with our friendship and close communication with lots of Seetaramanpet people. It seems to cause misunderstanding and even some confict with RUHSA people , and it does seem that Padmini especially has taken the attitude that she is purely accountable to us, having been selected by us, and not to the committee. Custom, rumba rumba custom, as they say out here, problem, big problem.
We found them to be a very lively and seemingly intelligent group of women who were clear that we must start modestly and not raise expectations too high and set ourselves up to fail. Exactly what we've been thinking! They were very practical women too who were able to give us a clear estimate of cost of snacks, milk, gas, oil etc. They also seemed to be saying that they would ask for donations to help support the group from more wealthy local people, and would be willing to help out with making snacks themselves and donating for this. This meeting had us quite cheery and feeling less anxious and stressed about the viability of this project. Things were, however, about to get worse..
Sekar had facilitated the meeting and helped translate, with Joseph who has recently been appointed RCO ( rural community officer) for this area. Pam and Brian worked with him years ago and really found him helpful and effective. We then had a discussion with Sekar and Joseph about what we were going to discuss at the next meeting. This was with the other village HLF, in Kamanchemanpet, which manages the playcentre. Sekar was again fairly robust in his criticism of the teachers and ayah, though he did agree that we would reinstate the money docked from their wages by the committee. We agreed we must reiterate to the committee that children have to be minimum of 3 years old, and that we should limit the number on roll to 20 (currently there are 27, several of them 2year olds)
When we arrived at Kamanchemanpet- an hour late by now, Indian time- the women began their feedback to us with lots of positives about how much the children enjoyed the playcentre and all that they were learning. Then, however, something I asked opened the floodgates, and there was a torrent of accusations against the staff, whom they accused of laziness, not working properly with the children, not showing due care to them, unpunctuality, not cleaning their lunch boxes properly (the ayah) etc etc The accusations were almost exclusively directed against Padmini and Sarida, both of whom are Seetaramanpet people, whilst Rani is from their village. Sekar plainly believes these accusations to be well grounded and also has experienced Padmini as being very rude.
It begins to seem that serious harm has been done because this committee did not come into operation until 6 months after we trained and appointed the teachers, and long after we had gone. No one thought to bring the committee and the teachers together to make introductions and explain how things would be run, and even less did they think to spell out the roles and responsibilities of the staff, and of the committee. Sekar has not been much of a presence on any kind of regular basis, so has not been available to mediate, explain, or to develop the teachers at all. Joseph was the one flicker of light in this meeting, which I did find seriously upsetting and dispiriting. He was clear about what would need to happen now in terms of bridge building, and that it would be his responsibility to help do this.
We ended the meeting as quickly as we could, given that a bridegroom was being paraded through the room ( the mariage hall) to loudspeaker blaring music, and more importantly, it was getting dark and we had the twin terrors of the insane main road and the mosquito to negotiate. I was chased from the village by Pushparvathy with canisters of payasam (sort of special milk pudding thing, much in evidence at Pongal) and with wadai. (Oh but you must just stuff one more bit of my especially lovely food into your already over-stuffed face, please, please, just one...)
Went home and were not killed, surprisingly, on the road, though the mozzies were vicious. Head in hands time, very dejected all of us, especially Pam and I. Pam had also received a bit of a rap over knuckles from Sekar, connected with the distribution of Candle fund bursaries. It seems she had mentionned that the cheques had arrived in a phone call or email to Balaji, which had unleashed a flood of demands from students parents. Meanwhile RUHSA ( Sekar, being cautious and meticulous as ever) was waiting to see if the students passed their exams and were therefore going on with their education.
We have a general problem emerging here, which has to do with our friendship and close communication with lots of Seetaramanpet people. It seems to cause misunderstanding and even some confict with RUHSA people , and it does seem that Padmini especially has taken the attitude that she is purely accountable to us, having been selected by us, and not to the committee. Custom, rumba rumba custom, as they say out here, problem, big problem.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
BLOG 9
January 20th From Marilyn, working on the English language programme for the Tailoring Unit
Having spent most of yesterday morning swearing at my new computer as it had lost two early morning hours work, I did eventually manage to get my English assessment form and materials ready for this morning. Arul had said he'd make sure 5 supervisors or clerks would come an hour before their clocking in time at the factory but I was none too sure this would happen.....already sceptical, how sad! But, to my delight, six people, all very keen to show what they knew in English, came and were 'tested'; they answered some fairly straight forward questions about their jobs and families, read a simple text and did some writing; our assessment criteria was pretty simple, but it worked. I'd tested the materials on the ever willing Selvi and she said my beginner level listening text would be degree level here in Southern India!! So, now I can see their levels; either almost complete beginners or elementary. Pam helped me and did some recording of their language for me to see what pronunciation areas will need work. Spent some of the day listening to the tape and made a start on the syllabus. More of the same tomorrow.
Having spent most of yesterday morning swearing at my new computer as it had lost two early morning hours work, I did eventually manage to get my English assessment form and materials ready for this morning. Arul had said he'd make sure 5 supervisors or clerks would come an hour before their clocking in time at the factory but I was none too sure this would happen.....already sceptical, how sad! But, to my delight, six people, all very keen to show what they knew in English, came and were 'tested'; they answered some fairly straight forward questions about their jobs and families, read a simple text and did some writing; our assessment criteria was pretty simple, but it worked. I'd tested the materials on the ever willing Selvi and she said my beginner level listening text would be degree level here in Southern India!! So, now I can see their levels; either almost complete beginners or elementary. Pam helped me and did some recording of their language for me to see what pronunciation areas will need work. Spent some of the day listening to the tape and made a start on the syllabus. More of the same tomorrow.
BLOG 8
January 20th. I got to the school early enough to see the children arriving and was delighted to see that activities were already out for the children to choose for free play. I suggested some more areas, like the home corner and more construction toys. As I opened the boxes of wooden bricks which we had made several years ago for previous nursery centres a lizard leapt out at me and subsequently as I took the bricks out quite a variety of wild life emerged, including an enormous cockroach. I started to carry them outside to give them a good wash and Saridha the ayah took the rather dirty job away from me. The children immediately made really good use of the wooden materials, making slopes for cars and other structures. In fact all around the room they played enthusiastically with all that was on offer and the teachers joined in with their play. Several children were happy to approach me and involve me in their play.
After a good hour of free play we had tidying time and again the teachers encouraged the children to take part. Following this was registration, prayer and milk time. Whilst they drank their milk the teachers asked some of them to talk about where they had played that morning and they translated some of what they said back to me.
I then suggested it was time for the children to move around a bit and use their gross motor skills, so we had vigorous action songs - Once again the Hokey Cokey led by me, to great enthusiasm from the children; and several other songs which involve moving around, in English and in Tamil. Andy and Brian arrived at this time and we managed together to teach them the basics of What's the time Mr Wolf?
After this, we had small group time, when we swopped groups from yesterday and they experienced either the clay or the vegetable printing. Again lots of enthusiasm and creativity from the children- chappati making with clay, rolling snakes and one child made a long train. They do seem very imaginative and I think they reflect a culture in which children aren't used to having lots of toys and are used to inventing playthings.
I left telling the teachers what lovely play I had seen that morning and cycled back to BTC where some English visitors ( Dawn and Pete from Cumbria) had arrived to see the factory and to hear about how things are made for Bishopston Trading Co. Selvi had prepared a lovely lunch for them , of course and also some garlands had been purchased for them. They were very interested and delighted with all that they saw, I think. After touring the factory Arul took them to Seetarampet to see weaving and they met Balaji and his family amongst others.
In the evening Selvi had another feast to prepare for Dr Rita from RUHSA. We had a great evening with her and all felt even more favorably impressed with her afterwards. She listens so well, knows immediately what we are talking about and makes quick responses, mostly positive. She said she would be happy for Sekar to give at least 2 hrs per week for working to support the playcentre. She would look into whether we might be able to link in with Tamil Nadu open university for offering courses in pre-school education and she obviously understood how important it would be for Sekar to get this going in order to generate income. We told her how anxious we are about being able to sustain the elderly project in terms of cost, especially if we are to give midday meals. She agreed that giving them milk plus nutritional snacks ( she especially recommended lentil burgers called wadai- with onions) would be a good idea. It may be that the elderly people will only come in the mornings. Finally we told her about the problem of the bore well sinking and the need for a gate to secure the front garden- both the responsibility of Donald the chief engineer at CMC. She all but rolled her eyes in despair when talking about Donald. It seems that he is the one who has to write letters to get things to happen and then he has to process the letters before the correct people/ committees at CMC. Donald appears to lack initiative and also to be extremely disorganised, which means that all such projects - anything to do with buildings under the auspices of CMC- stall and take for ever to happen. She seems to spend a great deal of her time on the phone to him trying to move him on stage by painful stage. I felt extremely sorry for her by the time she had finished explaining! She said she would speak to him about what we needed and we said that if both our projects were not possible then we would opt for the gate first. Extraordinary! Still all in all such an enjoyable evening and we all felt, such a very pleasant person.
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