We began our morning rotation with the students all around the India flag doing their morning exercises and announcements. There they sand happy birthday to one of the girls who I would tutor later in the day, Anjelina, She was so cute and on their birthday they can wear whatever they like and so they stand out from the other children and are given a small gift and a treat. When I had Anjelina today she was so darn adorable and beaming from ear to ear. She was so engaging and just a happy girl and spoke English so well. That was my favorite period and also because it was English Conversation and so I just asked her questions and she told me about herself. We taught from 8:30-12:30 today and had about 5 different rotations of children come through and then we helped with one PE in about 105 degree temps. Holy smokes it was hot! We do “highs and lows” each night and definitely my low was running around playing tag on the field in the blazing sun sweating bullets! The kids were even hot, which is saying something, since it takes much more for them to be hot. We played some other games too which they knew and taught us which transalted into English was “Capture.”
During writing time I worked with this one litte girl Cavita who I have played on the playground with who is cute but a huge tease and she was so feisty today and it took all my patience to get her to do the writing. But, when she would get a letter right and write slowly, I would say “awesome!” They like check marks when they have done something right so I would give her a big check and she would let out a huge smile :) You could tell she just needs to accomplish more things so she can receive more positive attention. A great reminder that sometimes the wild kids are just looking for attention and when we can have the patience to help them focus to accomplish things, they experience a greater joy which actually calms and centers them. I have a huge respect for teachers. I am not a great one and just these 4 hours with the kids working one on one took as much energy as moving a pile of boulders the other day. Grateful for teachers!
For lunch Sam and I went over after teaching to the dining hall and sat with some of the groups and I had a chance to visit with one of the moms. She was sitting by a group of 20 boys. They group the kids into families with one room mom. The boys range in ages from 16-5. They all sleep in the same area and eat together with the house mom having her own space. I asked her what it was like to look after 20 boys. She said humbly that she couldn’t do it without God. She prays each day that God will give her patience and help her love and teach these boys while they are in her care. It is hard but she is able to do it with God. This rang as truth to me. With God we can do great things. He allows us to be greater than we are and accomplish things that don’t seem possible. I was very touched as I pondered on that and how she literally sees and relies on God’s love and help in her life daily.
In the afternoon I was excited and a little nervous since it has become so hot to ride bikes to Keerithika’s home with her and her sister Monika. After school we met in the lobby and was able to see Divya and Gokul and joined Keerthika and her sister. They were excited to have us to their home. I could tell that Divya wanted to come, but I also could tell that Keerthika wanted us just by ourselves. Sam and I hopped on the two worst bikes I have ever ridden in my life that RSO had- thinking they must have been left here by someone who didn’t want them. We rode for about 15 mins along the bumpy road until we came to her village, which popped out of no where. When we turned onto the main street of their neighborhood their house was the first one. It was so cute painted purple and a nicer house with ceiling lights and more importantly ceiling fans!! I was dieing of heat and when we took off our shoes and came in her mom gave me a hug, which I was so embarrassed since I was sweating so badly. She immediately got us cold water. I gave her the treats we brought as a thank you for having us and she served us some cookies, cold water, then came some kind of Coke and then ice creams. It was so cute. They were showering us with food and drink. They stood and wanted us to sit, since there are only a couple seats in anyone’s house. Keerthika’s father came in and I had seen him at the school the other day and a handsome smiley man and so friendly. They expressed their thanks to us and kept showering us with food and drink. Keerthika went over to a drawer and brought out the photo of me and her that I had sent her 7 years ago. It was so sweet and I said, you look just as beautiful and I just look older and just as hot and sweaty ;) After visiting for a while I offered to take a family photo and then some photos of us with their family and told them I would send them these pictures. They were excited about that. They had one family photo framed in their room which they said had been taken at a special event and sent them. I was able to capture them all smiling too, which isn’t customary but since their whole family had such beautiful teeth they should be smiling!
The girls are Christian and their church is too far to show me, but they took me to the little Hindu temple on the corner that was bright and colorful and has the monkey god on the top. We talked about their village and they have 400 people that live here. They and one other girl are the only 3 who go to Rising Star. There were tons of cows roaming the street and like in Divya’s village they had a couple months back a Farmers’ Festival where they parade around the cows and bulls with their horns painted and balloons attached. Would be fun to see, they said it is a fun event.
As we were leaving Grandma came up to the house bringing their two cows. She looked like a handful. The girls paternal grandma who lived with them and sounded like she was a handful by the expression on the girls faces when I asked them about her. They have to share a small room with her and it looks like it could be a bit of a trial. She didn’t crack a smile and I am sure is a bit of a tough mother-in-law. But, her mom and I had a good laugh about it as I beckoned over the grandma to be in our photos and she looked confused but joined giving her best face.
When we returned we helped cut up fruit and Sam peeled cucumbers and then we went and brought over the main dinner from the kid’s dining hall. That long walk with heavy hot pots at the end of a hot day is a bit of a struggle. We ate dinner and shared our highs and lows and said goodbye to one of the families that had been there for 10 days, the Stephens. They are cute and RSO gives each volunteer an award as they leave. That night they had a lip sync show with all the volunteers and staff. Honestly I had been so hot all day I had to take a bucket shower and then it was time, but I was part of the audience and was thoroughly entertained. Monica was busting some incredible moves. Sam joined the kid group led by Lydia and they did MC Hammer’s Hamertime and was proud of Sam and his friend Josh busting out moves at the end. Bryan sang a hilarious diva type song, can’t think of the name, and was impressed how he didn’t hold back.
For story time at 9 pm I was determined that I was going to get upstairs in the dorm to a room I hadn’t been in. I made it past the first tier of kids that grab your hands and pull you into their rooms, and wandered down the hall to a room with about 10 little girls are laying on the cement floor and one ready. When I came in they were so excited and surrounded me and asked for stories. They wanted a scary story so I told them first about scaring my sister MA when she was little and scaring her from under her bed and then about me getting left in the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland by my family. I then sang them my favorite bedtime songs- All Aboard for Blanket Bay and I See the Moon. I just layed on the floor with them surrounding me with their hands on my chest and in my hair and on my arms. They were just dieing to snuggle. I then sang them “ I Love the Mountains”. That was a huge hit, they all sat up and wanted to learn the words and loved that it ended with “Boomdiyada Boomdiyada” - they thought that was hilarious. They then just wanted me to sing that and so I said if they lay down I will keep singing it and sure enough after about 4 times, they were all almost fast asleep.
What a wonderful day with the kids and in the village and seeing my son Sam teach school in front of me with all kinds of kindness and confidence, it was a great day. He likes to go to storytime too and visits in the boys dorms. They love him and as he left last night a couple came to the balcony to say goodnight to him again. We definitely gain more than we get here and am so grateful for this opportunity and that Sam’s knee swelling went down with the Doxy that we were able to come. It was scary when we were on the train thinking we might not make it to the one thing we really needed to see and do.
Very grateful tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment