So here
goes for my first blog entry... from way out in India; in a beautiful town
called Ongole. I would say little town but nothing in India is considered
little. With its giant population of 1.21 billion people even the smallest
towns are huge. For someone from a small town called Potton in Bedfordshire
every single thing here is completely alien to me:
For a start
it is so hot out here. Unless you have been to India you will never be able to
understand the power of Indian heat. Words simply cannot describe it. I will
say one thing though, if you do ever dare to venture into this country, with
such huge diversity and culture, you should cross deodorant of your kit list.
Out here there is little point of wearing it; even the best of antiperspirant
cannot hold back the sweat when you walk out of your nice air conditioned room
into the scorching heat.
The next things
that are so hard to get used to are the pollution and the amount of vehicles on
the road. We arrived in India on the 12th of September, and from
Hyderabad airport, we drove to our hotel in Secunderadbad. As we drove along,
we opened the windows of the minibus to look at everything that we were passing
and to get a small breeze. This was our first experience of the India I am
gradually becoming used to. The strong smell, which I still cannot describe. I
think it is a mixture between raw sewage, car fumes, cow excrement and rotting
food. The sights of poor next to rich; the people who sit at the side of the
busy road, begging for food because they are crippled and cannot work; and the
well off man driving past them in his brand new four by four with blacked out
windows. The constant sound of horns... I honestly cannot understand what the
point in the horns are, as everyone’s are blaring out at the same time, and
they become so common to the ear that you start to ignore them.
After a few
days rest in Secunderadbad, me and my partner, Kyekue, left for our project in
Ongole. We travelled by train with two other project volunteers, 30 other
Indian passengers and a banana loving rat. We are working at U.C.L.I schools.
The school is a government funded elementary and high school. The children,
boys and girls of all ages, are all orphans and live at the hostel next to the
school and the main house. I have to point out that though the children are
considered orphans, most of them have family. They just come from broken homes,
where their families have been abandoned by their fathers and their mothers can
no longer afford to keep them. The school is a Christian school and the church
and school are both run by Reverend Joseph. Me and Kyekue are currently staying
in his house. I have got to say the best thing about India has got to be the
people. Every person that we have met has been so welcoming towards us. Most
people seem to think that I am American at first. I suppose this is because the
area is prone to having American missionaries coming to visit and these are the
only white people that the locals see. We have made friends with all of the
children at the hostel but especially the older girls. They cook our food for
us every day, they have been teaching us the language (Telegu) – there is a
different language for every state, they have taught us some Indian dancing,
helped us to fix our saris and talked us through what’s going on when we
watched Telegu TV.
The food
here is amazing! I have never tasted anything like it before in my life ... at
the moment I am hooked on rice, dosa (a lentil curry paste which is absolutely
gorgeous) and chapattis (a flat bread/pastry thing which is basically oil,
flour and water, made into a pizza dough, and then flattened and fried in more
oil). The chapattis have got to be the best food here. They go with absolutely
anything, so far I’ve had them with curry and rice, strawberry jam (which is
expensive but yummy!) and yesterday Kyekue tried them with orange juice and
sugar which she claimed was really nice and tasted like lemon and sugar
pancakes. The most important thing out here is to try everything. Unlike in
England the colour makes no difference to the spiciness of the curry out here,
so even if it looks hot it might just be flavoursome and the one that looks
mild might blow your socks off. It’s all about dipping into new things and new
ways of thinking. The mushroom curry was particularly yummy!
Another way
that both me and Kyekue have embraced the culture here is through our dress. We
have brought ourselves some Indian clothing – so I am now the proud owner of 1
sari and 2 Punjabis (trousers and a dress). I love them very much. I wear
them every day to the school and every day the kids tell me how super my
clothes are and how beautiful I look, even though I was wearing the same outfit
the day before. The kids here are so funny and sweet, but they are also very
demanding for your attention all of the time. They are always shouting ‘miss’
at me, even though they have nothing to tell or show me and when I turn around
they just giggle or wave. They are always whining, grabbing my hand and trying
to carry my stuff for me. It is very sweet and I know it is just because most
of the time they are happy to see me but sometimes it gets annoying. Despite
this I think that every one of the children here already has a small place in
my heart and when these 12months are over (which will come all too quickly) I
will miss these children very much.
As for the teaching the classrooms here are very basic,
blank walls with just a black board and chalk for me to write on. The children
sit on the floor, the boys on one side, and the girls the other; they will not
sit next to each other as it is part of their culture. They are provided with
books and one pen each – a pen which most of the children in my grade 4 class
have lost so I end up sharing out mine. Most of the children can write English
words really well. The problem is that they have no idea what the words that
they are writing down are and how to say them as they have only ever copied the
words off the board. It is great to introduce fun and games to the lesson,
though the kids do get a bit excited. So far ‘corners’ has been a huge hit and
the element of competition makes it a lot more fun.
So by the time this gets posted I will have probably just
finished my first bit of travelling round the south of India. I will write all
about it in my next update don’t worry!
Lastly I want to say to all the amazing people that have
helped me get this far already thank you very very very much. Your kindness and
support has helped me to do this for these children and to have this amazing
experience, and I and all the children at UCLI are very grateful.
I love you all and miss you! Having the best time ever!
Best wishes from India,
Becca xxxx
p.s the kids say hello :)
class 3
class six boys
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