Monday, March 9, 2009

3/8

For breakfast today we had noodles, a favorite Indian breakfast of mine. Then we went for mass at the church. The mass was in Bengali (as usual) and all of the children were there, plus some community members. I didn’t understand anything and the mass was about 2 hours. After mass there was a communal chatting time outside of the church. Quite a few of the children and adults came up to shake my hand and wish me a good morning. The tribal children bent down and touched my feet, a tribal way of wishing blessing.
After mass Sr. Anisha and I went to the panchayat (local government) presidents house. We invited her to the program tomorrow and unfortunately she is busy (although from what the Sisters say she is usually always busy). We had tea there, and it was made with ginger, which was really sweet at first, but after the first taste, was really good. Then we went to visit a few village homes. First we stopped at a home where they were making bamboo baskets. They were simply using a curved knife and with that they were shaving the bamboo into small or thin enough strips to weave into a basket. It was really cool. There was a father, mother and three children. Sr. said that that family has had quite a bit of difficulty with family planning, as they have had 5 kids in the past 5 years. One of the children passed away last year and the other is blind and being taken care of at a school for blind children in Calcutta. The family lives in a brick house built by the parish, and from what I can tell they are very poor. Nevertheless they are generous and welcoming. They offer to make me a small piece of bamboo work and bring tea. After leaving there Sr. and I walk back to the convent. On the way a village family wishes Sr. a good afternoon and calls her to come for chai (tea, not actually chai tea, just the Bengali word for tea). We go and sit on the porch and chat with the family for the next hour. There are three adult brothers, one with his wife and child, and the grandfather. Two of the adult brothers I had met this past week at DDC during a photo lamination training. The boy, probably 4 or 5 years old, was really cute and when I wasn’t able to follow the Bengali conversation I played with him. He would peek back and forth from behind his father’s back and laugh when he caught me looking at him. The parents are trying to send their son to St. Xavier to live in the hostel, and were talking with Sister about the difficulties they were encountering. The family (adult brother, wife and son) also had a parish built home, which we were able to walk through. It still amazes me every time I see a village home.
Then it was lunch time and rest time. I wrote my spoken English final exam and finished the Darjeeling and Gangtok blog (beware its long). Then I heard the children playing outside and decided to join in. I knew that Sr. would be busy, with the program being tomorrow, and decided it was better not to bother her for things to do. Plus I usually never turn down a chance to play with kiddos. At first there were some difficulties with the language barrier. They would ask me questions in Bengali, I would say that I didn’t understand them (which of course they couldn’t understand). We got the basics out of the way though, how are you, what is your name, your mother’s name, father’s name, brother’s name. Then I decided that talking wasn’t going to get us anywhere, so I took the closest one to me, and started to teach here the hand clapping game we play with the kids at Chonditola. Luckily it was a big hit and the girls were lining up to play with me. I tried to encourage them to play amongst themselves, but they were too excited to play with me. I also taught them thumb wrestling. Then we went up to the hostel, an empty large cement floored room and they sang for me. It was really sweet and they were all more than anxious to sing the most and as loudly as possible. Walking up and down from the hostel they wanted to hold my hand and be as near to me as possible. They also like to touch my arms and hands. They were amazed at the color of my palms and the feel of my skin. After I left the girls (it was time for their tution) I had tea with the Sisters. We had boiled yams and tea. I spoke with Sr. Lizzy about being a headmaster and the problems with village education. Then with Sr. Minnie about being a nurse at the dispensary the Sisters run, we ended up talking about leprosy and its prevalence in this community. Then when Sr. Anisha sat down the four of us spoke about development problems combining health, education and the government programs. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. For example, in this area it is not common for someone to know their age, which can make entrance into school difficult. Also, although the government schools pay the teachers well, the teachers to not always attend class, because there is no oversight agent making sure that they do. Because of this the students are always passed from one class to the next. Sr. Lizzy said that she had many applicants for KG 1 that have completed standard 4 at government school, but haven’t learned a thing. Sr. Anisha said they have a girl in the hostel who is in class 2 and is probably 16. Another problem is that parents will bring their 10 year old children and say they are ready for the children to begin school. Since child marriage is still present in India, many girls are married around the ages of 12-16, so this becomes a problem for education. Also since the parents of the children are illiterate and uneducated the children have to attend nightly tution (tutoring) because their parents are unable to help them with their homework. Sr. Lizzy said that sometimes the tribal parents do not know their childrens names for registration, because in tribal communities children are called first one, middle one, elder one. Sr. Minnie spoke about the lack of any health knowledge or awareness in the community, and because of the presence of illiteracy it is difficult to raise awareness. We also discussed the difference between health problems in the first and third world. It was a very engaging conversation.
Then we had evening prayer in the convent chapel, and dinner. In my room I can hear the Sisters watching the Hindi soaps  Tomorrow is the Woman’s Day Celebration and I am excited. I will hopefully wear my sari, and even though I won’t understand the speeches, there will be dancing and singing, which don’t need understanding.
Sending love.

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