Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I'm Backkkk!

Finally I have returned to India. Due to VISA problems I wasn't able to return in March like I had planned. But, I'll take what I can get. And as Sister Gloria says I shall now do in concentration what I am not able to do in duration. All my tangaches (little sisters in Tamil) were screaming and basically jumping in the car as I pulled up. What an amazing feeling that was. I was so worried they would be upset with me since I had told them I would be back in 2 weeks. However, the sisters explained the situation, so all was good. We picked up right where we left off.

From the moment I heard that the monkeys ran off the peacocks, I had a feeling things would be slightly different at Marialaya and it is- new faces, chores and challenges. I have been here two weeks and everyday seems to bring a new set of challenges. 1. The majority of the staff has returned home for the summer, and so have two of the sisters. However there are four new trainees- 3 are bubbly girls who are my age and 1 is a brilliant Cricket-playing guy who shocked me by volunteering to teach dance and music which is hilarious to watch and a great deal of fun. Their English is good, so it is awesome having them around to talk and hang with. 2. There are a few new faces with unfortunately the same sad situations as many others- father killed mother, beggars, parents died, sold into prostitution, etc. You would think it would get easier to hear these stories and meet the chidlren, but it sure doesn't. 3. I have a new task of writing Marialaya's annual report magazine which is time consuming and frustrating because of the power outages, but turning out to be fun for I love helping Marialaya brag about the wonderful things it has done and is continually doing for literally thousands of people in the state of Tamil Nadu. 4. It.is.so.hot. I wake up 2-4 times a night and deliriously throw buckets of water on myself then return to bed. 5. The power seems to be off more than it is on (thus killing the precious fans) which is part of the reason why this blog is taking forever to finish.

School is out for a month and Marialaya holds camp for over 100 kids living here and in surrounding villages. It took place everyday from 9-4. There were workshops, games, dance and singing classes. Needless to say dance was my favorite and I am pretty sure it wasthe girls also. I am still completely amazed at how these tiny girls with no hips can move. They could put Shakira to shame, seriously. Camp ended with a day trip to a dam, park and river. The girls had the time of their lives. I could not take my eyes off of their gigantic smiles as they ate popcorn, played on swings and slides and waited for the wind to blow water from the fountain to cool them down and gaze at the rainbow created- activities most 7-15 year olds would be like, "I'm boredddd. I'm hotttt. This place suckssss." There is so much beauty in a simple life. The day ended with a trip to a river I saw naked old men urinating in, dirty diapers, and women doing their laundry in. The river also had jagged rocks and soooo much trash. The girls stripped down and jumped in and my heart raced as they ran barefoot in it. I just kept waiting for someone to get hurt and sure enough one of the girls split her foot wide open on a broken glass bottle- a gash literally five inches long. Maybe simple isn't always the way to roll. I wish these girls had a nice swimming pool, or if that is too much a pair of flip flops.

Camp ended last week and about fifty girls minus the toddlers and babies went to parents, relatives or friends. The selfish side of me desperately wanted them to stay not so we could keep hanging out, but so I would know for sure they were safe. Anu and Richa were literally dropped at Marialaya when they were babies by their homeless father. He came to get the girls and from the sound of it is still living under a roof that is potato sacks. Towards the end, I had to say goodbye and go inside because seeing who they were leaving with was too horrifying for me. All I could do was hug them, give out a few smiley stickers to remind them to stay positive and now pray that they are staying safe. It's probably a really good thing non-Indians can't adopt otherwise I'd be leaving Marialaya with forty new Indian children ... you think I'm joking...

There have been only 30 children at Marialaya, including the babies. Everyday the sisters and I kinda look at each other and think what to do with them today. Sister Sudjtha suggested I conduct a Spoken English class for 2.5 hours everyday and give them quizzes, homework and such. The first day she told me, "I want each child to memorize five sentences in English and recite them to me. You have 2.5 hours to teach them. If they don't do well, we don't go to the picnic later." We did get to go to the picnic, but the poor children were almost in tears from stress, as was I, watching them work so hard so they could picnic. I cautiously discussed with her that these girls are feeling lonely without their friends and maybe since it is summer break, perhaps we could have a little fun. Thank God she felt the same way. (Indians are EXTREMELY hard-working not to mention hard on themselves. They do not stop and most do not understand the concept of fun. It really is a society built on determination and perseverance. Any fun is seen as distracting.) Anyway, she agreed to let me show English movies, so I have shown "Yours, Mine and Ours" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." We have also spent our time gardening and I have taught them baseball and they taught me cricket, playing Tamil dirt games (like board games but played in the dirt with rocks,) - anything to divert their feelings from loneliness to happiness and distract them from their situation at home, works for me.

I'm going to go ahead and hit publish before the power goes out again ;) Thanks for reading.



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