Jan.22-24 India... Raw and unplugged

The cook KK,doing dishes at the orphanage

My bedroom at the first homestay, which I never slept in!

Doing homework with the children at the orphange

January 22 India….Raw and Unplugged

I am trying to process yesterday….as this is when I left the hostel and moved to my home stay and volunteer work in Faridabad.

Poonan and Antsy

children at the orphanage

The living area of the orphanage, and home to the water buffalo

As I drove through the very dusty and dirty city of Faridabad into the rural area of my home stay, I began to have serious concerns about what I was getting into. In retrospect, what we experienced in Gurgaon was a fairytale. We lived close to malls, could go for coffee and use wifi, and could explore as a group.  As the ride got dustier and bumpier (I will never again complain about the potholes in Saskatoon) I felt like I was entering a different world. The garbage, filth, people, animals, and seemingly mass chaos was overwhelming. Finally after travelling through a number of back alleys the tuktuk stopped. Sunil (the 15 old orphan that lived with the home stay family) told me we had arrived.  I entered a 2 room house and was greeted by Poonan, the wife and her 3 year old daughter Anshiska (above photo). The room I was led to with my bags housed a fridge, old desktop computer,  various boxes and a couple of plastic lawn chairs. It was against the alley, very noisy and also served as the gathering room for everyone… although I never had time to find out until later. Yesterday, being Sunday was also supposed by my first free day since arriving in India. After sleeping poorly and trying to rearrange my internal clock, I had conjured up the image of relaxing, having a day to myself to explore my new surroundings and settle in….not exactly what happened. Shortly after bringing in my bags I was whisked away to spend the afternoon at a nearby orphanage. We had stopped earlier at Dr. Banta’s house, the local coordinator in Faridabad, and visited an orphanage that he has set up. There was no comparison to where I spent the afternoon. All I could think the entire time was how RAW this experience was, and that I didn’t have the immune system to survive here. I was also told it wasn’t a great neighborhood and that I should not leave the orphanage. This orphanage was a concrete compound that was home to a huge water buffalo that was tied to a post in the middle. The “house mother” Mala had been an orphan herself and now had 5 of her own children (ranging in age from 1 to 12) the two youngest were sleeping on a dirty blanket, with flies roaming freely on their faces and bodies. In total there were about 10 children, and I was told some children had gone to a wedding and would return later. There were 2 dark cement rooms that housed the children at night, but other than a school book they each had from their public school, they had nothing. One boy found a piece of rice bag with a string on it that he told me was his kite. The kids were thrilled to see me.  I’m sure I was a most interesting diversion in their otherwise bleak existence. We spent the afternoon sitting on a blanket on the roof and I helped them with homework. They do go to public school so this was a day off for the weekend. I was told one boy, (I have photos of him wearing blue sunglasses) had intellectual disabilities, and he didn’t go to school because he couldn’t learn. There was a man named KK who cooked for the children. The hardest part of the afternoon for me was picking at the rice, lentils and chai tea he served as the conditions were so dirty. In these areas, toilet paper and running cold-water are luxuries. They use their left hand to wipe themselves and eat their meals with their right hand (I’m serious). At one point the landlord and owner of the water buffalo arrived and moved the beast into a stall to milk later. She then collected the fresh manure into a shallow bowl with her hands to later mold into round paddies to dry. This is called “upla” and is used as fuel for the small fires they huddle around to warm themselves and to cook meals with. I have a picture of an area where these are being produced and dried. It was a very long afternoon for me and I decided that I did not have the tenacity or the immune system to do this for two weeks. When I got home to a room full of people in “my bedroom” I knew for sure I couldn’t do this….so I called the local coordinator to see if there was an plan “B”. I felt bad for leaving Poona, as she was lovely and trying to be so hospitable, but I had no personal space or freedom. I was told this was not a good neighborhood for me to walk alone in, and I couldn’t envision two full weeks like this . I was in the middle of rural India, and felt very isolated and alone.

Jan.24 fast forward..  today.  My situation has changed dramatically and I am so glad I spoke up. After talking about other options with the volunteer coordinator, I was moved to a homestay in central Faridabad. I am living with Mamta, her husband Shri and their 2 preschool daughters Naysa and Naima.  Given what I have seen, I would consider them to be upper middle class. They rent their home and their daughters go to a private school. Mamta trained as a special Ed teacher and is now at home full-time with her children. Shri is a business man and has started a school in the slums for children who would otherwise roam the streets.  This is where I am volunteering, in a one room building in the slums. Aside from a couple of chalk boards there are no resources. In the morning I am helping teach English to the slum children ages 3-5. It is like a headstart program. The children’s attendance is sporadic and with no resources is challenging to fill 3 hours with children of varying abilities. The kids are given candy when their class ends as a reward for attending. The cycles of poverty and illiteracy are so deep that the parents seldom encourage attendance so it is hoped the candy will motivate the kids to come. In the afternoon from 2-5pm the older children attend. The kids stop coming when they are forced by the family to earn money as rickshaw drivers or some other manual work that will bring in a couple of dollars a day. We are in a one room class and attendance can be up to 60 at times. Yesterday it was low (30 ‘ish) I worked with 6 older girls ages 12-14, but again their academic levels vary. One of the girls, Neha is barely literate but too big to be with the others. Nicola, a volunteer who also lives where I do, and studying to be a dietician in Australia, worked with the younger kids. There is no such thing as “quiet time” in this classroom. It is constantly noisy as they recite their learning’s in groups and are very vocal and loud in shouting out their answers. I find Hindi a loud language and they speak fast.  Perhaps because all the buildings are concrete the sounds carry even more. I had to get my six students to huddle in a corner so I could hear them and they me, but it was a very good day. I enjoyed the students immensely and feel like what I am doing is helpful. They are eager to learn and have so little. The younger children have a small chalkboard to write on and the older students a scribbler.

I am very comfortable in this homestay and enjoy the other volunteers here. Three are medical students from the US. John is from Arizona and here for 5 months. Andree and Kyley, a married couple from South Carolina, just arrived and waiting to hear were they will do their residencies. They are here for a month. I mentioned Nicola earlier, a dietician from Australia. They have been going to a nearby hospital and are shadowing the Doctors there.

So I am settling in… we don’t have showers but I am grateful that I can bath with a pail of hot water. A hot water heater was just installed a couple of weeks ago. I have access to internet in their home and work around power outages. The food is basic but good, and the conditions clean. So far I have stayed healthy. I have to do my laundry by hand. I think that washing machines are a real luxury and I have yet to see a Laundromat.

This Thursday is a national holiday and we just decided tonight to travel to Rishikesh, as it is a long weekend. The whole household is going… Mamba, Shir, daughters and all of us volunteers. Rishikest is in northern India, in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. I just read in the lonely planet that it is   considered the yoga capital of the world. It is also where the Beatles wrote many of the songs for their “White” album. I think we will hire a van as there will be 16 of us going in total.

So…. as the week unfolds life is good, and again I am so grateful for what I have, and often take for granted. Nameste, Lynne

Mala's oldest and youngest daughters

Upla...cow paddies drying to be used as fuel for burning