Tigri School Christmas Party

The day before Xmas we had a party for the kids at the Tigri school. We met upstairs in our yet to be renovated first floor where we will hopefully move in one of these days...
We had a tree, lots of singing, dance performances by the kids, snacks, etc.
The most moving thing was the children's gratitude. Maria and Sheila had put together little gift packages for the children, just a few pencils or a piece of soap. The kids were so fired up. Some of them kept thanking us again and again.
When I think of the abundance of presents kids get in some parts of the world it is very touching to see children receive such a modest offering with so much gratitude.

I thoroughly enjoyed my morning there. The kids had a lot of fun too.

Too big of a difference...

Scenario number one...

I eat some bad food on Friday evening. I start getting sick on Saturday morning. I have diarrhea all day Saturday. By 2 am on Sunday morning I feel faint, I am breaking out in sweat, my heart is racing, and I feel (literally) I am going to die. I know I am completely dehydrated. I wake Mark up, I tell him I need to go to a hospital urgently. We get in our car, drive to a nice hospital, get admitted immediately. The doctors put me on a drip, check my heart, blood, etc. I stay on a drip for three hours. I receive two bottles of glucose solution, two bottles of antibiotics, and I have a nice clean bed to lie on. At 5.30 am I go home with a list of medicines for the next few days. The nice hospital has a 24 hour chemist. We pay (total cost rs 2500 / $ 50) and I go home in my car. Back in bed by 6, rest the whole day. Monday I am back on my feet.

Scenario number two...

Sunita (imaginary name) eats some bad food on Friday night. By Saturday morning she is sick and has diarrhea all day. At 2 am on Sunday morning she feels she is going to die but she doesn't understand what is happening because she is uneducated and no one has ever explained to her the symptoms of dehydration. She stays in bed and faints. Finally her husband wakes up in the morning and finds her unconscious. He tries to carry her out of the house. He does not own a vehicle and they live in a slum where there is no access for public transport. He desperately searches for a rickshaw but he has so little money it takes him 20 mn to find one willing to take him to the hospital. The nearest hospital is 10 km away and it is a government hospital. When they finally get there they find a queue of people in front of them and they have to wait for their turn. Sunita's husband pleads with a passing doctor who ignores him. Then finally he finds a helpful nurse who pushes them to the front of the queue. But then they have to fill a form and it takes another 20mn. By then Sunita is pale and lifeless. Eventually she gets to the emrgency ward. After much delay a doctor appears, prescribes a glucose drip and goes off. Sunita's husband has to leave his wife and run to the nearest chemist to buy the glucose bottle, needle, and the paraphenalia needed. He has no money but a kind stranger helps him. By the time he gets back it is too late. Sunita has passed away. She is lying on the dirty bed and the nurses urge her husband to take the body away as the bed is needed for the next desperate person.
Exaggerated? No. Millions die of diarrhea every year in the third world. It is all preventable.

What are we going to do about it?

Rajasthan

A family of (modern) Rajasthani women

Finally we are going to Rajasthan, Jodhpur to be precise. We have dreamed of going there for many years. The opportunity has now arisen.
We have gathered a group of devoted people. The leader of the team is from Rajasthan and he has been waiting for years to go back to his roots and do something for his people.
We will be assisting two governments schools, one in Jodhpur itself and one in Pali. We will provide computer classes and English language training to the students of the school and then after school hours we will provide the same in the form of vocational training to the young people of the area.
Rajasthan is a great state steeped in tradition. When foreigners think of India images of Rajasthan come to their mind...men in turbans, women in bright colorful saris, camels, traditional music and beautiful Rajasthani art such as miniature paintings...
It is a country of rich history, valiant warriors, powerful horses and people with an indomitable spirit, yet there are so many needs. The country is arid and unforgiving and there is still a lot of poverty. We feel priviledged to be able to do something to help in a small way. Education is the way to the future. Indian youth are so very determined and hardworking. I have no doubt that with a little push they can soar.

Thoughts on Mumbai...

I have just come back from Mumbai where I spent a great weekend, very encouraging, yet it came on the heels of one of the greatest tragedies in recent Indian history. India is a very intense country. Most of the time it is fun and wildly interesting but it also gets very scary and threatening. I was in Bangalore when I heard there had been some shooting in Mumbai. As usual in these situations we don't realize the gravity of it all till later.
We spent the next couple of days glued to CNN and the local Indian news. I was due to fly to Mumbai so I wanted to know what was going on even more. I wasn't scared but I didn't want to be stuck in Mumbai and not be able to go home to Delhi. What happens to me in those cases is I go on high alert. All my senses are awake and it is hard to sleep. Every noise gets amplified, every light is brighter, every movement becomes suspicious. It is not fear per se but more of a state of intense alertness. I have been there before. This was a pretty intense week but I have seen worse. At least this time my kids were not involved which helped a lot. I am not scared at all when the kids are not involved. It all changes when my children are around...
I was sad to hear three children at the American School in Mumbai lost their parents in the shooting. I was also very sad to see the young terrorists on TV. They looked barely older than my son. I felt of tinge of pity for them. What if they had been loved, what if they had received proper education, what if they had been taught about love and tolerance?...
People in Mumbai are not scared; they are mad. They are very angry this time. They want it to stop.
Anyway life goes on. There is more security around, at my kids' school, at the airport... I walked into Mumbai airport with a machine gun pointed at me. Eerie feeling... The airport and the flight back to Delhi were almost empty. Even while checking in in Bangalore to fly to Mumbai the airline people thought I was crazy to fly and they warned me to be careful! Oh well... If I wanted to be safe I wouldn't live here.
I remember the riot in Dhaka, the immolations in Delhi in 1993, the persecution times, the plague in 1992,the life threatening diseases my kids and my husband went through, the deliveries of my babies in very primitive conditions, the near death experiences on Indian roads, etc. We are still ok.
I don't know what the future holds. There is a higher power watching over us. I guess we'll just keep living to the full and see what happens... When we don't risk it we don't win it... No regrets... (just a couple of my core beliefs)...

Boys playing cricket two days after the terrorist attacks.

A Sad State of Affairs...

One of the sad things about this otherwise wonderful country is the skewed boy / girl ratio. There are between 8 to 9 girls born for every 10 boys. In some parts of the country it is even worse.
Of course boys are given preference because they bring a dowry with them at the time of marriage and the sons end up living with their parents in joint families so they take care of them in their old age. Girls on the other hand are considered a liability. They cost a lot of money to raise, educate, marry, and then, as one of my very educated friends told me, they are a loss to the family. Hence the reference for boys.
Now this would be understandable if this was a concern for poor families. The sad thing is that the ratio is the worst in the wealthier parts of the country. Right here in South Delhi the ratio is one of the lowest in the country. People can afford prenatal screening and so know the sex of the child. If it's a girl in 1 out of 5 cases they go for an abortion. This practice is illegal but it goes on anyway. I have seen so many families with only sons or only one girl. One daughter is tolerated. More than that and it's a curse. Very sad indeed...

Grooming Box

I have been dying to share this... This is a small thing and yet very sweet.
In our Hope schools the children do not know much about hygiene, grooming, cleanliness, etc. One of our school managers, Santosh, in Pudupattinam, has come up with a great idea. It is called a grooming box. Every day when the kids arrive at school they take out their grooming box and go to the bathroom. They take out their toothbrush, toothpaste, and proceed to brush their teeth. Then they comb thior hair. Finally they wash their hands.
All these skills have to be taught step by step and they have become part of the school curriculum. Unfortunately the children's parents do not know about hygiene most of the time. These habits make such a difference. Our kids end up looking so clean and cute! It can also save their life in terms of hygiene.
It is a small thing but it has improved the lives of these children. Of course they look very cute!

On the Road to Moradabad

One of the things I love about living in India is the fun provided by road trips. I have criss crossed all over North India in the last few years and it never gets boring!
When I have gone on road trips in the US or Europe things get pretty monotonous. Here in India it is a great adventure. I went to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh this week. I left early in the morning. Moradabad is about 200 km from Delhi and it takes about 4 hours to get there.
As soon as we left Delhi and entered Uttar Pradesh it felt like we had gone back 100 years in time. The roads were in terrible shape, full of pot holes even though we were supposed to be on a highway. There were bullock carts, monkeys, cattle, dogs, etc enjoying the roads along with us. One of the most unnerving things was coming face to face with vehicles driving down the wrong lane, i.e. in the opposite direction than the one they were supposed to. It actually happened to us too. We were coming back in the dark and after avoiding some roadworks my driver Rajpal kept going straight, however that meant we were driving into oncoming traffic. It was pitch black at that point, no lights on the side of the road and we were using our headlights to warn incoming vehicles that we were there. I prayed a lot!
The roads are crowded with overloaded trcks, buses and lorries with people hanging from the sides and sitting on the roofs; then we stop in traffic jams all the time, at which point I become a curiosity since I am a "white Memsahib" as they call me. Kids wave and laugh. They are so cute!
Anyway I never get bored. I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to as the roads are too bumpy for that. I am thankful for my driver. I wouldn't be too keen to drive on these roads. It gives me a chance to enjoy the countryside, the bright colours, the smiling faces of people. By the end of the drive I feel as if I have just watched a movie!