Shannon Discovers Volleyball

Shannon is thriving in dorm life. Her room is the site of frequent mass sleepovers and the dorm is a lively place full of screaming, giggling middle school girls.
Left to her own devices and with the occassional gentle prodding of her dormparent she is managing to get to meals, classes and other activities in a timely fashion AND to pass room inspection!
Unbeknownst to me, Shannon joined the volleyball team and has become a major player and scorer. She is very modest about her new found talent. I only became aware that she was playing at all through her classmates! This weekend she travels to a rival school for a tournament. With no girls' soccer offered here she is happy to have found this alternative sport.
Academically, she is finding KIS challenging, but not impossible. She is enjoying studying Tamil but struggling with the periodic table in Science. She is looking forward to Field Trip Week in September when her class will visit a Tibetan refugee settlement and study Tibetan culture firsthand.
She and I usually go out for lunch on weekends and I often see her when I am at the school for yoga and other activities. We are in contact by phone several nights per week too. Conversations tend to revolve around requests for snack foods and spending money!

Much Appreciated Employment Produces Much Appreciated Home Help

I am truly blessed to be able to provide much needed employment for Mary, Daniel and Martha and to benefit from their assistance in keeping the household on an even keel. I look forward to their arrival three mornings a week when they endure my feeble attempts at Tamil, help me with any "poochie" (insect) problems, distinguish between a worm and a snake (it was a worm fortunately!), and tackle a myriad of other minor problems as they arise.
Mary, botttom photo, prepares the most delicious Indian food imaginable and has a wide American repertoire as well. She is a master at the use of spices, insists on using fresh coconut (no canned coconut milk for her!), and is sabotaging my weight loss program with her marvelous homemade Indian breads!
Martha beats the dirt from my hikes out of my clothes and keeps the house dusted, swept and mopped, all without the aid of the modern conveniences we take for granted.
Daniel, Martha's husband, is a jack of all trades, doing gardening, cutting the grass by hand (no lawn mowers here), keeping me well-supplied with firewood (no central heating or heaters here!), and making sure the rain water is pumped up into the holding tank or alerting me to a need to buy water when supplies are low.
I am thankful for each and everyone of them.

Local "Granny" Midwife Shares Forty Years of Experience

I recently had the pleasure of meeting this delightful Hindu lady, Eswari, age 67, who has been attending home births in the local creche area for forty years. Her own mother attended Eswari's births and encouraged her daughter to apprentice with her. She has a deep sense of God's calling on her life and His presence with her at births. If she receives any pay at all, it is often in the form of a new sari. And guess what, midwife friends? She uses castor oil!
She also serves her community at the time of death when she is called in to bathe the body, a job many shun.
Presently there is no one working with Eswari to carry on after her. Several women have told me that they had their mother or sister or friend present at their home birth to assist. For these untrained attendants, the Home-Based Life Saving Skills program which I have mentioned before and would like to implement here, would provide critical skills and knowledge.

KIS Hiking Program

All KIS students are required to participate in two hikes, after that hikes are optional. Many kids continue hiking in pursuit of the "Tahr Pin" awarded to all who complete a certain number of increasingly long and strenuous hikes. I have joined the past four hikes in part for exercise, but more for the opportunity to get out in the surrounding forest inhabited by wild bison and even elephants farther away. The scenery and views are spectacular. I can no longer blame the altitude (7000 ft.) for my shortness of breath since two months are plenty of time to adjust. As the old adage goes, "I'm in no shape to exercise!" Every week I say, " This is the last hike"' as I hobble home after, but each week the muscle aches and pains are disappearing earlier in the week and off I go to sign up for "just one more". There are usually a few others who are struggling on the steep uphill slopes, huffing and puffing. The students are a pleasure to chat with on the trips and we congratulate each other on our mutual accomplishments.
Pictured are Dolphin's Nose, Jerry's Point and Gundar Falls.

Caring for Body, Mind and Soul

Shannon's school has proven to be a wonderful resource for me. I attend church in the school chapel, pictured here. On staff are four ordained ministers from Mennonite, Indian Orthodox and Lutheran traditions which lends great variety to the services. In addition the students are very much involved in all aspects of worship. The music ranges from classical to choruses, strings to percussion. It is a real joy to be in the midst of such a young congregation.
Following the Sunday service, several members of the staff and community gather for adult Sunday School. We are reading Philip Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace?", watching the accompanying DVD, and feeling challenged by his words.
Once a week the school screens a foreign film for any interested adults. There is a small but loyal group of us who show up regularly. Since there is no movie theater in Kodai this has been a welcome alternative to commercial laden TV movies.
Twice a week I attend a great yoga class. Although I pass on the shoulder and head stands I am beginning to reap the benefits as my joints loosen and flexibility and balance continue to improve.
KMU is a small library on the school premises where one can drop in twice a week for coffee and conversation which can range from Parsi death customs to environmental issues to local news depending on who drops by.
In all these settings I have met many wonderful people and all the activities are free!

Home Visiting

I have had a number of opportunities to visit families in their homes. I consider this a great privilege to witness the reality of these peoples' lives directly. Without exception I have received a warm welcome, always an offer of tea and a chair to sit on. When I opt to sit on the floor, a mat to cover the floor always materializes.
To the right are photos of visits made with the local township nurses to the homes of pregnant women.

Community Meetings

On the side are photos taken at one of the two meetings we held in the villages served by the Kodai area creches. One of the Betsy Elizabeth Trust board members, the creche manager and the creche nurse arranged these get togethers with creche parents and any other interested women. We met on a Sunday morning for about an hour. It was difficult to find a time when these women were free. They work six days a week collecting firewood, carrying rocks for masonry, collecting eucalyptus leaves for oil and working at other unskilled, low-paying jobs. Sundays are busy with religious observances and trips to the big open air market in Kodai. Over tea and biscuits we talked about their childbirth experiences, if and where they had received prenatal care, where they had delivered (home, hospital, clinic), how complications were handled, family planning methods, experiences with deaths of mothers and babies, and finally what they identified as needs with which I might assist.
Many requested treatment for various ailments or a few paracetamol (acetaminophen) for aches and pains. Unfortunately I could not respond to these requests but the women did come up with some topics to address in future meetings around women's health issues.

Meeting Newest Member of Local Dentist's Family

Community and Referral Center Assessments

Arriving in India with a vague intention of doing something health related in the communities served by the creches, I have spent a lot of time during the past two months meeting anyone and anybody who was willing to talk to me about the health care system here and in particular maternal and child health care. I have been amazed by the wonderful reception I have received. I have met with administrators and staff in local private and government hospitals, municipal health officials, public health nurses, and private practitioners. Without exception everyone has gone out of their way to answer my questions and to allow me to observe everyday operations in their facilities and the surrounding community. Through these meetings I am gradually developing a sense of what needs I might be able to address in a very small way. Seline and I are working closely together to design some health education programs for the creche parents and staff to begin with.
For me the most interesting and enjoyable part of the community assessment is meeting with families in the community as they share their birth and other stories. I have had the opportunity to do this both formally and informally with creche staff and by accompanying public health nurses on some home visits.

Next Stop-Pharmacy

When all the children have been seen, our next stop is the pharmacy. Pictured above is creche nurse Seline at the pharmacy.
Curious about what the various medications are I quiz Seline or the pharmacist, read labels, and google the unfamiliar names when I get home e.g. Kolq, Serronak, Hatric 3, Calpol, Roxid, Nicip, Zifi, Sporidex, and Zedex.

Dr. V - Nalla (good) doctor!

Dr. V., (see sign for full, multisyllabic name!), a family practice physician, with the assistance of nurse Christine treats the children primarily for coughs and colds, scabies and impetigo. As part of the creche intake process Seline reviews the immunization records and health histories of the children.

Monday Doctor Run

Every Monday morning the creche nurse, Seline, screens all the children for any illnesses or injuries that require medical attention and off we go in the jeep to see Dr. V. His services and any necessary prescriptions are covered through the generosity of FIMRC, the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, USA. On arriving at Dr. V.'s office the children wait patiently (no pun intended) in a side room to be seen.

Vanakkam! The Trials and Tribulations of Tamil

In spite of hearing some discouraging accounts of attempts to learn Tamil, I decided to give it a shot if for no other reason than to try to ward off Alzheimer's. (Language study and crossword puzzles are supposed to help!) Furthermore I have found over time in many settings that people have always met my feeble attempts to communicate in the language at hand with pleasure and usually much amusement. It's a definite ice breaker!
Some of the challenges peculiar to Tamil include the following:
-There are 35 basic vowels and consonants in Tamil. You can see in the signs above the appearance of the written language. Although I have no conscious memory of learning the English/Roman alphabet as a child, I have a much greater appreciation for this achievement by kindergarteners as I struggle to identify Tamil words!
-A number of Tamil sounds have no exact counterpart in English. One set of sounds called "retroflex" sounds requires that the tip of the tongue be turned backwards so that the underside of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth. It feels like yoga for the tongue!
-Many words are very similar except for the length of the vowels e.g. aamaa (yes) and ammaa (mother), padam (picture) and paadam (lesson), pal (tooth) and paal (milk). You can imagine what kind of trouble I can and do get into with this!
-Word order in a sentence is subject, object, verb e.g. Ganesh her saw (Ganesh saw her.). I invariably get this wrong but find it comforting that the Tamil speakers speak English in Tamil order as often as I do the opposite and we seem to get by.

My Tamil teacher, Radhicka, pictured above, has infinite patience fortunately. In addition to teaching me Tamil she is a great source of information on Indian customs and traditions. We try to meet twice a week.

Last week I put my Tamil to the test with some of the creche children asking them to point to various parts of their body as I said, "Where's your...?" How exciting it was to have them respond correctly! They looked puzzled and then laughed when I said, "Where's your tail?"

By the way, Vanakkam, pronounced "one-a come", means Greetings.

Notice the warning in the second sign - "No Eve Teasing". Kodai is a popular destination for Indian tourists, many of whom are young men. Renting row boats or paddle boats on the local lake is a common pastime. Apparently the young men sometimes become a bit unruly out on the lake in the presence of young ladies, hence the sign.

Coming up- communicating in English!

A Woman's Work Is Never Done...

Riches to Rags

Having just left the school gates following the opening assemby at KIS and leaving Shannon to start school, I met these "ragpickers" on the road. These children pick through trash looking for saleable materials to provide income for their families. School is not a part of their day.

Trunks on the Move Again!

After a three day orientation for parents and new students Shannon moved into her dorm at Kodaikanal International School (KIS) on July 16th. As we pulled into the dorm these men appeared and without hesitation placed the trunks on their heads. Shannon and I had just struggled together to get them into the jeep, one of us grabbing a handle at each end!
Shannon and her roommate from Canada share a dorm with about 20 other (usually screaming!) middle school girls from all over the world including South Korea, India, Dubai and Japan.
Shannon's course load includes Tamil (the language of Tamil Nadu), Humanities, Food Technology, Religious Education, Math, Science, Health, Phys. Ed., Computer Technology and Performing Arts/Music. There is an active hiking program at KIS and all students are required to make two hikes. I chaperoned a hike to Dolphin's Nose last Saturday. It was quite a workout for me but a great opportunity to see more of the beautiful mountains and scenery around Kodai. This Saturday I'll be on a hike to a place called Spring Valley. All the kids rush to do their mandatory two hikes during the first few weeks of school since the level of difficulty increases every week. That means I have company, at least for the first couple of hikes, bringing up the rear of the group!

More Postings Coming Soon (Hopefully)

I know folks are anxious for updates and photos. I've made several attempts, but seem to be having some technical difficulties uploading photos. Hang on!

Betsy Dailey Visits Kodai!

Betsy Dailey and children, Grace and Jacob, arrived in Kodai on July 4th for a one month visit. Betsy, founder of the creche project, is the Betsy of The Betsy Elizabeth Trust, the non-governmental organization which oversees the creches. Better known as "Ama" (mother) to those who know and love her from her many years in Kodai, Betsy visited all the creches and together we did a teacher training which included cough etiquette, handwashing, and playground safety. Betsy proved an invaluable resource to me during her visit, picking up where Ann had left off, introducing me to more people, educating me about Indian culture and customs and the Tamil language, and keeping me well fed with blueberry pancakes, spaghetti and newly discovered Indian sweets. Midway through the Daileys' visit, Shannon started boarding at school. It was especially nice to have them around during that transition. In addition they left me lots of good stuff like Time and Newsweek magazines and Hershey chocolate!!!
Thanks Betsy, Grace and Jacob! I miss you!