Education Day

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

~Nelson Mandela

I woke up on Tuesday feeling great. I suppose that I was dehydrated, but my health has been nursed back to me along with my appetite. Here on the Rising Star Campus the volunteers are assigned into three groups: cobra, scorpion and shakti (power) that rotate responsibilities each day. My group is scorpion which includes myself, Stacy, Savannah and a mother daughter duo: Brenda and Quincy. On our first rotation we were assigned with Education.

Here on Campus there is a wonderful school for the kids called the Peery Matriculation School. When we are on the education round we sit in the library as they usher kids in to be tutored in either English or math. We spend forty minutes with each kid, helping them complete the assignment we have been handed to give them. While tutoring them in English we try to focus on pronunciation and comprehension of the text. With math we focus on making sure they are getting the right answer.

We each have an opportunity to tutor five wonderful kids through out the day. My first two kids were boys and we worked on their English. Even though they understand spoken English fairly well and do a good job in speaking with us Americans, they still have difficulty in reading and writing in English -- mainly due to the fact that our language is not phonetic. Since they struggle with the written language their desire to read is low. But we helped encourage them and due to our persistence kept them motivated to push through the assignment. It was easy to tell who were the more focused students and who would require more patience.

Math turned out to be a much easier concept to tutor since most of the students felt comfortable with numbers and their times tables. The biggest struggle was the eventual boredom of doing math problem after math problem, but we helped spice it up with some friendly racing competition.
The best parts of doing education is the opportunity to watch their morning conclave. Here they do the daily announcements and say their national anthem/pledge all lined up in front of the flag pole in their cute little school uniforms. Their attitude was completely different from what I saw the night before, where the night before they were rambunctious and at school they were calm and disciplined. Another great benefit is the opportunity to eat a typical Indian lunch with the students on the ground under an open dining pavilion.

Working with the kids in helping them build a brighter future through their education was rewarding. Although there were difficult moments in focusing on the short term assignment, I maintained focus with the vision of the long term benefits of education, especially English, in the lives of these children. Within the caste system here these children are considered the bottom of the pile due to the circumstances the families and circumstances they are born in, but working with them I see so much potential. Their education is the key to unlocking their full potential so that they can rise above the expectations this society has placed upon them.

Arriving at Rising Star Outreach

Monday morning I woke up around 4:00 am absolutely not feeling well with diarrhea, vomiting and a loss of appetite. It was a bad way to start the day. When the restaurant at my hotel opened for breakfast at 8:00 am I bought two 7ups with the hopes of it settling my stomach which seemed to help. By the time I checked out and made it over to the Marriott Hotel to meet up with the other volunteers of Rising Star Outreach and make our two and a half hour trip to the RSO Campus I was feeling better.
It was so great to meet up with the group and start to get to know everybody. We all happen to be L.D.S. and were all excited to get started with the program. Halfway through the trip, I started feeling ill again. With all the bumping on the road and constant stopping and going it was inevitable that I would use the throw up bag I luckily saved from the plane. Once I had released my inner sickness the world started to become a better place again and I was able to take the rest of the journey with ease.
As we drew closer to the campus we passed through the village on our way in. There were grass roofed huts that were quite the site to see as the roofs nearly came down to touch the ground. When we reached the road that led to the campus, there were piles of rocks plopped down in the middle of the road. Derek, the volunteer coordinator with us, explained that a month ago the road was starting to get paved but nothing more has occurred since then. "This is India (TII)," he explained, which is a common phrase to express that not everything goes as planned here in India.

We finally reached the outside gate to the campus, which is a huge lot of land full of mango and coconut trees. They showed us to our rooms at the elephant house, boys on one side and girls on the other. Our rooms are accommodated with air conditioning, and bunk beds. In our group we only have three boys and about ten girls, the smallest group this summer. The bathroom is accommodated with several bucket shower stalls, and squatter toilets, along with one western shower and one western toilet for emergencies. The kitchen is stocked with American food including cereal and peanut butter and place chill our water bottles. There is also a comfortable hangout room equipped with guitars and comfortable couches.
After and orientation we had the opportunity to go play with the kids at their hostels which are on the other side of the campus. They call us Auntie and Uncle, which is the cutest thing in the world, and they all opened right up to us. I showed a few of the boys a "secret handshake" that became a big hit and once I made my infamous elephant sound the requests never ended for "one more time."

After a few hours all of us were completely worn out when we returned for dinner on the rooftop. Our meal of red rice, sauce, and (luckily) some chicken was accompanied by a lightning show of an approaching storm. There is a tradition here that during our meal we all get a chance to stand up and share our High and our Low of the day. It was a great way to hear the best and worst of everybody's experiences that day. After dinner we head back over to the hostels to an assigned "family" group led by a house mother for family time. My housemother is Grace and volunteer that I am paired with is Hillary. Male volunteers can't go to the girls' hostel but the female volunteers can come to the boys' hostel; therefore, my family group is made up of very rambunctious boys. Already, I have a great amount of love for these children. When we came back it was safe to say that we were all worn out in the best way possible.

Church in India

On Sunday I made the trip to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, of which I am a member of, located in the basement of a large business building. Surprisingly, when I arrived the service was all done in English including the hymns and the lessons. I was amazed at the strength of the branch which was completely ran by native Indians. While there they were preparing two young men to go and serve missions within the next couple of weeks who stood up and bore their testimony of the church. We were then entreated by two wonderful and entertaining talks of a Mother, daughter duo: Sister Margaret and Sister Ursala. I was impressed with the strength of spirit among the members. During the Sunday School lesson Sister Margaret shared her powerful testimony of the the atonement of Christ as she taught us about the Crucifixion of Christ. After our meetings we were then further blessed with the opportunity to see the baptism of a young American boy, John, whose father works at the U.S. Embassy in Chennai. It was a very special day and service at church, I definitely felt right at home and had the opportunity to meet some volunteers of Rising Star Outreach including those who are here long term such as the volunteer coordinators and those volunteers who were leaving the program. It was exhilarating to connect with fellow Brothers and Sisters of the church as well as interact with fellow Americans once again. The reunion gave me great hopes of encouragement that I made the right decision to come to India and work for Rising Star Outreach.
I would also like to briefly talk about my trip I made on Saturday to Chinamalai where a Church was built over the cave where St. Thomas supposedly stayed and then ran away from while escaping an attack of Brahman Priests only later to be killed on a Mount about 2 km from the site by being pierced by a spear. Along the wall near a tiny hole where he escaped a hand print can be seen which is rumored to be the hand print of Thomas himself. Also in the cave was a very red rock which also supposedly contains the footprint of Thomas. Near the cave was a holy spring where as the story goes was a place that Thomas with a staff hit a rock and water came out. Similar to the story Moses. However, it was very difficult to see the spring since the door to the site was locked and through the windows it was very dark. Along the site of the Church there were several statues depicting scenes from the life of Jesus especially his final hours of torture, crucifixion and burial. This was quite a remarkable site to see. The pictures below are from this Catholic Church where the cave is.

Exploring Chennai

I started my exploration of the Chennai City at the T. Nagar Ranganathan Street Market which is suppose to be one of the places with the largest gold and silk exchange. The street was littered with paper, crowded and full of street vendors selling items from common housewares to fine silk scarfs and sarees. I felt comfortable however looking at the items and doing some souvenir shopping. It was exhilarating being a part of the rhythm of the city. While looking at some sarees in a shop one the ladies working there asked me if I was married. I told them no, I was just looking at sarees for my sister. She then smiled and asked, "You, me get married?" I just laughed and replied no. I don't believe she truly expected any other answer but it made me smile. The hardest part of being on this street were the beggars, especially the women with a sleeping child in their arms, who persistently asked for money. They kept following me throughout the street and even to the rickshaw to continue to ask for money. My heart went out to them but due to principle of being out here to help the lepers and outcasts in India realize that they can do more than just beg I had to deny them of my money.

After I was finished exploring the street I carried my journey to the Santhome Cathedral Basilica to see the tomb of the Apostle St. Thomas. Aparently his remains have already been removed and carried to Ortano in 1258 where they are still housed. At this basilica, however, there is a shrine that preserves a small bone from the hand that touched the side of Jesus after His resurrection. They didn't allow us to take pictures in the tomb but I did take some pictures of the Cathedral on the outside and inside.

I next went to the Kapaleeshwar Temple, which is the oldest temple in Chennai. It is a temple for the Hindu-diety, Shiva, who is respected as the Supreme God who with his right hand holds the power of creation and with his left hand holds the power of destruction. He is always represented as an eternal youth due to his authority over death, rebirth and immortality. Shiva is also the father of Ganesha, the God of good luck who has the head of an elephant and the body of a man, and the father of Murugan, the God of War and Victory who has six faces. The temple has around 10,000 statues built that depict Hindu stories of Shiva and his family and they are all hand painted by 300 men within a month, every ten years. Within the temple there is a wedding hall that was being prepared while I was there and I learned that married women will wear a silver ring on both of their second toes.

After visiting the temple I took a trip to the Marina Beach along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The beach itself is not exactly pretty but it is one of the longest beaches in Southeast Asia measuring around 12 km long. While there I got to ride on top of a white Arabian horse full speed along the coast. It was quite the adventure to enjoy the seaside breeze and look out on the murky waters of of the Bay of Bengal. Surprisingly there was not a big crowd along the beach but I could see from a distance several big ships anchored to the port and huge red light house keeping guard of the beach.

Arriving in India

After months of preparation and a long flight from the U.S. to Brussels, Belgium and then to India, I have finally made it to Chennai. We arrived around midnight in Chennai and immediately the hot, humid air warns me of future hot, humid days. After getting my baggage and finding an ATM to get some cash, I found a taxi that would take me to my hotel. This taxi was a small and old van that looked like it came straight out of the 70's. As my driver gets into the right side of the van and I hop into the back I quickly realize that this taxi ride is going to be an adventure when I couldn't find a seat belt to secure me into the seat. Driving on the left side of the road is a different experience all on its own, but what made the trip most exciting was the apparent necessity to constantly honk your horn as you play "king of the road" with the other drivers. The city itself is massive with buildings right on top of each other and trash all over the streets. As we drew closer to the hotel, my driver stops near some rickshaw drivers to ask for specific directions to my hotel. I was slightly apprehensive with our unexpected stop, not knowing what to expect, the drivers did not seem completely confident in their directions as they disputed among themselves but eventually we continued in the direction they finally agreed upon. Halfway down the street we stopped again next to some police men to ask for directions this time we received a much clearer response since we were only three or four blocks away from the hotel and continued to our desire destination.

The hotel itself is small but very neat and clean. The complimentary breakfast this morning consisted of sticky rice, a crepe looking flat bread, and a mushy bread which were all served with a spicy curry dipping sauce or a spicy berry jam. The hotel feels safe and comfortable but I plan to venture out soon to see some sites such as the Santhome Cathedral Basilica which is supposedly built over the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle.