Another Monday over . . . a relief as it is my most demanding day of the week. It seems to get hotter by the day. Maybe the heat is getting to us. Spending two periods with Class IV used to be a highlight of my week. Today they were very restless and talkative. By the end of our 80 minutes together, I had a headache. My real challenge of a Monday, though, are my Scripture classes, VIII followed by VII. We got through today with much less pressure than usual. Class VII has 52 students. It feels impossible to me to try to reach them. Five boys were suspended for three days last week after making the period very difficult for me. I think my complaint was the straw that broke the camel's back where they were concerned. They were better today, and we got a lot done.
Friday we journeyed over to "The Strand" which is part of Kolkata that must have been a very POSH area during the days of the British Raj. It is on the banks of the Hooghly River. We passed the Calcutta Swim Club along the route . . . we also passed yet another of the city's slums. I had visited the area in Oct with friends from the US who have been instrumental in what is about to happen in this area. At the Armenian Ghat (a place where you can get a boat to cross the Hooghly for Howrah), a "neighborhood" has grown up along an abandoned railway track. The area is crowded, loud, I witnessed a temper outburst where I thought someone was going to get hurt, and then there is the stench. Emmanuel Ministries Calcutta is on the move again! Among the ruins of what was once a beautiful area, no doubt, with Greek style columns that are dilapidated and dirty from pollution . . . it is hard to describe the scene. People wash there, wash their clothes there, toss their idols into the river after worshiping them. The "homes" in the area which are made out of black plastic sheeting predominately have no running water, no electricity, no toilet facilities. We have located a place, and will begin building an area for one of our Pavement Clubs. The area needs to be secured so that things can be left there. A place to cook so that the children can be feed lunch is high on the priority list. Some local officials were invited. As usual, the whole ceremony was in Bengali, so I don't know exactly what happened. I do know from Premila, however, that at least one of the officials was "blown away" by what he saw and heard. Children from some of the other projects performed a classical Indian dance, a mime which was very funny and very much about "life on the streets". Perhaps the most moving piece of the program was the testimony of one of the young men, the son of a local brothel, whose life was changed in a Pavement Club. Changed in the sense that he was given enough of an education and given enough confidence to be able to succeed in his educational pursuits enough to currently be involved in university studies. He urged parents to send their children to the Club when it opens. The fact that the official was there and impressed means that he will help get things moving forward.
Tomorrow I am going to spend the a.m. at the New Market project. On Friday I heard a lot of parallels drawn between the situation at AG and the one at NM. So much has happened to improve life there with things like plumbing since EMC came on the scene. I may have commented that listening to my English 'students' tell about the changes in the situation there had reduced me to tears after class one day. I want to be able to visit a few of these projects before leaving the city. My departure is just two weeks away!
Kolkata has a layer, seemingly of black 'dust' everywhere. The other day when I was making up my bed, I realized how dirty my bed spread was. So, I pulled it off the bed on Sat and started soaking it in my bucket! I wish I had counted the number of times I changed the water in the bucket before it stopped being black. If you asked me today what am I looking forward to the most about coming back to the US, my answer would be my washing machine!!!
I have been thinking and praying about giving the children who live at Pauline Bhavan a little gift before I leave. To make something that could be a longer story short, I was able to buy them all water bottles on Sat. They were on sale for about a dollar at Spencer's . . . a bit like Target, and at the South City Mall, my little taste of the West that is about a 10 minute walk away!!! I gave them out that night, and you cannot imagine how thrilled some of them were. Clean drinking water isn't something that we take for granted here, and how that it is getting hotter and hotter what is a lad or lass to do at school!? I am reminded of my dear late Mother . . . little things meant more to her that big things!
Debbie, from N. Ireland and Bablu, raised in the ministry, are back after the birth of their second child. The kids in the ministry are so pleased by their return, and it makes my heart glad to see them in action before I leave. Debbie left just about the time I moved in so I haven't really gotten to know her other than by reputation. She's a keeper! Bablu was around for a month longer. He is just fun and always playing with the kids. Their baby was born on my b'day!!!
I hope to host a special dinner with the boys in the residential program this coming Sat night and then one with those in Pauline Bhavan the following week.
Thurs is Holi and everything will be closed. It is a Hindu festival where colors (like paint) are thrown. School will be close both Thurs and Fri, but the office will be open on Fri. Hopefully I can make my way across town without incident.
Friday we journeyed over to "The Strand" which is part of Kolkata that must have been a very POSH area during the days of the British Raj. It is on the banks of the Hooghly River. We passed the Calcutta Swim Club along the route . . . we also passed yet another of the city's slums. I had visited the area in Oct with friends from the US who have been instrumental in what is about to happen in this area. At the Armenian Ghat (a place where you can get a boat to cross the Hooghly for Howrah), a "neighborhood" has grown up along an abandoned railway track. The area is crowded, loud, I witnessed a temper outburst where I thought someone was going to get hurt, and then there is the stench. Emmanuel Ministries Calcutta is on the move again! Among the ruins of what was once a beautiful area, no doubt, with Greek style columns that are dilapidated and dirty from pollution . . . it is hard to describe the scene. People wash there, wash their clothes there, toss their idols into the river after worshiping them. The "homes" in the area which are made out of black plastic sheeting predominately have no running water, no electricity, no toilet facilities. We have located a place, and will begin building an area for one of our Pavement Clubs. The area needs to be secured so that things can be left there. A place to cook so that the children can be feed lunch is high on the priority list. Some local officials were invited. As usual, the whole ceremony was in Bengali, so I don't know exactly what happened. I do know from Premila, however, that at least one of the officials was "blown away" by what he saw and heard. Children from some of the other projects performed a classical Indian dance, a mime which was very funny and very much about "life on the streets". Perhaps the most moving piece of the program was the testimony of one of the young men, the son of a local brothel, whose life was changed in a Pavement Club. Changed in the sense that he was given enough of an education and given enough confidence to be able to succeed in his educational pursuits enough to currently be involved in university studies. He urged parents to send their children to the Club when it opens. The fact that the official was there and impressed means that he will help get things moving forward.
Tomorrow I am going to spend the a.m. at the New Market project. On Friday I heard a lot of parallels drawn between the situation at AG and the one at NM. So much has happened to improve life there with things like plumbing since EMC came on the scene. I may have commented that listening to my English 'students' tell about the changes in the situation there had reduced me to tears after class one day. I want to be able to visit a few of these projects before leaving the city. My departure is just two weeks away!
Kolkata has a layer, seemingly of black 'dust' everywhere. The other day when I was making up my bed, I realized how dirty my bed spread was. So, I pulled it off the bed on Sat and started soaking it in my bucket! I wish I had counted the number of times I changed the water in the bucket before it stopped being black. If you asked me today what am I looking forward to the most about coming back to the US, my answer would be my washing machine!!!
I have been thinking and praying about giving the children who live at Pauline Bhavan a little gift before I leave. To make something that could be a longer story short, I was able to buy them all water bottles on Sat. They were on sale for about a dollar at Spencer's . . . a bit like Target, and at the South City Mall, my little taste of the West that is about a 10 minute walk away!!! I gave them out that night, and you cannot imagine how thrilled some of them were. Clean drinking water isn't something that we take for granted here, and how that it is getting hotter and hotter what is a lad or lass to do at school!? I am reminded of my dear late Mother . . . little things meant more to her that big things!
Debbie, from N. Ireland and Bablu, raised in the ministry, are back after the birth of their second child. The kids in the ministry are so pleased by their return, and it makes my heart glad to see them in action before I leave. Debbie left just about the time I moved in so I haven't really gotten to know her other than by reputation. She's a keeper! Bablu was around for a month longer. He is just fun and always playing with the kids. Their baby was born on my b'day!!!
I hope to host a special dinner with the boys in the residential program this coming Sat night and then one with those in Pauline Bhavan the following week.
Thurs is Holi and everything will be closed. It is a Hindu festival where colors (like paint) are thrown. School will be close both Thurs and Fri, but the office will be open on Fri. Hopefully I can make my way across town without incident.
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