Home again, home again

Bija Vidyapeeth is very quiet today. It´s Independence Day here in India, and so everyone is on holiday at their homes. Anand brought his little boy Arien this morning, and Bindu brought us sweets (sweet meats they call them but really they´re just sugar and milk). Nobody from the office came in today, and none of the farm workers who don´t live on the farm came either.




Bindu then invited us (Hannah, Raquel and I as we are the only volunteers on the farm now) to see her three girls perform at the school. We didn´t make it in time to see the performance though, so she invited us to her home, and then for chai at her parents home. Bindu´s sister Poonam was there visiting. She met a Belgian volunteer here and they got married last year, so now they live in Belgium, but she is here for a couple of months. Bindu also has a younger sister named Chandni (moonlight) and a brother Sunu. In total they are 5 girls and 1 boy and the parents. We might get to meet her other sisters too because one comes from New Zealand and another from Delhi tomorrow.

After chai, we caught the bus back to the farm, but as we got off the bus we picked up the clothes from the tailor! I just tried mine on and they look good…just the pants are a bit big…I have to go see if he can change them a bit and perhaps the sleeves too…they are really small.

Hannah and I came back from Mussepur last night. We spent two nights at Meera´s family´s orphanage/centre for physically disabled children. Our stay was really interesting. Meera and her family are lovely, and we felt very comfortable and at home. The dormitories of the children were a bit gloomy, quite different from what I experienced at Casa Guatemala. I am thinking of making a project for next time I go, to paint the dormitories and brighten them up somehow; Maybe the dining hall too.

When we arrived on Thursday night, the children were all lined up on the courtyard and we greeted them by walking up and down the lines. It seemed so institutional and formal. This gave us an odd first impression. In the morning they also were all lined up and singing their morning prayers. It seems like they are very disciplined. After their classes we were able to interact more informally with them. We arranged a few games and songs and they sang and danced for us too. Rachel and I sang the Princess Pat and they loved it! We played games sitting down, as many of them cannot stand. They enjoyed them though I think. Even one boy who can´t stand did a dance. Many of their dances seem to be interpretations of the songs, so he was able to act it out. It was really neat.

We talked a lot about the arts and crafts that they do and how we can sell them. They have a shop, a very nice one, but because they are out of town, and not well known, they have very few customers. Some of the children are amazing at embroidery, painting, and so many other things! Suman, one girl who has just received surgery on her legs and is learning to walk, is the “expert” embroiderer. They make cards, wall hangings, etc. and also made some neat make-up bags and other things.

Apparently a couple of the boys are really good painters. They paint on cloth, and some are made into bookmarks, and others are framed for wall hangings.
I ordered a number of things, a variety, and hope I can sell them back home. I ordered some gift tags for Christmas, as well as greeting cards. They will be a variety of embroidered and painted.

I got many ideas of activities and projects I can initiate if I spend time there in October. They only thing is the language barrier. If Meera is not there (which is quite often as she is the manager of a yoga Ashram in Rishikesh), there is no one who speaks really good English. Oh well, we´ll have to figure something out.

The night before we left for Meera´s place, Hannah, Abuydeh, Raquel and I arranged a treasure hunt for Amy, Rachel and Benedetta as it was their last night on the farm. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we got a lot of great pictures!