Our important meeting with the woman of the village

1/30/09Started our day at 8AM. We walked from the farm to the job site again. Today was Linda’s day to play queen as she came down with something and had to spend the day at the farm recovering. Saw the monkeys but they were not amenable to getting their picture taken. We finished the front wall today. After lunch the senior women of the village asked us (the women)to come and meet with them. Upon arriving we sat with them while Sanjiv translated. There are 1,250 women and girls in the village of which 400-500 will be using this facility. They would like at least 2 more facilities built at other locations in the village. The women currently are walking several miles to bath in the river (with their clothes on) and several miles in the opposite directions to go to the bathroom in a field. They are very anxious for us to finish the building so they can start using it. Those who use it will have to pay something to do so, although that has yet to be determined. The money that they pay will be used for the up keep of the building as well as to hire a guard for the building. The head of the village is a women but is not seen by many. In all of the dealings with the Delhi West Rotary club they never were able to meet with her, they had to go through the husband. I don't have a feeling one way or the other as to weather she is just a figure head or weather she does have some authority within the village. It would be quite a feat if she did have authority seeings how women seem to be so oppressed in the village. We talked about what foods we grew in our respective parts of our countries as well as education. Upon leaving we found out the men had gone to play a game of cricket so we headed to the field. Crissie gave her hand at hitting & pitching. On the way to the farm it struck me as to how funny it was how all of the large commercial trucks are decorated to the hilt with stickers, garland, colored lights and flags. They seem to take great pride in the vehicle they are driving. The sunsets and sunrises are absolutely spectacular. None of the pictures I took did them justice. We can also see the Mere Space Station with binoculars from the farm. The nights have been cool I’m guessing around 50 with a slight breeze. Tomorrow we are headed to Delhi to see a school project that was completed in the slums with a matching grant. In the afternoon we will go to a temple.

A somber day in Chahalka

1/29/09

Today our day started at 8AM. Slept best I’ve slept since arriving. Great breakfast at the farm then we walked to the village instead of riding the bus. Of course I forgot the camera and the monkeys were out today! They just sat on the side of the road on the large stones near the quarry and watched us walk by. We also passed a camel drawn wagon. We are walking tomorrow as well so I need to remember the camera. The job site was more of the same; passing bricks and mortar all day. We are making great progress on the building. We found out at the end of the day that when the monsoon rains come the water comes pouring down the slope just above the building and they had not made any provisions for this. So not sure how this is going to be worked out. I did not do a good job of pacing myself at lunch time with my water intake so I ended up having to use the “facilities”. Basically what it was was a brick structure that you went into and squatted and there was a plastic PVC pipe that was at the base of the wall so upon doing your thing it went out the pipe and down the small embankment then down the road. Sean and Kim guarded the door for me and upon me starting Sean yells “they’re looking in the pipe!” so I immediately pull up my pants and everything went everywhere. I was soaked! When I resumed the giggling started as they saw my "business" flow out the pipe and down the embankment. Oh the joys of a developing country. No one ever warned me of the bathroom facilities in India. A HOLE in the floor does not constitute a toilet How on earth do women of this culture even begin to use these facilities with saris and scarves that consist of 10 yards of material without getting it all over everything. At the end of the day we got the Frisbee’s out and played that for a while then we went to the family’s home to pay our respects because of their loss of one of their daughters’ just days earlier to dehydration. The child was 1 ½ years old. It was a very somber but moving experience. We sat and all had Chai that they prepared for us. I think they were moved by the fact that we wanted to come and pay our respects. The parents held good composure for us while we were there. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Parents are not supposed to outlive their kids. I cannot imagine burying one of my children. The travesty of it all is that it was completely preventable. We all embraced the mother prior to departing. After our departure she collapsed and wept. Then we headed for the bus. After getting on the bus the camel man approached the bus to inform me that his camel had died. He was very upset about it and so therefore there was not going to any camel rides. We have to have Sanjiv find out when and why the camel died. That was not clear. Dinner was wonderful but late-goat (mutton) I think. Looking forward to the NID on Sunday.

The ABC's of driving in India-Anything goes!

There are no words to describe the chaotic symphony that goes on in the streets of India. We are driving on the left side of the road with drivers on the right. There are tractors pulling huge loads that are over flowing, cows roaming where ever they may as they are holy so can wander and roam freely eating from where ever they want, camels pulling enormous loads, pedestrians, bicycles, took tooks with people hanging off what is suppose to seat maybe 4 people have 15 hanging off, rickshaws (bycycles)carrying several people or a large load , pick ups with 50 or so people in the back, mangy malnutritioned dogs , filthy buses with standing room only, motorcycles with whole families on them I saw up to 5 people on one mc (only the driver wears a helmet for if there was an accident of course the driver would be the only one hurt not the children or infants who are on board, commercial trucks with huge loads and people piled on top of the load-they don't know the meaning of a weight limit and oh yes cars. Everyone seems to allow for the chaos as it doesn't appear that there are tempers flaring with everyone driving about an inch from the tailgate of the vehicle in front of them. And of course you can not function in the traffic if you are not laying on the horn every five seconds....you would not survive a minute if you didn't use the horn you would be eaten alive. They must need brakes replaced once a month. If there are 3 painted lanes on the road they have created at least 5-6 lanes and many times can be seen creating an additional lane on the side walk. You can pass anyone any where at any time as long as you use your horn consistently while you are passing. The more you use the horn the happier everyone is. Even the large commercial trucks and took tooks have written on the back of their vehicles PLEASE HONK HORN or PLEASE USE HORN. They also have written PLEASE USE YOUR DIPPERS AT NIGHT (instead of dimmers) It is utter chaos! Then watch out for the countless MEN drivers who pull over to the side of the road anywhere and relieve themselves where ever they may. How lovely! If it runs it is allowed on the road. India where anything goes

The holy city of Sohna

1/28/09

Well no sign of the spider….thank goodness. I woke to singing from the temple. It is eerily magnificent. Religion is such an integral part of there existence and every day living. Such a compassion for all of the many god and goddesses. I have much respect and admiration for their devote dedication. Off to the work site. Today we started on the above ground walls. The boundary controversy was solved so we could start the back wall. The facility will have 35 toilets and I think several common shower areas I’m not clear on that. In what I have seen of rural India so far the women seem to be the backbone of the country. They do all the work while the men seem to lounge around, sit on their haunches, sleep, pay cards, get stoned and chat. The children are taking care of the children because the mothers are off taking care of the household. The women and older girls generally do not like to have their picture taken. Every time I try to get their picture they run away or cover their face. We had a nice treat today and went to the holy village of Sohna this afternoon and were able to walk through the villages tiny narrow streets to the temple. There are approximately 30,000 people in this village. Before entering the temple we had to take our shoes off. I was able to get a few girls to let me take their picture. In the temple they have hot springs which you can bath in. There is a women’s and men’s section. We went to the women’s section and found them not only bathing but also washing their clothes. Sean dared to venture to the springs with Elias which is something I dont think he wishes to do again in his lifetime. He said it was the most disgusting thing he has ever done. It was very dirty & dingy but the women and girls that were there seemed to truly enjoy it. Then we had a monk or the holy men as they are called who aspire to pray and ask for money for they believe that the world will provide for them, who was writing Uh mm in Hindi on our hands he also wrote Cassandra down both of the insides of my arms. This temple was built around a monk who lived under this very large tree that still stands on the property and near the hot springs. They build the temple around him because they believed the springs supposedly had magical healing powers. So people pay 20 rupees to use the spa which they feel have many healing powers. We were able to go around the temple and Sanjiv taught us about the many different gods and their purposes. It was quite fascinating. While walking back to the bus we were able to watch the “omelet man” make omelets. It was very interesting. We also went by several tailor, the bank (very primitive-tried to get a job but it was run by men only why does that not surprise me!) and shoe repair places. We stopped for some quick photos in the market and Elias thinks several of them were proposing marriage so we quickly headed on our way. Then back to the farm for dinner.

The camel guy & the fire

1/27/09
Well didn’t get much sleep as I was up watching for the spider who appeared again at 1:00. They said they would fumigate the room while we were away on the site. Breakfast on the farm was lovely as usually. Elias went to Delhi with Sanjiv to talk with the Rotary club about the project. So we flew solo today. After working for a while a fight broke out over the back corner of the building to the point that it turned into a fist fight and bricks that had been laid were being pulled out and thrown aside. We stopped working on that corner and focused on the rest of the building. Not too long after that a fire broke out there was some debate as to what started it. Some say a match; Kim thought it was because the pile of grass that was peeked up in a pile was touching the electrical wire. Radu and Mohammad were our helpers with the mortar today. Radu is very demanding never allowing for any breaks (especially my baby fix breaks!) He is being paid to be there yet wants me to do all the heavy lifting for him so there is a constant power struggle going on. Mohammad on the other hand is very easy going. I am an expert mortar maker now with all the practice I got today. We got all 3 brick walls finished up to the ground level. I finally met the camel man in person Rockmashine (spelling?). He has a very special whistle with his fingers. When he started whistling I started whistling. He was very excited so we sort of have whistling shoot offs throughout the day. The kids are always trying to get me to whistle as well. After whistiling I usually have a mouth full of sand particles stuck in my teeth. Yumm! He is such a pleasant mannered man and I believe he has some sort of status in the village. He has tiny gold implants in the center of his teeth & he has a beautiful smile. He has promised to take me for a camel ride I am very excited about the possibility. We were happy to have had an early dinner and got back to our hotel by 7:30. Kim was gracious and washed my hair which was fantastic. Sean was nice enough to put up with me.

Children of India

The children I have seen in in India are happy, resourceful, witty, shy, strong (because they have to be to survive) and all beautiful. No matter how dirty, unkempt, naked, scrawny, bewildered with fear or curiosity, runny nosed they all are they still fill the heart with a spark of happiness and hope. They will be the change that needs to happen in India. It has to start with the women and children for the men are just not getting it done! When they look at you with the questioning look and you smile at them and they return the smile it can't help but warm the heart. They are the face & the future of India. They need something to aspire to so as not to feel trapped in the world of years gone by. There is much work to be done to turn there futures around.

Rebublic Day in India

1/26/09

I didn’t feel like I got much rest felt like I was going to over sleep. I got up at 4:30 to a Hindu mantra echoing over an intercom system at a nearby temple. Today is Republic Day in India. So it is a national holiday. We started the day at 7:30 by heading to the farm for breakfast. On our way in there was a good size group of monkeys sitting on the side of the road couldn’t get a picture as I was on the wrong side of the bus and the roads are miserably bumpy. We arrived to the village by about 9:30AM for a ceremony at the technical center that was created by last year’s Dream Team. Upon crossing the school yard I noticed a casket. We found out later that a child of 1 1/2 years of age had passed away from dehidration. What a travisty for the family and village.

At the start of the ceremony Elias was asked to do the India flag then the students all sang the Indian national anthem. Upon entering the computer lab each male student was asked to stand up state their name and their father’s name, how much school they had completed, age and what they had learned over the past 6 months. When asked about girls attending class I was told that girls are allowed to go to school through grade 5-6 they then are taken out of school and are taught how to keep a home and are married off by the ages of 12-14 years. The girls are having babies as young as 12. What a life to aspire to. The women here appear to do all the work. It is the women’s job to get the water for the family from the town well then carry it back to their homes on their heads. Some even stack two cantinas on their heads. It is just amazing! Then they are responsible for getting wood so the scavenge these bushes that have thorns on them up to 3” long and bundle them up and carry again on their heads. In many circumstances they travel great distances to get the bush and then carry the bundle back to their homes. Then they are responsible for rounding up the cow dung, patting them into patties and then letting them bake and dry in the sun. Every patty maker has her own design. They also use the patties for building houses and houses that store the dried dung as well as for fuel. After the ceremony we went to work. We did cement again and laid bricks. It was very warm in the sun. It definitely felt warmer then yesterday. It probably seems warmer because we (the women) are expected to wear long sleeve shirts, pants and a head covering at all times. I was able to hold a couple babies today. One was relatively young maybe a month or so. He relieved himself on me so when I handed him to Crissie I told her his back and bottom were wet. Not 10 min. later he proceeded to relieve himself again getting Crissie soaked. The boys are quite enamored with Crissie. She is the youngest of the group and her blonde hair and fair skin just captivates them. So while doing cement today Crissie was at the beginning of the assembly line and every time she bent over her tattoo on her lower back would show. She had quite an audience of children all pointing and staring at it. We left the village at about 2PM so we could attend a celebration in another village. We arrived in the village and were welcomed with garlands of marigolds again. The women place the garlands on the women in our group. I had 3 put on me one women even kissed my feet. We then all sat down with the village council and they pulled out this tall long bong. The council all had a pull on it then Elias was asked to join in. Then Sean and Chris smoked from the large one I was then asked so I was given a small bong. Wasn’t sure what it would taste like but it tasted like regular tobacco. I don’t think the guys bong was tobacco though! After that we looked at a building that they would like renovated and also got a chance to look at their 7 classrooms and the building of their new Mosque. We all then jumped into a steel wagon pulled by a tractor and headed off for the wrestling match which was already underway. Upon arriving to the games the games were stopped and all eyes were on us. There were probably 2000 men no women at the event. The sea of men parted as we entered the arena. It felt really weird. We were given front row seats to the event. We were then asked to go out in the middle of the dirt field and meet the two final teams in the running shake their hands and then have our pictures taken with each team. It was hard to follow the rules of the game as it was kind of complicated to know what counted points wise and what didn’t. There were 2 teams of 5. 4 of them stayed on the field at all times with their hands joined making like a wall the one member of the apposing team would try and break the wall and pick one of the 4 to try and take down in a wrestle. They were safe if they managed to get back to the middle of the field to where there was a white line. They also had a running race where 2 of the oldest men there had a running race twice around the field. There appeared to be some sort of a prince present sitting up on this structure behind us. He was heavily guarded and looked to be a young teenager. After the match we headed back to the hotel. I decided to bow out of dinner so I could catch up on this and try and get some rest but I have just encountered my first very large spider! Small tarantula is what it looked like. The size of a large mouse. Help me god. I thought I was going to have a breakdown! I was sitting on my bed typing when some movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. So I leaned over the bed to look into the bathroom where I saw the movement go. As soon as I leaned over the huge spider scurried across the floor and back under my curtains that goes out to the balcony. I totally freaked standing on my bed shrieking. I ran down to the front desk and they came down but could not find the spider. I am so nervous now don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep knowing that is in my room. They came to my room and plugged something in one of the outlets that is supposed to keep mosquitoes and spiders away. I don’t hold much hope out for that. Better sleep with the lights on