Projects Begin

Thursday, Oct. 5, 2006

I am back at my hotel restaurant, with Sundar bringing me tea. So much has happened I don’t know where to begin-and I am exhausted.

I notice that the physical discomforts we are experiencing seem unimportant and not-to-bothersome in comparison to other difficulties. I’ve become accustomed to shaking out my towel before using it to make sure there are no cockroaches, and the critters that gather in the corners of the shower don’t seem to bother me. I am even used to the ways of driving in this country, I cannot even begin to describe that! We are, however, running low on toilet paper, and that I’m going to need to figure out!!!

The last two days have been filled with meetings and visiting the villages along the coast and trying to understand this very, very different world. Currently, we are considering three different projects, and yesterday we decided on our first two, and one begins construction TODAY!!!

When we first arrived in Kadiapattinam, we immediately saw the place that the well was to be built…..and there stood a pump. The good news is, the well has been built and the people have access to water. The pump says “AWED” in it, and so we decided to meet with these people, and see how we could continue assistance in water projects. After an afternoon of shopping with our Kadiapattinam friends, they picked us up at the hotel at 6:00 p.m. and drove us 45 minutes to their town. It was the most BEAUTIFUL sunset trip, with elephants along the side the road, mists on the rocky mountains and colors too brilliant to describe. We spent the evening talking about the conditions of the villages most heavily affected by the Tsunami, and the projects that are now under way. It turns out that AWED stands for Association of Womens Education and Development.

Cedric and I have been committed from the beginning to not give any services or assistance that WE think they should have, but to allow them to tell us what they need, and then decide if we can help. The well in Kadiapattiam had been a request from Father Gino, and he certainly wanted it bad enough – he made it happen. One of the things we have learned from Father is that these villages and the fisherman in them are the bottom of the bottom of the caste system. In the past, these villages and people “fell off the map” for any sorts of government assistance or involvement. In fact, so much so that they have very little government involvement at all, and so they are entirely run by the Catholic church. In a strange sort of way, the tsunami has been a tremendous blessing to them. It has gotten them services they would not have had, it is improving their opportunities and quality of life, and it is bringing education and awareness to an outcasted piece of their society. This is NOT my American version of what is happening here, it is the interpretation of Father Gino and others.

These coastal villages are 100% Christian, and their primary governing person is the Father of the parish. As Father Gino took us around to show us the achievements since the tsunami, and the people of the area, everywhere we went he was approached about everything from leaking roofs to arguments between neighbors to trouble with water. His days are filled with taking care of the needs of his parish. He moved to his new parish of Enayem just four months ago. He explained one of their greatest challenges is sanitation – both human waste and solid waste (crap AND trash). The men use the beaches and rock retaining walls as their toilet, and the women use the bush, and anything and everything inbetween. People like Father Gino and AWED are dedicated to “a toilet in every house” (these are sort of like an outhouse style toilet), and “sanitation education” in the schools – teaching children to wash their hands. They say that the children are “agents of change”, and can then educate their families.

As we approached a piece of coast that has been supported with huge boulders as a sea retaining wall to protect the village of Enayem, the scent of the ocean mist was overpowered by the scent of a bad porta pottie (the kind found at day 4 of a rock concert). The sea mist smelled of crap, and the foam around the rocks was yellow and foamy, unlike any sea foam I had ever seen. All along the coast looked like a garbage dump, with crows everywhere and incredible amounts of trash. The poorest of the poor live closest to the water. I could not help but marvel at the differing values of “ocean front property”.

As we toured the villages, Father Gino took us to his parish school, St. Helen’s. It is for ages 6-15. As we toured we were shown their water fountain where the children both wash and drink. It was in a HORRIBLE state of disrepair, with only 2 of the 12 spickets working, broken tiles, pipes, flooded swamp area and overgrown with moss and worms. As we were taking pictures of the area children were released onto their recess, and hundreds of children swarmed the two working spickets (and US!). Immediately, Cedric and I knew we wanted to fix this area. These children needed better access to water, and we knew we could do something about it. We met with the Dean, who then contacted a contractor, and by the afternoon we were sitting in a budget meeting discussing what could be done. Our tour also showed that their kitchen facilities were in a terrible state of disrepair, as are their pre-school classrooms. So, we asked the contractor for a budget to fix it all………a short while later we were shaking hands and handing them their first installment of rupees and the project begins TODAY!. Father Gino says we will see the first stage of improvements before we leave Nagracoil.

The intricacies of the politics here, of the corruption and blame and lack and need and struggles are more than I can explain or understand. This is a culture and society that is incomprehensible to the average American (or at least this one). Not only did I not know this existed, there is no way for me to begin to understand what is really going on here.

Last night, we returned to Kadiapattinam to attend the after school “tuition” program (tutor), and to have dinner with the teachers. They are a unique group of young people. We were joined by Father Edwin, who is young, good looking, healthy, strong, smart and well educated in the ways of society outside of India. He gently reminded the teachers to speak only Engish, so that their guests could understand, and explained all of the intricacies and traditions of dining together. He silently bought us all ice cream (but I knew this was a huge treat). And as we all sat on the floor in a large circle, sitting Indian Style (as they insisted we call it), and as our language barriers caused some struggle, I was struck with the idea of playing a game…….and I decided to attempt “nut, nut”, no English required. (for those of you who are NOT Youth to Youthers, I’ll explain later). Suffice to say, it is a ridiculous rhythm game and it was a huge hit. One of the teachers, Flius, wanted to do it over and over and over again. I then asked them for an Indian game and Father Edwin led us through a name game that is very much like Big Bootie! Suddenly, the world didn’t seem so large after all. However, playing a name game with names such as Flius, Femi, Listern, and Dissi wasn’t quite as easy as usual. Father Edwin says this is a quite unusual group of young people for India, and young men and women do not usually socialize together, much less be such good friends. He says they act “as if they are lovers, but they are not”. What I saw was incredible camaraderie.

During the evening I wanted to take a walk, so Jesu took me on a tour of the village. We talked about lots of things, and mostly his desire to better himself. He explained how difficult that is here, when all of his world experience is just this village, and his college in the nearby town of Nagracoil. He said he failed an interview recently because his English is too slow and poor, and that without English you can never advance in India because even to communicate with other parts of this country you need English, as English is the only common language. He was telling me how very grateful he is for this time with Cedric and I to practice not only speaking quicker, but more importantly comprehending quicker. He said he knows we are talking much slower than we would at home, and he wants to be able to speak as quickly as I would with my friends. (I didn’t tell him that my pace of talking isn’t exactly normal).

As we were walking through the small alleys of the village, people came out to talk to us. Suddenly, Jesu kicked off his shoes and entered into a house – he obviously expected me to follow. It was the home of Pepe, one of his secondary students who had spent the previous evening with us. I was immediately escorted into a back room to meet his aunt, who had polio as a child, and has not walked since she was a young girl. She lives on a cushion on the floor. Plastic chairs were immediately unstacked, someone fetched a fan to place directly on me (someone must have said I was hot), and I was handed some sort of food. (NEVER have I been fed so much – more about that later). The conversation became based on me wanting to learn Tamil – and so they began to teach me words. We laughed and laughed and laughed. We found quite a bit of entertainment in my mispronunciations of their words. They seem astonished that I will even try.

The evening culminated with our Project #2. After much discussion and preparation, we have decided to give this group of teachers one of our laptops. (again, because they say it is something that will enhance their quality of life). Cedric has set it up with Windows and internet, Jesu is researching getting internet to the village (it is already there in a limited fashion). Saturday, Cedric will give a computer class to this group of young teachers (although three of them are already in computer studies), and we are hopeful that we will all stay in contact as we continue to find ways to support this beautiful village on the sea.

Today is Thursday. We are both exhausted, and more than a bit crabby. Cedric is meeting with both Father Gino and Jesu this afternoon. I need a break (So does Ced). It is an interesting challenge to try and retreat or quiet down here. There is no place to go for relief. Regardless, there is constant input and noise and smell and heat and some sort of pressure, and of course the language barrier makes everything more difficult. Nothing is normal. Cedric is also at his threshold, and I am challenged to not take his struggles on as my own or as something I need to repair or change or challenge in some way. My own threshold is plenty for me to negotiate at the moment.