Next to Normal

Today marks 2 months and 5 days since the Bohol earthquake and 40 days since Typhoon Yolanda.

We’ve been in the Philippines near a month (just renewed our Visas for another month) and I haven't blogged but once. And for all the shame and “should’s” my mind has tried to press on me, I forgive myself. There is much to talk about, like the immediate culture shock of leaving India and coming to this beautiful, calm island nation, about IDEA, the wonderful organization I feel blessed to be supporting, about working with the deaf community, about the normal exhaustion and overwhelming emotional response of disaster relief work, and there’s more. But I think I’d like to talk about normalcy. After 3 disasters in the last 3 months, the Filipino people just want to return to normal. They want to go back to work, back to school, to be able to live in a house with walls, a roof, electricity and running water. They want to be able to provide for their families and to know where their next meal is coming from. And I believe they will fight and work incredibly hard to make that a reality.

The beauty of the organization we’re supporting is that they are a Filipino organization. They know which of their families live in disaster affected areas – both earthquake and typhoon - and need help. They know how best to find and distribute that help. They employ and educate hundreds of people, both deaf and hearing who live and breathe inside the Bohol and Leyte culture every day. And they know what kind of houses people want to live in so they don’t need to spend weeks or months researching the local culture to build a house model that fits here. And for those reasons, they are the only organization who has begun to build permanent housing. I can tell you that people are pretty tired of living in tents. It’s hot in the Philippines and much hotter under a big heavy tarp or in a “Shelter Box” tent. Of course, people are grateful to have those emergency relief supplies to take shelter from the daily tropical rains and hungry mosquitos, but they are just ready to return to normal. Those families who have the means on Bohol have already started or even finished rebuilding the damaged parts of their houses. But many don’t have that option. In Leyte, too, those who can have gone to the neighboring island of Cebu to get building materials and roofing sheets to fix their homes or had family members who can afford it do the same. I would say that’s a pretty small percentage, though.

The government is also trying to return to normal. When we left for Ormoc City on December 1st, one of the cities hard hit by Tyhpoon Yolanda, little did we know that students and teachers on Leyte were being called back to school the next day. It was 3 weeks after the typhoon, which seems like a lot of school to miss, but most schools weren’t in a state to be occupied. We arrived at the North Central Ormoc High School and the Special Education Hearing Impaired dormitory and were greeted by the Australian navy who had been cutting trees and clearing debris with heavy machinery for the past few days. The roofs on most buildings were damaged and one building nearby our center had the whole 2^nd floor collapse. Students and teachers were sitting in the foyer of the building trying, I presume, to have class. I am surely amazed at the teachers who made it work, as many classes were resumed and I witnessed students sitting in desks and teachers lecturing from blackboards.

So, how long do you sit in shock when everything has been ripped from you? When you have no routine, no safety, no security, no electricity or running water, no comforts. I would imagine that you do everything in your power to scrape together what you can and plug on. Filipinos have indomitable spirits, that’s for sure. I got to talk and play with 25 of the deaf students who did return to school that first week in Ormoc and they just wanted to play, to talk, to cook meals, to have their lives seem normal again. The biggest challenge in that is that, not only did people lose their homes, many lost their livelihoods. In the last 2 weeks relief organizations were racing to bring rice seeds to farmers who might be able to replant before the end of the month, the deadline for a spring harvest. Coconut trees have been demolished and, while people will make a little money selling the downed lumber, so much of this culture and economy is based around the coconut tree, coconut oil, and coconut products.

I’ve been trying to help wherever I can over the past month which has meant a lot of time in the IDEA office as family assessments and house surveys are collected, work orders are made for new houses and home repairs, and fundraising continues to sustain this housing project into 2014. There are also volunteer packets to make and trips to coordinate, meetings to attend, etc, etc. On Tuesday of this week I, along with several IDEA employees and volunteers, attended an all-day training for building sustainable, economical, and safe permanent housing which also emphasized training local engineers, gov’t officials, schools, homeowners and carpenters how to do the same.  Yesterday I spent the day in meetings for the “WASH” cluster, a group of organizations which work rebuilding water and sanitation needs. I’m trying to coordinate the installation of new bathrooms (called “comfort rooms” in Filipino, love that term) or rebuilding of broken facilities and septic systems this week.

I’ve also been assisting Rhonda Hillabush, a full-time volunteer from the US who, with her husband, decided to move to Bohol a year ago to support IDEA. They are our liaisons here and are helping us to better understand the culture and how to step on as few toes as possible while still getting some work done. Apparently, Circus and I have upset a number of people in the past month, but Filipinos don’t believe in direct confrontation or even feedback so no one told us until 2 days ago. Honestly, this is the most difficult culture I’ve tried to adapt to because everyone is nice and agreeable to your face, even if they are seething with hatred towards you inside. And they tell everyone except you. This form of non-communication goes against everything I believe in, but it is not culturally appropriate to tell anyone that or to try to get people to directly communicate with you. I’m thankful we have Rhonda and Brian who will tell us whatever they intercept so we can try to make amends for the things we do that we have no idea upset other people. One helpful tip we just learned, people love to receive food gifts. We will take full advantage of this in the coming weeks.

I’ll be honest, I am not an office person. I get pretty bored sitting in an office all day and need to remind myself to take frequent breaks to walk, stretch, snack, and drink water. I feel my calling to help really is in working with people directly to teach relaxation techniques and various forms of yoga for trauma relief and restoring balance. When I was in Ormoc and got to play games and teach the students (ages 10-28) in the afternoons, that was the experience where I felt I made the most impact so far. So as we figure out where we can best serve over the holidays, I will manifest the opportunity to have more of those experiences and work with people on their emotional and psychological needs. The language barrier – both Visayan and Filipino Sign Language – is a barrier, but I think I can pick enough FSL to teach a yoga class quickly. I was communicating moderately with the students in Ormoc and they were excited to teach me sign. One of my first projects here was to facilitate the Bohol Deaf Academy high school students to make Christmas Cards for their American donor and sponsors. While I felt a bit like a drill sergeant directing 77 student to make over 300 cards in a day, it was sure fun to be around high school kids – and positive, enthusiastic, hardworking, focused high school kids at that – and to be creative and artistic with them.

And, of course, there's Christmas. It's nice to be in a place where you can say "Merry Christmas!" to people without offending them. And interesting to be in a place where Christmas is the only December holiday that is celebrated. Decorations and Christmas music can be found in the malls and touristy spots and gift giving, especially to children, has become a part of the Christmas tradition. I even got to help bake a few hundred Christmas cookies with Rhonda for last weekend's  IDEA Christmas Party with Scotti, another American volunteer, and Reese, a radiant 5 year old. Another way to return to normalcy was for IDEA to offer a great Christmas party full of games, music, balloons (crafted by Circus) and even a visit from Santa and gifts for the kids. We'll probably have a small Christmas BBQ with Rhonda, Brian, Scotti & Josh, Scotti's boyfriend who lives in our cottage with us. Oh, and massages.

May your Solstice be full of newly emerging light, your Christmas a relaxing celebrating with family and friends, and your own traditions bring you comfort and joy.

Bohol, Philippines

Wednesday, November 28

 

Week 1 in the Philippines is coming near its close. Unfortunately, a little piece of India came with me…my last supper seriously disagreed with my intestines and I’m still enjoying the effects. I guess “Delhi Belly” catches up sooner or later. As we got closer and closer to our arrival at the Manila airport – and longer and longer into our overnight stay there - we kept hearing how difficult it is to get in to the island of Leyte and provide relief work there. We had a contact on the island of Bohol and decided to look into that first while we feel out how we can best provide relief for people struggling from disaster on disaster. We are now working with IDEA, International Deaf Education Association, Philippines in putting up houses for people who lost theirs. Dennis, Brian, and Rhonda, the founder and managers of IDEA, realized that after the aid organizations pull out in a month or two, people will be left as they were after the Haiti earthquake, in tents. So they are building core houses which they can also expand and extend as families get back on their feet in the coming months and years.

Yesterday we were in a small village called Loon (pronounced La’ohn). The October earthquake did some serious damage to this ocean-side barangay (community) including damaging or destroying most of the classrooms in the 2 local schools, and collapsing nearly all the limestone-brick houses. The wooden houses, which are mostly up on small platforms, fared better as there was less resistance to the moving ground than concrete slabs. But a good portion of the population of Loon lost their homes. We first visited on Sunday to meet with a school teacher and start scouting out families in need of new homes. In the four homes we visited, the only situation that was the same were the small plastic tarps families were living under. The plan is to bring pre-fabricated houses to people who lost their homes and can’t afford a new one and it would be great if they could just be dropped off and assembled in an hour or two. Realistically, though, every situation, piece of land, and family is different. We returned on Tuesday to Loon to assess the situation again and figure out logistics for transporting and storing the house pieces, as well as erect temporary classrooms for the deaf children with whom the government hadn’t concerned themselves when setting up temporary tarp classrooms for the rest of the school.  I was interacting with one young boy and was trying to ask where he lived through wild gestures. He pointed to the field next to the school where a number of “shelter boxes” or big tents were set up by relief organizations just after the devastating earthquake. So we pieced together that his house had collapsed during the earthquake and they had been living in the tent ever since. The gestures went something like this: “you,” “house,” “ground shake,” “fall down.” To which he responded: “me,” “house,” “ground shake,” “fall down.” It about broke my heart.

IDEA already has 25 pre-fab houses assembled and today the process began of delivering them to local areas. There is a lot to figure out like who needs them most, how they will fit on the existing lots, how much demolition we need to do, if we can re-use any existing concrete slab for a foundation, how to deliver them efficiently to different areas, realistically how much (or how little) man-power it takes to assemble them, how many can go up in a day, and how many more they can afford to make. Two houses were installed last week which was the initial trial run. You might have seen the picture of smiling Filipino children in front of a plywood house on facebook, which was one extended family who received a house. One thing to mention is that the construction crew making and installing these houses is deaf and have been trained by the IDEA organization. After working with them yesterday, I can say that they are some of the nicest, friendliest, and happiest construction workers I’ve ever met. It will be a pleasure to work alongside them while we are here.

2 Weeks in Kolkata

Saturday, Nov 2^nd in the morning we left BCC and Shillong. It was a bittersweet “see you later” to the sisters, novices, our friends in the city and the house girls, but not a goodbye as I’ll be back to Shillong just as soon as the Universe guides me to be. After we spent almost 2 weeks outside the convent, we moved back on Wednesday, October 30^th and were there for the funeral mass and burial of Sister Lilly who passed away a few days before due to a long struggle with invasive cancer. See Circus’sblog for a beautiful telling of that story.

During our last few days in Shillong we were happily able to continue consulting for BCC. We finally met the original architect and helped to line up some other building professionals very close to Bellefonte who are willing to consult and assist as this stage of the school progresses and construction on the next stage begins after the New Year. A new committee has just been put into place to oversee the day to day construction and hopefully to improve on the labor time as building has been going slower than anyone would like for the past few months, especially due to the ILP bandhs and threats. And a grant proposal for some funding for the next stage of the building is nearly finished. So I’m happy to report that things are moving along and students should be filling benches early next year.

I extend another humungous thank you to those who have supported BCC in the past few years in so many ways. It has been a blessing to get to meet and work with the students whose lives you are changing and the sisters who so greatly appreciate all your prayers and contributions. During our last few days we found out that the money raised from Laugh for a Change had finally arrived in BCC’s bank account, thanks to the Salesian Sisters in Texas, and those funds will go to the building project in the very near future. Be assured of more updates as we get them.

It took 2 days to get to Kolkata, our next destination, via taxi, train, a spontaneous camping excursion in front of a Kali Puja thanks to Circus and the kindness of strangers during a 6 ½ hour train delay, and another taxi. Kolkata is a whole other kind of India! Some might say it’s more of the “real” India, what you see in pictures and hear stories about. India is so vast and varied that every place is like a different country, so I’d say it’s just a different face of India. Like the Hindu religion worships many different manifestations/personalities of God, India has so many personalities. Kolkata is, obviously, more famous than Shillong, though, and more touristy. Immediately we noticed the prevalence of tourists, and especially Caucasian tourists, here.

Our first few nights we stayed with a very kind family we met in Shillong, and then moved to Sudder Street which is a quintessential backpacker district. If you’ve ever done the 3^rd world country backpacker scene, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Streets and alleys filled with cheap Guest Houses and Hotels, corner cafes with continental menus, banana pancakes, and free wifi, rickshaws and taxis lined up on the streets, plenty of beggars and stray dogs, and people trying to make a living off the wants and needs of foreigners.  Our first night on Sudder Street we stayed in a room just a foot wider than the double bed that was, well, less than comfortable. It was cramped, dirty, noisy, and smelled of mold, pretty much what you’d expect. The next morning we walked around in search of better accommodations before we checked out of our “honeymoon suite” – always better to do without the big backpacks in tow – and found a very comfortable room for the same price ($8US) with 4 twin beds, very high ceilings, big windows and our own bathroom. BYO padlock (which you should always carry in India FYI) and there’s no toilet seat or hot water, but those are things we can live without! There is also a nice rooftop terrace where travelers convene in the evening to talk over their adventures and drink Kingfisher Beer and which also makes a great, quiet(ish) setting for morning yoga.

The roof is also a great place to cook since we’ve finally been able to get petrol for our camp-stove in Kolkata. Shillong was a no-go as they wouldn’t sell petrol except to cars because of the protests. This will help us save money whenever we have time to cook, which does take at least an hour and a half with 1 burner and everything from scratch. We’ve done well with food so far (knock on wood, please!) as neither of us have gotten sick except a few incidents with too many chilies and the usual repercussions. We are careful to not eat anything raw unless it’s fruit that we can peel ourselves, anything that’s been rinsed with tap water and not cooked, or street food that isn’t piping hot. It is nice to prepare our own food, though, as we can feel safer when we eat it and it’s usually cheaper.

Kolkata, I believe, is the 3^rd largest city in India after Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay) and ranked just above Madras (Chennai) which I spent a few weeks in on my last trip to India. The Bengali people are quite friendly and we still get stared and pointed at, even though there are more foreigners in this city. It’s big and we’ve found the best way to get around is by the Metro which is a surprisingly clean and straight-forward underground subway. A few times we’ve gotten on nearly empty subway cars but a few times they have been packed, as you’d expect them to be in an Indian city. This afternoon was one of the latter. Fortunately, Indian trains have “ladies cars” in which only women can enter the section of the compartment. And it’s really, really, really great. While women will glance at me and even occasionally smile when our eyes meet, men just blatantly stare, sometimes mouths gaping and eyes glued open. Frequently I’ll raise my head and look down a subway car and see at least half the train staring at me. It doesn’t help that I’m at least a head taller than 95% of the women and 50% of the men. But to tell the truth, I probably wouldn’t ride the subway without those ladies cars. There is no such thing as “personal space” in India. Thus, on a crowded train you are literally smashed up against the people around you. And before the invention of separate areas, women were often molested or felt up on those crowded trains.  I’ve had my fair share of being groped or touched on crowded Asian transportation and it’s not a situation I’d like to repeat. So thanks to the ladies cars, I actually feel safe on an Indian subway.

In other ways, though, I don’t feel so safe in India. I mean, I’ve had no reason to not feel personally safe, but reports of abuse towards women and gang rape (2+ men) is on the rise in India. I was reading the newspaper regularly but had to stop a few days ago as it makes me afraid to go outside. In North Kolkata alone last weekend there were multiple gang rapes reported, one which led to the murder of the victim. There was also in interesting story in the paper about the need to regulate and mandate the use of rape kits and treatment of the victims as it has been a seriously neglected practice, especially considering how common it is. In fact, one of the ways that doctors have always tested for evidence of rape is to check the condition of the hymen. So that means there will be no evidence if a sexually active woman has been raped?? They are just now talking mandating regular forensic tests and psychological support of women who have been assaulted.  Many activist groups are fighting for the rights of women and more care taken in the evidence that is collected as it is the only thing, besides a quickly scribbled doctor’s note with his opinion if the woman has actually been assaulted or not, that is admissible in court.

I’ve met plenty of women who are traveling alone and I was alone a good portion of the last time I was in India and nearly every day on this trip. There’s no reason to get paranoid, but of course there is a realistic safety concern that I will always be aware of. And I have my big strong partner to watch my back, too. I forgot the first few times I went out without the sisters in Shillong that women aren’t really supposed to make eye contact or smile at unfamiliar men. I’m a friendly person and usually smile at most people but after a day or so I realized that my eye contact was being met with overenthusiasm and that I really shouldn’t look men in the eye. So I avoid eye contact with passing people, except children, of course. J

We’ve taken time to see a few sights in Kolkata and were hoping to do some volunteer work but not knowing how long we were staying in the city made it hard to commit to anything. Mother Teresa’s mission is here and they take volunteers daily, weekly, and monthly, but I haven’t offered my service to the Missionaries of Charity yet. I went to the Motherhouse and saw Mother Teresa’s tomb and her humble room where she served for 40 years as houses were set up to fulfill her vision of missionary work to the poor around the world. There are 6 houses in Kolkata alone and it seems like most of the foreigners who come here participate in their flexible volunteer program. It’s the only place I’ve been where the first thing travelers as you is, “are you volunteering here?”

We had contact with another NGO, Destiny Foundation, a local group who rescue girls from brothels and forced prostitution, finds them affordable places to live and employs them making beautiful hand-sewn products which they sell locally and internationally. Their goal is to become self-sustaining by marketing their products to more regions and finding distributors in western countries. If you might be interested in storing or distributing their products please contact me or Smarita, the owner, through their website. Also, if you're thinking about holiday gifts that also helpl out your fellow human beings, consider getting together with a friend or two and placing an order! (Because you're shipping from India it makes more sense to order in a group to cut costs.) Hopefully next time we come to Kolkata we will stay longer and can help more with their NGO.

I did get a chance to teach finally, helping a Spanish friend who just started teaching with an NGO called Uddami. They supply free computer and vocational education to very poor young people. They want to offer conversational English classes to their students but haven’t had a regular native speaker in the last year or two. Maria found them on the internet and offered to help for 1 month and they asked her to teach English, which is WAY out of her comfort zone but she still agreed to do it. Yesterday she wasn’t feeling well – most of our street got sick this week, including me – and I offered to come help her teach which she quickly agreed to. So I went with her to teach today and ended up teaching most of the 4 hours which was so much fun for me. I feel most alive in the classroom and the classes were small with enthusiastic students of varying ages. In the more advanced class we talked about global warming, being a responsible Indian citizen, and how to educate communities about the environment. Tomorrow I will help write a conversational English curriculum for their lower level classes. And then Saturday we’ll be helping to paint a local school with other travelers.

And our next stop? … Stay tuned, it seems to be unfolding in front of us as I write this.

Rangblang, moving out and...The Dentist

Our last week at the convent was eventful. It began with Durga Puja, a Hindu celebration for the Divine Mother. Circus and I walked through the city visiting Pandels which are temporary temples set up just for the occasion. There is even a contest for the best one of the 62 in Shillong. We were happy to get away from the Catholic Church environment for a night and experience some Hindu culture instead. Each temple gives prasad or an offering of grace which is usually sweets or savory snacks dropped right into your hand. The first Pandel we visited, which was a few minutes walk away from Bellefonte, gave us a trika, the red dot between the eyebrows. Of course, as foreigners we were treated like royalty and led to the front seat every place we went. Each Pandel and celebration were slightly different but all had live music, some had dancing or singing, and Brahmins or priests doing the Puja, and offering ceremony to Ma Durga. By the time we walked back towards our district of Golflink - named for the gofd course in its center - it was a late and we stayed at a friend's for the night.


Early the next morning we walked back to the convent and packed up for an overnight trip. Sister Helen took us west to a small village called Rangblang which is a bumpy 5 hour jeep ride away from Shillong. Meghalaya was called by the British "The Scotland of India" and it's no wonder. The rolling green hills, lolling rivers, and quiet countryside make you think you're in the UK. The further we got from Shillong the less traffic we encountered which was good because at least half of the road to Rangblang is unfinished and currently under construction by the Meghalaya State Public Works Department. My understanding is that each locality is in charge of their own part, but the materials and funding for labor come from the state or federal government. So most of the traffic we did pass was big construction trucks and a few actual cement trucks and back hoes. And of course fresh tar being made on the road side (see my last post for more details on that process). Where the road had been recently done it was quite nice and wide enough for a car in each direction. Where it hadn't yet it was, well, jarring. It was a bumpy ride to say the least, not to mention much of it was near the edge of a cliff and too narrow for an oncoming car. The locals are used to it, though. We actually had a pretty roomy ride with only 5 of use in the jeep. Most cars we passed were packed to overflow with passengers. I sat in the very back, Sr. Helen and Sr. Celina in the middle row and Circus sat up front next to Bah Deng, our usual driver.

We stayed overnight in the convent at Rangblang which only has 5 sisters who work at the Catholic School  managed by the Salesian Fathers. There are at least 60 girls who board and over 1000 in the K-10 school. The sisters also run a dispensary (meaning pharmacy) both in Rangblang and in Umdohlun, a neighboring village we visited the next day. The reason for our visit was to check out the site of a new school that Sr. Helen has been asked to set up. She is applying for funding from the North East Council and the state of Meghalaya to start both a primary school and a vocational training center, a miniature version of BCC. In fact, it would be a satellite campus of BCC. The village headmen and village council has donated the land to the sisters and offered to build it once they get the materials. Their skills aren't high enough to be able to pour concrete or build brick walls, but they could build the bamboo huts that will be the initial phase and do menial labor work on the new buildings. Like all of us, they hunger for education for their children and are willing to do whatever they can to make that a reality. I was grateful to be there and see the site and the excitement of the people. We were treated to tea and lunch by a local SHG shop (Self Help Group) that Sr. Helen helped to establish. She told me they have over 100 groups in that area who are successfully running self-sustaining businesses thanks to BCC. 

We stayed a few more days at Bellefonte Convent in our cozy cottage and then took our friends up on an offer to come stay with them for a few nights. The sisters were in the midst of preparing for some big events and we felt it would be easier for them, and for us, to find other accommodations. They kindly showed us around a few places in Shillong and shared with us tons of local knowledge. Because of the continued "bandh," or threatened road blocks and violence, the city was very quiet and the only transportation was on foot. We got out a few times but generally had some very lazy days. I had a hard time adjusting to the "vacation" mode and found myself bored and frustrated at not being more productive or having a purpose. I've done all the touristy things I want to in Shillong so it's not even like I wanted to just walk around and explore the area. I smile as I write this, as I've dealt with it again this week, and as I see just how I need to allow myself to be. I did commit to twice daily spiritual practice, social time with other tourists, who we are staying with in Kolkata this weekend, and working on some Karma Yoga projects for Agama Yoga, my yoga school. I tried to blog, but just didn't feel motivated so I didn't push myself.

I believe that we manifest exactly what we ask for and that I've manifested this quieter time. I certainly have wanted lots of time to do my practice, to read again, - and we're currently staying in a yogi's apartment with tons of yoga/Ayurveda books - time to do the aforementioned Karma Yoga which I committed to a year and a half ago, and for introspection. For me, and I think for most of us, I'm more comfortable when there is a balance of something to do or to work for and reflective time. I think I've done well with learning how to schedule time for myself, whether on the mat, at the sauna, in class, or with my community, and I'm oh-so-good at keeping busy in my home environment. Now that I'm on the road, I remember that that's not so easy to do. Besides what I'm working on in the moment or the few friends I've made, there just isn't that much to do! Halleluiah! Is what I should be saying :) No way to busy myself up! But instead I get bored and frustrated and take it out on my partner and myself. So the svadhyaya or self-study question would be: how can I make what feels like "extra" time into productive time doing the things that I feel are beneficial for me and others around me? And what are those things? Well, for me they are my practice, quality time with my partner, reading things that put me in a beneficial resonance, cooking and eating nourishing local food, exploring new surroundings and meeting new people, to name the obvious ones.

What I'm also remembering is that there is a good deal of this down time when traveling. We're lucky if we accomplish one thing a day because it takes so long to manage logistics, travel, cultural differences, etc and there's a lot that we need help with. So the frustration comes of not being as independent as I'm used to, of not having a daily task that keeps me busy, and of course that twinge of homesickness. Fall is my favorite season and as much as I love all the pictures on facebook, it makes me miss the season and my Seattle family, friends, and students. I'm letting that all exist, and also trying to navigate gracefully all of my discomforts while sharing with but trying not to burden my partner, Circus. I read a wonderful yoga book this week called Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition and was reminded that the essence of yoga comes down to love. If we do not love ourselves unconditionally and absolutely, then we cannot profess to be a yogi. I was also reminded that the microcosm - all that we experience in our daily life - IS the macrocosm - what we might call God, Spirit, the Universe. So this experience is just as Divine as what is "out there." It's nice to pick up off the shelf exactly what I need to hear on a given day. That has been one of the ways I'm reminded of being in the flow.

In short, in our last week we stayed 1 night at a cheap Indian Guest House, went to a concert for peace in the central area of the city, and have been staying in a friend of a friend's apartment for near a week. On Thursday we'll go back to Bellefonte for 2 nights before going by jeep to Guwahati, then by train to Kolkata for a few days.

The last item to report is my first visit to an Indian dentist this morning! I remember the popularity of my blogs about Korean dentists so I didn't want to disappoint by not relaying the not-so-gory details. I was referred to a dentist about a 15 minute walk from our apartment by our friend Elmie. I chipped a filling a few months ago and have some mild pain in one tooth and haven't been to a dentist since I left Jeju in August of 2010. I debated getting the chipped filling fixed in the US but never ended up with the time or dispensable income to do that, what with no insurance and all. So I called the dentist this morning and they told me to come on in any time. I arrived at about noon and walked up a flight of stairs of an unfinished 4 story building and into a very simple, small concrete waiting room. A sliding door opened within 30 seconds and I was ushered into the Dental Clinic which had 2 dental chairs, 2 assistants and one very kind dentist. Dr. Balerie (or something close to that) wasn't the dentist I had been recommended but they are co-workers so I figured I was safe. I sat down in the chair and she started poking around with a mirror. Then she asked me why I had come and I explained about the chipped filling and the tooth pain. She banged on my irritated tooth and said we could do an X-ray of the tooth and then come back tomorrow for a prognosis. I agreed and asked her if she could fill the other one, which she happily agreed to.

I was slightly concerned about the sanitary-ness of the utensils and cleanliness of the water with which I was supposed to rinse but was assured it was all sanitary and cleaned after each use. It all looked clean, but in India I opt to check before letting anyone put anything in my mouth. I asked how much the filling would be and she said, "about 700 Rupees" which is roughly $12. Yeah, okay, I agreed! It took about 10 minutes to drill out the excess debris in my tooth, fill it and fix the bite. I agreed to come back tomorrow morning to check out the x-ray, which I'd take next, and to get a cleaning. I quickly mentioned that some other fillings I'd gotten in Korea might be getting cavities and she responded that they were just discolored/stained and polished them up in a matter of seconds. Then I went to to a small room across the hall, just big enough for a dental chair and tooth x-ray machine, had a quick x-ray of 1 tooth, paid 800 Rupees for the filling and x-ray and walked out. The whole thing took no more than 15 minutes and cost less than $15. No wonder "medical tourism" is so big. 

As it approaches 11pm, it is past my bedtime. We do have some things on our agenda this week, like packing up and moving back to the convent, a few meetings, a visit to the doctor and dentist, and travel logistics to work out. So I shall head to my mat and wish you a beautiful week. Crunch some fall leaves for me!

Tar, Chalk and Accountability: Three necessities of Indian Education

Today Sister Helen and I visited St. Anne’s School for the 2^nd time. Last week we came in the evening and talked with the teachers and students who come for evening school. Today we set off from Bellefonte in the jeep after breakfast for a surprise visit to the head administrator. The road to St. Anne’s is a perfect example of the quality of roads in the northeast. At the widest places the road is what we could call in America a 1-lane road and yet cars come and go in multitudes in both directions. The smell of smoldering tar comes every mile at least, as construction rambles along. On the side or in the middle of the road is a pile of larger rocks, then a pile of smaller gravel, and in some places a pile of sand. You might see a number of boys beating the rocks with a hammer or chisel to break them up into the gravel that is then melted on cast iron atop roadside fires. Often there are women sitting or standing, watching the work and just as often, women are participating in this process one way or another. From one side of the street to the other, men and boys carry this “tar” in buckets hanging on sticks and either hand pour it directly onto the road or pour it into a large spinning cylinders (imagine a small cement maker). This morning at one such work site, we sat behind a few construction trucks waiting for them to move to let traffic by. In the meantime one small car and one jeep squeezed by us, mostly driving off the road, and the cars behind us honked the soundtrack of India in impatience. Of course, there are no traffic diversions or flaggers and you simply drive over the hot tar as it sets and over the more manageable piles of gravel. Or you swerve off the road to avoid colliding. On the way to St. Anne’s, there is one patch of totally unpaved road, only red clay and rock with 1 foot deep potholes. In the US, we’d call it off-roading. It is no wonder most people here have either jeeps or very compact cars.

We arrived at St. Anne’s Day School at 9:45am where students were waiting for their 10am classes to begin. There were no teachers there yet, however, only the administrator. A few rolled in after we did and a few came in about 10:15. Two teachers did not show up at all and I overheard that they’ve been absent for more than 2 weeks. At this point in the year, though (the school calendar is Feb through mid-Dec), there seems to be no point in trying to change behavior patterns or hold people accountable. Teachers are supposed to sign-in in a hand-written ledger every morning and afternoon, but they often just lie about what time they come and go. When I asked about the possibility of finding more accountable teachers, I was told that due to low school enrollment there wasn’t enough money to pay teachers who were more qualified or accountable (none of them have an education degree and only 2 have Bachelor’s degrees). Sounds like a perfect catch-22. Not to mention that it’s pretty typical for things to start 1-2 hours after they are scheduled in India. If you’ve been to a 3^rd world country, you’ll know what I mean.

The administrator, a beautiful Khasi woman, had asked Sister Helen a few months back about the possibility of BCC taking over the school as it is not being well managed or attended. Today they discussed the details and what that would mean for the school and for BCC. There is a lot of bureaucracy, of course, and details to figure out, but Sister Helen has agreed to run a day school there, as well as continue the evening programs. There are currently about 60 students enrolled in secondary school, 5^th – 10^th grade, in an area where hundreds should be attending. I never did get a clear answer if there was a public school nearby but I’ve been told repeatedly that village public schools are a waste of space and money and they don’t begin to supply the education that is needed. The Indian government claims to be committed to making free public education for every child in India but that will take a very long time and as of now is seriously lacking. So the hope is that with better management of the school, better resources, and more qualified and accountable teachers, attendance will rise and the surrounding villages will appreciate and support the school. The sisters have seen it happen in other communities.

The school itself is “being renovated” which means that it looks like a construction zone and that work is slow and little noticeable. In the front entrance there are about 20 bags of cement, lying here and there are 4 foot high piles of wood and debris, and the electrical wires hang low enough for the Khasis to have to duck - and most of them are at least a foot shorter than me. From what I saw there were 4 classrooms being used with one catch-all room not being taught in. The vision you conjure up of a classroom, though, is probably far from the reality here. By classroom, I mean 4 concrete walls, 1 to 2 iron-barred windows, long wooden benches and tables that hold 2-4 students each, a black board and an empty teacher’s desk. There is one box of chalk in the school and students are sent to ask for it a piece at a time. This morning I saw a few teachers come take pens out of their purses a while after class had begun as there are none in the classrooms. I have been asked to teach a training to 15-20 teachers in 2 weeks and realize that they’ll be a far cry from the ultra-media heavy teaching tools we employed at trainings in Korea. The administration is a small room behind the chapel, which also seems to have rooms upstairs, but the whole building is currently under construction. Sitting in the asymmetrical concrete office, hammering overhead shook the whole room and pieces of loose concrete crumbled overhead. The room itself spills over with unfinished bricks and rock in the “storage area” where student’s notebooks are piled. Teachers’ books are piled into another tight corner.

After the meeting we were treated to very sweet tea and local treats – we can’t escape meeting anyone without accepting that nonnegotiable offer – and on the drive back we stopped into the nearby North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) for a quick driving tour. Sister Helen and I talked about student interns at Indian University and whether they offer student teaching possibilities or internships. It sounded like that is not something that happens normally but Sister Helen has some contacts in the Education Department and is trying to convince them to start a program or offer their support to BCC.

Our days have been packed and I’m not even going to try offering a play-by-play of life in the convent and Shillong. One highlight was taking 2 Bellefonte house girls to our friends’ hotel to learn in the kitchen for a few hours. It was an exciting day for them and they didn’t want to leave. Circus and I stayed for a luxurious dinner with our international family (photo here). Evening meetings are not a possibility this week, however, as the protests have increased and they are imposing 7pm-5am road blockages throughout the state.  On Sunday, the protestors burned a brand-new BSNL cell phone tower and mobile station. This is supposed to be the busy season in Shillong, with the Durga Puja state holiday next week and the best weather, and tourism is reportedly down 70-80% in the state. Everything is closing early to allow people to get home by 7pm. This week there have only been 3-4 construction workers at BCC, I think both because of the protest actions and the unreliability of the workers, and Sister Helen has complained to the contractor to find new blood. Things like this just happen all the time in India, though, and projects take a long time to complete. Fortunately, patience is a Catholic virtue that the nuns have mastered.