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.

Shillong India and BCC!

Thursday, October 3rd

Today is our 5^th day at Bellefonte Parish in Shillong but it feels like we’ve been here for weeks. When we arrived by jeep with Sister Helen on Saturday night after a 4 hour harrowing drive up the mountains, the sisters made us feel right at home with a big meal and words of welcome. Those who knew me from my visit 3 years previous immediately touched my hair and remarked that it was lovely compared to the near-bald head I sported last time. We were told to rest well and eat lots, wishes we receive day-in and day-out, and tucked in to our new home, the guest cottage beside the convent. Thanks to the grant from Rotary Club International, Rotary Club Spanaway, Rotary Club Shillong and Pam Deacon, the guest cottage for visiting volunteers, guest professors, and friends was completed in 2011. It’s a pretty sweet cottage with 3 guest rooms, a few bathrooms and lots of space. I’d tell you more but I haven’t even walked around the whole thing yet, we’ve been busy!

We slept well and got up with the sun and the roosters about 5am on Sunday. Circus immediately went to the kitchen and helped the house girls prepare breakfast, a daily routine that he loves. I had a long morning yoga and meditation practice and joined the sisters for breakfast at 8am. Sunday is a day of rest and we made ourselves at home, had some computer time, and chatted with Sister Helen, our gracious host, about the projects that we were being asked to help with. My first task was to organize a follow-up paper for a state and nationally sponsored grant that will fund the next stage of Bellefonte Community College. A few things need to be researched and re-worked, like new building plans and a land survey, before we can submit the final paperwork. We’re praying that it will be approved as it would be enough to cover stage 2, including at least 8 more classrooms, teachers’ offices, etc.

And how is BCC coming? I am so happy to report that the first block of the building, which will be 8 classrooms when complete, is under construction.  The 3^rd floor is being finished in the next few weeks, - we hope - and the 4^th floor will be ready to be bricked and poured soon.  A few road blocks have come up, though, which I will explain. First the good news: Circus has met most of the workers and the building contractor and has been named “Project Manager” by Sister Helen. It’s both a comical title, since he can’t speak to most of the workers and doesn’t really know the way things work here, and a fitting title as I’ve seen and heard how his presence does motivate the builders to move faster, work harder, and stay on task. Circus can lift twice what the workers can and works faster and more precisely. We took some photos and video of the building and a few are up with great descriptions on our facebook pages. Everything here is made of brick and concrete with bamboo and iron re-bar. The only tools are shovels, hammers and nails, and a mason trowel. Construction moves slowly as it is all by hand and weather dependent. Plus, it is India, after all, and things move slowly. In an average day there's probably 3-4 hours of actual work on the building.

Shillong is situated way up in the hills of the state of Meghalaya and it’s very rainy with downpours daily since our arrival. Apparently the seasons have been reversed this year. Usually the rains are in the summer months, July and August, and September and October are warm and dry. This year there was little rain in the summer and it is coming now instead. All the building materials, sand, concrete, brick, and long bamboo poles are sitting out in the courtyard, so work is difficult when it rains heavily.

The block that is being constructed now should be finished in 2014. Last time I was here there were 2 classrooms for 50-60 students in the parish basement and a few vocational training and computer classrooms in the old dispensary across the parking lot. Now the dispensary has been demolished, as it is the site of the new BCC and the space that was once 2 classrooms in the parish basement has been squeezed into 6! The computer training room has been moved into the basement, as well, and many more computers were purchased with the Rotary Club grant, although the room is still quite small.  The partitions between the existing 6 “classrooms” are simply standing ply-board partitions and do not block out sound or distraction, but the sister have made it work. There are currently 8 teachers from outside the convent teaching students from primary school to 12^th grade 6 days a week, and 2 sisters who reside at Bellefonte, Sr. Helen and Sr. Celina. The students are preparing for their final subject exams which will take place later this month.  English and Hospitality courses have been suspended until the new building is ready for students next year. Of course, after the walls are poured, classes need to be furnished which will take a bit more funding...

To view a youtube video about BCC that I made for our last fundraising event, click here. 

And now the aforementioned road block: Some local politicians and student unions have been fighting for a month to pass an “ILP” or Inner Line Permit, which some of the other Northeast States have. There is a growing fear among the local Khasi people that outsiders, both Indian nationals and foreign nationals, are encroaching on the land and jobs here. Local tribes in the neighboring state of Tripura have been all but wiped-out in recent years and the Khasi want to prohibit outsiders from taking their land and jobs in the same way. However, there is much criticism about the demand for those permits and the methods of protest, which are hurting the local economy. What they are asking for would be like someone from California having to register as an out-of-state employee to get a job in Oregon, and to not be allowed to stay in the local area but have to commute hundreds of miles a day to work. The protests have included a month of evening road blocks into and out of the city of Shillong, which has greatly deterred both tourists and construction workers who are trying to finish the 4-lane road from the nearest airport and major city in Guwahati, Assam.

Everyone we’ve spoken with here is against both the permits and the protests, saying that the Khasis are not in danger of being kicked off their land as no one sells land to non-Khasis anyway. Jobs are being taken by people from other areas of India because there is very little educated or skilled labor in Meghalaya – hence the need for BCC! – and the work ethic is very poor. The locals near Bellefonte went as far as threatening our laborers – who are from the neighboring state of Assam – that they will kill them if they stayed here. Sister Helen went to the village headman and asked him for local workers who would work as hard as the Assamese men and she received no reply. So the 17 builders who have been working on the construction of BCC for a year have dwindled to 6 who have local papers to work and safe places to stay. *Sigh* At least their spirits have been lifted by the Circus Clown who has come to stay for a few weeks!

And now to catch you up on our activities or “daily programme” as the sisters call it. On Sunday, we went to the nearby boarding school in Mawlai, another district of Shillong and met Sister Maristella who was Mother Superior at Bellefonte last time I was here. She graciously welcomed us to Shillong and said we could come back and play with the students sometime this month. She had no idea that it would be so soon, though…

After our visit with Sister Maristella, Sister Helen needed to stop at a nearby house to talk with some women. They invited us in, gave us tea and local goodies and we ended up staying more than an hour as relatives piled into the house to see the foreigners or “Parang”. There were about 10 kids from 5 years old to 20-something and we played and chatted with them at length. We both are immediately at home with children, Circus playing and me chatting in English and singing songs. We make a good team, and really feel at home with the Khasi people. Of course, they stare and ask questions about us (not to us, that would be too scary!) but once we break the ice it’s pretty comfortable. It’s strange being catered to, though, and our white skin will elicit that response in most countries.

Monday was our first day of work and I wrote the grant follow-up for Sister Helen and researched some new funding possibilities while Circus worked on the building, in the kitchen, fixing benches and anything else asked of him or that he saw needed doing. He is the popular one, here, entertaining everyone with jokes, dancing, singing, clowning, balloon sculptures, and his jovial spirit. I do seem solemn in comparison! From our first day, though, I’ve taken a lot of personal time for twice daily practice and time alone in the chapel to pray, reflect, and find peace.

Tuesday we continued work and Circus met a neighbor who speaks English fluently. She invited us for tea and we visited with her for an hour, trying to explain about BCC and win her over to the work here. A community college is a new concept in India and people don’t understand the huge potential benefits to their community. We’ve found that a big part of our job is networking and marketing the school. I guess you could say we've been deemed - or deemed ourselves - foreign ambassadors of BCC. 

That evening, Sister Helen invited me to come to a satellite evening campus of BCC where they teach both younger and older students who are catching up with schooling. I spontaneously got to chat and play with the younger students (age 12-18) who attend school in the evening because they work during the day. The village is about a 20 minute drive from BCC, too far for any of the students to be able to come to the campus at Bellefonte. The school is called St. Anne’s and they have offered it to Sister Helen to run as a full time school next year as a satellite under the name of BCC. It is an exciting prospect, but needs much consideration by the Salesian Sisters if it is feasible to take over so soon (the school calendar begins in February) or not. I’m hoping so! It needs a bit of upkeep, but is functional as a school for K-8 at least, plus NIOS, state-board exams, vocational training or high school classes.

Wednesday was a national holiday, Mahatma Ghandi’s Birthday, and it was Bellefonte’s Mother Superior’s birthday as well. There were no classes and the novices prepared a celebration for Sister Carmelina, the Mother Superior, with guests from other congregations and a special breakfast with cake and gifts. Circus surprised everyone with his painted clown face and expert balloon blowing. The sisters and locals who had come for morning mass were flabbergasted with his comical performance and very entertained. They laughed and laughed. Good thing they do love to laugh! One sister was visiting from the boarding school in Mawlai and invited us to come visit and perform in the “Fun Day” assembly Thursday morning. We of course obliged and had a great time playing with the 1300+ students. They didn’t really know what to make of Mr. Circus, but they laughed and laughed, too!

Wednesday afternoon Sister Helen had made arrangements for us to visit a nearby hotel called the Lakkhotaa Lodge which is owned by a Khasi woman and her American husband. We went for “tea” – British influenced culture, daily tea and cookies – and ended up staying 3 hours. The woman, Elmie, has lived in Italy, China, America, and India and her husband, Jim, is from Tennessee and spent most of his life in Florida. The hotel – an amazing oasis in Shillong – has been open 4 years and is so posh and immaculate. You forget you’re in India! We chatted awhile about BCC, how to train locals in hospitality and a better work ethic, the protests, the American government shut-down (don’t get me started on that!), and cultural barriers. They invited us to come and stay at the hotel as their guests and we made plans to come back on Sunday and to go together to the Don Bosco Museum which has exhibits about the Northeast states, local tribal culture, and the massive local influence of Christianity. Jim and Sister Helen talked a while about the architecture of the new block of BCC, the importance of earthquake proof structural engineering and steps to making sure the contractor knows the best way to carry out the plans. Jim has generously volunteered to consult on the project as it begins next year.

So 5 days here and we’re doing our best to win the hearts and minds of those we meet. The sisters have invited us to stay a long time, and we’ll see how long we can continue to be of service in the work that needs doing. Our plan was to stay at Bellefonte until Oct 20, then maybe to travel in the northeast states. We might also come back and spend more time here. Right now the “no-plan” is working. 

Photos of BCC