Sari Time

If Thursday was difficult then Friday was more so! I arrived in school in time for our usual staff/ pupil assembly, but of course as it was the end of the school year it went on rather longer than usual, over an hour. the children cope really well though and are incredibly enthusiastic when a hymn they know comes up and they can do actions. These are interspersed with lots of readings and prayers too. I sat as usual on a mat with Daphny, Ida, Methie, and Thiluga... they gave up putting a chair out for me a few months back when I kept ignoring it and sitting with the staff on the floor. I have had a problem the whole time with the school trying to treat me as a special visitor and me wanting to be one of the staff! I sat in a slight world of my own as the proceedings were in Tamil, when all of a sudden I realised that one of the senior pupils had been asked to pray and was praying for me! A very humbling experience, being prayed for by a boy with learning difficulties. I was already realising that today was not going to be easy for one with emotions as close to the surface as mine can be at times! Next I was called out to the front and the principal spoke to the pupils about me, they call me either Sally Auntie (a term of respect for a female older than oneself) or Sally Madam, a term showing even more respect and slightly more formal. I was then asked to say a few words.. again not easy, what can you say except Goodbye and thank you and that I hoped to be back to see them all again before they were much older. I was then presented with two gifts, by the senior boy and girl, a bag and a candle made in the vocational workshops.

Assembly finally over, we raced to my classroom passing the ducks on the way! They were a gift from one of the fathers who has a duck smallholding near nazareth and have come to terms very well with being chased around the playground at playtime!
I got to my class where the little ones had already arrived and were being taken care of by Joel. I will be seeing them again next week so no problem there. Next to arrive were my 3 year olds, Anand, Ramiyah and Sanjay! It was wonderful to see Anand walking the length of the verandah holding his mum's hand and grinning ear to ear. We had a final song session and some play and lots of chat! There is never a quiet moment when Ramiyah is around. Her father had come too today and he gave me a large carrier bag full of Indian snacks, unfortunately I may have to eat them all as my cases are full to weight limit! Both Mums were quite tearful as they said goodbye and I was not much better. Throughout the morning, residential pupils had been going home from the hostel as they were picked up by their parents and I was touched by how many of them brought their parents to say hallo (or goodbye)! Many live a good distance away, 4 or 5 hours on a hot bus, so the parents had set out very early.
After class, it was time for lunch, today I joined the staff on the mats on the floor, I have always eaten at the table with the male staff up until now as I am not good at sitting cross legged for long periods. Today though I wanted to be with those I felt closest to. At least eating with your fingers is a little easier than trying to use a knife and fork when sitting on the floor. You should try it sometimes even sitting at a table, eating rice and runny gravy with your fingers... you soon learn to bend close over your plate and sook, preferably quietly!
All too soon lunch was over though and it was time to say goodbye to the staff. I had arranged with Raja for him to come and meet me and to be prepared to just scoop me into his auto and drive me home! However at 12.30, just as lunch started, I looked at my phone and found two missed calls and a text message from him. The wife of the man who drove his other auto had died during the morning so he was unable to come and pick me up as he had to be involved in the proceedings. Funerals etc all take place every quickly here, due to the hot weather, usually within 24 hours and involve long prayer meetings which may go on for 2 or 3 days. I think that is to compensate for the fact that as the funeral is held quickly, people arrive too late to take part and so a large gathering takes place instead. I called to let him know that I had picked up his message and asked about the wife. Apparently she had been only 26, so understandably everyone was very upset.
Of course I couldn't blame him at all for not picking me up, but it meant that once I did manage to leave, I had to walk the long walk up the drive to the main road instead of being whisked away out of sight quickly. Methi, Ida, Jasmine, Anoushya, Nirosha and Anandi all hugged me and then stood at the gate and waved me off till I was out of sight. A long and lonely walk in the full mid day sunshine. I will see Methi every morning next week and we hope to meet up with some of the others for lunch one day, but some live far away from Tirunelvelli.
I decided that walking was perhaps the best way of calming myself down and set off in the sunshine, I walked about half way home then stopped for tea at Arryas - once I could be sure my face looked more or less respectable again. I then wandered on a bit further and caught an auto the rest of the way.
I visited one of the neighbours in the afternoon for tea and cake and then in the evening had a wander around town. There was an evangelical meeting on one of the sports grounds the bright lights and the loud music blaring through the speakers were amazing. I took some night time photos too of all the lights which give the whole place a magical feel in the evenings. I was on my way back when Prem passed me in his car and picked me up and gave me a lift home which was a nice end to the day.

Today, Saturday, I spent quietly, some packing, some paperwork, lunch with Lydia and Enoch and then dinner out at the Selsil restaurant. I'm off for an early night now.

I've had a wonderful but really difficult couple of days, Thursday and Friday as my work in the school has come to an end.When I set my dates to come here, I was not aware of the school year in Tirunelvelli, however school closes mid-April for the summer break. That was yesterday. I have one week left here in which to tie up lose ends and say my goodbyes, without the need to be in school full time. I will be in from 10-11 every day next week along with Joel (physio) and Methilda to work with my babies - Santhosh, Buvaneshwari and little 6 month old baby Blessie. Joel and I had planned this a while ago and when Methi held, she said she would come too, even though she is on holiday at which I am delighted, but I would never have asked her. Joel has different holidays and is paid to work at the hospital when not in school.
The pictures are firstly of Buvana and then of Mariam in class.

On Thursday, I said goodbye to Mariam and her Mum who has grown in her confidence in us so much since coming to class. It turns out (emerged gradually a little at a time) that Mariam's mum is a paediatrician. She told us she worked in an office when she started. She has been asking all sorts of questions and has asked for some info on our communication system. I've also been helping her with ideas for objects of reference (a way for a child to communicate a need or desire by offering an object: eg bringing a cup to ask for a drink). All fairly straight forward but need to be tailored to the needs of the child.
She is also bringing a friend of hers to talk to me, on Wednesday. This lady is also a doctor whose daughter, like Mariam, suffered birth asphyxiation. This lady lives in Madurai about 3 hours drive away and her daughter is 3. She is blind with additional disabilities and her mother has been unable to find help anywhere. I am going to try to put her in touch with Sense India, who have a base nearby in Trichy, who work with deaf blind people.
Mariam's mum brought me a handbag as a goodbye present and gave me a huge hug when leaving, it's hard to believe she is the same woman I met in February who was so defensive.
At 3.30 we had our usual end of day group with the two classes 1 and 1A together as tomorrow there are no main school classes and the children will be going home throughout the day after a parents meeting. I said goodbye to Subbayah and Guruvaiah as well as the other two day scholars in the group as they will not be coming in tomorrow. The Collector ( a bit like a provost) today declared tomorrow a public holiday for school children. That doesn't help our children who are largely residential and just means that instead of going to classes, they stay in the hostel. However even that won't happen as it is end of term.
The picture is of our cook with one of the pineapples I picked! We cut it up and shared it among staff at break time, yummy!

At the end of the day, Methi, Anoushya, and Ida the three teachers I have worked most closely with, along with Jasmine and Nirosha, two of the assistants hung about in my room and then gave me a gift from the five of them, I was really touched as they have little or no money and apart from Methi, little or no time to call their own. As the other 4 are unmarried they live in the school hostel which means they work from waking to sleeping everyday with the children.
I headed off with tears in my eyes to go home.
In the evening I went with Raja in his auto down to Junction to pick up some photos for the staff and then for dinner. On our return I helped him set up an email account for himself on the laptop.
Bed quite late, but not before I arranged with Raja before he left, to pick me up from school at 1.30 on Friday, straight after lunch. I explained that as I am a fairly sentimental person he was going to have to just drive me home as soon as I got into the auto and that I would probably not be fit for conversation as I would have just said goodbye to everyone! He said he understood and that he would be there.