Rush Slowly!

The title for todays blog is such a perfect picture of India--think about it!  Ron saw/heard it somewhere yesterday and it was his favorite quote of the day, and it has become mine too.  We could describe many things that have occurred in the past couple of days that illustrate, but I will mention only a couple.  

We have only three major problems on the Rising Star Campus: Power, Water, and Sewer. Now you might think these three entities are fairly crucial to survival, but we've discovered that life goes on even when all are not functioning as part of the scene at once.  On Tuesday, however, we had an incident when all three were cut off at once.  We have been digging large trenches all around  the hostels and leading to the school to lay the fiber optic lines to get our computer lab up and running and provide us all with connection to the outer world.  The backhoe (much to the joy of the children) operates at all hours of day and night (Amy chased them away at 11:00 p.m. the other night).  The trench from the school to the hostel runs parallel with the path leading to the school and, unfortunately all power and water lines ran along that same path.  The water line was broken in at least 5 places (my questions was why they didn't notice they were pulling up broken pipe with each scoop--it is very bright blue??), and the power line was ripped up about the same.  Now the sewer line was destroyed nearer the girls hostel, which wiped out their bathroom.  So, the children and part of the boys hostel had no water or power, and the girls hostel had no power nor sewer although water was still available, but could not be used.

We watched the "Rush Slowly" mantra go into action.  There were several men standing around conferring and scratching heads, while the volunteers grabbed shovels and went to work digging out the broken sewer (that was definitely the most critical problem to them.)  The men patched, pieced and created ways to get things temporarily working again, completing the job   (it took two days) by plugging the end of the broken water line with carefully crafted sticks.  It wasn't pretty, but by evening of the second day all systems were go again, and the girls especially were so grateful to have a shower!!

This one from the United States--Ron's T Mobil phone that he spent hours setting up in the US was not functioning, so he emailed telling them the problem.  They replied that they would refund his money, if he would come in and return the phone.  He had explained that he was in India, and that would not be possible until December.  They emailed back wanting proof that he was in India:  Ron emailed back saying "we are the happy few in the middle of nowhere--what more do you need to know??"

As you work today, remember Rush Slowly.

Love, Joyce and Ron

Our Weekend

Today is Sunday--Ron, Amy, Erin and I have just had a wonderful buffet lunch at the Marriott Courtyard Chennai and are settled in the Executive Lounge answering and reading emails.  It's lightly raining outside and the clouds are heavy, ready to really let loose.  The rains are like nothing I have ever experienced--the heavens truly open.  We left the property about 7:30 this morning:  church starts at 9:30 and it is an arduous drive into town.  The new location for the church is in the basement of a big office building.  It is a very big improvement over where we were a year and a half ago when we attended our meetings.  There are eight Elders in the area, and a missionary couple who serve part time in Chennai, and part time at Pathways (the wonderful facility that Bill Sheffield has been connected with for some time.)  The Martinez's have given a lot to move that work forward, also.

The building was packed--well over 200 in attendance, and there were four confirmations. Every week there are baptisms and confirmations.  The Mission President and his wife were there and spoke, as well as the District President.  It was a lovely meeting:  lovely, gentle spirit. Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society and Priesthood were also very good.  There are quite a few Americans, but all the leadership is Indian.  Ron and I gave the opening and closing prayers.

From church we came to the Marriott, but we will be back at RSO in time for the Devotional that Amy Antonelli does with the volunteers each Sunday evening.  She is an amazing person--can't imagine her ever leaving here.

Yesterday was a great day--"home run day"  as Skipper from Laguna would put it.  We started early to do our final organization for our first monthly (weekly) "Beautiful India" day.  Garbage is a terrible problem everywhere, and no one seems to feel any responsibility for where things are left, dropped, and dumped.  It is not just the children that litter--all of India litters! Anyway, with the volunteers working with their families (a group of about 25 children), they set out to pick up every piece of trash they could find.  MANY black bags later, you wouldn't have recognized the place.  Later in the morning a big backhoe arrived to dig a large garbage pit for us.  We also separated out as much plastic as we could, and actually sold it for $12.00!  That was a windfall.  If we can get the cooks and cleaning people to start separating, they will share in the monies we can receive.  Everyone was proud of their efforts at the end of the morning.

It didn't last long, however.  In the afternoon 25-30 employees from the Marriott came for their monthly visit.  What excitement and what fun!!  They bring lots of food for the children, and they have a big picnic in the mango grove.  Those who come, serve the children their food and in addition to the food share a treat of a boxed fruit drink for each child--that is their favorite.  After the food, it was out to the playground area, where a wild game of cricket begins, along with musical chairs, dancing, balloons, and all kinds of fun and games.  The children love it--but so do the Marriott employees.  They fight to be on the list of who gets to come each month.  What a lovely gift to both the givers and those who receive. This morning, there were all kinds of remains of the day littering the grounds, so we will clean again next week.

Living in the Boy's Hostel

In the boy's hostel live approximately 75 beautiful Indian boys, 4 or 5 house mothers, all the male volunteers, the cooks, and a variety of others, including Ron and me and Gordon and Vicki Gibb (school principle and coordinator--here for one year on a leave from BYU.)  There may be others, but these are some that I know for sure are there.  The Gibbs and the Hansons are currently sharing a two bedroom apartment until the volunteers leave for the summer and the Gibbs can move back into their own housing.  It is indeed a wild and crazy place.  Our door is almost directly across from the kitchen, which is a hub of great activity.  Our bedroom window is just above where the boys start congregating about 5:30 am to wash their clothes, as well as their bodies.  It is a wild and happy time, often accompanied by singing in their very loud and off key voices.  No one ever speaks softly--the loudest of all are the women who can be heard from a long way off.  The activities in the kitchen also begin at about the same hour.  I never knew how many things can be accomplish if you regularly start your day at 5:30 am!! 

The windows in the front of our common room and the little kitchen both face on the pass way leading from the stairs from the boys area to the kitchen and the washing area.  The children quickly discovered where Joyce Auntie and Uncle lived and that they could slide the windows open from the outside--What fun to slide the windows open and with about 10 beautiful faces stand in the window calling "Auntie, Auntie!"  Sunday we finally drilled a hole through the two windows to put a pin holding the windows closed.  Sundays are especially hard because not many of the children are leaving the campus for church, and no school on Sunday.

It is very warm (hot is a better word for it) and our electrical power works sporadically.  There is a new generator, but it too seems to be a bit touchy.  It is also not connected in a way so that when the power goes off, the generator will automatically go on.  We have to go out and switch it on.  Sometimes that works, but in the middle of the night it's hard to go out and do that.  We have become very adept at doing many things with a small flashlight in the hand or the teeth. When the air goes off (that means the fans also), you learn to lie very still so as not to work up a sweat!

In spite of our very communal living condition, all is well when we leave our rooms to be greeted by the happy and energetic hugs, hand-holding, and genuine excitement that these children feel in their lives and share with those of us who are lucky enough to be here and experience pure love and joy.  With a good pair of earplugs, we will survive!

Culture Shock!!

I suspect every time people arrive here, they have to get used to India all over again.  There is so much that crashes in on you all at once--it's totally overwhelming.  Anyway, we are here, are alive and relatively well (Ron has had a bad cold from too much air conditioning, and my tummy has been a bit jumpy), but we are beginning to sleep longer than three hours a night.  Our major problem, which will not be solved soon I'm afraid, is no internet access.  Tonight we are in Chennai, as we had meetings here today and tomorrow.  Nice to have all the modern conveniences for one night.

The main thing to report is that Rising Star looks great.  The children are wonderful, and the last group of volunteers for the summer arrived Saturday, and they are doing a great job as they begin their work in the colonies and with the children.  There are 18 volunteers from all over the US--all having found their way here by exposure from the Documentary and other contacts.  It's fascinating to hear their stories of what brought them to Rising Star and India.  We are excited to be with them for the next four weeks and watch them in action.  

I'm not going to write more now--have a dinner meeting now.  Will try to add more detail of where we are and how we're living later.  Love to all who read this.

Joyce and Ron

The Week of Goodbyes and Getting Ready!!

We're getting down to the wire--can't believe one week from tomorrow we'll be winging our way to Chennai, India, and beyond!  We are going to the land that the travel books say of the weather, "hot, hotter, and hottest".  We will be arriving in the "Hottest", so if we can manage that, we can manage anything!  Ron and I were up at 5:00 to work on our lists--they should be getting shorter, but they seem to be lengthening.  Fun time this week with farewells with our friends, including breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  My pantry and frig are almost cleaned out--we had our last Sunday dinner here yesterday.  We'll miss those...

Preparations

As we look at the darling children in the pictures we took a year ago, it spurs us on to get ready for this big outing.  It's hard to know what to bring, so at least Joyce ends up going out to tend the roses instead of sticking to her lists.  We will be ready, but it may end up with a "college-style all-nighter" on  July 14th!  We're heading into plenty of heat, so our clothing will be light--the food we're taking to keep us in the pink is heavy!  (Dried fruit, tuna, jerky, peanut butter and plenty of cereal for breakfast.)  We may have four suitcases with food and bedding (including mosquito netting) and not much else.  More later on this packing!