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!