India - Walking in the Sand

Pictures

2010-07-12T01:53:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of the new facilities. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera when all the activity was going on. It was a beautiful day.

This is how the old section of the school and the new are now one!!
Shots from our beautiful new library. 1st grade class having library time.

Community Center - Volunteer Hostel
School - Back area, front, and interior lobby.

Dining Hall with decorations for the dedication. Kitchen area.

Dining Hall

Completion!

2010-07-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

On July 10, 2010 we closed the circle on so much of what we spent two years in India doing. We had our formal dedication of all our new buildings and other improvements: i.e., water treatment plant (reverse osmosis), sewage system, front wall, playground, computer lab, library, Pathway of Hope, made possible by fans of David Archuleta, and our beautiful statue done by Angela Johnson in its place of prominence! (This was a story in and of itself, as we chose for the base a 2 - 3 ton piece of granite, to be cut, delivered and put in place. It reminded us of building the great pyramids, cathedrals, Taj Mahal,etc., with the giant blocks of stone!) The buildings included the Chris and Jessica Community Center (volunteer hostel), the new wing of the Peery Matriculation School, and the Dining Hall and kitchen facility. We all took a deep breath realizing how blessed we had been to bring the campus to where it stood on July 10, 2010. It was truly an auspicious day, with the elements indicating that all was right in the heavens.

We had well over 500 (including our children) present at the ceremony. The lunch that followed had been provided by our great friends the Marriott Courtyard, Chennai, for the VIPs and dignitaries who attended. (Probably 70-80 joined us for that lunch.) The parents and children were given a wonderful lunch in the mango grove, so the families could gather together, which is their most important activity on any Parent's Day. Everyone was happy. The ceremonies included the ribbon cutting on all the buildings, a puja (Hindu blessing), and the following morning, early, a formal dedicatory prayer in the new dining hall with all the children, staff and volunteers present, given by Ron. The children sang their beautiful Rising Star song written by Shaun Perry, as well as "I Am a Child of God" before the prayer. It was lovely. We all felt the presence of the God who made us all, Hindu, Muslim, or Christian.

The children sang and danced their hearts out, having been trained by two beautiful young women who work with Prometheum Spark in New York, and are here for the summer volunteering with Rising Star and creating a dance troupe with some of our children. There were plenty of speeches and much applause. Our great founders and mentors, Padma Venkataraman, Becky Douglas, Amy Antonelli, all spoke movingly of their visions for these people and their children whom we serve. Many thank yous were given followed by an honorarium of flowers and in some instances, a brick with their name for the new Pathway of Hope. It was moving and impressive. Everyone had worked so hard to be ready for this day, and our staff had really given all they had to make it perfect. The Hendershots, our directing family on campus, oversaw the final push, and the children, volunteers, and Indian workers had magnified their efforts to make it all come together. The Indian workers getting the landscaping finished had stayed and worked through the night for two nights. I'm sure the guy in charge made out like a bandit--hope his many wonderful workers got a piece of the pie!

Ron and I felt like we had had a baby--an enormous elephant to be sure--but it was so satisfying to think that from the day we arrived, July 15, 2008, to this day, we had actually been able to see the transformation and completion of a lot of what we had come to do. It was a true miracle to us!!

We feel that we have been so blessed to be here these past two years. We were given a gift far greater than any we could have left. The children will always be deep in our hearts, and we will never meet an Indian person that we do not feel a kinship for. This is a wonderful land and we have once again been taught about God's children, and His love for them.

God bless India as well as America!

(Images following on next post.)

BIRDS

2010-02-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

All my life I have been enchanted by birds. I would love to think of myself as a "bird watcher" but I'm not nearly knowledgeable nor committed enough to be called that, except at a very incidental level. It doesn't stop my fascination nor love of watching and occasionally identifying one of God's winged creations, however.

Here at Rising Star we are blessed to have very near us a wonderful bird sanctuary. It does not seem to be very well known (I have a hard time remembering it's name--Vedantangal), nor is it very well kept--I'm afraid that's India--but it's wonderful. The birds have returned, including thousands of painted storks, pelicans, ducks, egrets, herons, ibises, cormorants, and dozens of other species. They all live together on mangrove bushes that grow out of putrid-looking water; they nest on the bushes, and we have been privileged to watch the cycle of nest-building, egg-laying, and chick hatching. Then they leave (about April) and don't return until November. At the height of the breeding season there are up to 30,000 birds nesting.

You walk along a tree lined path, looking one way toward the birds, and the other at beautiful rice fields, with women planting and cleaning the fields, then heading home after a long day's work. We watched both--the sun going down over the fields and the moon coming up behind the birds. These are pictures taken last week. In addition to missing Rising Star and all the people when we leave, I will truly miss the birds.

2009-12-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

It's a sad day when you haven't posted in such a long time that you can't remember how to get into the system to do it! Just another MAJOR reminder of how badly behind on certain things in your life you are. Since I am now possibly the only one who needs or will read the end of the year wrap-up at Rising Star, I am going to try and give a picture of our last three or four months so that down the track I will remember. It has been such an incredibly busy time with with major steps in all areas of our program. Through the monsoon months, we managed to keep the building programs moving forward, and the children alive and mostly well--both good accomplishments! We completely turned the school program upside down, we kept our good doctor from joining a government hospital and leaving us, and we embarked on a major micro-lending program that has the potential to take us into the poorest states of India, across the country. We also greeted the Hendershot family, Steele and Sara and 5 young ones to Rising Star as the new managing directors. A bit of detail...

On the 19th of December, 39 members of the Patel family from Orange County arrived to inaugurate the CHRIS AND JESSICA HARRISON HOSTEL with a 5 day stay. As we all know, if you want to complete something you need to set a date for a major event: party, guests arriving, death to all involved if not completed, etc. None of them had made much of an impact on our builder in the 5 months since the building was scheduled to be completed, but with the Patel family (a wonderful Indian/American family who are major hotel owners in the U.S.) planning to be with us on a certain date it certainly spurred a few of us into even greater action. The builder was still invisible, but we hired our own people to work on much of the cleanup and finishing detail, and Ron and I went into "moving in" mode. We haven't done that for a while, as we have now been in our own home for 13 years, but it's still in the body when needed.

Literally, as the coordinators were picking up the family in Chennai with a large bus, and arriving on the property, we were doing last minute floor scraping and window washing, making sure all the new Marriott towels (ordered by the Patels) were hanging straight on each of the beds, and the food needed for their breakfasts was all in order in the kitchen. It was crazy, but except for the granite in the kitchen needing to be removed and relaid, the lotus pond needing to be sealed AGAIN in order to hold water, the roofing floor sealed and smoothed, we are closer to completion than we thought possible and we were able to play the smiling host and hostess that we wanted to be. The Hostel looked great--only a few of us knew of the unfinished parts (that is only sort of true, as the first morning they got up to bathe, there was only a trickle of water--hmmm... add water pressure to list of things to be worked on in January.) We were pleased with the look of everything, and think the Marriott family and foundation, whose monies generously paid for the volunteer hostel, will be pleased with the results. We have wondered over these many months where the contractors are that build the beautiful hotels in India, with finishing details as perfect as any you see in the world or in your own home, and an on-time philosophy ("On-time, On-budget") mantra guiding their actions. How naive we have been!

The school has had a busy and exciting few months. We received our matriculation recognition through 8th Standard in the fall, and that was part of the impetus for gearing up in a new direction. The syllabus for the curriculum in the matriculation program pointed out much of what has gone awry with Indian education. It is a rote system, no interactive teaching or learning, and from our standpoint BORING! Radhika Kannan, born and raised in California, teacher of Indian classical dance and educator in the California and Nevada schools came to us in June, anticipating a stay of 1 year. She had dance classes alternating with the Physical Training program, a 3rd grade English group, and 7th and 8th grade History classes. We felt by the end of the summer she was being underutilized. Our principal, Manjula, agreed and gave her the first standard class full time. The class blossomed. Soon, "centers" were appearing in the room and learning had taken on a new dimension. Other administrative changes took place as the fall continued, and as we moved into December the teaching was beginning to look a bit different throughout the school. In December Radhika was appointed principal for the coming year and a half. Manjula was made School Correspondent, a very important position in Indian Schools--she also is standing shoulder to shoulder with Radhika as this new program begins. A new era was underway. The teachers are becoming very excited about daily lesson plans, power point presentations, classrooms filled with ever-changing learning materials on the walls and in their lessons, and we haven't even gotten into January where the fun begins with exciting inservice challenges and materials. We've hired four new teachers with another outstanding one set to begin in June. The children's last exam period was condensed into one week (in India it is traditionally two weeks), but one exciting outcome was our housefather, Govendraj, tutoring the 4th standard boys in math, and all but one passing! There were about 5 that passed in the previous exams--it cost grandma a bit of money for ice cream, but money happily spent!! We look forward to a very exciting and challenging school year in 2010/2011.

Our medical program took on a new look. Our doctor, Senthil Kumar, had been offered a very lucrative position with the government including their paying for his post-graduate work in surgery. We were sick about the possibility of losing him, on many levels. He has lifted the work in the colonies to a new dimension with the self-help program that he and Karl Kirby introduced last year. Our population of patients was declining due to the incredible cure-rate of the most persistent and long-lasting ulcers. He has been recently married (a beautiful woman who is also a doctor) and her desire was for him to stay with Rising Star. Through a couple of weeks of negotiating, and against his parents wishes, he signed a new contract with us, and will begin in January with an outreach program that will take him further from our area of Tamil Nadu, both south and north, and possibly into Andhra Pradesh (a neighboring state.) He has the title of Medical Director, and the autonomy to direct others who work with the medical program. He reports directly to the Managing Director, and will continue with monthly reports on children problems and colony challenges. He is happy and so are we!

With Padma's visit to the U.S. in October, the micro lending program also took a giant step forward. We are officially a partner with a National Forum, known as Mithra. The Patel family gave us a wonderful gift just before their visit of $100,000 to be used for the micro lending program--that gave us the amount needed to complete our pledge. It is going to be incredible to finally be able to help those out of our immediate area--Padma has been so frustrated knowing there were so many others needing the kind of help these micro loans can provide. Padma's tour brought many blessings to Rising Star, but one that will affect the greatest number will be the funds generated for this micro lending program.

The Hendershot family arrived in November, and we all felt immediately like they had always been there. Their children and the Indian children had an instant love affair, and Steele and Sara jumped in with both feet--lice, snakes, lizards, frogs--nothing daunting. Steele will take over as Managing Director in the next few months as Ron and Joyce faze out. We love the family and can see them being such a great addition to the Rising Star family. Their young and boundless energy lifts us all.

Our trip to Stanford in October yielded such happy things for us--wonderful reconnections with some lifetime friends. It also brought to Rising Star gifts from some of Ron's fraternity brothers who became excited about what is happening in India, and a couple of their old contemporaries who are slogging through the jungle. We were privileged to be a part of our class panel, talking about what we are doing in India instead of retiring as we probably should. We thank our great friends at Stanford, as well as our tremendous Laguna Beach support group, who continue to believe in us, as we believe in Rising Star, and have opened their pocket books over and over as we needed some extra help. We can never express our love in the way it should be expressed to our family. Sisters, brothers, children and grandchildren have continued to bless our lives with their trust and faith, their support at home, and their continuing support to the children of Rising Star. Thank you, dear ones. The stars have always been in your crowns, but they shown very brightly these past 19 months. And dear friends, you have continued to write, to include us when we're in town, to care for our properties, to miss us. How blessed we truly are.

Future: We will return to Rising Star in Thottenaval village at the end of January, after we report in at the US Board meeting in Midway, Utah. We will not stay very long--we will continue to help Steele push to get the school ready for dedication, and then the dining pavilion usable for one and all. Steele is working on getting our accountant up to speed (as in the 21st century). The accountant (Purushothaman) said he felt such pressure, and Steele explained to him that a diamond is created from pressure--he said you will turn from a lump of coal into a beautiful diamond when you learn this new method. They all thought that was very funny! We will be in India for our Indian Board meeting the first of February, and also for the next school committee meeting. Such exciting things about to happen, I can't imaging not being there to be a part of it all in the coming months and years. It will be left in good hands, however: younger and stronger hands.

Happy holidays to one and all.

Pictures: India sky between downpours; welcoming sign for Patel family arrival; front view; our new elephant (we think of the hostel as the "elephant" house); courtyard with sky; Patel arrival; gathering for briefing in the courtyard; typical "guest" room. Our blessed Rebekah as Mary on Christmas Eve--we thanked the Lord for being home with family, even though half our heart is always left with our India family.

The Rains Returned to India!!

2009-11-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

What a long break from writing of our Rising Star experiences we had. If anyone is still out there reading, thank you for patience. We spent the month of October in the US--a glorious time split between Utah and Northern California, as well as our Laguna home. We had Padma, Becky and Amy with us for four days, when we first arrived. It was very busy and lots of fun. Utah included grandchildren visits, breakfast with the Gibbs, a visit with our former coordinators and long term volunteers, and President's Leadership Council at BYU. We had some good family and friend time in Laguna, and our 50th reunion at Stanford was not only fun, but yielded a couple of wonderful gifts from two of Ron's fraternity brothers for Rising Star. We spoke on a class panel and explained the Rising Star Outreach story, and many were touched. It's such a great story and we are always happy to tell it!

We returned to RAIN. November is monsoon month, with about 80% of the 55 inches they receive here coming in these monsoon times. We have cancelled sports day, two parents days, are celebrating "children's day" today in honor of Nehru's birthday but have had to go under cover fast three times so far. Assan Hospitality School is providing a feast for the children, and the food is coming out quickly before the next downpour. We did have three clear days this week and we took out all our clothes and bedding to hang in the sun for a few hours and try to dissipate the mildew odor. Things are growing in our shoes!

We have had some new challenges with the building projects, but slowly, slowly, slowly they creep forward. Ron and I will be here through Thanksgiving, and right up to Christmas as we have a large volunteer group coming the week leading up to the 25th of December. We also have discovered how quickly things go awry when we are not here--either it goes wrong or it stops!

Children are well--note their Christmas offering in the picture. Click on it and look closely at all the beautiful children. They are sending love to all of you. Everything is worth while when you look at the children.

An Auspicious Weekend!

2009-09-20T05:44:00.001-07:00

We had two amazing and joyful happenings for Rising Star Outreach this past weekend. It started on Friday, when we received a letter in Tamil from the State of Tamil Nadu's equivalent to our Board of Education. They notified us that after many months of paperwork, visits, pictures, more paperwork, and a lot of leg work, our application had been approved for becoming a fully recognized school in English Matriculation. We are now officially the PEERY MATRICULATION SCHOOL!! I equate it to a college or university going through the process of becoming accredited. For many of our parents, a big concern has been having their children study at a school that was lacking this recognition by the government. It is very important in Indian schools. Our challenge now, is following the curriculum that is required with the new status. This is now serious education!

On this past Friday we had a celebration with all the children, teachers, principal, and all the administration who had worked so hard to achieve this goal. We had a wonderful banner (two actually): one hangs at the front entrance for all to see, and another graces the front of the school. We had a few speeches and sweets for everyone. Just as we finished this short program, the skies opened and we had a huge deluge of rain. Everyone was completely soaked, but our very Hindu Purshotaman assured us that it was the most auspicious thing that could have occurred--it was confirmation of a blessing from above. We'll take it!! Ron and I appeared in our school uniforms (given to us by Lucy Williams and Matt Goodell), and the children were delighted. Ron looked especially cute--just like some of our boys. His shirt was two sizes too small, and his shorts about 3 sizes too big around the waist. Of course, his socks were a bit droopy--that's the way we wear them.

On Saturday of the same weekend, we had our Board meeting with the Indian Board at the Courtyard Marriott in Chennai. One of our Board members is Rajeev Menon, AVP for Marriott over India, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the Maldives. Rising Star Outreach is the Marriott hotel's charity in all 10 of their hotels in these countries. For 6 months envelopes have been in all the rooms of their hotels that explain Rising Star's mission and making it convenient for hotel guests to donate if they wish to. Also at checkout time, guests are asked if they would like to contribute rs100 (about $2.00) to be added to their bill. With hotel occupancy being down 40 - 60% these past months, they still gave us a check from these donations for 10 lakh--$22,000! Marriott is building many new hotels as we write, with a beautiful new JW Marriott to open in Chennai a year from now. This can only get better. We feel so blessed with the great help the Marriott's have given the program from around the world. The Marriott Courtyard in Chennai have truly adopted us, and bring such wonderful hope and love to the children and to others that we serve.

Pictures: 2 new students of the 4th Standard; official banner announcing in English and Tamil our receiving school recognition; Karen Berry (Courtyard Marriott General Manager), Joyce, Padma, Rajeev Menon, Ron; some of the staff of the Courtyard Marriott and Board members, as we received the award and had pictures taken for local media coverage.

Where does the time go??

2009-09-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

Is there anyone out there left to wonder if we are still in India or not? The answer is, we are still here and keeping very busy--no excuse, but the only one I have. Time flies--faster here, and we get further behind. What a busy three weeks we've had.

A few highlights: We had a wonderful puja at the volunteer block for the putting in of the front door frame. Who would guess that it was very significant to see that door frame put in with a blessing for the remainder of the building. Needless to say, we would just like to say that the building is completed, but we can only say that the frame is in, and we are continuing the process of completion, slowly, slowly.

One of our house mothers became engaged, and we were invited to participate in the ceremony: Ron spoke and I prayed. It was a Christian union, but I realized many things that I had associated with a Hindu ritual is probably Indian culture and not religious based. The celebration took place in a small chapel in one of the leprosy colonies where this housemother's family lives. It was a sweet experience.

Ron celebrated his 72nd birthday on the 1st of September--the second birthday he has celebrated here. My next one will be with family in the US, which I look forward to. Ron's was a grand event, with two cakes (one for breakfast) and a very large beautiful one for all the staff and the children in the afternoon. They do love birthdays in India, and of course they love the aged, and we are becoming that also rather rapidly.

We had a wonderful parents day the first Saturday in September. Always it is a happy day for some and sad for others who have no one that comes to see them. We try to keep those children busy by helping us with chores, but many times there are families from their colony who include them with their own children for food and a bit of loving. We did lose some boys that day, whose mother had decided they were falling too far behind in an English language school, and had decided to put them in a Tamil medium school. That was sad.

We lost one of our artists in the Bindu Art School at the Bharatapuram colony, but in doing so witnessed some great acts of charity by two of our volunteers. Arumagam had broken his hip and was finally admitted to the hospital that works with leprosy patients. For three weeks he languished, with limited food, no surgery, and no hygiene care. They finally discharged him, weaker, very dirty and smelly, covered with open bed wounds, and sent him back to the colony to die. We received a call from Padma Venkataraman asking if there were any volunteers who could go to the colony and help him. We had two with us at the time: Nicole Pryzbola and Tom Douglas. They took off immediately with bandages, washing materials, and food. They cleaned him as well as they could--he didn't want to be moved much because of the pain from the hip, and fed him a little. They returned for three days; they sang, he smiled and sat up a bit, he smelled better, they dressed his wounds and got him a bed pan-- and then he died. It was an incredible thing these two young people had done--they were truly angles of mercy. Their response was to thank us and Padma for the privilege they had been given to serve this man. That's the kind of volunteers we have here at Rising Star Outreach. A few days after he died, we printed out a picture of Arumagam, mounted it, and they took it along with a flower tribute to the colony, to pay their last respects. Many of the artists cried--I know Tom and Nicole also shed a tear. They were bonded to this dear man with charity, the pure love of Christ.

One amazing side note: last year Nicole's twin sister Megan came to Rising Star. She had written about many of her experiences in her diary, and talked a lot about one of the artists in the colony. She had taken a beautiful picture of him which she enlarged and gave to Nicole. It has been hanging on the wall in Nicole's room for a year. Arumagam was a very thin man, even when healthy, but he had lost a lot of weight in the hospital. She didn't connect him to her picture at first, but it turned out that the very man whose picture was hanging in Nicole's apartment was the one she was asked to administer to. I love these small miracles that we see here.

Pictures: puja for front door frame, housemother's engagement ceremony, Ron's birthday, parents day, Nicole and Tom at tribute for Arumagam, Arumagam painting.

Projects with the Volunteers - #3

2009-08-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

Ashley Erikson comes from Boise, Idaho. She is the third of six girls in her family. She will be back at Utah State in the fall, where she is still debating her future life direction (i.e., major). She is a true outdoors girl--lives in the land of kayaking (certified guide), fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, and anything else she can find to do outside! Loves reading and traveling--she was always looking for her next good book, and she and Rochelle took off for a week to northern Indian and an Ashram! (She was going to meditate and decide on her major...hmmm) Ashley was in charge of the tutoring program with the children for the summer. She instructed the volunteers at the beginning of each session, then spent her days overseeing their work with the children in the mango grove. This summer, the tutors worked in a variety of subjects, as the teacher would send a child with a special need in math, science, english, whatever. We had to laugh a few times when the math exceeded the knowledge of the tutor--compound interest, and quotient something or other (which our American kids would do with a calculator--we don't have those in school here!) The children adored Ashley (just looking at her you would say, "what's not to adore"), and she did such a great job. The teachers were singing the praise of the tutoring program by the end of the summer, but particularly the praises of Ashley.

Ashley was also in charge of the evening meals. That meant planning food for anywhere from 50 hungry souls down to 10, depending on the week and the numbers of volunteers here at the time. She worked closely with the cook on the menu, but one thing, you could always find Ashley at about 5:30 in the afternoon, usually with many helpers--big and small, cutting a beautiful bowl of fresh fruit to go with the dinner, as well as tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. The Indian food, while tasty and nutritious, is not known to have many fresh raw fruits or vegetables--something we Americans crave.

Ashley has a huge, giving heart, and comes by it naturally. We received some wonderful gifts from her family for Rising Star--a projector, and an all day outing to MGM (India's version of Disneyland) and three new bikes. She also came equipped to make yummy desserts and other fun dishes with foods from home. How we've missed her chocolate pudding cake! She also showed us all how to have fun with the children--water fights, fairy walks with the little girls, wild races with the boys (she always won) or just swinging from the palms. Thank you Ashley for making life so joyful for us all this summer at Rising Star.

Pictures: Ashley and Kaity Gale, water fight with Joseph Stalin, fairy walk and evening devotional at dinner, one of Ashley's tutors with Archana (she got it!), Ashley in the Mango grove, swinging from the palms, and dressed in sari at last brunch at Marriott.

Projects with the Volunteers - #2

2009-08-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

Rochelle Cronquist from Atlanta Georgia, is a small, but very powerful (personality, body strength, and determination) young woman. She is a Junior this year at BYU majoring in Public Health with a minor in International Development. She has run a marathon, spent several months in her favorite country, France, on a Study Abroad program, and counts this summer as her third trip to Rising Star. She has been in charge of all special projects, including after school activities, projects in the colonies, evening devotionals and assorted other things that fall under the category of "special projects." The other coordinators finally came to the conclusion she had way too many jobs to survive the summer. There was, of course, a lot of help from the others, but basically Rochelle handled many tough jobs on her own. She is lovely in a sari, but never afraid of getting dirty--she did a lot of that!

When I think of her, my favorite picture will always be handling the workers and the volunteers as they began in July to build three toilets in the Bharatapuram Colony, with the large group that came with Sally Reed from New Caanan, CT. Getting the contractor to understand that the three workers with him were not to do all the work, but rather teach the volunteers how to set bricks, mortar, plaster, build a roof, and paint the three "squatters" as we dubbed them was almost impossible. The contractor would fail to have the materials, they couldn't figure out why a group with materials and one mason should be at each site, and they would start at 7:00 when we would not arrive until 9:30 and a good portion of the work would be done. In the end, because of Rochelle's perseverance and determination the volunteers completed the project and felt satisfied, and the job turned out great. (note the pictures.) One man told us that he had to carry his wife everywhere, and he was so happy now that he had a toilet right by his home and he no longer had to carry her all the way up the hill where it was private. Always sweet stories of sacrifice and perhaps making a life a little easier.

She also led a group of volunteers in August to redo the walls of the barber's shop and put on a new roof. He was thrilled--small project, but great rewards. They completed this project the last day before they were leaving to go home. Rochelle had announced to me that she would stay as late as necessary to make sure the last of the painting, etc., was completed. She did!

Rochelle was outstanding in all that she did--tough as nails, and always a lady even when climbing on the top of the roof to paint under the eves. There was no job that was too daunting for this incredible young lady! Thank you Rochelle for being an inspiration to us all.

Pictures: Rochelle with Joyce and Ron at our farewell thank you at the Marriott; Rochelle and Kelsey Holloway putting the finishing touches on the barber shop; Rochelle and the happy barber; finished toilets (two of them--they completed three); and building the toilets with the volunteers. Rochelle carried a lot of bricks!

Projects with the Volunteers - #1

2009-08-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

I thought you'd enjoy knowing a little bit about our projects that the coordinators have guided our volunteers in this summer. There have been several smaller ones that were not for the full summer, but there have been some that have followed through the last three months. We have had close to 100 volunteers who have spent up to four weeks with us. The volunteer program is under the direction of Amy Antonelli, and she was here for part of the time in early August. She had invited 5 very talented and dedicated women to run the program for the summer--she trained and taught them, and they came in May prepared to handle anything and everything! In the next few blogs, I will share with you their portions of the program and tell you a bit about these great leaders.

Kaity Gale is from Seattle, Washington. She will be a senior in Anthropology this fall at BYU. Next year she plans to start a Masters program in Public Health. The first week in October she will marry Peter... Kaity's program was unique, as she designed her own program and presented it to Amy a year ago. She was a volunteer herself in August of 2008, and after working with the people in the colonies, felt it would be a great thing to set up interviewing and story gathering in the colonies, with translators to assist with the language barrier. Her goal for the summer was to get the stories of these people, whose lives have been so different; they have been shunned and removed from the mainstream of Indian life. Within 20 years, the colonies may be a thing of the past, as leprosy is on the decline with proper medical help more available to prevent the horrible disfiguring which so easily identifies them as leprosy affected. The curse of leprosy hopefully will be gone, just as it has disappeared from the island of Molokai in Hawaii.

Kaity's work had the approval of Padma Venkataraman, who laid the groundwork for Kaity in the colonies. Kaity was amazed at how quickly the residents in the colonies accepted her, and with her the stream of volunteers who accompanied her and visited with the people. She opened doors with games (Jenga and Badmitton were two particular favorites), picking up garbage, singing songs and dancing, and just laughing and having fun. Her most joyful experience was getting to know the individuals so closely, and making so many good friends. She loved hearing their stories--some happy and content with life, even with all their problems, many so unhappy with the struggles they've been faced with. Her project was one of building trust--with the people of the colonies, and with Padma as her project developed. Padma was not sure how the people would accept so many coming to ask questions.

Kaity plans to compile her material (she has over 150 single spaced pages) into a book with individual stories or as a history of the colonies. A portion of the material will be used for her senior thesis and academic articles. As she has spent her time with these people her own knowledge of the Tamil language has increased greatly. There were also several wonderful translators helping, including Esther and Rhadika who are both here at Rising Star from the US and speak Tamil. We had several darling young men from Chennai, who spent a good portion of their summer back and forth on the train to be with Kaity and her group. The volunteers loved going out with her, and many were exceptionally good at the interviewing and making friends. Our smallest grandsons who were here in July, Jack and Match Hanson, were really loved by the people--and they in turn loved the experience. There were several of the residents who wanted to adopt them into the colony!

This program provided a unique opportunity for our volunteers this year. It will not be repeated next year, but something else will be available to give the volunteers a wonderful experience with the colony people. We feel so lucky that Kaity was able to be here with us, and with her training lead this outstanding endeavor. She has been incredible.

Pictures: Padma and Kaity (note picture of Padma's Dad behind); Sammy Stapley (volunteer), Raja (translator) and one of the residents; a game of jenga with Paramasivan; beautiful Kaity; Esther dancing with Maria. With the exception of the first picture of Padma and Kaity, all photos by Mark Olson and family.

Back to India

2009-08-13T05:16:00.001-07:00

We have returned to the land of color (and heat!) A few problems were here to greet us, mainly having to do with the construction. We can't seem to leave and have everything move forward in a straight line.

We had two wonderful weeks at home with the wedding of our granddaughter, Katie, to Chance Krainik, being the highlight. The family gathered and celebrated for many days, which also was wonderful. We really loved having the opportunity to connect with the whole family at once. We have missed our August in Laguna and February in Huntsville trips with everyone. Katie was such a beautiful bride, and we liked her new husband very much. The evening celebration was colorful and a lot of fun! Cotton candy, popcorn, photo booth, candy table, ice cream stand and cupcakes and small hamburgers and hotdogs, made it all so festive. We all stayed and danced and enjoyed a remarkably warm Laguna evening for many hours. Our daughter-in-law Natalie had directed the creation of all the flower arrangements, along with her twin sister Monica Sedgwick, and Elizabeth Tempest, Katie Hanson, and Amy Curtis assisting. They were spectacular. We were grateful to be able to be there participating. Jenny and Chris and Katie Wilson did a fantastic job with all the planning and arrangements.

We returned to another volunteer session already in progress with about 20 super volunteers doing all the great things they do: work in the colonies with the medical program, the ongoing anthropology work also in the colonies, tutoring the children and painting in all kinds of places: houses, toilets (built by the last group), and the murals in the children's rooms and now up the stairwells. The groups also have switched off digging for all the pipes that connect the various buildings. On finding them, they have painted markers so we don't lose them again! Luckily, we had two nights of rain, so the ground was a bit softer than normal. It was a huge job, no matter.

Happy to be back--more of India and our experiences in the next entry.

Super Volunteers

2009-07-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

In a previous blog I wrote a bit about the dentists who did such an incredible job for us. Three dentists, and parts of their family, came to spend a week improving the dental hygiene and health of our children. They ended up seeing every child in the school (hostel and village), plus the housemothers and our cook Padmini. They did root canals, filled teeth, removed teeth, and cleaned and scraped every little mouth. It took all six days that they were here. One of our boys, 10 year old Aron, had his beautiful new front teeth broken off this spring. They were bonded by the dentists and now look just like new. He was so thrilled. The only break they had was to go to a very distant colony, late one afternoon, and do some teeth extractions. The colony they visited has only 7 members still living. They have no real means of getting in to see dentists and doctors, so they rely on the mobile medical van/doctor visits, and in this instance, the visit of the dentists. They were so grateful. Last week when our group was there they were showing off their mouths minus the teeth that were giving them trouble. They were very proud of their dental work!

In the group, in addition to the three dentists, were two wives, one son, and five daughters. All of them assisted at least two days in the dental clinic as well as going out with all the activities of the mobile medical, anthropology, and tutoring programs. Playtime and family evening were on their schedule, as well as a great water balloon toss, with an amazing balloon launcher. They not only did a great service for the Rising Star population, but they were so much fun. Thank you McGavin's, Astle's, and VandenBerghe's--I'm sure you saved a lot of teeth for our beautiful children.

Arriving almost simultaneously with our family, were A'lissa and Mark Olson and their two beautiful daughters, Tracy and Veronica. They came equipped with cameras (a great gift from them), soft ware, expertise and again willingness to teach a photography clinic to some of our older children each day. They participated in the full program here, including mural painting in the children's rooms in the hostels. They conducted two 45 minute sessions with a group of 10 in each, from 4:30 to 6:00 daily. It was a beginning, and the children loved it! We had a powerpoint showing one evening of photographs taken by the children, as well as by the Olsons. A photography club will be formed, so that we might continue the enthusiasm engendered. Matt Goodell and his sister, who will be coming in August, will head this up. It's remarkable the talent and the willingness of the people who come to bless Rising Star. We feel lucky to be here to witness it all.

Pictures: Aron, before and after bonding on broken teeth; Dr. Astle teaching proper brushing in Family Evening; massive water balloon toss; Dentists and families (joined by a few friends) preparing to leave; A'lissa Olson and daughter Taylor painting mural on wall; showing of children's pictures on power point.

The Family Came to Visit...

2009-07-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

What a joyous week we had with Matt and Natalie and 7 grandsons and 2 nieces on Natalie's side of the family here with us. It was so fun to share a bit of our life with them, and see the way they responded with love and energy to the requirements of being with the children (who couldn't get enough of them), working in the colonies, painting murals, and all other kinds of things they were asked to do. They worked through illness, heat, little sleep and constant activity, to provide Rising Star with everything a volunteer can give. How we loved watching it all. We thank each and everyone that came, as we do all our volunteers for the great gift that they bring: love and willing hands and heart.

The youngest two sons in the Maryland Hanson family are Matthew (Match -- 9) and Jack (11). They were beloved of the children: Ambarasu said Jack is his best friend for life, and Peter and Match could be seen walking everywhere hand in hand. Match and Jack were never without a crowd, with the children knocking our door all hours of the early morning and into the evening, looking for their best friends to come and play. They also took their turns painting murals, doing the Anthropology interviews and the medical day, washing and wrapping feet. In the colonies, they got their cheeks pinched until they were red, and barely escaped several loving older women who wanted to adopt them into the colony. Also, one older man who had been drinking a lot, almost smothered Jack with love and booze! They played games in the colonies and loved the people, giving their whole hearts to the work.

The older boys, Jamie (15), Samuel (16), Eric (17), Ben (17) and Nate (18), and the two beautiful girls, Sammy Stapley (15) and Jane Ostergar (16), were all the perfect volunteers. They were on time for the coordinators meetings where they receive their instructions for each day, willing to go with their group for the days activities, and participating cheerfully at whatever they were asked to do. It was so thrilling to see these beautiful teenagers demonstrate the true love of Christ in their interactions with the young and the old. The coordinators mentioned several times they had never seen young people more willing to serve without complaint than these nine were. How grateful we were to each of them, and how we love them!

Natalie and Matthew led the group--survived losing Match at the Red Fort in Agra, and mentally preparing the young people for what they could expect when they arrived at Rising Star Outreach. They had six days in the north of India touring with their group before coming South. They were incredible volunteers, also, lifting, encouraging, bearing gifts for all the staff and the children, teaching the children how to make boxes (and the children made a lot), preparing picture and picture frames for each child to give their family at the next parent's day, and encouraging and lifting their aging parents! (No easy task!) It was a bit of pure heaven having them here: all loving being here, and all being loved. The following is a bit of Matt's email home to the families interested in their children's activities.

"Our days at Rising Star have flown by. You would all be very proud of how our group of kids threw themselves into the flow of the school and had a very positive impact. During the day, we break into our groups and work on various assignments. Yesterday my group painted a Nemo mural in one of the girl’s dorm rooms, while the other two groups either met with people in the villages to work on oral histories (part of an anthropology project), or went to the hospital with the medical team to escort some of the leprosy patients through the morass which is public health care.

" A few other highlights: Yesterday a US born daughter of Indian immigrants performed a traditional Hindi dance, complete with the formal gown, makeup and jewelry. The kids experimented with Hennai, which is a semi-permanent sort of tattoo (it comes off in a about a month). Jane, Sammy and Natalie have been doing various crafts with the girls: decorating picture frames and boxes out of folded paper. The boys have been playing some intense basketball with the students, and working hard at their assignments.

" The lowlight? We ate Porota (Indian flat bread) at a road side stand on Tuesday night. Nate lost in an eating contest to a girl. Nate downed 10 Porota, while Esther consumed 11. We were all very embarrassed and pessimistic about the future of SVU football.

" We leave tonight to Chennai for our flight back. The kids had the option of leaving this evening and having an American dinner in Chennai before going to the airport, or staying at the school for as long as possible and heading straight to the airport. They unanimously chose to stay for as long as possible, so that they could be with the kids and enjoy all the activities here at the school. These kids have really been great to travel with."

What a joy as parents and grandparents to have had this opportunity to host these wonderful young people and Matt and Natalie. They were all awesome!!!

Pictures: Night of departure, Jamie strutting his dunk, Nate and his 10th parotta, Sam and a wild game of soccer with Sathya and Praveen, Natalie and Sammy in the craft mode, Ben and friends, dinner on the balcony, Match and Jack with the boys collecting 20 eggs, Jane and Match on afternoon "ticket to play" check, Sammy with 2 friends, painting the "Nemo" mural, Nate and Eric with their mural, "Flounder"

Dancing and Dental!

2009-07-05T22:35:00.000-07:00

We have had so much dancing in the past week! The Marriott Day was our turn to entertain them for a change (although they did bring a great magician with them.) Katie Winder, one of our fabulous volunteers who is a student at the Boston Conservatory, was here for a month and worked tirelessly each day working on new dance routines with the children. On the day the Marriott associates were here, along with a great program by the children, Katie also did a beautiful ballet routine out in the middle of the mango grove. She looked so lovely and for many of the adults, it was the first time watching ballet. Also, her students loved seeing her dance. Also performing that day was Rhadika Kannan, our newest volunteer (here for a year.) She was born and raised in California, but her parents and grandma are from Southern India, and Rhadika grew up bilingual (Tamil being her other language). She has taught in the public schools in California, is ESL certified, and performs and teaches Indian Classical dance. She is an answer to many prayers! She is going to teach a variety of subjects in the school, has prepared a wonderful curriculum for our housemothers to improve their English, and will be teaching dance for the year! How incredible is that. She is such a lovely example of both cultures that make up her background.

Becky was here for almost a week, and we were grateful for every day. Everyone is so thrilled when she comes, and the children are just ecstatic. She lifts and encourages each and everyone of us. She and Padma and the Hansons had a great day working on the Micro-finance program. We are excited to see the direction it is taking, and thrilled that Padma is truly enthused about it all. She had such a hard time when her father died, and we were afraid we would never get her back. We are going to join with a national group, Mitra National Forum for Leprosy Rehabilitation, which will give us a far wider sphere of influence, but still we will be able to maintain our autonomy in the colonies we now work with. Padma is on the national board, which will give Rising Star Outreach more clout. Exciting step forward.

The dentists (3 from Utah with family members) arrived yesterday, and by 9:00 Monday morning were ready to see their first patients. They came completely ready to work with three complete dental set-ups: chairs and all equipment needed for fillings, extractions, and any other requirements. They will see every child in the school during the next five days and try to head off the awful problems we see with the older people, particularly in the leprosy colonies. This great gift has come about through Scott McGavin, who is David Archuleta's dentist. David got excited about the project and raised funds to help make it financially possible and Scott got two of his dentist buddies to sign on with him. Thanks go to David, Scott McGavin, Steve Aste and John VandenBerghe, and family members who are working as assistants. On Friday, they will visit a colony or two with help for some of the leprosy affected people. The full story will follow in the next post!

Pictures: Children, finale; Katie Winder; Rhadika Kannan; Katie, Becky and Rhadika; Reagan VandenBerghe with Satish; Lance McGavin and Dr. Scott McGavin, Dr. Steve Aste

...whereas I was blind, now I see. (John 9:25)

2009-07-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

What a month we have had, including a wonderful report from our Dr. Senthil Kumar and his success with a man called Mr. Karuppiah from Bethel Nagar Colony. Mr. Karuppiah has been blind for 20 years--he had never laid eyes on his grandchildren, age 16 and 18. He had never seen the many volunteers over the years who had come to wash his feet and hands and redo the bandages. He never saw Lucy Williams who spent a whole day with him at Ramachandra Hospital where the surgery was done, escorting him from one office to another, sitting and waiting, and singing. He had never seen Dr. Senthil Kumar who has come every two weeks to his colony to serve those who need him. They had done a major screening in the two biggest colonies for glaucoma and cataracts. Six were taken for surgery out of about 25 found needing help. The ophthalmologist didn't want to operate on Mr. Karuppiah, saying he was too old--why bother, he'll die soon anyway. Dr. Kumar convinced the ophthalmologist with 2 hours of reasoning, " yes he's old, but why not give it a try: nothing to lose!" Finally, the ophthalmologist agreed. The result was stunning. He now has one good eye, to see with after 20 years! Dr Kumar wrote, "he wanted to thank the unseen and unknown American volunteers who washed his feet, and who took pictures with him." He had help in making a couple of signs expressing his feelings for those who had helped him.

Last Saturday, Ron and I were in Bethel Nagar Colony to see the computer teaching that is now taking place for young people in that Colony, thanks to Dell Computer Company. They have provided laptops, money for a teacher, transportation to cover trips to and from the colonies. It was so inspiring to see many young adults and high school age youth so excited about this program being offered to them. While we were there we met with Mr. Karuppiah outside the community center. He was praising God, in all directions--all by himself. I went out to talk to him, and had blessings placed upon my head, and "hallelujahs" in all directions. He speaks just enough English that there was no misunderstanding what he was talking about. What a thrill for him and for us, to be a part of this small (big to Mr. Karuppiah) Indian miracle.

Lazy, days of Summer -School!

2009-06-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

Education is our most important mission here at Rising Star Outreach. In the Peery Matriculation School for Rising Stars, our principal, teachers, and volunteers are working hard to help the children achieve their potential--not just in the basic subjects, but most especially in English. We're working in a language that is REALLY foreign to them, just as their language Tamil, is REALLY foreign to us. They are being taught and tutored in this very foreign language (English)--even the words of Shakespeare! They go home to their families--the children from the village, every night, and no one speaks this English that they are working so hard to become fluent in. How can you read Shakespeare when you can hardly read a basic primer that our American students might read in 1st grade?

India does not have a national language. The official language of the Republic of India is Hindi, and its subsidiary official language is English. India has gone through some dramatic periods with language: trying to make Hindi the compulsory language for the country caused a near civil war: knocking out all the local languages such as Tamil and the Urdu language where much of the beautiful poetry is found, as well as the other 22 regional languages now recognized with official status was not well accepted. After the British left, there was also a feeling to rid the country of all things that reminded them of the hundreds of years that they were one of the great British Empire colonies. Speaking English seemed all wrong. In the 21st century, however, English is the language of business in a global world. Those who will get successful jobs and be successful in the university arena, will not only speak Tamil, Hindi, Urdu or many of the other state languages, but will also speak English. English is now a required subject in every government and non-government school. Those who learn it best come from an English Matriculation school, where every subject is taught in English!

Our little kindergarten children will have no problems--we know that the younger they begin to face the daunting task of learning a new language the more successful they will be. We have several students in the older grades who are doing very well, but many who struggle to master complicated subjects in a complicated language are failing. Our volunteers, this summer, are spending part of every day in the mango grove, where one on one, they work on the subject where a student is falling behind and do it in English. These volunteers come in all shapes and sizes--Charlie Googh is in "our age" category: he's here with his cute granddaughter Tessa Barton, a good friend of our granddaughter Hannah. We have the son of our driver, Mani, who just graduated from 12th standard and will be entering the university here for the summer. The director of the tutoring program (pictured with David and Ragu) is Ashley Erekson. What a job she is doing. It looks like the Lazy Days of Summer, but actually it is a very intense and vital part of the learning process.

One area of near total success is the computer program. Children, the world over, seem to understand what some of us feel so challenged by. One of our volunteers today made the comment that the 10 year olds were learning to do spread sheets! I put my name in to sign up for that class.

Shoes and Helpers!

2009-06-14T03:38:00.000-07:00

We've had such a nice week--including an overdue visit from our architect and the structural engineer. There were parts of the building that could go no further without an onsite visit and we actually had them both show up together on Friday. Many questions were asked and suggestions made by our very fine architect, and approvals given on structural dilemmas by the engineer. We will continue to move forward, with a bit more knowledge. None of this, however, makes us feel like we will be ready to move volunteers into the new quarters by the middle of July--one month from today! We keep reminding everyone, This Is India, and we move at a different pace.

The first group of volunteers left at the crack of dawn today for Delhi and Agra, before returning to their homes. A few will return to Rising Star for another two weeks with us. They have been an outstanding group of young people--qualified in such a variety of areas. The coordinators made the comment that when they read their resumes they wondered why they should feel qualified to be their directors. The coordinators are fantastic and did a wonderful job, and the volunteers worked so hard in tasks that were often menial, difficult, hot and miserable, and heart-rending, without missing a beat. It was pure service at it's best.

Our children, as mentioned before, are now wearing shoes and socks to school. They look so darling and are uncomplaining, although I know that having gone barefoot all their lives these new stiff shoes and hot black socks cannot be very much fun. The little ones invariably have them on the wrong feet. I often see one of the older children changing the shoes around on the feet of the little ones. Bad enough to have them on the right feet! It feels like a new era: a city school, sophistication in our program, 21st century at Rising Star to see them in their shoes and socks. When they come home they quickly put them away for the day, and become once again little country Indian kids, with the toughest feet you can imagine. I think I like it best that way.

From the pictures, it looks like we need to work on the zippers, next! Also note one boy who may have lost?? his shoes.

We're Back!

2009-06-06T00:35:00.000-07:00

Doubt there are many left out there to read this after a long absence of writing. Got a note of reminder/chastisement from Elizabeth this morning letting me know the last entry was April 23. Oh well--no excuse, except my month spent at home was probably not what anyone wanted to hear about. Ron returned on May 16 (we were both scheduled to return), but I was delayed until May 31. It was hard--he was miserable in the heat, no children yet returned, and concern for me. I knew it was difficult for him to be here alone, but he is the best foreman around in regards to our building projects, and he had to come back. Jenny allayed some of his concerns that I too was miserable when she said I was eating out every day at Neiman Marcus, Rothchilds, Javiers, Pascals etc. with family and friends. It was also 70 degrees in Laguna, versus 100+ in India. However, we have been happy to be back together, and I'm just happy to be here.

The children returned on Sunday, for a return to school on Monday, June 1. We were so happy to see them back. They have returned with a variety of illnesses, wounds, and a few young children with a lot of tears. (How we are missing Dr. Karl Kirby and "nurse" Vickie Gibb.) Life in the colonies may be fraught with conditions that are less than ideal, but mom or dad, or a loving grandparent or aunt or uncle, are hard to leave. The children are very brave, as are the parents who seem so stoic, but are often seen out in the mango grove after leaving their child, sobbing all alone. It's touching, to say the least. I will write more about the children next week and include a picture of them with their new black shoes and socks, which are now a requirement as part of the uniform. They look sharp!

The volunteers also arrived. We have 14 here--4 men and 10 women. They are darling, and working hard in this incredible heat. The program, as designed by Amy Antonelli, and now being implemented by five coordinators is running so smoothly. We feel lucky to be a part of the action with them. More to come on this outstanding group of young people.

Today was an exciting day for the building process. With an early morning puja and a huge increase in the numbers of workers, they began the around the clock task of pouring the 2nd story of the school floor. It's so incredible to watch--like toys I remember where you wind them and everything begins to move. The concrete is mixed on the ground--1 bag cement, 3 buckets of gravel and 2 of sand--in the big mixer. A large bucket goes up and down which receives the newly mixed concrete and rises up to the top where the mixture is put into the dishes the women carry on their heads to be dumped at the appropriate spot. It's round and round--for 24 hours or more it will continue until the entire floor is poured. They are all walking on tied rebar so they watch carefully not to fall as they carry their heavy loads. The contractor told me there were about 80 people working on that job. There are still others working on the guest hostel and the dining/kitchen block. Progress is being made.

Our new Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plant is nearly completed, and the equipment will arrive this next week. The plant sits between the two hostels on a concrete platform that houses the pumps for the water tanks. A small structure has been completed for the RO. It got painted a couple of days ago--like everything in India, the yellows don't quite match but they are close. We will be so happy to have clean water, and be able to do away with these big plastic bottles that clutter us up everywhere. We did get a lot of painting done in the hallways and rooms, with some vivid new Indian colors on the walls!

More soon--hope somebody is still out there checking to see if the Hansons are still "Walking in the Sand."

Pictures: 1) Making concrete, 2) Parade of workers (mostly women) carrying concrete to dump, 3) Getting ready, 4) Guest hostel-entrance, 5) Dining block, 6) New RO plant between hostels

Quiet after the Big Week!

2009-04-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

The children are all gone--a few of us old folks are here for another day or two, but the house mothers and cooks will be gone by mid-day. We feel a bit lonely and are missing all the activity!

It was a wild week, to put it mildly, but it turned out so well. The children's excitement for the Marriott Day of tree planting, and the Annual Day with the wonderful program, was only exceeded by having their parents or family member come to take them home for 5 weeks! That was the happiest thing of all.

The busy week began with the Courtyard Marriott team coming to plant 12 trees in recognition of Environmental Month. It was a truly wonderful day, with a group of about 30 coming to help the children get the trees in the ground (we had pre-dug and prepared the holes for them). They sponsored an art competition, complete with prizes, about awareness of the importance of clean, green, and being ecologically friendly. Lunch under the mango trees is also included when the Marriott team comes. The children loved every part of the day, but it pointed up to us they need more time for art in their lives; they loved the drawing and we should encourage more of it.

After an exhausting previous week completing exams, and the big Marriott day, they had an all day session of practice on Tuesday for our Annual Day program. It is very hot, and as you can see from a couple of pictures they were tired! I wish I could lie on a cement floor and sleep like that. Tuesday evening for us was an evening out with our friends Vickie and Gordon Gibb. It was to be their last night before returning to America and resuming his teaching at BYU. The American team piled into our new bus and headed to our favorite truck-stop/roadside stand for parrota and omellet. Not too fancy, but mighty tasty. We are so sad to have them leave--their contribution has been huge and they have become very dear friends. After the Marriott Day on Monday, they were honored by the teachers and the principal. It was very touching to hear the tributes to both Gordon and Vickie, and the love they have for them.

The finale on Wednesday, Annual Day and heading home, was another exhausting effort, but a big success. We have had 5 very hot days in a row, with not a bit of moving air to cool us. Wednesday, was no exception. The program was long (just handing out the awards for the children's achievements took a good 45 minutes!) There were speeches and recognitions, then the program the children had worked so hard on. It was darling--song and dance and a great "English Drama" created by Amy Kirby and Sara Zabawa. The children and their families loved every minute of it. We were melted puddles by the end of the three hours!

Following the program, we had a lovely lunch on the rooftop for the Board Members and other special guests, prepared by our great cook Padmini. A Board meeting followed the lunch. It was a marathon day, but so satisfying. Our great sadness was that Becky's plane from Boston to New York did not make it in time for her to catch her flight to India, so she was absent--greatly missed by all.

Children left with their parents ready for a well deserved rest, and we are quiet! We will be in the US by next Wednesday, stopping for a few days in Washington with Natalie and Matthew and their family. Next update from home.

April!

2009-04-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

What a busy, exciting month April is shaping up to be! Ron and I have attended several events in the role of the Directors of Rising Star Outreach, India, as Honored Guests, recipients of gifts for Rising Star Outreach, and the representatives as the giver of gifts. From Assan Memorial Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology we were invited to their Annual Day, and Ron was asked to give awards to some of the graduating students. At the Rotary Club of Madras Central we symbolically received the gift that they had provided of 40 desktop Dell computers; and from the Women's India Association, we cut the ribbon to begin a new project of making sanitary pads for underprivileged women that came about from a Micro loan from the Agel Foundation. We felt very privileged to be here to represent Rising Star Outreach on each of these occasions. We have found the Indian people to be wonderful friends, with giving hearts and concern for the needy and underprivileged. They continue to provide more and more help to Rising Star.

One example, is the groups that want to come to the school and be with the children. This past week a team from the Cobra Legal Solutions came to spend a large portion of Good Friday with us. They were so well prepared, having arranged ahead of time for awning covers, sound system, and coming prepared with games, relays, prizes, skits and dramas. What fun it all turned out to be. Our amazing cook Padmini had prepared a fabulous lunch for not only the children and all of the employees, but also for all the lawyers with us for the day. Everyone ate together, with the Cobra people serving the children, and all of our employees (drivers, land workers, office administration) participating. Not only did all our employees participate in the food, but also had a wonderful time playing musical chairs, and participating in the races and other games. The children loved it!

The Marriott group come every month, and they will be with us next Monday for Environmental and Conservation day, bringing trees to plant on the property, and a contest they have planned for the children. The people who come to visit show the children so much about what they can become: attorneys, managers, people with good jobs who have achieved because of attention to their education. Through fun, many things are taught, and our friends from Cobra and Marriott are so generous and loving--they brighten our lives as well as the children's.

On April 22, Rising Star Outreach will have their Annual Day--the last day of school, until June, and special guests, including all the of the Indian Board of Directors of RSO, the Punjayet from our neighboring village, District School leaders, and of course all of the parents of our dear children. We will have a full program, including a talk by our Guest of Honor, Becky Douglas. Everyone is so excited that she is coming--even if it is only for two days. The children have a wonderful program of song and dance and drama prepared, and then they will head home for the spring break.

Many of our Rising Star friends will also be heading home at that time, their jobs completed, including Gordon and Vickie Gibb, the Kirby Family, and Matt and Sara Zabawa. We are going to be very sad and very alone with them gone. We will go home for two weeks in May.

THANK YOU, BOB UNCLE!

2009-03-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Most of us probably don't spend a lot of time on where the waste from our home goes--I know that has not been high on my list of things to dwell on. Here in India, however, that has been a continuing topic of thought, discussion, and finally action! When we were home at Christmas, Ron casually mentioned to our son-in-law, Bob Tempest, that if he wasn't super busy with his underground pipe construction work in Salt Lake, he might consider coming to India and helping Ron watch the construction on the new buildings begin--kind of be a supervisor of sorts. Bob agreed; it was a good time for him to leave for a few weeks and he thought that would be an interesting thing for him to do. As the days moved toward the beginning of March when Bob was planning to come, Ron realized that with our supervisor that we had engaged to watch the materials, building processes, how the decisions were made by the contractor, that Bob would not have a needful job in that area. HOWEVER, how would Bob feel about building us a septic system that would take care of all the waste from all the buildings (old and new) so that it never ran down our pathways in open ditches again!?! (Also, so we would never smell it again.)

Hmm... Bob had never built a septic system before but he would get some books and study up on it before he got there. Sounded like a good project to him.

Sunday, March 29, Bob left Chennai on the train to Agra with his sister Lynne. Lynne had come to spend a few days at Rising Star with us, and then would travel with Bob to Agra (Taj Mahal), the New Delhi area then on to Tokyo for a few days before returning home. What he left behind at Rising Star Outreach was possibly the finest septic system in all of India. He had accomplished the miraculous: In three weeks time he had designed, mobilized an Indian labor force (none of whom spoke English except for the supervisor Victor, who spoke limited English), and completed a magnificent system that will serve us for years to come. We're all still scratching our heads as to how he did this. We did feed him a lot of good Indian food, so that probably helped his efforts.

I'm going to give you the shortened version of the process, but if you're bored by septic system design, you can sign off now. The RESEARCH began in the US for Bob--we had also been working with a Sanitation Engineer here by the name of Balusundaram. Ron picked Bob up at the airport and went straight to his office. They conferred, but Ron and Bob decided to modify the design Balusundaram had drawn and go with a system that is familiar to the U.S.

The system used includes a septic tank to hold solid wastes plus perforated pipe laid in gravel filled trenches for the effluent. The bacteria disposes of solids, although periodic pumping is usually required. The effluent is filtered through gravel and soil to become clean.

The DESIGN included the Field: 10 trenches, 3 feet wide, 5 feet deep, 100 feet long. Gravel 3 feet deep would fill each of those 10 trenches, plus one trench that bisected and connected all of them down the center from the main connections. Pipe: 4 inch perforated every 6 inches, all laid perfectly level. (Perforation was down with a power drill on site.) Cover: Coconut leaves from the property laid on the pipe (no soil fabric in India). Soil Cover: 2 feet.

They then connected to existing school and hostel drain lines, approximately 350 feet, and designed how the connection to the new school wing would be added on as well as the new volunteer hostel and dining/kitchen block when we are ready to connect.

Manholes (4 or them) were constructed to intercept and direct the effluent. They also provide access to pipe for clean out or repair. Bob was continually working his calculations for the necessary size, elevations and required slope to insure drainage.

CONSTRUCTION-- a Backhoe (JCB as it is known here) dug all the trenches, placed gravel and back filled completed work. Survey Instruments (which included mainly a string line and a survey tool--we had no levels), determined elevations to insure proper gradients for drainage and disposal. Bob supervised All work: directed the backhoe in the trenches, walking in front of it, calculated and verified proper grades, prepared the budget, and did hand labor himself as needed. His Labor Force included 4 brick masons to build manholes, 3 men to spread and level gravel, 3 men to drill the perforations in the pipe and connect and lay the pipe, and cover with coconut leaves. 8 women to carry material and other work as required. Our supervisor Victor arranged and supervised labor, along with Bob.

MATERIALS--?? tons of gravel (a lot!), 4" pipe (we perforated), 6" connecting pipe, glue, brick, mortar, concrete manhole lids (fabricated on site), coconut leaves (from property.) Tractor and trailer moved dirt and gravel.

TIME: Friday night was the final hookup with the hostels (done late with flashlights when drainage was low.) Saturday morning we had a celebration with a banner, children singing, and a couple of short speeches. There was the symbolic shovel of dirt into the smelly ditch to complete the ceremony. It had been 18 days!!! A miracle? YES, but as with most miracles God often uses individuals to make things happen--Bob brought us a miracle. Thank you Bob Uncle for sweet, healthy, clean air!

Little Things I Love in India

2009-03-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

There are many things about India that are hard--more importantly there are many things to love, particularly little things. I will enumerate a few of these and illustrate with pictures if I can.

I love the way our driver Mani shows his displeasure when another driver does something really dumb. Instead of using an obscene gesture (which I have never seen in India), or shaking a fist, or using a foul word, he lifts his left arm and gives a little twist to his hand with his fingers extended. It looks so nice, but he's indicating "dumb" to the other driver.

I love our bug zapper--maybe we have these in the States, but I have never seen one. You plug it into your outlet and when it is charged you switch it on and press a little button. It has wires that have a charge and if a fly or mosquito fly into it, it makes a loud popping sound and that's it! Good way to practice both your back hand and forehand for tennis or badminton.

I love our Security Guard that salutes us every time we pass him. He use to click his heels also, but now he just salutes with a big smile, which is quite enough.

I loved watching Amy in the rice field so her photo could be taken with the beautiful green as a background. Of course the rice field was wet and very muddy and she almost didn't return to the US--she did finally recover her shoes but they didn't look so great. We really would have liked her to have stayed planted in the rice field--she looked great with her red skirt on.

I loved seeing our first "lady-fingers" (okra) from our garden. It was a promise of more to come.

I love the designs the Indian ladies do for special occasions on the ground. The one pictured was for Sports Day and was made with flowers and chalk.

I love the fact that boys play King of the Hill the world over. All you need is a big pile of dirt and anyone can play.

I also love little boys who pray so earnestly at mealtime they almost fall asleep. These children, regardless whether they pray to their Hindu God, Christian God, or Muslim God know where blessings come from and they are quick to express love and appreciation. I hope I never forget to do the same.

Visitors at Rising Star Outreach - India

2009-03-12T01:53:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun things that occurs at Rising Star is the arrival of visitors who come. Over the months that we have been here many have come to volunteer their time and bless the lives of the children and the residents of the colonies. We have some visitors who come for a day, and some who come to stay for days, weeks, or even months. What a joy it is, when those who come unconditionally bring their willing hearts and helping hands. Our biggest volunteer contribution comes in the summer months, when over a three month period volunteers of all ages come for one, two, or three weeks. Over the summer we will once again have about 100 wonderful young people, and a few brave older souls, come to spend part of a hot and sweaty summer in Southern Tamil Nadu. Those who come, have possibly never done anything as hard in their lives: most leave feeling they have never had a more satisfying experience. They all agree it is one that will never be forgotten.

During our fall, winter and spring, volunteers who come do so with an understanding that they will have to be self-starters and bring a skill or talent to the table. For instance, the Marriott Courtyard Associates come regularly once a month, bringing games, movies, cricket, advice and talk for our older kids, and always a wonderful meal. There are usually 35 that come and often the manager and his wife come with their associates. There is a scramble to be on the list each month, as there are about 250 employees at the Marriott and they all enjoy the day. They bless the lives of the children, but ours as well, as the day is always one of joy.

This past week we had a family come--the Dad is tall--7' 6"! It was the Shawn Bradley family who came to Rising Star out here in the middle of nowhere. Dad and Mom, and four daughters, ages 10 - 14 were part of the full program of Rising Star. They taught the children English in the mango groves; they went to the colonies to bandage wounds on feet and hands that have been severely compromised from leprosy and bless the lives of those whose blessings sometimes seem limited; they played and taught basketball skills, volleyball moves and just played; they read stories to the children each night before the children retired. They participated in our annual Sports Day as the guests of honor. They gave their hearts, and they lost their hearts to these beautiful children and their older relatives in the colonies. It was a perfect picture of service given freely, and loving without limits.

The Bradley family, Grandma and Grandpa Thompson and two grandsons, Julie Steed mother and cute daughter Taylor, Theresa Claugus, Bob and Jelean Montgomery, Kim McArthur and our dear Shaym Advani are but a few who have been here during these past weeks since we returned in January. We are so grateful for those who come with a desire to help another--will they ever know the difference they make? We surely hope so...

Bhutan

2009-03-04T01:38:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful new country we discovered in Bhutan! It's beautiful, has nice people, is extremely interesting, and not too hard to travel in. The roads are hard; according to one source there is a curve every 9 seconds (some times it seemed more often to us), and the roads are narrow. On the other hand, the population of the country is only about 600,000 so there are not tremendous numbers of vehicles. Our accommodations were very pleasant, in one hotel we found a hot water bottle in our bed as we retired for the night! Cold sheets are not my favorite, so that was very nice. Our days were warm enough to be pleasant, our nights and mornings were frosty, but we had enough clothing to layer until it warmed up. We spent the week with our dear friends of many years, Bob and Jelean Montgomery. They are on an extended journey through Southeast Asia, and we felt lucky to join them for a few days in Bhutan.

Our one sadness was that we didn't see the Himalayas as our days where we might have viewed them the visibility that was limited with low cloud cover. The one beautiful mountain sight we had was of Mount Jomolhari, which at 24,000 feet is a magnificent backdrop for the Drukyel Dzong. This mountain, which marks the frontier with Tibet, is sacred, as are all the mountains in Bhutan, and it is the dwelling place of the Goddess Jomo. It was first climbed in 1937, but the expedition made it clear that is had not actually set foot on the summit. Jomolhari has never been climbed since and it is now a 'protected peak.' According to our guide book, Drukyel Dzong (a dzong being a fortress) was built on a rocky spur that blocks the Paro valley and protected it from invasions from the north. The Dzong was built in 1647. In 1951 a butter lamp fell over and started a dramatic fire, and only the walls remain. There was a picture published in the National Geographic magazine in 1914 as it appeared before the 1951 fire. In some ways, it was more fascinating in its burned out state, where we could better understand the layout of a Dzong. The butter lamps have caused some terrible fires in the places of worships in Bhutan--Dzongs, temples and monasteries have all suffered some fire destruction. They no longer use the butter lamps for their main source of light. We did visit many beautiful dzongs, temples and monasteries that were still intact--most built from the 11th to the 17th centuries.

One of the most dramatic of these which did burn down but has since been rebuilt, is the Taktshang Lhakhang complex which sits at almost 10,000 feet above sea level. In April 1998 Taktshang burned down, but the government rebuilt it and it was consecrated at the end of March 2005. The buildings cling to the black rock, overhanging the valley below by 2600+ feet. The location is very impressive, and was not easily reached by us, as we had arrived only the day before from sea level. It is one of the most venerated places of pilgrimage in the Himalayan world, and we felt very happy and proud of ourselves that we were able to accomplish this amazing climb and see and feel the sacredness the Bhuddhist people celebrate.

Bhutan has just celebrated 100 years of a continuous monarchy--5 kings, father to son. The 5th king was crowned in 2006. He turned 29 while we were there and we participated in 3 days of celebration for his birthday. We enjoyed a wonderful activity of dancing and speeches in Paro in his honor. He is a very handsome young man, single, looking for his bride to be. There are no arranged marriages in Bhutan, so the queen will be chosen by the new young king. Bhutan is the newest democracy in the world--6 months old. They are slowing setting up the parliament and all the ministers, with the king actively taking a part in it all. There is pride in their monarchy, but also in this new democracy they are working on.

Buddhism is the religion of the country. Their worship is part of their daily lives, and tradition in their dress and their culture is very evident. The monks (of which there are about 6000 at present) are taken care of by the state. They live in dzongs and monasteries and wear the characteristic dark red robe. They take care of all the religious sites, including the temples. A child will usually begin their training to become a monk at about 6 or 7 years if age. Buddhism first came to Bhutan in about the 8th century, but really took hold in the 11th and 12th centuries. It seems to be a gentle religion which affects the people of the country--speech, actions, etc.

Bhutan separates China from India--two powerful neighbors, and the Bhutanese are proud of the fact that they have never been conquered by anyone.

One thing we loved seeing was the countries national animal--the Takin. It is part goat, part cow, and has a wonderful story that goes with it about how this came about! Ask us about it sometime.

There is so much to tell, but hopefully a few pictures will explain more. We loved our journey and would recommend it as a travel destination.

We've Started!

2009-02-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's true--we have actually started digging. What an exciting day for all of us. We have in place the temporary housing for the workers, the land has been cleared, and the puja (religious ritual) was performed. The marking of the building was done and indicated with posts and strings. The contractor has rented a home in a nearby village and yesterday we were invited to the blessing on his home. We had to be present at all these occasions--in fact this morning we found them waiting for us before they took the first ground up.

The first shovelful was dug at exactly 9:30 a.m. A big digger can move quite a bit of dirt and as the day progressed there were large holes the whole length of the school for the foundations. It was fun to see how many bosses there were standing around watching the progress. Everyone likes to be the boss--and with that job you stand around a lot.

We have begun on the school first since we ran into some numbers on the bid, which substantially raised the cost of the volunteer hostel. We think with a bit a redesign and taking off some frills, we are back in line with our original estimates. At this point we are a little gun-shy to say the least. Many things that would be included in a bid price at home are not included here. Some are very important, like sewer, water, electrical, etc. We have seen the surprises that can occur with foreigners who think the system works like their own.

Ron and Joyce are leaving tomorrow for Bhutan to spend a week exploring with their friends from home, Bob and Jelean Montgomery. We will send pictures and tell you a bit about it when we return.

Mani's Auto Rickshaw and Friends!

2009-02-08T03:01:00.000-08:00

Mani, our oldest and best driver, used to make his living carrying passengers in his auto rickshaw. Auto rickshaws are the primary source of moving paying customers in Chennai. They have three wheels, a smelly diesel engine, and are built to carry three passengers. We have, however, seen as many a ten in one vehicle. They also are an incredibly cheap--sixty cents from the store six blocks away to our apartment building and that is without any bargaining. You can distinguish an auto rickshaw when they come from behind by their squeaky horn sound. Two wheelers (motorcycles) sound like wounded ducks while the big buses are the gigantic tuba players. Everyone moves away from buses. Our Tata Sumo jeeps make a nasty, unpleasant sound. The bicycles only tinkle. Chennai is a city of deafening vehicle horns amidst an anarchy of traffic.

Mani has now retired his auto rickshaw to a side path amongst our beautiful coconut trees. He drives regular cars and vans, so his auto rickshaw has become surplus. It is fun to drive, but mostly it just sits too close to the trees around it. For awhile, the children were interested in exploring its innards. That curiosity, however, passed and so day and night it has had no visitors. It is sad to be so neglected and lonely.

Then, a new family from the coconut trees moved onto our campus. It may be the same family that has been around for awhile, but since monkeys tend to look alike, we could not be sure. At any rate, they found Mani's auto rickshaw and fell in love with it. I think they made Mani's auto rickshaw feel much better. You can see why. They play on and in it. They are even more curious than the children, and best of all--they discovered a new use. Everybody, even a monkey, needs to feel good about how he looks. Now Mani's auto rickshaw is once again in service. It is the place where the monkeys can come and check on their appearance before heading back up into the trees to start throwing the heavy coconuts at us. Mani's auto rickshaw is happy again.

(Photos by our volunteer Theresa Claugus)

A Symphony in Green!

2009-02-03T02:52:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was our rice planting day--we were mesmerized watching a tradition centuries old, repeated in our very own back yard. We have two large fields we have planted in rice--we were to plant four, but one will become the leach field for the septic system, and part of the other one will have a bit of the new school wing interfering. It's still a big area, and will provide us with rice for a year and some to sell in the market.

The day began with a snake--auspicious or not?? Not sure, but the guys got in the power box near the water pump and there he was. They promptly disposed of it--they're not ever likely to think will this snake hurt anyone, or does it do more good than harm? It was quickly dispatched.

The field has been flooded for a couple of weeks in preparation for the planting. The first thing that occurred on Saturday morning was the arrival of a pair of oxen and the driver, with a board dragged behind. He went through the entire area to be plugged with the rice, smoothing the bottom beneath the surface of the water. At the same time, one man was tying bunches of the rice that has been growing in the "rice nursery," while 3 of our guys carried the wet, drippy bundles to distribute evenly in the wet area.

The women were sitting under the trees waiting until there were enough bundles for then to begin. There were eight women, colorfully dressed in their saris, which they tucked up above their knees to keep from getting in the muddy water as they did their planting. It took them from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. to plant the two fields. It was done in a beautiful order, starting at one side of a field at the edge, and moving backwards until they had plugged each individual rice plant into the water. They moved back to the start of that same field and did it again, working almost in unison. They are bent over for hours--back breaking--but so beautiful to watch. I wanted to try it, but the snake deterred me a bit!

The rice will be harvested in three months--in the meantime, we will watch the plants grow and the field fill in. As mentioned in a previous blog, a rice field is God's green.

How do I know I'm in India?

2009-01-26T01:33:00.000-08:00

My Indian friends do not all look or act like my friends at home. The geckos and I have formed a new relationship--intimate. This morning, it was showering together, then as I went to make the bed, I discovered a friend that probably spent the night with us. A couple of days ago I was standing by the shelves in our room and a little one leaped off the top shelf to land on my shoulder. This is definitely getting all too familiar. We have a lot of lizards at home, but Indian geckos prefer a certain closeness that I'm not quite used to!

Busy week around Rising Star Outreach. We are in the process of getting some micro- businesses started with the children, including chickens, and crops: rice, chilies, watermelons, ladyfingers (okra to us), and vegetables with tomatoes, eggplant, etc. The idea is to have each family (we have 3 boys families and 3 girls families) have a project that is there own to develop. The crops will be sold and the children will begin to work towards their future with bank accounts, to be used upon graduating from 12th standard. We have a power tiller, which our land managers use to prepare the ground. Some of the planting is then done by the village women and some of it by the children. The children will be responsible for the weeding, and general maintenance of the planted areas. It will be a big job--we have several acres planted! The chicken problem has not been totally solved yet--we are down to 4 chickens after losing several to a night marauder. The boys responsible for them have now built barricades around the coop, certain that no critter will be able to penetrate it. Our egg production has dropped to zero since the night terror. We're hoping it will pick up again as they begin to feel safer. Saturday was our biggest day yet in the fields, with nine boys planting half an acre of watermelons. They worked so hard hauling very heavy containers of water all over the field, after getting each patch prepared and planted with three seeds. Ron and Joyce got into the act, but our land manager, Mani, directed it all. They were tired, but they also had a ball playing in the water that was running to irrigate the rice field. It dammed up making a great hole for cooling off!

Next week the girls will start plugging the rice fields that are all prepared. The green of the rice fields, is the most beautiful green seen in God's kingdom of color! The rice has been growing in a "nursery", and will be tied and plugged ready to grow in the flooded fields.

Today was Republic Day for India. We had a wonderful program this morning with a holiday the rest of the day. The children decorated the base of the flagpole with the Indian colors, gave speeches in Tamil and English, and performed more exercises that the PT Master (physical education or PE to us) had taught the children. It was very fun. India is the largest Republic in the world--for 59 years more people have lived in freedom than anywhere else. It makes me think of all the contrasts we see here--so many living in freedom, but with such a minimum subsistence; so many living in freedom but with a government that is run on bribes, influence, and protection of a lot of evil people. On the other hand, it is a country that is making available higher education to so many. Hopefully there will be jobs for all these engineers that are filling the thousands of colleges. We are working hard to prepare these beautiful children at Rising Star to take advantage of the higher opportunities that will be available to them.

Sorry the pictures are in reverse order--I always forget how they upload!

India, Land of Color

2009-01-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

We're back, and happy to be here. There's more for us to do, so for the present this feels like home! The children were as happy to see us as we were to see them. I'm sure there's always doubt that anyone will really return. We ended our stay in the US with a great board meeting for Rising Star Outreach at the beautiful home of JaLynn and Greg Prince. Our added bonus was having three more days with Matthew and Natalie Hanson and four of our great grandsons before we headed back.

We arrived during the week of Pongol (harvest festival), the biggest of all the holidays in Southern India (at least big in the length of time they celebrate--five days.) The children will return to school today, after many days off. We're all excited-- the children are ready to get back to a regular schedule. Big event on Thursday was our first official field trip. Children, house mothers, cooks, and assorted others were loaded into five vans for the drive to a nearby bird sanctuary and Mammalapuram, a big tourist attraction at the beach. Exciting day--it almost finished off the adults, but the children having been up since 4:00a.m. were pretty exhausted as well. Ron was so grateful not to have lost children in the high surf or scrambling over the great rock formations. Counting noses at the end of the day and having the same number as at the beginning was big!

In the afternoon, we headed for the local village, Thottenaval, for a celebration with them of the blessing of the cows, part of the Pongol celebration. The cows were beautifully decorated--clean, painted and decked with balloons, flowers, seashell necklaces, etc. The children and mothers were also colorfully attired, with new clothes or saris if possible. We were invited into three homes after the drum corp and parade show, and the puja (Hindu prayer with food offering) was completed. We received food: hot buffalo milk with sugar, fruit, sweets, and chapatti with sugar, as well as a gift of money for each of us. There is much we are learning about kindness and generosity. We find ourselves being the receivers, more often than not.

Christmas and Wedding!

2008-12-31T16:49:00.000-08:00

We received some great pictures and wonderful reports about the children's Christmas program and the party on the last day of school. We were very sad to have missed it, but with our own schedule here in the US we were not able to be a part of it. In addition to the "Dance Master" Shaun Parry having prepared the children for the program, the Marriott folks from the Chennai Marriott, came and brought all the food for several hundred, and gifts for all the children. It must have been a fabulous day, and a great send off for the children for the holidays.

We also have had an outstanding couple of weeks--a terrific visit with all our family, old fashioned Christmas Eve with our home-grown Nativity, (two year old Seth looking a bit large and old for the baby Jesus), and a great Christmas where our focus was on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It was such a perfect celebration where Santa was almost left out of the equation. (There were a few children that were still happy he hadn't completely departed.) The marriage of our Grandson, Alex Wilson to Christina Koelliker followed the Christmas celebration. The evening of December 26th we had a fun party for the bride and groom at our home with about 75 guests from Christina's family and ours in attendance. It was a beautiful occasion, with good food, lots of laughter and a few tears from the parents. Alex is our first grandchild to be married, and even the Grandparents (us) were a bit nostalgic thinking of how fast the past 23 years have gone. He has been such a great example for the 17 siblings and cousins following, who have truly looked to him as their guide. Now we will share him with his lovely wife and her dear family.

On Saturday, the 27th, we all journeyed to San Diego to the beautiful Temple for the marriage. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that the marriage and sealing that takes place in the temples, is efficacious for all eternity as well as for this life. It is very sacred to us. Alex and Christina had chosen, both by choice and by the way they have lived their lives, to be married there. The sealing/wedding was performed by Ron, as he has received the power to perform this ordinance in the temples. It was a great day for all of us.

The beautiful reception in the evening was the frosting on the cake!! Food, flowers, music, bride and groom--all was perfect (including the red velvet cake!) We felt so happy we could be home and a part of this very special family celebration. The cute couple are off to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, for a short honeymoon before returning to cold, snowy Utah to continue their studies at BYU.

We have loved having the Elizabeth and Bob Tempest family here for the entire holiday, and our son Matt and Natalie Hanson and their family, are now also with us for a week, after being delayed with a bad bout of the flu. We feel very blessed to have the Andy and Katie Hanson family and Jenny and Chris Wilson family in residence here in Laguna. We are sad to leave them again, but they are excited for what we are doing. They join us in wishing all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. We will be back in India by January 13th, after a Rising Star Outreach Board Meeting in Washington D.C. and are looking forward to the continuing challenges.

Home!

2008-12-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

It's nice to be home for Christmas--my bed feels good, the house looks beautiful (thanks to our daughter Elizabeth and her friend Dana Earl who flew from Utah to have Christmas ready for us). The lights outside are all up--thousands of them, carefully strung by our son Andy, and his sons Blair and Ben, our son-in-law Chris, and his sons Alex, Nate, and Jeremy. Jenny had stocked the frig with everything we love, including blueberries, blackberries and raspberries--lots of them. Katie had placed fresh flowers, hydrangeas, and orchids in all the right places. It is spectacular inside and out. Laguna is as charming as ever, always enhanced by the beauty of the Christmas season. We have been blessed with beautiful sunsets, as well as much needed rain.

Our wonderful family has greeted us with so much love, and we feel gratitude beyond measure that we can be home with them. The grandchildren have all added inches and pounds and beauty. Being in Church with our dear friends of so many years, was like a bit of heaven.

There is a slight restlessness in my soul, however. I realize part of me has been left in India--I miss the children, the warm rain (we've frozen since we have been here), the wild roads, the cows, the colors and the Indian people. Our landscapes down the freeways look like backdrops, waiting for someone to bring their paintbox and add the color and the excitement--even the garbage!! The driving is so orderly... and boring! The quiet is almost unnerving. Who would have guessed!

It's good to be home for the holidays... but for a few more months beginning in the middle of January, it will be good to return to a land we have truly learned to love.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas--at this wonderful time of year, we rejoice in the gift of God's Son. All of His children are precious--those near, and those far away. May you feel the peace and joy of His love.

Lovingly, Joyce and Ron

Coming Home!

2008-12-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

Ready or not, we're due to be on the airplane in three days. It's very difficult to imagine--after five months, this has truly become our home. We miss our family and friends and home so much, but this is our life right now. Christmas and home feel like another world.

Today while working on leaving things in a tidy way, and trying to decide what to put into the suitcase, I found a little friend who had decided she would like to try being an American puppy instead of an Indian puppy. She has decided I am the only one--Indian or American --that has a soft spot for an Indian dog.

This week we were invited by our new Hostel Warden to attend a Seemandhan for her daughter-in-law. This is a blessing that is for a mother-to-be, who is somewhere in her third trimester of pregnancy, but only for the first born child. The flowers and some of the ritual reminded me of a wedding, but the purpose is to bless the baby and the mother with health and happiness. Part of the ceremony was adding a bracelet onto each of the mother's arms. The "elder" women present were invited to come place a bracelet on each arm. The first bracelet is made from the neem plant. It is followed by gold bangles, silver bangles and then glass bangles. The sound of the bracelets is for the baby to hear the lovely sound the bangles make as the mother moves her arm. Sweet sounds for the baby. After delivery, they are all removed. There was also a food blessing with each parent being fed pieces of a cutup banana, and then the whole thing was followed by a feast up on the roof. Very interesting and we felt honored to be included. I likened it to the baby showers we give to honor the first born baby.

This morning our three 8th standard children set off in the dark for a long drive to Chennai for the official testing. There are several benchmarks for the students, including 8th standard, 10th standard, and 12th standard. As they pass each of these tests, they can then move on to the next standard--or not. They left at 6:00 a.m. to be in their seats and ready to go by 9:30 a.m. They are probably not going to do too well, as this group of kids came to us late, and are not our best learners, but the teachers wanted them to have this experience and also use the test as a benchmark. The testing lasts all week--five days. They went up last Monday, but the tests were cancelled, due to the rains. Chennai was pretty well under water for a few days. It is going to be a long week for these three.

As we will be beginning our major building projects when we come back in January, I'm taking pictures of some of the wonderful figures that are hung outside new building projects to ward off problems. I thought the fellow pictured above was particularly attractive!

Next blog from the USofA!! Happy Holidays to all.

Children On the Town!

2008-12-01T23:01:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday four of our children had a special treat. The Courtyard Marriott in Chennai were having a Christmas celebration, which included decorating a life size gingerbread house. We were called and asked if we would like to bring four of our "Rising Stars" to be part of the celebration. We considered who we thought should be taken for this very exciting event, conferring with our school director and our general manager. We chose two boys and two girls, all from the 6th standard. Three of the children are 11, and the other little boy, Krishnamoorthy, will turn 10 this month. Each of these children are doing well in school, have good English skills, and generally are all around good citizens. We pieced together some outfits for the boys, while the girls seemed to have more clothing choices that looked very nice. The only thing we laughed about (to ourselves) was the big tennis shoes that the girls wore with their chiddidars (traditional Indian dress.) The boys on the other hand, had new sandals on one, and black lace shoes found in the storeroom for the other.

We started with a buffet breakfast, with everyone from the new General Manager of the Chennai Marriott, down to all the cooks and servers making such a fuss over them. The kids knew many of them from their visits to Rising Star, and of course the Marriott employees know the children. The children were very impressed with the many choices for breakfast--I can assure you, that there are no choices here--they eat what is served or they don't is their choice. I was surprised with the things they chose--most of it American. After breakfast, we went to where they were decorating Christmas cookies with frosting to stick on the gingerbread house. There were photographers everywhere, and our children were at the center of the flashes. The local TV station had a reporter there, and she interviewed our girls. I asked the girls if they spoke in Tamil or English, and the reply was "when the questions were in English, we answered in English, and when they were in Tamil we answered in Tamil." Of course.

The bathrooms were a mystery to them--the boys wanted to know where the water was in the toilet area, (everything is washed down with a small bucket of water in an Indian toilet), and the girls were amazed that the water turned on when they put their hands under the faucet. They were very concerned that it wouldn't turn off, and surprised when it did it all on its own. They didn't brave the American toilets at all.

They had a big jumping house set up, which the boys loved, but the girls would not attempt. It was such fun to see the difference in all the non-Indian children, who were in a great majority, to our four beautiful unsophisticated children, that had never seen such a thing as a hotel, or all that was presented to them. It was truly magical for them and for us!

2008-11-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

My vivid picture of the day is Shama, one of our most beloved housemothers, sitting on a low stool with her umbrella, next to our lake (it used to be our playground), small bucket in hand filling bigger buckets for the girls. Half of the girls were still getting soap out of their hair in the shower, when the water pump quit! "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink"--or bathe in, we might add. The rain has been incessant for several days. Our huge wells have filled up by a third, at least. I've never seen rain come down like this. We have been without power a good portion of the last few days, but until this morning we have had water for all uses other than drinking. It was quite laughable this morning. One of our boys brought a small fish to live in our house. I couldn't figure where it had come from, but as I am looking out the window at the "lake" I can see little fish jumping. Anyone out there able to explain this to me?

School has been closed the last few days--when the government declares that schools be closed, it means schools are closed! Apparently you can get in big trouble if you don't close. Even private schools. I suspect no one checked this morning, because after two days with all of us locked in the hostels (locked in by the rain) we were all a little crazy. By the time the children ran their short distance to the school, they were soaked. Now we'll probably have everyone back sick. I took a few children with my umbrella, and had to come home and completely start over on my clothes for the day. To complicate things, the puppies have not left for their new homes. Their new owners keep telling me that it is not auspicious to take them in the rain!! Of course I am their adopted mother, which is also a 24/7 job when it rains like this. At the moment they are locked in our bathroom, because the electrician is trying to fix another electrical problem (joke) and they were spending their time where one of the main panels resides. Why do I care???

We have been concerned about the news out of Mumbai, but here at the land we feel very safe. No one would have a desire to brave our muddy-rut roads to do harm. We are not being cavalier about it, but do feel that we are in a good spot. Ron, unfortunately, had to go to Chennai today. He called to say they were swimming through the streets in their vehicle. We have heard that 60 people may have drowned or died in this last rain period. The rivers run wild with this amount of precipitation all at once, and they live so precariously near the rivers.

This week, picture us not "Walking in the Sand", but walking in the mud!

Our Boys

2008-11-18T23:22:00.000-08:00

Since we live in the Boys Hostel, we spend most of our evenings having a group of the older boys (6th, 7th and 8th Standard) with us for study time. They usually come shortly after 7:00p.m. and stay until nearly 9:00. For many, calling it study time is a very loose term, but they start right after they get home from school, knocking on the door to ask if tonight "they come for study." I guess they say, "We come for study tonight?" Two of the older boys who come are on the verge of being sent home, for incorrigible behavior, but when they come for study time, they are great. Wish we could convert the behavior in our house, to their behavior with their house mothers and their peers. It's a sweet time, so when we spend nights in Chennai, they miss it, and so do we. One added bonus has been that they get to spend some time on the computer, which they adore. We are still waiting for our desk top computers to arrive, and the number of laptops that we use in the computer class is small, so time on Grandpa's laptop is frosting on the cake.

I am including pictures of several of them, and since I haven't figured out how to put names on them, I will identify them. Unfortunately, I'm missing pictures of a couple of them--later I will include those. Boy reading magazine is Deepenraj, Rajesh has basketball, and Grandpa is shown with Madanraj and lots of little friends. Arulraj is second down on the right and Shankar is busy coloring. Krishnamoorthy is behind two of his pals on the playground (center).

Our 8th Standard boys are Kartik and Satish. Satish is pictured above by the vegetables, getting some out for the cooks. He is nearly 16, very handsome and extremely sweet. He is so good with the younger boys, and has flourished with the attention he gets from us. He is way behind where he needs to be in his studies, but he tries hard--we have a difficult time getting the older boys caught up: there is too much ground to cover. Kartik is the youngest son of one of our long-time employees Mani. Mani's home is in Chennai, and he is always our driver when we are here. He is also the land manager, so he directs the work of all our men that work on the land. Kartik had a major hip surgery this year, and consequently got even further behind in his 8th grade work. His reading in both English and Tamil is poor, but he comes to "study" faithfully every night. He is thoughtful and kind-- a little on the heavy side, so he's a big boy. Truly a gentle giant. Kartik is 14. He is pictured in upper left.

7th Standard includes Rajesh and Shankar. They are both darling boys, loving, friendly and great athletes. They both excel in school, particularly Shankar. Unfortunately, Shankar is one of our boys that spends a lot of time with the General Manager, for behavior unbecoming to a Rising Star! He's got such potential--can it be channeled? His father is very crippled with leprosy, and lives in Delhi. His mother lives nearer in one of the colonies. Rajesh is a leader of boys. His mother is one of our house mothers, and his father is dead. He is a baptized member of the church, and next week will give a talk in Primary, which he volunteered for. Rajesh has a younger brother, Vignesh, and older sister, Priya who live here. Shankar is 13, and Rajesh is 11.

In the 6th Standard we have a wide range of ages, sizes, and abilities in the boys. There are two brothers, who are new to Rising Star this year--Modanraj and Deepanraj. They are struggling to keep up, but Modanraj (age 14) has taken to working hard, and really trying to excel. The younger brother, Deepanraj (12 years old), has quite good English (they both do), but would rather play, talk, look at story books or do anything other than work or study. The boys mother died about 4 years ago, and Modanraj always carries her picture. The father is very interested in the boys progress, and I think comes down quite hard when they are not doing well.

The other two boys that are 6th Standard, are young, and in the case of Arulraj on the edge of finding a new home. We are working hard with him, but school is not high on his priority list, nor is following the rules. He has a sad life at home--father gone, and mother very crippled. We keep hoping he will see the value in what is being offered to him here at Rising Star Outreach.

Krishnamoorthy, also 6th Standard, is just the opposite from Arulraj. He is a stellar student, and while being one of the youngest in his class, is a solid citizen all round. He is so kind and causes no problems anywhere. We love having him around. He shows for a lot of love from his family; you can really see what their home life is when you see how they behave. Both of these boys are 12 years old.

It is a joy to get to know these young men. They are like children everywhere: the individual time spent with them is invaluable. They truly thrive with the personal attention. We insist that when they are in our house that they speak only English, so there are a couple of them, except when they forget, who are pretty silent. We have high hopes that each can rise higher, than they might otherwise have. We thank each of you that support a child--what a great gift that is.

Life OUT of the Big City!

2008-11-12T03:16:00.000-08:00

We've had a week of not much internet connection, hence the lack of blog entries. We're getting closer to a secure source, but we're not quite there yet.

This story is actually about life IN the big city. Sara Tempest sent us a great article from the International Herald Tribune entitled "Urban Cowboys Struggle with India's Sacred Strays." The story is about the attempt to get the cows off the major highways in New Delhi (which they are committed to do before the Commonwealth Games, which will be in New Delhi in 2010.) In the article it talks of "dozens of men who spend their days roping cattle on the streets of [New Delhi] as a part of a long and frustrating battle to rid India's capital of stray cows. Since the slaughter of cows is banned throughout most of India, "there is perhaps no more stereotypical image of India than that of a stray cow sauntering down the middle of a busy street, seemingly oblivious to the traffic swerving around it."

These "cowboys rely on rope lassos and brute strength to capture the beasts, which often charge into traffic or kick or buck violently in an attempt to escape." We have heard that there is a similar program in Chennai of trying to rid the city of it's thousands of cows, but we've not seen it in action. I have included a picture, but this cow lives in Changleput, which is a much smaller city, and while there are cows everywhere, the town itself rather looks like there should be cows wandering in and out of the wild traffic. This is an interesting problem that we have not encountered in Laguna Beach!

This week life Out of the big city, has us creating and using what Ron calls our "Indian tractor." We have had such a problem getting any heavy equipment in to smooth out our playing field, that Ron came up with a great design for our own dirt spreader--we think we should write John Deere and see if they wouldn't like to add it to their line of products. It requires three men, and the one at the back has to be able to make the appropriate noises to keep the operation moving forward. The guys were hilarious, and so proud of the fact that it really worked! So was Ron...

We are also getting down our new walkways, which will allow us to walk from one hostel to the

other without slogging through mud in the rainy season, and sand in your shoes on dry days. I have included only one picture of this, but we loved this man carrying the tiles on his head, as all building materials are moved. It has been so fun to watch them making their cement, creating the base with very large rocks, moving the materials around, leveling with a long stick, and finally putting the tiles in place. Next week a picture of the finished product!

Divali (or Dewali or Deepvali)

2008-10-31T02:49:00.000-07:00

We have just completed the designated five days of the most important Hindu holiday in India, which is celebrated by Hindu and non-Hindu alike. It is also a special occasion for Hindus throughout the world. Divali, as most of us here call it, is known as the Festival of Lights. We have thought of it somewhat like Christmas, New Years and 4th of July, all rolled into one big holiday. As I have read about Divali, I realize our celebration at Rising Star, was very small, compared to how it is celebrated throughout India, but our children loved what occurred, and seemed happy with it all.

A little history that I have learned about Divali. The festival is calculated by the lunar, Hindu calendar. It will appear somewhere in the end of October or early November. The word Divali means "rows of lighted lamps" so, it is traditionally marked by lighting deeyas (or diyas), which are made from clay and filled with oil or ghee (they remind me of the ones we purchased in the holy land that are replicas of those from Biblical days.) People get ready for this great holiday by cleaning their homes and surroundings, the purchasing and wearing of new clothing and giving charity to the needy. The stores were jammed the week before Divali began. Fireworks are a big part of the celebration, which was one thing we did with the children: firecrackers and sparklers are especially important. Sweets are distributed (ours were more in the form of several sweet dishes as part of the meal), gifts are exchanged, homes decorated and oil lamps are lit. We also had two goats, alive on Sunday, but covered with a curry sauce on Monday! Don't quite know how that fit into the Hindu holiday! We had a lot of nice clothing in the storeroom that people had donated to us, so each boy and girl got a new article of wearing apparel for the day, although for the evening excitement the girls had lovely outfits (many new from their families) especially for the holiday.

Being the festival of lights, one thought is to wake up from the slumber of ignorance and pursue knowledge. As light dispels darkness, so should knowledge dispel ignorance. Through learning, man is expected to advance to the stage of enlightenment in which he realizes that God is the Light of lights, and that God brings warmth, love, and illumination to all being and therefore there can be no light greater than God. The aim of Divali celebrations is to get man moving on the spiritual path and ultimately attain illumination by becoming one with God. As they light the lamps in their houses, those celebrating divali are reminded to light the lamps of wisdom, goodness and God-consciousness in themselves. It is through this, that they can attain the "Light of Lights"--God.

The festival is held in honor of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. They pray to Lakshmi for good luck in the coming year. The lights are left burning all night, so that Lakshmi may feel welcome and enter. The more lamps that are lit, the more likely it is that Lakshmi will be tempted to visit them. Hindus believe she brings wealth when she visits.

Our employees all took at least two days off (plus the weekend)--family gatherings are very important, so many of them have to travel quite a distance to be with family. Including the weekend, our children were out of school for four days, so that in itself was a celebration for them. Our fireworks were very minor, but across Tamil Nadu they were incredible--even the most humble home has a display that makes our big 4th of July celebrations look pretty minor. I have never heard so many firecrackers in my life!

It was exciting to be a part of this great holiday.

Birthday!

2008-10-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

Joyce survived another birthday! It's never been my favorite day, but this one was memorable, to say the least. Jenny had informed the world that her already old mother, was going to turn a year older on the 21st. You get to this point, and it seems like it would be nice to just coast past the day, without too much notice, but that was not to be the case this year. She had asked a number of people to email me, to let me know that they were sympathetic, happy, understanding, thinking about how old I was, whatever! I received close to 85 emails, and a few late ones are still coming in. What fun it has been! I was up at 3:00a.m. and went to the computer, and started reading emails. I've never had such a nice night awake! The real day began at 7:00 a.m. with the children putting signs all over our door, knocking loudly, and singing happy birthday at every opportunity. They had wrapped all sorts of little packages, with toys from somewhere, made beautiful pictures, written cards in their best English, and found all kinds of reasons to be in our house with us, watching each new thing that arrived from someone. One of the teachers gave me a beautiful blessing (Hindu or Christian?), everyone wanted to shake my hand (very traditional), and the traditional wish of "many happy returns of the day" was uttered all day long. Never have I had more hugs and kisses. The cook had made several delicious dishes and invited us for a special birthday lunch. Ron gave me a pretty gold necklace and earrings, and the women have been especially pleased with that, as it signifies that I am a married woman. They all wear a gold chain that rests inside their saris or clothing, and I think they have been worried about me not having one. Anyway, I do now. Memorable day--a never to be forgotten birthday in India.

Our daughter sent me some of her thoughts on India, after her visit, that I wanted to share. Some of it was a bit effusive about her mother and father, so I have edited out a little, and some I have left. Just remember, these comments come from a loving daughter who always says only the best! Once again, I reiterate what a joy it was to have her here. She wrote this as a letter to someone, and copied me on it.

"India was wonderful and horrible all at the same time. It was great to be with my parents. They both look great, their skin looks so good and they have a glow about them Probably because everyone sweats 24/7 there due to the heat and humidity. They feel good and they are happy. It was a relief to see them doing so well, thriving in fact. And this despite the very difficult living conditions they are in. India is not for the weak stomached or faint of heart. It is taxing on every level. Nothing works well. Most things don't work at all. It is frustrating for them but they are learning new depths of patience. The school and the children are a beautiful oasis in a country that is indescribably poor. Living conditions for the majority of the population are beyond anything I could have imagined. I have seen awful in Africa and parts of Mexico but that was nothing compared to this. It is just so expansive in India... there is no end to it. This was the horrible part of India. After a week at Rising Star Outreach, Ann Tempest and I flew to Delhi for a few days. We took a 5 hour car ride to the city of Agra where we visited the Taj Mahal. The Taj exceeded my expectations. It is magnificent. I was so glad to see this wonder of the world, but the traveling was very difficult. The roads in India are so dangerous. There are no rules, or if there are any, no one follows them. And then it is mile after mile of desperate poverty, filth, beggars, etc. After a while I just had to close my eyes. You just can't physically take it all in. Needless to say, I was happy to get home. The journey back was over 31 hours and by then I was quite ill with an intestinal bug. I was pretty sick for 4 or 5 days. Now that I am home and back into life, it's hard to believe I was really there. While I was there, I was worried that would happen. I don't want to forget the feelings I had there. The work of Rising Star is miraculous. The children have opportunities now that will change their lives and future generations. The children are so beautiful. They are happy and loving. Joyce and Ron are Grandma and Grandpa to 171 students. It is such a great thing. What my parents are doing is incredible, admirable and inspiring. They are giving so much but I know they are receiving much in return."

Thank you Elizabeth. She gives us way more credit than is due.

Week of Firsts!

2008-10-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

We wondered if the sacrifice that our General Manager offered this past week on his birthday, as he attended the Temple (most costly religious edifice, second only to the Vatican) in Andre Pradesh, resulted in our most recent additions. He came to work on Monday with a baseball cap on, covering his newly shaved head. He had given his beautiful hair to be used for wigs, fertilizer, other things to help the poor. When, night before last, we were blessed with five new puppies from mama Snowball, (we still have two of her last batch), Ron asked Maren, our GM, if this was his doing. He laughingly said, I did pray for prosperity for Rising Star, and we received all these new puppies! Needless to say, we didn't need five new dogs--we've all agreed that we really don't need any dogs but we are not very good at getting rid of them. We have worked on the neutering program, but it got bogged down in the three bid rule for everything we do or purchase. This month, for sure! We now have nine Indian dogs--they all look alike in India except for their coloring--and they are everywhere. We have not helped the problem!

Our other excitement of this week, was the delivery of our first batch of milk from the village.

We gave a micro-finance loan to five women in the nearby village to purchase 5 water buffalo. They will provide our milk (we will purchase it from them), which will then help them to repay the loan on the animals. We have been told that the milk is very rich and will be nutritious for our children. The rest of us think maybe we will continue to drink the milk we buy from the market! (Cowards that we are.) The milk will be picked up by us twice a day, we boil it, add protein powder in the morning and a bit of sugar in the afternoon, and it is then carried up to the children's rooms to be shared. They love it--we're hoping they like the water buffalo milk as much as they have liked what they have been drinking.

Work has proceeded this week in spite of the rain. The low wall around the playground, a pad for the big generator that will be coming to keep us in power at the school and the hostels, and a guard house at our front gate are all under construction. The soccer field is still a bumpy, muddy surface, but all we need is a big piece of equipment to smooth it out. That has been hard to come by. The kids had a great game on it on Thursday, in spite of obstacles.

Rain!

2008-10-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

The rains have started! Probably not the real monsoon yet, but enough in the last two days to make a big mess of all our roads, play areas and walking between the two hostels and out to the school. Today, we finally loaded a big bunch of kids into the vans and drove them to the school. Anyone who was out at the wrong moment really got soaked. Tonight we have a load of laundry still strung all over our room, that failed to dry--it has been inside hanging since early this morning. Lots of moisture in the air!

Yesterday, we had a group of the older boys that went out to work on the big piles of sand that were dumped on Saturday, to try and reduce some of our lake areas. They were so great as they organized themselves, carrying loads on their heads, and tossing the wet, heavy sands into the low spots. The tool they use to toss the sand is like a large, short-handled hoe, and it is quite effective when used appropriately. The boys worked for a couple of hours and the five or six mountains, were reduced to flatland. This was all in the rain. Next, the little boys were climbing out windows (not literally, but nearly so!) so they finally came out in the downpour and played on the playground. They were such a mess, when it was all over, but I think the housemothers would not have kept their sanity without having them out for a while. Big problem with these rainy day weekends, is finding creative things for 140 squirrels to do!

It will be a new experience to observe when the day after day rains begin. The average rainfall is 51" with about 40" of those in the fall monsoon (September through December), so we all may be web-footed by the time it's over. Our wells (three of them) are so low, it's a bit scary. While we don't drink the well water yet (we're working on a reverse osmosis plant right now) it would be very bad not to be able to shower or flush a toilet! We have noticed a change of the bugs that we are seeing in abundance, a lack of flies, louder frogs, and many more mosquitoes.

One of our number (Amy Kirby -- doctors wife) had a funny experience (only in India is this funny). They live in what we call the DLH (darling little house.) It is cute looking, but is not very big, so they are tight with Karl and Amy, and their three little children. They have had a lot of things not working quite right in the DLH--the toilet (American), the toilet (Indian), the electrical outlets (they burn everything up), the bedroom door handle (Karl had to break down the door the other day to get out), and several coconut trees that had not been picked and were dropping their heavy loads, barely missing the children! They also came home on Saturday from celebrating Karl's birthday with a day out and discovered they had no water! They had been at the beach surfing, so finally the parents came to our place to shower and get the sand off. They are the best sports I have ever met about many difficult things! The other day, however, took the cake. Amy was in using the Indian toilet (the squatter we call them), and they had a drip of water that couldn't be stopped, and it made everything very wet. Her foot slipped and went down the hole of the squatter--a long ways!! Luckily she didn't break an ankle, which surely could have happened. Today in the rain, there were four workers over trying to solve the problems (they had all been there before), but Ron was assured tonight that they had a working American toilet, among other amenities. I haven't talked to Amy yet!

The Feast!

2008-10-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

It was quite a week, culminating in our great feast for all the parents and family members from the colonies who came on parents day to visit their children. Christin Harding, from Boston, and her cute daughter Ann, were the directors of the production, with Ann Tempest as photographer and our daughter Elizabeth as a helper. We planned for 450 people, and I don't think we had more than about 300 to 350 that we actually fed. It was a very large amount of food that was prepared, with people coming from the village to cook in huge pots over wood fires all the biriyani that was served. It was so much that it seemed worthwhile to hire that portion of the cooking out--money well spent to have it catered. Have you ever had a main course for a party for 350 people catered for under $40! I'd like to bring them home with us for the big party we're doing for our grandson's "night before the wedding" celebration.

The preparations had been ongoing through the week. Christin knew what she wanted to do (although she had come expecting to serve 30 to 50!), and she bought fun fabric in two patterns that stretched on the ground all the way through the mango grove nearest to the hostel. Down the center she had the lovely traditional flower leis spread--orange, green and white, with a bit of red. Almost India flag colors (minus the red.) Banana leaves were at each place to serve the meal on, and except for the wind coming up and having to get the boys to try and hold everything down it all looked so pretty. Christin is a fabulous party giver and caterer, and had recipes that were mostly followed by the Indian kitchen staff and all the American helpers who chopped fruit, broke green beans in small pieces, and assisted with potatoes, onions, garlic, etc.

The dishes served were lovely--biriyani in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian (with chicken), onions in a delicious curd, a potato dish with green beans, and beautiful fruit platters for dessert, followed by Hershey's chocolate bars that Christin had hauled from home. (The chocolate almost caused a riot!) We all thought it was quite memorable--not sure that the colony people felt the same way, but if it ultimately benefits their children they will think more fondly of it!

Christin is planning a cookbook, that will come out in December when she gives her annual Christmas party for her many friends of the Boston area. Proceeds will benefit Rising Star Outreach, and help us on the path to funding our kitchen/dining facility.

Our week with Elizabeth here was so wonderful. She was such a help and joy to have around--I really wanted to write her family and suggest they might get her back at Christmastime! Becky Douglas was also here for the same period of time (actually she just left today) and that was also joyful. Everyone here loves her so much--it is fun to follow in her shadow.

We had our first Rising Star India Board meeting yesterday, here in our apartment in Chennai. We have some wonderful members on the board, including Padma Venkatramen (daughter of a former president of India); a retired high ranking government minister; a member of the Rotary International Board of Directors, who is also a member of the Madras Rotary Club that has given so much to Rising Star Outreach school and the micro-lending program; the head of all the Marriotts in India, Pakistan, and two other countries; and a man who heads up the Cobra out-sourcing program here for a big US law firm, and employs 50 attorneys. It's a powerful group all interested and dedicated to Rising Star. We were appalled with the report on the bombing of the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan. 30 employees killed (mostly security people, and about 10 hotel guests. The person responsible parked a large garbage truck across the street from the hotel. He set himself on fire, then ignited the 25 kg of explosives as the security people were rushing to aid him. It was the largest blast ever in Pakistan. Scary!

Always we must refocus on the children--it's why we're here and what makes us happy.

Playground!

2008-10-03T09:51:00.001-07:00

Yes, the playground equipment arrived, and never have we seen joy like we observed when the cement was dry and the children were allowed to play on it. The sound of joy is real--I don't know that there has ever been heard a prolonged sound of pure happiness as we heard that first day. The children have never really played like children in that way as they did that first hour or two. What would it be worth to have a bottle of that kind of joy to bathe in once in a while.

It was a hard week, leading up to the installation. The contractor and his workers had not showed up all week, and Thursday was the day the play equipment was coming. The ground was completely churned up, with no sand, only our red, clay dirt. It had rained on Wednesday night so there were lakes everywhere. It was discouraging--understatement! We went over to our nearby village and talked to the Punjaet (local mayor) and shared our problem. Pretty soon a group of about 15 men showed up with their primitive tools and several loads of sand, and began the process of smoothing about a half acre of ground. By the time the playground people arrived the land was not perfect, but was ready enough for the installation to begin. The workers from the equipment company spent the night Thursday night, and finally completed the job of getting each of the pieces painted and cemented into place late day Friday. It was ready for play on Sunday afternoon.

The rest is shown in the pictures and engraved in my memory in sound!

The week of calm?!

2008-09-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

Yes it has been calm, with a few hitches along the way. We figured with the children gone, we would sail through all our projects, and be ready for a very busy weekend, and week following, to come. Things do not always go as we plan, however. On Monday last, we got word that a new volunteer was coming the next day. Eugenie and her grandmother, Lynn, were on buddy passes so they flew when they could. The grandmother is only here for 10 days, and they didn't realize that we would have no children here. We were sad, and so were they! Lynn got very sick that first night, and we were in Chennai, leaving Erin here to figure it out. She got our wonderful Indian doctor, Senthilkumar to make a house call at 3:00a.m. We were on the phone with Erin from 2:30a.m. on, so our night was also a little short. We headed for the property first thing Wednesday morning, found her better, but she slept for most of the day. She's a real trooper, and by evening she was up and working on liquids. The rest of the week Lynn and Eugenie have gone with the mobile medical van to colonies twice, visited two other colonies in search of our children for pictures and stories of them in their homes with family, have had day trips to Mahabalapuram, Dachina Chitra, a long (13 hour) day at Spencers Mall (hundreds of stores) as they waited for the driver to return for them. Eugenie will be with us until December, but we're sad Lynn has to return home tomorrow.

In the midst of all their activities, we have been awaiting a contractor who has only done half the job of moving dirt, and leveling the area where the new playground equipment is to go. (More on that with picture, hopefully, next week.) Anyway, promises, promises... Each day we have waited, and again today with three phone calls and "we're on our way", "we're almost there", still nothing. The equipment is now set to arrive on Thursday, but we'll believe that when we see it, also!

We did have an exciting activity a week ago. One of our kitchen helpers, Angelie, decided after great turmoil and more dramatics than we could believe, to marry one of our former drivers, Ganjendran. He has recently been released as a driver because of some rather unstable behavior, including drinking poison (??) when Angelie told him she had changed her mind. We were not too keen on having him drive our children and others with that kind of nonsense! Anyway, after great tears from Ganjendran, throwing himself at Ron's feet trying to encourage Ron to intervene, Ron insisted they have a three day cooling off period. After that time, Angelie decided to go forth with the wedding, four days hence. Erin went to the wedding last Sunday and took the photo above (hopefully it's above--having trouble getting pictures on again.) The grooms family were very dour faced, and most unhappy, as apparently Angelie's family is of a lower caste than his. Sad. We just hope he treats her and her darling daughter Archina kindly. They are currently living with his family. The beautiful flowers, which are solid down the back of her hair, were done by two of our house mother/teachers and the cook, the night before.

Busy weekend coming up includes the arrival of Eric Ottesen: he is in charge of the Sabin Foundation which donated $90,000 for the purchase of our land. We're excited to have him see what has been accomplished, and hope to interest the foundation with continuing help on the next phase of building for the school. There is a group of four coming to do a big activity with the parents of our children, spearheaded by a woman from Boston (group includes our daughter Elizabeth (Yea!). Becky Douglas is also flying in. These arrivals are scheduled for the wee hours of the morning Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On Sunday afternoon the children will all return. We will let you know about that wild scene.

Auspicious and Inauspicious Days!

2008-09-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

We have discovered that things get done (or not) according to whether the day is auspicious or inauspicious! It was definitely an auspicious day last Saturday. In addition to being Parents Day it was the day the children were to leave the property with their relatives to go home for a two week holiday. You can not even imagine the excitement on the part of both the children and the parents (or family member that came to claim the child. ) It is our first experience of seeing first hand this mass exodus from the property and it was lots of fun. The parents came as near to 10:00a.m. as they could. We had let them know there would be a program with their children being highlighted. We had an awning set up and rented some chairs, so we would have a captive audience. Behind this plan, was Padma. With the property spread out the way it is, she has a hard time gathering the parents together to talk about their micro-loans, and other things that relate to their children and their relationship with Rising Star Outreach. She teaches at that time, also: hygiene, finance, parenting, etc. They all love and trust her, but sometimes they would like not to talk about their loans!

The morning went according to schedule, and after the program and discussion the parents are free to talk with the teachers; mid-quarter exams were the week before the break so the parents are always anxious to find out how their children are doing. For many families (probably most) this is the first generation to have a real school experience. There's a lot of pride in that.

An example of a day being inauspicious, when our new General Manager was to begin, he was scheduled to begin on a Monday. He called on the preceding Wednesday to let us know he would be starting on Friday, not Monday, as Monday was not an auspicious day!? Our chief accounts officer was offered a brownie one day. He asked if he might take it home to eat it the next day, because the present day was not auspicious for eating the brownie. We figure it all has to do with the horoscope. I've wondered how many days I have jeopardized all kinds of things by not being more in tune with auspicious and inauspicious.

The snake hunters have not shown up for the last two days--inauspicious I guess. They have found a number of small to big harmless snakes, but so far have not come up with the cobra. We keep hoping--it would make our walks around the property less worrisome. The children never think about it, which is a bit scary.

Ron and I have been in Chennai since Sunday. We were told (and read parts of it in the paper) that a couple of our missionaries in Bangalore were put in jail. The Hindu's have been attacking the Christian worship centers, and somehow our missionaries found themselves in the middle of it. Our missionaries in Chennai have not been wearing their badges identifying themselves for several days, but on Sunday they had them back on. The church is not officially recognized in India--the name on the front of the building reads, "The Indian Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." Monday and Tuesday we have worked to try and put our apartment in order. We now have beds, but we have spent the better part of two days looking for bedding. There is definitely not a Bed, Bath and Beyond in this part of the world. We think the apartment will make our lives a bit easier (and less expensive) than the Marriott--our peanut butter sandwich tonight reminded me how much I shall miss the Marriott, however. It's also going to take weeks to get an internet hookup in the apartment, so we're back to Bluetooth even in Chennai.

Happy Birthday Ron!

2008-09-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

Indeed, we did have a very fun celebration on Monday, September 1, for Ron's natal day! It started with the older girls coming early in the morning to serenade him with a rousing rendition of "Happy birthday"--they do a second verse also which says "May God bless your year..." repeated four times. Nice. Staff and children all added loving wishes as they met him. Throughout the day he received many nice emails from family members and friends--he loved that also.

That afternoon we took the Kirby family, Vicki and Gordon Gibb, Erin, Katie and Emily and Nickesh, to Dakshina Chitra which is situated on about 10 acres of well cared for property, and is a community service project of the Madras Craft Foundation. They promote and preserve the cultures of several states of India, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The architecture of these different communities includes various buildings that have been brought and reconstructed on the site, making several village-like areas showing the differences between one community and another. They are beautiful, mainly wood construction, although some in brick and stone. We never see wood used in building in recent years--all wood that is used in India is imported now.

There are many crafts people who are working on site, and sell their wares directly to the public. Also, they have many interactive things going on--making pottery, grinding rice, palm leaf decoration, pot painting, terra cotta doll making, block printing, basket making and others.

It's lots of fun and very informative--come on over and we'll take you there! After that stop, we went to a fun restaurant called Kabob Court for a delicious dinner. One of the dishes was a beautiful seafood platter--including a large lobster. We did end up with a biriani that was so spicy that Ron said if he'd had tonsils, they would have been burned right out! We had not one but two beautiful birthday cakes--we got a little mixed up with two Hot Breads bakeries on the same road, and we had ordered one from each! We had to eat the second cake the next night for dinner--darn!

The Kirby's six year old made a hilarious card for Ron, including such descriptions of him as "Faster than a speeding auto-rickshaw...with a flat tire", and "Stronger than the smell of Indian garbage." It was so cute, complete with great pictures.

It was a happy day for all, I think especially for the Birthday Boy!

Cobras and other bad critters!

2008-09-01T01:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, cobras are around. I was wondering if it was like a snipe hunt, but we've had two major encounters in the past few days. One night, one of our drivers came back late with someone, and since he gets to his home on a bicycle, he decided to spend the night at the school (not sure who gave him permission to do that!) As he was walking over to the school, squarely in the middle of the road was a very large cobra--head in that cobraesque pose! He turned around and quickly decided it was much safer to jump on his bike in the dark night, and peddle rapidly down the road. This morning as the children were walking to school, they all gathered in a group to watch possibly the same cobra in the mango trees right by the path. So sad to have missed it--I must see one before we depart or it won't be a true India experience.

This is one for the books. As Gorden Gibb says, this doesn't happen in Provo, Utah! Mary, one of our very fine teachers, travels by bus from her home in Kancheepuram every day--about an hours ride. Last Friday she was sitting in her seat on the bus and a man standing beside her set his package down--slightly on her foot. It so happened, that in the package was a scorpion fish (you might check that out on the internet--I've never heard of such a thing.) It totally nailed her foot with it's nasty stingers. They stopped the bus, and some man jumped off the bus and ran into a pharmacy and got an antihistamine and an antibiotic, to give to her right on the bus! Drugs are easy to come by. By the time she reached the school her foot was three times it's normal size and hurting. Dr. Kirby said the good drug samaritan gave her exactly what he would have given her. They pulled more stingers out then she went to sleep for a couple of hours and woke up with the swelling down and feeling better. We will now keep our eyes open for scorpion fish as well as cobras!

The roads carry our most dangerous enemies...moving vehicles! Right now we are on our way to Chennai to go to the bank, then meet up with our friends to celebrate Ron's birthday. First hand I can describe what I figured out last week about how the system works on these crazy highways. What I realized is that it's the old adage that "might makes right", or the big guy always wins! The big trucks and buses are at the top of the pecking order--whatever they want to do is okay, because they are the biggest! Next, in order are the big cars, then lesser sized vehicles, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, down to the lowly pedestrian, who has absolutely no rights at all. Dogs, chickens, and humans all command about the same respect on the roadway--you don't want to hit a cow or a monkey, however, or you are in BIG trouble.

Our storerooms are all filled with coconuts right now (a few less on the trees to land on my head.) We are going to make our own coconut oil so we don't have to buy it--both the men and the women use it as hair dressing every day. We are going to make a lot of oil from all these coconuts!

Our main crop right now is sesame. Three women have been coming each day with their sharp curved blades to harvest the stocks. They receive 40 rupees a day--less than a dollar. They are bent almost double for the whole day--tough work. Murugan, our gardener, has been carrying bundles onto the school rooftop to spread it out to dry. His wife cleans the school each day--she has not been happy about the sesame droppings up three flights of stairs.

We've also had our peanut crop. Vicky Gibb came rushing over a few days ago to see if we were on fire in our house. It was across the hall in the kitchen. They were not on fire, but were roasting the peanuts at a very high temp in a big wok type of pan. Apparently, they pop open with the heat--they were burned black, but the peanuts inside were delicious. The children had bowls of them for their afternoon snack. Lucky children!

The Kitchen

2008-08-25T23:11:00.002-07:00

Kitchens are always exciting places, the hub of activity that makes us all happy, and that is no different at Rising Star Outreach. Our kitchen is temporary, as we are awaiting the building of our new dining area and kitchen. This will be a separate building from the hostels. At present the kitchen is rather primitive, by our standards, but very adequate to produce some wonderful meals.

You may remember from a previous entry that one disadvantage to where we live is that we are right across the hall from the door into the kitchen. It is continuously visited by many people, big and small, and is therefore a very busy, happy, loud place! The kitchen is presided over by our head cook, Padmini, and her husband Govendaraj. They live here with their two children, who are both in the school. There are many helpers in the kitchen, including Vijaya and Magesh, two beautiful women who sit on the floor and do all the chopping of the vegetables. Vegetables are a big part of every dish. The protein often comes from the lentils, so many of our dishes are vegetarian. Chicken is included twice a week, eggs, three times a week, and fish, twice a week. The children get milk twice a day, and in the morning it includes protein powder. The after school snack is milk and lentils or fruit. Their diet is really very good, although by our calculation they probably get too much white rice, which is pretty much empty calories. Everyone loves the rice!

Some of our favorite Indian dishes that they prepare here are Dahl, Biryani (vegetarian, or with chicken or egg), Masala (with chicken or egg), Samba rice, Brindal sauce, and onion curd with yogurt, tomatoes, curdled milk, and something green (parsley?). Idli, a rice pancake, is good for breakfast, and of course many good breads: naan, parota, chipotte, and puri. They also do a great side dish with beet root, as they call it. The beets are chopped with onion and always many spices. The curd dishes are served, I think, to soften the spice--Indian food is spicy!! So many dishes are based in the curry sauce, with peppers and other hot ingredients added. Even the children's food is spicy. (Remember, all towns, foods, personal names and words in general, have many spellings, in case you think my spelling is bad--it is!!)

In the morning, the children begin with their milk (it's always boiled), then a bit later they get their Samba rice, or some noodle dish. They carry big pots to their rooms (six girls rooms and six boys rooms) and eat sitting in a circle on the floor. Every meal begins with Hindu and Christian prayers, and songs. All eating is done with the fingers--right hand only. When finished, they bring all the pots and dishes back to the kitchen area, washing their own plates and returning them to their rooms. At lunch time, taking food to their rooms is repeated. The staff are served on the floor in one of the downstairs rooms: teachers join in this meal, as well as cooks, cleaning ladies, gardeners, after the teachers and office staff. Their meal has more variety than the children's food--we often take our dish and receive a plateful from someone in the circle who is doing the serving. Today's lunch will be a vegetable dish, with cauliflower being the main ingredient--it's delicious if you can tolerate the heat! For dinner, the children sit in big circles out on the front area--part green, part dirt. The pots of food are placed in the center on the ground, and the children are served by the older girls or boys, or by the housemothers. The staff eat much later, also outside (all this is of course contingent on the rain.)

Everything smells so good, and to watch these beautiful women in their saris, with the flowers in their hair, working so hard, just adds to the anticipation of a great meal. The children are thriving with this wonderful food, and so are we!

India Independence Day. August 15, 2008

2008-08-18T07:10:00.001-07:00

Independence

Day

Celebration and

Honoring Amy

Antonelli

What an exciting day for the people of India, and all the children and staff here at our little community. It has been 61 years since India regained her Independence, and by our assessment started a giant (perhaps impossible) task of putting her many diverse peoples and cultures together under one government. One language was impossible, except by naming English the official language, and dealing with the problem that most of the lower classes of people speak very little, if any English.

Our children and teachers worked all week on a wonderful program of song, marching, dance and speeches in both Tamil and English. The children, of course, loved it, and so did all of us watching. I was so glad the volunteers were still here to make such a wonderful audience. The town of Chennai was filled with flags and vendors in the street trying to sell car flags and stickers every time the traffic stopped. I kept holding up all our purchases, but it didn't stop the sellers (mostly children risking life and limb) knocking on the windows trying to sell us more.

Indians are very proud of their country--there is so much that is good and beautiful. It seems sad to me that the systems in government and business are often run with money under the table and a perpetual skimming off the top. The infrastructure of the country leaves much to be desired: the schools, medical care, waste management and transportation are difficult, at best, and that means the people suffer. There are so many who are poor and destitute. Driving the streets of Chennai is hard. The people in the little villages around us look to have a better life than those in the cities.

We celebrated again on Saturday. We had some of the members of the Rising Star Outreach India Board with us, as well as members of the School Committee (comparable to our school Boards--required by law.) Samuel Ambrose has been the Chairman of the Board, and his term was completed. He was honored as the outgoing chairman--he has done so much to help us stay on track these past three or four years. It was Amy Antonelli's last day, and she too was honored. She has been so tremendous these past four years. We can't imagine going forward without her. Four of the children spoke about their love for her and what they would miss most in her absence. It was very dear and made us all quite teary. Parts of the Friday program were repeated for our guests, much to the delight of the children, and then we served a nice lunch to all on the rooftop. The meetings were completed, and at the conclusion we were exhausted!

A Morning on the Rooftop

2008-08-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

The rooftop of the Girl's Hostel is a heavenly place. It is off limits to the children (they're all at school at the moment anyway) but there is a nice awning with tables and chairs. The volunteers eat up here every evening and have all their planning sessions, scripture reading, and other activities here. The breeze is nice, and the view is nothing but mango and coconut trees, and this morning blue skies with clouds. It is truly beautiful. The property owned by Rising Star Outreach is one grove of trees after another--15 acres. They are mature and during their season grace us with wonderful fruit. There are some fields planted, as well, with sesame and some nameless plant that flowers and is planted like cucumbers with it's own mound and water well for each plant. There are many other species of plants, none of which I'm familiar with. The birds are plentiful, with Kingfishers, small parrots, and a host of others, some identified, some not. We have time for all that later.

We had a little girl (Manimegalai--age 8) fall from a tree last night and break her arm. They took her to the hospital in Changleput where she spent the night (with dear Amy by her side for the night) and she was to be operated on this morning. A driver went to get her parents from the Colony where they live, and Dr. Karl Kirby and Amy are with them, also. It's a government hospital and a bit scary. We haven't heard anything yet.

All the women who work here are always dressed in their beautiful saris. Many of the girls who are here (volunteers and staff) also wear them on Sundays. I have not been so brave yet. It requires at least two house mothers to dress those of us who have not worn them every day for most of our lives. I think it is perfect that these women whose lives are so hard, and who have very little by worldly standards, choose to clothe themselves in such a lovely way. The wage for most of these people is just over $2.00 US (100 rupees) per day, but they all look better than most of the rest of us (I'm speaking for myself.) Something to think about.

Thank you for those who have posted comments. Lets me know that someone is out there reading this. Sorry for the long space between reports--it's not easy to get out on the internet here on the property. We are still alive and well, and getting a better rhythm to our activities.

Tamil--the language of Tamil Nadu

2008-08-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

Neither of us have ever been great linguists--the best I can do after many years of being around Spanish-speaking people is make sure the proper beds get changed, the sheets washed, and the roses get fertilized, so I haven't had a lot of hope of learning Tamil. Not only is the written alphabet (some 260 characters) completely unrecognizable, but the names are long, and the sounds are all v's, t's, k's, g's, and s's and combinations thereof. To our ears it all sounds like that look that comes up on your attachments when it doesn't open properly--;sdlkfalsdfjSFskjfasfjasf--you know!

Anyway, we're determined to give it a try as we know it will enrich our experience if we can converse a bit in the native language. We have a tutor for this project: his name is Deepan raj, and he is 12 years old. Ron got a program in Tamil before we left home, so every evening we put on the program and Deepan raj comes to help enunciate and help us with breaking the words into syllables in sounds we can understand. He is so darling, and so patient--I'm sure he can't believe how slow people can be. His English is quite good--his accent is so easily understood as compared to most of the adults who speak English. Anyway, last night he also brought his older brother, Modan raj, to be a part of it. They both love the computer, and look forward to the day when our computer lab will be a real part of the school. Thanks to Melissa Mitchell and others, that day is getting closer. Don't hold your breath, however, until Ron and Joyce spout forth in Tamil--it won't be soon.

Yesterday was Parent's Day. The first Saturday of every month the parents of the students that are able to travel, start arriving around 9:30 with picnics, gifts, and all the brothers and sisters, to visit their children. Our children were all dressed so beautifully. The boys had sharp-looking shirts, and the girls the prettiest, most colorful dresses I have seen. They were dressed and ready before 7:00 a.m. The families set up with mats and blankets under the mango trees and hug and love the children, as well as feeding them all their favorite treats. The girls get flowers for their hair, and the mothers or grandmothers, aunts or dads, comb and brush their hair and add the flower leis. They look so beautiful. Thank goodness for 14 acres, as there are a lot of people that come and they are playing ball and games all over the place! At the end of the day everyone is tired, some are very, very sad, (the little ones, especially) but they know it will all take place again in another month.

Rush Slowly!

2008-07-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-27T03:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-07-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-07-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

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!