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| Our warm welcome after getting off the bus |
GABBY - Today began a new chapter in our adventure through
India. We would be driving to a hostel
in Semmandakuppam, Tamil Nadu in the southeastern part of India. Ben had organized this portion of our trip
and had heard about the mission trip from one of his friends, Bill Souser. Bill and Ben went on a 70 day canoe trip from
Vermont to Canada together with 8 other guys.
They all had quite some time to talk to each other. This is where Bill told Ben about a mission
trip he had participated in through his church.
We were meeting up with a group of people from various Pennsylvania
churches to work in a hostel, which serves as housing for some of the kids
attending the nearby school called Carmel Matriculation School. Somehow from a conversation on a river or
lake between Ben and Bill we had managed to get to India and participate in a
similar mission. Ben had met the group
of Americans briefly last night, but I still hadn’t. We did some last minute rushed packing and
walked downstairs to eat breakfast and check out. As we were checking out the Americans
trickled down and greeted us warmly. We
boarded the bus where everyone introduced themselves by waving and reciting
their names. There was a drastic range
of ages from 12 to early 70’s. Bob Davis
was the head of the whole operation and is a wise, 60 something year old,
former plastic surgeon who has been running trips to Carmel for 22 years. He has traveled all over India with Americans
on other mission trips, but also for medical work in his earlier days. Ben and I picked his brain about the country
for awhile as we made our way out of the state of Karnataka and into Tamil
Nadu. Crossing the border out of
Karnataka meant that we would be experiencing a different language, which is
Tamil.
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| Kids making an outline of India |
As we drove we noticed an
increase of bamboo trees and rice fields.
We were really getting out there into more village life and away from
the hectic city. We finally turned into
the town of Semmandakuppum and onto a barren street scattered with shacks and
street stands selling chips and local goods.
As we pulled up to the Carmel hostel I heard the booming base of a drum
and shrieking, excited children. We got
off of the bus and were greeted with hugs from Baki and Friena, the couple that
owns the hostel. The dirt driveway was
lined with children on both sides, girls on the left, boys on the right. The smallest children greeted us first with flags,
smiles and paper hats that they had each hand colored. Both Ben and I couldn’t believe what we had
walked into. Everyone was so happy that
we had come. The kids just wanted any
attention that we were willing to give.
Some gave us hugs, while others gave handshakes or waves. I looked at Ben and he had tears in his
eyes. We were both so touched and
humbled by the whole experience. We made
our way down the line, acknowledging as many children as we could before reaching
the end. We were then told where we
would be staying. Ben and I were
unexpectedly put in the same room, which was unnecessary, but nice. The room was bare with 2 twin beds and bug
nets, a bathroom and a wardrobe. It was
excruciatingly hot in the room, so we dropped our stuff off and headed
outside. We went downstairs and walked
to the main courtyard, right outside the building we were staying in, to get to
know the kids! We were immediately
enveloped by all of the kids. We spent
the next couple hours learning names, playing games, teaching games like a
Songadeewin classic – 7’s, pushing kids on swings, playing tag, throwing balls,
and just talking. Ben had his posse of
little boys, while I had mine of little girls.
We had such a great time with the incredibly polite and excited children. They
called all of the Americans by name and then added “Uncle” or “Auntie”
to the end of your name. They called
Ben, Ben Uncle and me, Gabby Auntie. The
kids in 3rd standard and up (standard = grade) speak decent English,
enough to communicate.
After the many
hours of play we were told to sit up on the stage next to the chapel. They had a whole welcome ceremony prepared
for us, which included getting a necklace placed on us by the children, a
traditional Indian dance by some of the older girls, prayers, and
introductions. They seemed so genuinely happy
that we had arrived. We learned that
there are about 1000 kids that attend the Carmel Matriculation School, but only
about 80 kids live at the hostel. The
kids that live at the hostel are not all orphans. Some of them are, but others are sponsored by
someone, like some of the people in our group.
Some parents also pay to have their kids stay in the hostel, which is
only about a 10 minute walk from the school.
The school is renowned for its good education program and competent teachers. After the ceremony we had a very American
meal prepared by Samuel, our Indian chef for the week. He works as a head chef in a hotel in
Bengalore. After dinner, Ben and I
experienced typical Indian showering, which consists of filling buckets with
water and dumping cups of it on your body.
It actually felt really good, even though there wasn’t a constant
stream. There isn’t consistent
electricity at Carmel, only about 12 hours per day. Our room was so hot and without electricity
there was no air flow whatsoever. With
electricity we had two ceiling fans, but without it were lying completely still
in a pool of our own sweat. Luckily the
electricity came on just as I was dosing off.
It was such a nice day, filled with so much love and appreciation that I
couldn’t wait to see what the week with the kids had in store for us.
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