Now that we’ve brought you up to speed, I thought I would write a little about our life at school. Our day begins at the reasonable hour of 7:45am after what can be quite a challenging nights sleep. Too often at night, we seem to be battling a mixture of heat (although it’s getting noticeably cooler), a squeaking fan, barking dogs and the mosquitos that still seem to penetrate our net. But we are rewarded in the morning by a lovely omelette, cooked by the hospital canteen. It’s the only meal we have at the hospital in the week, but they do look after us. After applying what seems to be less and less sun-cream each day, Rajinder, a hospital worker dusts down and then fires up his trusty Kawasaki Caliber (125cc). Malene hops on first and I perch on the back and we set off. The mornings are starting to feel cooler and we have been told that we may need a jumper in the next couple of weeks – crazy!
At the orphanage, we tend to arrive after breakfast and just before school starts. The tables are rearranged and there is a frantic buzz as the children search for their bags and find their seats. The teachers (6 girls aged between 20-24) arrive shortly after us and each sit with their class to begin the day. There doesn’t appear to be a set routine when it comes to classes, just what feels right at the time. Malene and I have talked about making a school timetable which should help the children concentrate a little more. At the moment Malene is working with the nursery class, the largest (10 children) and arguably the most challenging! As with all the classes, there is a mixture of educational levels and ages, which can make it a challenge when deciding what and how to teach. As someone who has never done any teaching like this before, I find that my imagination is really being tested, but the sense of achievement when a class goes well continues to amaze me.
Whereas Malene has settled in with the small ones, I on the other hand flitter between the remaining 6 classes. One day, I’ll be focussing on the ABC’s with class 1 and the same afternoon I’ll be struggling with Shakespeare as class 10 prepare for their upcoming exams. To be honest, it’s all challenging (I have a feeling that I’ll be using that word a lot!) and quite daunting when I’m given a class at the last minute. But the children are a delight to be around and that makes this whole experience a joy. The classes that I have tried taking so far are English, computers, environmental science, drawing and maths – much to my dread!
The children (and teachers) have a small break at 11am. The children use this time to stretch their legs in the very limited space they have outside, whilst we have a cup of tea – Earl Grey that is! We then continue with the classes from half 11 and finish for lunch at 1pm. Lunch tends to be either the left overs from the previous dinner (with rice) or noodles and beans. To be honest, we both really like the food. Perhaps at times a little too spicy for Malene but we both like the vegetables they use and the freshness of it all. The cook at the school really works mini-miracles with what she has and we are both very grateful for her. At lunch, the children sit on 3 long faded red carpets and eat with either a spoon or the more traditional finger option. Needless to say, there is food everywhere by the time the children finish. Rice or yellow noodles cover the floor, but all is soon cleaned up and ready for the afternoon classes.
At the moment, the children don’t have much of a lunch break which I think could change. After a large meal consisting of mainly rice or noodles, the children have so much energy which can make them a bit of a handful when they come back to class. Probably what would be a better idea, would be to lengthen their break by half an hour and add that time to the time end of the day. Still, the end of school comes faster and faster each day at which point, chaos reins once again! All the children scramble around the large lockers containing a mixture of clothes. There’s no order, more of a first come, first served principal, as their school uniform is thrown to the ground and hands grab whatever garments they can. All the children share clothes with each other and they rarely make it through the rest of the day wearing just one outfit.
Games time! This is arguably the busiest and most demanding part of the day for Malene and I. They array of games is amazing, but I feel I should go into more detail at another time. This is when we get to bond most with the children. We go from being teachers to friends and people the children can confide in. I can’t wait to write about this part of the day, but you’ll have to wait till next week for that one.
6pm and a call echoes throughout the school that dinner is imminent. As the teachers leave after classes (2:45pm), it leaves Malene, Punam (a lovely friend who I will talk more of later) and myself to get the children in, make sure they wash their hands and sit the down at the table. We then have a little battle to see how quiet we can get everyone (30 children), but rarely seem to get more than a few minutes of peace…the ‘finger on the lips’ trick always seems to work quite well! After grace, everyone tucks in to rice, japati and a curry based mixture of vegetables, beans and potatoes. Every night is different, with one night a week being chicken – a treat for the children! Dinner marks the end of the day for us, with only the return motorbike trip left to do. Two boys, Balgit and Paramjit, take us back to the hospital and as we meander through the darkened streets and watch the stars, we get to reflect on the day. We both feel that there is potentially a lot we can do here at the orphanage, either on a teaching level or a personal level with some of the children. The only issue we will have is time; or rather the lack of it. We can’t believe a month has already passed, but at the same time feel very lucky and sure there will be many more stories to come.
Our travels through Asia 