Farhana's Birthday

Mum's Birthday, 22 February 2009.

My birthday was a big adventure. Having spent a couple of days in Christchurch figuring out how to use our Motorhome (I realize now we are not in a Campervan which are much smaller and for the under 25s) we decided to celebrate my birthday by going on a day trip away from the crowds. We chose (at random) to go to Mount Sunday which we then realized was a famous Lord of the Rings location (Edoras in the Kingdom of Rohan, North or Mordor...so Isaac says). Although it was only an 1.5 hours from the city, it felt like a thousand miles away. The mountains were awesome and we only saw a handful of other cars the whole 24 hours we were there. The way was mostly a gravel track which the Motorhome, thanks to Mike's excellent driving, coped with very well. After a walk on a "braided river", we made Isaac's favourite meal (salmon pasta). It felt like such a treat to eat a hot meal & have tea by a treasured spot that we were instantly converted to the joys of motorhoming. Instead of cake, the children had made/chosen very fitting cards and forked out on some lovely presents (a binoculars and some watercolours and an astronomy calendar) which are proving very useful in the holiday as we gaze at the stars. After dinner, as we were all very tired, we decided to pull over on the road and sleep in full view of Edoras rather than drive back! At dawn, we had lots of lovely views of the mountains as well as one other car.  So you can see we got the hang of this motorhoming lark all in one day! 

We decided to return to Christchurchto see the motorhome rental people because Rafi's car seat needed to be seen to and we couldn't work out why our microwave and toaster wouldn't work. We spent the day going to the Antarctic Centre where the children saw blue penguins & experienced a realistic blizzard (-18 degrees and lots of wind) & then a range of accidents happened: Rafi tripped on some ice; Safi fell over on the ice-slide & split her lip and then to top it all Aliya fainted! I felt like a very bad parent! We decided to stay in a better class of holiday park (or at least mum, safi, aliya and Rafi did) so as not to overdo the outdoor life too much. We all need to get some rest! What a dramatic 3 days!

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Rafi's Photos.

My cricket friends outside our apartment.

A little light refreshment.

My best friend- the MooCow!

The goats I love to play with outside our apartment.

My first motorcycle ride with Neeraj (the laughing one) and Mum, I have to say I prefer the rickshaws!

Isaac giving me a piggy back ride; it's really funny when I pull his hair!

I'm not laughing- Safi has stolen my water scoop!

That's better! Bath time is more fun when I can pour water all over everyone!

Rafael's blog of India

Hi family and friends,
I thought I would write this blog myself now as I probably won't remember much of this trip. The most exciting thing in my life at Cowfold was getting in the car and going to playgroup, maybe Tescos and collecting the big kids. But on this trip I have been bundled into so many different vehicles you wouldn't believe it! The most exciting was a big plane (as up to now I have just stared at them from the ground). But then when we got to Dehli, I got to ride in some very cool things called Rikshaws. They wizz around town at really high speed dodging cars, cycles and cows. My family are quite scared we will hit something but i think they are great fun!! I sit really quietly and nicely in them so Mum will always take me. She bought me a toy one when I saw one and sceamed!. I thought I was expressing my delight & she muttered something about it being my first proper tantrum!
We are now staying in an apartment in Udaipur near the school where the others are teaching. I get left behind with Dhanoo - who is my sort of nanny for a couple of hours each day. She takes me out to play with goats, look at the cows and play cricket with the other little kids in the village. I usually get very very dirty and have to have my clothes changed around 5 times a day!! she also gives me a "Frooti" a mango drink and my Milky Bar Kid. I think this is some sort of deal between my mum and Dhanoo.
When mum and the others come back I scream out in delight. They think its because i have missed them but actually they its because I want to go on the rikshaw. I scream that its not fair that they have had another ride and I have not!! How can i make them understand me better? I am now speaking some words but they don't always get what I am saying. Screaming seems more effective as everyone notices what I want instantly! Still they were rather delighted when I said "thank you" and "please" the other day...so maybe I will say those things every now and then to keep them sweet.
We all eat lunch together. I now love the rice and kidney bean curry. Afterwards i eat a whole gulab jaman in one go. I then play my favourite game - throwing things, balls mostly but anything will do, off the balcony. Luckily the guard of our apartment loves picking these things up and throwing them back to me! I have a nap every afternoon with my "bunny" and favourite blanket as all this cricket and ball throwing is quite tiring.
Late afternoon is quite hectic. All of us, me included, go to teach "evening school" which is a one hour session to teach some basic things to kids who don't go to school in the day because they are working. I mostly play and get messy and stroke the goats that are tethered nearby. Then its bathtime. This is great fun as I can fit myself into a lovley bucket of hot water and stay in it for hours splashing around and playing with Safi (who manages to squeeze herself into a bigger bucket cos she wants to be a baby, like me, teehee!). Mum makes me come out when the water has gone cold or there is none left as I have thrown it all over her.
The evenings are fun too. I get to play with Neeraj, who seems a bit like Mansoor Mammo, and with Ritu (who looks a bit like Tanika Auntie) and with Gaurav who is very tall so I like being held by him. I am practicing many new tricks to impress people and coo at me. My new one is copying Neeraj's laugh really loudly. I watch some of my favourite cartoons, e.g Spongebob, but in Hindi, which is a bit weird! Then something really cool happens. Mum puts me to bed in my pushchair. Although it looks a bit squashed to others, I really love it as its very snuggly and in the night something magical happens to me. I get transported somehow to mum and dad's bed!! This never happened in England but it always happens here in India when I fall asleep in the pushchair. So I am not complaining.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoy this and the photos!
love and kisses from Rafi, xxx

Bedla, Udaipur Photos... At Long Last!

Sorry for the delay with the photos... but finally, here they are! Enjoy!
Mike and Aliya teaching : 12-5 is.... EIGHT!

The business of Bedla! (actually, this isn't taken in Bedla, this is taken in Hatipol, where all the shops are and the Lake Palace is)

Mum and Safi teaching at the day care center.

Safi making her first chappati!

Mike and his guitars...

Story time!

The ladies carrying the hay... they walk for miles and miles with very heavy stacks on their heads.

Neeraj (the Local Co-ordinator)'s artistic shot of Mike, Aliya and Grade 4/5

On our way to school- carrying hay a different way...

Rafi after his bucket bath, bundled up!

The cow dung/hay mixture, which is used for fuel. These things are EVERYWHERE, and surprisingly, they don't smell!

Mike and Isaac at storytime

Aliya and Isaac teaching the animals.

From the book "Go Dog Go"...

We will upload more soon! We promise! We are trying to find ones of Rafi and his bucket baths... he might be the only one of us that absolutely loves them, and that's because he can fit into the buckets!! Leave us comments! M,F,A,I,S & R xxxx

Upper school

Ali, Iz and mike have been teaching the older children. There has been a struggle to incorporate relatively new teaching concepts and by 'new' I mean from the post Dickensian era. Generally accepted teaching methods here rely on rote learning of lists, plenty of copying and harsh discipline. We've tried to introduce something a bit more contemporary and seemingly the children love the lessons although frankly they are so hungry to learn, we could do almost anything and they'd be enthusiastic.
Sometimes the children, who come from the local village, shoeless but neatly combed, are clearly exhausted or with their minds on other things but we have found them extraordinarily committed.
We generally teach outside with a blackboard and taking resources with us. Their grasp of written English is good but because they are not taught phonics, they can only read words thy have already learnt. We are on a mission.
The journey to school is by auto rickshaw and we routinely pass a colourful assortment of construction workers, cows, children playing before school, unfeasibly large bundles of harvested hay being carried on women's heads...You really need to see the photos which will be uploaded shortly...Promise.
Ali and Iz are most able teaching assistants who, I trust, will be slightly more forgiving of their teachers now they appreciate what is involved!
We hope everyone is well and keeping your New Years resolutions.

Week 1 of Teaching!!

So we have just finished our first week of teaching. Safiya and Mum have around 15-18 children, ages 2-5. But we also get some older girls on days they have been asked to look after younger siblings. We sing them our goodmorning song and then start with some nursery rhymes before settling down to some writing/maths practice such as doing colouring in of number sheets or copying names/alphabet. One day, the nursery was closed unexpectedly so we used chalk and the "outdoor" classroom and did writing on the floor. It was great fun. The nursery has a cold floor. this must be nice in summer but its winter now and feels very cold. Many of the children do not have trousers or socks or shoes and you can see them shivering after sitting on a cold floor. They all warm up when we get the toys out though! We have chosen some construction toys (lego) and creative/role play toys as these appeal to all ages and boys and girls alike. After this "freeplay" we do a story or learn new words. The children are really amazing at learning a new language. Safi is getting very good at Hindi too! Then its time to do the "handwashing and lotion" duty. This involves washing and drying each child's hands/face adn then applying lotion as many dont have access to clean water and this way they get to be nice and clean in time for lunch. Mum washes their hands, Safiya dries and Ritu, our Local coodinator, applies the lotion. We then come home for lunch, hungry and quite exhausted!

Teaching in Udaipur 5th January 2009

The first few days after our arrival were spent on "orientation". we went to visit Sonaria Primary School & Community Nursery where we will all be teaching. Rafi will stay at our apartment and be looked after by a local nanny, Dhanoo, while the rest of us go off. Safiya and Mum will teach at the nursery (a bit like Country Mice). Aliya & Isaac will teach Year 4(age 8-9) and Mike will do year 5 (age 10-11). In orientation, we learnt most of the children come from the Gometi Tribe. Many of the families work as day labourers and in mining. Most live below the poverty line. Many do not send their children to school at all as they need them to work or do chores such as look after smaller children, cook, fetch water, graze goats. A few years ago, the government started a programme that provides a free meal for all school children. As a result attendance has improved & many clearly come so they can get at least one meal. We will teach at the School from 10.30-12am. After that they get their regular Hindi teachers back adn then have lunch. We have to plan a lot of activities to cover the 1.5 hours. We are quite excited about teaching. Safi and Mum have prepared lots of colouring in worksheets and sorted out lots of toys for the little ones to play with such as Lego. More next week on what its all like.

hi! first week of teaching is over! its so cool! the kids are great, and that's it. bye.

Udaipur

Finally we've arrived, ready to teach. Epic journey, albeit in private taxi from Delhi to get here but Udaipur is charming and a relief from the intensity of Delhi. We're staying in an appartment with running water only 2 hours a day, which is more of a shock to some of us than others! We're having fun though with the bucket showers and are being fed like kings.
Farhana and Safiya are going to be teaching in the nursery, Ali and Iz in 4th grade and Mike in 5th grade, English and Maths to classes of children from the Gameti tribe who are encouraged to attend school primarily by the offer of free school lunch. The school is recently built and newly extended which is a testament to its success as this depends on the roll of students. First lessons on Monday... Is this the very definition of a Busman's holiday.
Just been to the Lake Palace Hotel to relive past tour of India and indulge our luxury fantasies. Very beautiful..Pictures to follow shortly.
Very happy new Year to everyone and we look forward to hearing from you. By the way you can call us here on a land line for the next 3 weeks on 0091-2943296494. Also Mike has an Indian mobile which will much cheaper for you to call : 0091 9783300361.
Lots of love