Kismet in Kaza

I thought we were going to a staff meeting.
Griff and I had been volunteering at a school in Manali- a town in northern India laying at the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. When the Assistant Principal asked Griff and I to join her for a meeting that Tuesday night, we accepted and expected to see the inner-workings of an Indian school staff meeting. We met in a small apartment near the school and were offered the standard welcoming gift of Chai Tea. We then went into the bedroom and waited around for we-didn’t-know-what. Our first clue that this was not a staff meeting was when the “leader” arrived and pulled out a guitar. She began singing in a hippie-high-pitched voice, some songs about God being good and God being worthy. Nope- definitely not a staff meeting!
Turns out we had been invited to a Bible Study. How long had it been since we had officially been to one of those? We decided to just go with the flow and make the entire evening another cultural experience. It actually felt very rebellious…I know, I know, how can a Bible Study possibly be a form of rebellion? Well, in this part (and most other areas) of India, the major religion is Hindu. In the far north, Buddhism is the dominant religion and is also woven into the laws that govern the land. Other religions are “allowed” -meaning that you can believe them if you want to, but if you are caught talking about your religion to others, there are serious consequences- sharing a non-mainstream religion is illegal.. Outside of the laws, many people here will chastise a person who does not prescribe to the dominant religion of an area. Socially, you are outcast and looked down upon. Sometimes your life can be threatened. It is common that official papers for owning property or for traveling are mysteriously never signed if certain people find out that you do not believe in “the” religion. Needless to say, being a part of a small gathering of Bible-believers gave us a feeling of being oh-so-anti-establishment.
It turned out that the leader of the group was actually from the United States and we started up a conversation about our travels and our experience volunteering at the school. She asked us what our plans were after leaving Manali and we told her that we wanted to head farther north to a touristy trekking-center in the Himalayas called, Leh. She mentioned that if we were not dead-set on Leh, we could join her and a friend who were going trekking in the mountains through Spiti Valley. Griff was thrilled by the thought of hiking with someone more local and not having to hire a guide and go with a big group of people. She said that they would be visiting a friend of hers who had started a school in Kaza, (a much less touristy town than Leh), and that for years, he had been looking for a teacher with a western approach to education. The thought of being able to volunteer in a rural village AND go trekking was just too good of an offer to pass on, so we changed our plans, promising Leh a rain check and began preparing for a totally different experience in Kaza.
Kaza is a village situated at the bottom of what is known as Spiti Valley. The Valley has carved itself out of the magnificent Himalayan mountains. It is considered desert land here- as very little grows from the earth with the exception of patchy grass which is harvested all summer to stalk up for the animals during their harsh winters…and when I say harsh winters, I am making an understatement! The temperature has been known to drop to -45degrees. No transportation comes in and nothing goes out! The shotty, narrow roads which jet out over sheer cliff-side drops become even more dangerous when they are covered in ice and snow. When the ice melts, it creates snow and mud slides that block the roads entirely. Many of Kaza’s residents leave before the weather changes as an alternative to being “trapped” here for the winter.
Despite its potential for being an incredibly lonely cold village during the winter months, at the moment, Kaza is breathtaking. On either side of the town, the mountains turn sharply sky-ward and cradle a rushing icy river filled with the runoff of glaciers above. In the distance you can see what is the predecessor of the coming season- the snowy tip-tops of the jagged spikes proclaiming the power of the mighty Himalayas! The dramatic hillsides look like pieces of marble cake sliced down the middle- boasting colors of brown and beige and tan that I never knew existed. Who would have imagined that boring old brown could be regarded in such esteem! If you look with expectation at these mountainsides you will see ancient history right in front of your eyes! Donkeys with baskets of manure or grass on their backs, as their owner (equally weighed down by the same materials) pushes their obstinant animal's rear-end with a hearty shoulder nudge, which moves their stubborn legs begrudgingly down a crude dusty path. What may appear to be patches of grass on the mountain’s slope , are in reality tiny mountain people with their entire back loaded down with grassy earth and moving slowly across the mountain’s cliff with the agility of a billy-goat! Their shoes are no more than flimsy bits of plastic; their dark faces are weathered with calluses on their cheeks and nose. Truly, their way of life has not changed for thousands of years. We watched them for hours and marveled at their lives filled with toil and the work of the land. Have they ever ventured beyond this hill? Have they ever read a book or handled money? What a different world they live in!
After a couple of days in Kaza and indulging in a few local excursions, we decide that we were happy with our decision to come to here. We have met up with the founding couple of the little school here and hit it off immediately! They live never knowing where their next source of income will come from, but so strongly believe in their cause of bringing education to the children of Kaza. Their eyes never fall from their goal of making the school a place where children can flourish and reach their potential. The road for these two has been far from easy. Neither of them are from this region, but felt a “calling” to this place- when they moved here it was even more remote and barren than it is now, yet they came with willing hearts and a vision for their school. They re-installed a clinic in Kaza that had basically been dormant for quite some time. They then started a school with only four students in its first year. The school grew quickly as word spread about the quality and care that was put into the education of their students. The couple's love story is equally amazing. Theirs is a marriage of true love and not an arrangement- it is as if they were created for each other. What a stark contrast to many of the marriage relationships we have encountered while traveling here.
Griff and I were asked by the school’s founder to run a teacher’s conference for the staff at the school. It has been challenging yet extremely rewarding. The education system in India is so different than in America that figuring out where to start was no small task. India’s schools still endorse corporal punishment. Teachers are ill-prepared to teach in a classroom environment and have almost no classroom management skills. All learning is done from a workbook…there is not a single other resource available to the teachers in most schools, and “pleasure reading” is non-existent, as most schools have a very old library or none at all. The classrooms consist of a rugged, wobbly desk that is shared by two or three pupils, a chalkboard, a mud floor, and a tiny window. Most rooms are divided by a sheet or a board so that two classes can be conducted at the same time. The nicest word that I can use to describe the state of India’s education system? “Dire.”
The conference was eye-opening to many of the teachers. I have been instructing on things like applying rules and consequences in the classroom. Believe it or not, even this simple concept is brand new to many of the teachers. Due to a generous donation from a couple of friends back home, we were able to provide every teacher with a “Conference Kit” that included a folder, a notebook, a highlighter and a pencil. There were also snacks provided- juice and dry, spicy noodles that they eat like chips, as well as cookies and nuts. When the teachers walked in the first day and saw their kits and snacks, they could barely contain themselves! A box of juice costs a little over one dollar here, when you make about $100.00 a month, juice is quite an indulgence! Our donor also provided the funds for us to purchase little prizes, like mini-staplers, boxes of crayons, correcting pens, etc. Every time a teacher won a prize, everyone got so excited and watched intently as they unwrapped their gift to reveal what was inside. It is so amazing to be a part of something that is revolutionizing teaching for these teachers! They have never really been treated in a professional manner, and the more this happens, the more their confidence soars! We know that this change in attitude will rub off on their students, and Griff and I were rewarded daily in ways that we never imagined; we regularly received letters of encouragement and thanks from the teaches, as well as comments from the students like, “What is going on? Why are all the teachers so happy?”. The founders of the school are trying to attract teachers who have a passion for instructing children, however teachers are often regarded as "a little better than a housewife"- and of course most teachers are women which doesn't earn the profession much credit here. After two weeks of teaching the teachers many of them had made some pretty major changes in their outlook on the profession. Some of them began asking fantastic questions about how to better reach their students. It was so encouraging and made us think, "If this is the result of only two weeks, how much further this school could come with solid leadership and more training!" Of course, there is still a very long way to go with this group of teachers, but we have a feeling we will be back again soon to see how they have progressed and how we can assist their future growth.
I am dying to tell my regular readers and close friends more about the project in Kaza, India, but there are politics involved that do not allow me to do so on a public site. Let me say that Griff and I are very, very excited and inspired by all that we have seen and been allowed to participate in...what is about to happen at this school will most certainly revolutionize education in this part of rural India, and possibly beyond...

As we look back on our months here in exotic India, both Griff and I have made some major decisions that will forever change the course of our lives. We have seen first hand the value of quality education and how the lack of such can be disastrous not only to the individual but to an entire community. We have also been witness to the importance of things like health care, sewage systems, and clean drinking water. Back home it doesn't even cross your mind to throw toilet paper down the toilet or to wet your toothbrush with water from the faucet. These are things that most of the world doesn't (or shouldn't) do! One of the major inconveniences that we experienced in India was the constant power outages. When we were in Delhi the power was off for about eight hours a day! The only thing that seemed constantly “on” was the scorching power of the sun. This was tough for us- no light, no fans, no T.V. but how much more difficult is this situation for the shop owner who makes no sales that day, or the child who cannot study their school work- you get the idea.
India, a country that we despised after a few days after arriving here, has become a fire in our souls- a thought that keeps us awake at night. We have been blessed by people who have taken us in and shown us the country through their Indian eyes. In Kaza, we were literally taken to the hights of the nation- ironically this climb paralleled our growing love for the place; the longer we stayed the more it enraptured us.

thank you india, thank you terror
thank you disillusionment
thank you frailty, thank you consequence
thank you thank you silence
The moment I let

What Would Mrs. Sheely Do???
When all else fails- go for puppets! Girff made the silly things and the kids got the biggest kick out of them! While we were planning this lesson, we recalled the cow puppet of our first grade teach... [more]

go of it was the moment I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it was the moment I touched down
-A. Morissette, lyrics from "Thank You"

If you would like to make a donation to the building of the new school in Kaza, please contact my parents back home, as they know the simplest, proper methods to get money directly here and to the school. (You can reach them via email at intotheglory@ comcast.net) I can personally guarantee that every single rupee will go directly towards the building of the new school. I seriously encourage you to consider making a donation to this 100% grassroots cause- it is one of the most amazing efforts that we have ever seen. Unless specified, no money is set aside for administrative costs.

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