Sydan Walla and photos

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Letter from some where near {well 2 hours drive} Lahore.

Life has changed dramatically for us since we arrived at our final destination in Pakistan-Syden Walla Farm where we are working with the teachers and teacher trainers in 6 local schools.
It is a very rural area and the village of Syden Walla is as it must have been for centuries! There are a few modern touches are provided by the farm which is owned by a very rich man who has was born in the area and now wants to improve it for everyone. He sponsors the schools by providing uniforms and lunch, sends a doctor once a week and has some modern machinery on the farm.
However most people are still living in mud brick built houses some of which have a pump in the yard, along with goats, chickens, a buffalo and a number of grubby children. Other people have to walk to the edge of the village to get water in bulbous shaped pots which they carry back on their heads. A few boys have bikes and strap a water pot on the back.
Our accommodation is on the farm set inside a walled farm yard. We have the luxury of a western toilet and running water. The electricity is OK but the wiring has Geoff in fits of worry and blue sparks come each time you plug anything in! It is a large high ceilinged room which will be cool in the hot summer but feels rather bleak at the moment but I hope to get some cloth to drape about to make it look more inviting. I also want a rush mat to cover the grey concrete floor but it takes an hour to get to Kot Rhadan Kishan, the nearest place with shops. And what a place that is!! Such a miss-match of the 21st century and as far back you care to go! Painted buses, rickshaws powered by the blue calor gas canisters we use for cooking when camping, motor scooters with at least 2 adults and 3 children on them, flat wooden carts pulled by little donkeys, carriages pulled by clip-clopping mules or the odd beautiful horse, herds of sheep and goats and one or two buffalo all trying to manover down narrow streets with open fronted shops and stalls and people with fantastic flowing robes or bright coloured shalwar chemise!!!!
Don’t look at the flies, or the open drains, or the beggars, or the falling down buildings but concentrate on the people who are so friendly and interested, who want to shake Mr Geoffs hand , who give us presents of fruit and sweets, who bless us for coming to ‘ help make education’.
The biggest down side at the moment is that we don’t have access to the internet so e-mails and entries on the blog may not be as frequent as I would like but please don’t stop mailing us as when we do get to an inter-nett café I look forward to knowing that we are not forgotten!
I am writing this early in the morning as the dawn call to prayer is quite loud from the farms mosque, and the village mosque and the next one just down the track! Some mornings we walk down to the dairy and watch them milk by hand 60 or so cows and buffalo. We drink a cup of sweet buffalo milk still warm it is so fresh! It is hard to stop them giving us gallons to drink!
However as it gets dark by 6 and there is not much night life we go to sleep much earlier than at home!
We are being well fed by the farm cook and they are pleased that we enjoy Pakistani food but I an promised a cooker soon and we are looking forward to be a bit more independent.
The children at the school are like children everywhere and giggle a lot and call me Madam. I think it is going to be hard to do what they want to as there are not enough teachers or recourses to work in a child centered way!
Hope everyone is well From Mr Geoff and Madam Jane!!

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Photos

Our Room
our room is getting there! Had no bedclothes mats cupboards and drawers full of rubbish! Still awaiting some sort of heater and more carpets and maybe even some hot water!

Water Ladies
see this every morning and evening as we go for our walks around the farm

Village
note the old and the new! in other feids we see rice being treashed by hand and buffalos pulling the plough.

sydenwalla farm yard
this is where we live in a building in this big enclosed farm yard. It is really reat -full of piles of grain,cotton maize whatever is being harvested at the time! The mosque is not too loud except on Friday afternoon for special prayers.

man
a typical local-he is an irrigation man!! We were out walking and looking at the fields and he explained how it all works--in Punjabi!!!!

Comments

[Ceilia]

Looks interesting
Hi, been following the blog since you came to stay. It looks interesting, you are very brave. Wet and gey here but still lovely. Take care both. Love Ceilia

[judy brown]

thinking of you
Thought of you this morning as I sat in the study looking at the snow in the front garden! I love the blog and the photos have convinced me that we will haVE TO COME AND VISIT. I hope you manage to make some sort of headway on the teaching front. We look forward with bated breath to the next installment. Love to both. xxxxx

[Masood]

Genuinely Impressed!
Hi guys, I am a British born Pakistani and have accidentally come across your blog (I was trying to find a nice new desktop wallpaper pic). It was a pleasure to read your entire blog, (even though I ended up reading it from back to front!). On behalf of myself and all other Pakistanis' I would like to say a great big thank you to you both for commiting yourselves in such a big way. You guys deserve a lot of respect for taking on this project - Well done! I have emailed a link of your blog to all my brothers and sisters who I am sure will be delighted to read about your experience. Stay strong and keep up the good work! Mas.