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Published: November 28th 2009
Melo Ange and Larry
Oh its really happening! We're off!!This blog covers the 2009 De La Salle College trip, with 17 students and 5 staff, to two social justice projects in India. One project is based at Keesera, Andhra Pradesh and the other at Keelamudiman, Tamil Nadu.
Below is an entry from Dean and Owen in the Keesera Group reflecting on the very long journey we endured from Melbourne to Chennai and then onto Keesera via Vijaywada.
'Whoa', was the reaction as we exited the airport in Chennai and were hit with the full brunt of Indian humidity, a phenomenon Pat Cross described as 'walking through a bowl of Soup', only with more traffic. However our journey did not begin here... Annoyingly our 24 hours in transit began on Friday night at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport, here 15 De La boys, 5 of their teachers and 2 students from St. Michael’s in Adelaide began on their quest for eastern enlightenment. The first leg was 8 hours on ‘The Flight of Death’ which entailed 2 hours of straight turbulence and little to no leg room. Kuala Lumpur was our first stop, a tantalising and intriguing fusion of east and west, we were particularly enjoyed McDonald’s new range of ‘Prosperity Burgers’
Peppe
Taking a photo of us taking a photo of Peppe and ‘Milo-in-a-Can’. The next stop after checking out through customs only to wait in another line to get back in was Singapore, where the internet was free and the massage chairs where abundant. So far the boys seemed reluctant to embrace local culture, milling around the closet ‘Burger King’, a trend that would be lost as we boarded the 3-hour flight to Chennai and a culture shock beyond belief. We were met by Br.Thambi and the chaos of India by night, where five people can ride the same motorcycle but usually ridden by two men (in a kind of suss way). The hostel we stayed in resembled a scene from the ‘SAW’ films and by no means up to OH and S safety protocol. By morning we felt well adjusted but nothing would compare to what we would witness on the train to Vijaywada, bodies were strewn in every possible space, rubbish was thrown out windows and hundreds of Indians laughed as we attempted to eat our curry at break neck speeds, with great difficulty. Unfortunately the re-telling of our quest must be postponed as Br Tom’s internet is a privilege not a right. In the next episode… Stories of
In line at Air Asia
This was the longest line ever! I think we contributed to half of it!! Keesara and the exploits of Santiago Stay tuned Dean and Owen (mostly Dean) (actually initially Owen, but then the power went out and we lost all the mediocre material he wrote, then he lost interest.) ‘Jai Ho!’
Monday 23rd November
“HI! WHAT IS YOUR NAME? WHERE ARE YOU FROM? WHAT ARE YOU STUDYING?” were questions asked repeatedly by the kids of Lasallian BJT College. As we walked into the College, we received a welcome similar to that of a celebrity. Our morning consisted of a welcoming assembly for the primary and secondary school. Brother Tom introduced us to the students and we were met with lots of cheering. Always a great way to start the week! We each received flower necklaces made by the students, and were taken on a tour of the College.
Some of us were startled by the harshness of the inside environment. It was a sight to behold, 60 students seated on a concrete floor. The comfort of carpeted floors and walls decorated in student work at Malvern seemed eons away. If there was a table it wasn’t uncommon to see five or more students per table! Yet the children were very excited
and willing to learn to the best of their ability, determination and enthusiasm.
Seeing the Degree building which last year’s Coolies worked on was uplifting. It’s not far off completion, but once it is, so many more students will be able to further their education beyond Year 10. For many Indian students this is all the education they will receive. Its hard not to feel daunted by the prospect of 4 weeks of true manual labour, particularly when its such a massive project but the important thing is to remember what we will contribute will be part of a ‘bigger picture’. The building we will be working on will become the secondary school. Once finished, it will be quite a spectacular building, 24 classrooms, 2 computer laboratories and a library. Brother Tom walked us through the site and explained that this building was not here last year when the 2008 Coolies were here. He said they ‘broke ground at 5.30 am on St. Patrick’s Day this year’. The completion of this building will free up the existing secondary school building to expand the Degree component of the College.
The tour of the worksite was confronting. The immensity of
the task ahead suddenly became all the more real now that we were standing in front of it. The poor safety conditions the builders would work in on a day to day basis. Scaffolding consisted of what looked like bamboo sticks knotted together with rope. There was not a wheelbarrow on site and concrete was mixed by hand. New technology was scarce. Watching the workers haul a 20 kilo bag of sand onto their shoulders and hike it up some very uneven steps was somewhat of an awakening. Equipment we take for granted in Australia like gloves and boots, were treasured belongings that not one of the workers possessed.
We were also concerned by the amount of challenges we would need to face to achieve what we set out to do, to contribute to building a school, to the best of our ability. Although there is a lot of work ahead, we were able to see that this can be achieved by us, or by anyone, because last year’s ‘Coolies’ accomplished.
Barry and Alex...and Ange...
Tuesday 24th of November 2009
Now accustomed to the surrounds of BJT College and its students, a cohort of coolies headed
Owen Dean and Patrick
More waiting...very patient though...probably too full from all the McDonalds consumed... up the highway to the small town of Keesara in the early hours of the morning to gather the soft drinks and snacks essential to our survival. We returned to the brother’s residence via the welcoming shack of the local “chai” tea and coffee vendor, splurging a mighty sum of 10 rupees on the tasty drinks.
When we returned from our ventures and were surprised, yet intrigued to see curry on the breakfast table, all the same we tucked in to what turned out to be a succulent meal.
At 9:30, feeling like we had already completed a hard days work the Keesara coolies team slapped on some sunscreen and strapped on their boots in preparation for what sounded to be a lazy one and a half hour’s of work.
Little did we know…
Sand is extremely heavy and carting it up stairs one by one is no mean feat. Thankfully the brains trust of the group (self declared by one Carlos Saliba) dreamt up the scheme of a sandbag train which lessened the energy and expletives being put into our work. With sunscreen in our eyes and our hearts in our hands we trudged back
Checking the timetable
It seems we are ridiculously early or the Tiger Airways staff are ridiculously late... to the brother’s residence for a miniscule thirty minute break.
The following two shifts split only by a lunch break left us all pondering why we were feeling the sand of a worksite when we could just as easily be forgetting our worries on the sands of Byron Bay or the like.
Shortly after realizing we where actually aiding a good cause and to a lesser extent it was another 36 hours back home which we could definitely not be bothered enduring we had to don our happy faces to greet the group of eternally quiet Singaporeans taking some classes in BJT college during the coming week.
Retiring to our squeaky bed and seemingly sandbag-esque pillows early in preparation for the next day of labor in the amazing world that is INDIA.
To be continued in an undetermined amount of time,
Carlos and Sean.
Wednesday 25th of November 2009
After another exhausting day at the building site in Keesara (which involved several hours under the sun in which we were required transport thousands of sand bags) we decided that it was time to head out to Nandigama for supplies.
As we exited the
James and Dan
Enjoying the free feet massagers... school through the main sporting field (which is polluted but well maintained by the buffalos that roam in the school) we were once again faced with the lunacy that is the Indian roads. Hence, we decided it would be best for us to embrace this by making our way there in the typical 3-wheeled yellow vehicles called Tuk Tuks.
The vehicle (which surely does not comply with any occupational health and safety standards in the planet) is not much bigger than…actually, smaller than a very small car. Amazingly, it can tightly accommodate 6 to 10 averagely sized individuals without any of them falling off. As we enjoyed the fresh air and the free entertainment provided by the Indian roads, we were also supplied with a free taste of Indian culture though the driver’s personal music collection.
When we arrived the atmosphere was (as Chris would describe) 'chaos in sync'. Despite the randomness and unpredictability of a small city (which may include the sights of 4 people in a scooter, three in a bicycle, buffalos and cows freely strolling around and the ever abundant appearance of the road goats) you can expect no disturbances on your path around town as
Buses everywhere!!
Slight chaos as we venture out of the airport at Chennai late Saturday night long as you can manage being stared at by almost everyone in the village. Scouting the shops, you discover a friendliness that is rarely found elsewhere, whilst communication with the retailers may create a sense of confusion.
We also noticed that its is difficult to find places of interest (such as an internet café) without the help of local who can master the ways of Telugu. While we were in Nandigama, as occurs in many locations throughout India, we discovered that beggars have the tendency to chase you down until they have got a least a good touch of you. But overall we encountered numerous useful facilities, such as the ATM, the Hot Chip Factory, Samosas stand and the ever practical string shop.
Regards
Santiago
Friday 27th November
After three days of laborious labour the Coolies team was keen to enjoy the entertainment of BJT College’s Annual day, a night of various theatrical performances to commemorate the founder St. John Baptist De La Salle and celebrate the achievements of school year. There were clowns, magic tricks, cultural dances and fire twirling. But perhaps the most riveting, moving and mesmerizing performance was that of the Coolies
Final Goodbyes
Group 1 are about to depart! Bye Group 2! Its been a fun 24 hours together... team, a shonky and tone deaf rendition of ‘We are Australian’ but given our celebrity status in Keesara… nonetheless dignified. The Singaporeans comprehensively trumped our performance, with a lively and upbeat medley of song and dance, including ABBA’s Dancing Queen. We think they had a bit of a heads up about the performance…We ate a very late dinner and slept, ready for the next day’s adventures…
Saturday 28th November
After a particularly taxing morning’s work, we ate lunch and set off with Brothers Tom, Thambi and our Singaporean friends to Fort Kondapalli, a centuries-old ruin nestled among the smoggy and monkey-ridden hills near Vijayawada. Our tour guide led us around the lofty surrounds, directing us with a whistle, looking hardly impressed with our abundance of cameras (they cost Rs 500 extra to bring in!). In typical Indian fashion, the Fort charges patrons extra per camera. Brother Tom worded us up beforehand and we only declared 2 cameras. However the man at the gate charged us for 1 as we were a school group. Our tour was abruptly ended when we were tapped on the shoulders and fined 500 for 12 cameras. These rules surely only exist to confuse
In front of Chennai Station
Ange Marcus, Chris and Owen wait with Brother Thambi for the rest of our group to arrive to get the train and annoy tourists…
Our fellowship then descended the hill and stopped off at the outskirts of Vijayawada, hunting for bargains with our half an hour’s shopping time. The bus then took us to the Hanuman temple, a site which consisted of a 135m tall solid stone monkey god. We took many a photo, and then like clockwork, we boarded the bus once again, bound for another temple, ridden with beehives and grassy hexagonal steps - soft on the feet to touch…
Kanchikacherla was the last stop before home, dubbed as “K-Town” by last year’s Coolies. The ‘K’ could easily stand for chaos as this place is utterly frantic…even at 7 pm at night…We wrestled through the humming throng of locals, all competing for our Rupee, while overcharging us too. Some of the Coolies were quite taken with the fried potato and onion balls served on a banana leaf with spicy onion chutney…5 Rupees for a meal…this is the life…
Tired and sleepy, we rolled back into BJT College for dinner. Surprise surprise, we had curry! And in all seriousness, we LOVE curry!
Owen and Dean (Primarily Owen) (Dean did the start and contributed the lame jokes)
Jai-ho!
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Jessy
non-member comment
Great work !!
Seems like good team work, just curious, what do you get in a string shop? Thanks to all who are keeping this site updated with their comments. We are always looking forward to reading updates on this blog site