Second day and last week 13:21 PM

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Its been over a week since i last wrote, have been very busy and sleepy.

So... on Tuesday the 19th i went to the Children's home for the first time, its an hour and a half on two different buses... But because we were going to bathe the boys that morning Manju (the man who picked me up from the airport) took James, Veena and I in the jeep.

When we arrived i looked up at this tall, cold building. It felt like a prison. As we approached the building i was unsure of how i would be received! And also if the all the stories i'd heard about the homes were true and if so how would i cope...?

After packing our bags into a locked cuboard i served the area... A large courtyard with two huge trees, a washing line. two small 'grasses' areas and a very dangerous looking walled 'building site'

Manju had come to help bathe the boys, some had scabies, chicken pox etc. I noticed a group of boys scrubbing clothes on the floor and as i looked closer i relised they were washing -> One in a huge tub, rinsing (looked like he was squashing grapes to make wine)

At first the boys were very curshious of James and I, sussing us out. five minutes later they were everywhere, asking, showing and telling me things.

Another organisation who help out provides the boys with Karam boards. It is played kind of like pool, its square and has four holes in the corners, you make two piles of what are like draft counters in the centre and you have a larger counter which is like the white ball, you have to aim the shooter to pot the counters.

One of the boys showed James and I how to play, then we played till lunch. Prabhu, a local volunteer that works from Arrvu (Peace Child India's sister company) was with us at the children's home that day, i found out that friday that he actually grow up at that same home. He was telling me horrid stories about the guards and older children sexually, physically and mentally abusing the younger boys.

The boys we work with at the children's home are the part time boys... They will be there for 1 week - 3 years. These boys have been found working, begging, stealing and beaten and have been sent to the home until they families are tracked down. Some families ethir are found to be unable to support these children, or families can not be found and in some cases the boys are so worried about going home to abusive parents they refuse to say real names, in these cases the boys are put into another part of the building where they have access to a school that they must attend until they are 18.

Because the time of stay for these young boys is unsure there is no structure in place for them, before and when peace child staff are unable to attend these boys are locked in a TV room. The TV is very fussy and in a confind space the boys are unable to move. Its dark and very unwelcoming.

During lunch on Tuesday the 19th i took a very refreshing nap, when i woke we had to enter the area caged area of the courtyard to gather the boys from the TV room. The guard who is in charge of the door held a belt, threatening the boys with a raised arm, the look of terror in the little boys eyes made me feel very protective and also like i was maybe still asleep, was this really happening ... These boys who have been though so much are being beaten for nothing, the guard seemed to be ethir unaware or just not bothered that one step back at it would be my face he was whipping!

When we had finaly got them all in a neat line, and writen all their names down (something the house fathers make us do... We don't take them out of the 'cage or building' but still have to jump though hoops!) The boys were enthused to begin playing football, cricket and just generally playing around.

James and i spent the afternoon playing football and for the last half an hour crept into the cool room and mucked around with a few boys. By the end of the day the boys were calling me Auntie instead of Ms, which made me feel warm inside!!

On the Wednesday we went to the school with Tiffany, and Heather had arrived, she is a 21 year old social work student from Missouri State America, she is over here for three months as part of her degree. In the morning we visited a school which has only 20 students, we played a few games with them, then played fruit bowl but with colours. in the afternoon James, Heather and I observed and helped out with a lesson Tiffany was teaching on Healthy Body, Healthy Mind.

Last weekend was a long weekend as monday was an national holiday, on Sunday morning, Tiffany, James and I went to Mysore on the bus, we got up at 7am as the bus takes around 3hours, when we arrive we hired a Auto for the whole day to show us around the town.

First stop Mysore Palace, Mysore was, before Banaglore the capitail of Karnataka. So that is where the Maharajah lived. It cost 200RPS for us and only 25RPS for locals, which was kind of jarring but hey hoe!

The grounds of the Palace were quite pretty and their were a few temples around, when entering the Palace we were almost herded, stuffed into narrow door ways with someone touching every part of our bodies. Although some of the Palace was beautiful, the locals seemed unappreciative of the history and heritage... Seeming to try and find anyway to reach over barriers and touch under plastic to feel and ruin the place.

Our Auto driver then drove us to Chamundi Hills, which tower 1000mentres over Mysore. At the top there was a little market and a few temples, on the way down we stop at a huge statue of a cow! And saw some wild monkeys!! :D

We then went to an Apothecary...

Outside a small door, sat a old lady rolling incense, it was amazing to see how its made.

The Apothecarist explained the process to us and then invited us in to his cubbyhole...

Inside was a rather inviting little sofa opposite a apothecary table covered with little bottles of oils and a thousand different types of incense. Mysore is renown for its natural sandalwood, which grows on the trees all around the city. We were given a consolation on all the different oils he had, he demonstrated some of the effects with massage. I brought a little bottle of pure Sandalwood and a small bottle of black jasmine.

Just around the corner we went into this strange little room where we saw a few men making Bidi's (Indian Cigarets) We then went to a shop where we were show how they inlay tables, they use all natural coloured wood, it was really amazing, i wanted to buy this beautiful wardrobe.

This week i have just spent two days at the children's home and one at the schools. Today we planned for next weeks lessons. Tiffany is leaving me on monday which is very sad 😞

I can't believe i'm only here for two more weeks :/

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Photos

Javid
From the boys home