On February 17th, the girls celebrated the much anticipated "Sport's Day 2009".
Hosted by World Vision, Sports Day is a day of sporting competitions and festivities for the girls and their parents. The day started off with loud dance music bumping through the air. The girls all dressed in uniforms, created especially for sports day, energetically danced on their balcony and waited for the day to begin. While by the kitchen, hired cooks were busy preparing food for all the girls and their families. World Vision truly transformed our little home into a new place. In preparation, they had hired a DJ for the event, set up a small bamboo and cloth building for the girls and the Ranaghat teachers to sit in, created a long jump, transformed our field into a sporting field with use of chalk powdered lines, put up flags, banners, laid down blankets for the family spectators and finally hired a bus to transport all the parents and families from Calcutta to Ranaghat.
When the families arrived, everyone was given tiffin (tea, sweets, and sweetmeats) and settled onto the blankets for the days events. The girls then marched out by team separated by team names and colors: Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. The teams had been previously organized by the World Vision representative to ensure that they were evenly matched for ages, skills, and size. Then began the days games: 50 yard dash, balance of clay pots on head races, cracker on string races, thread the needle races, makeup races,Marble on Spoon races, high jump races, and many more. It was quite enjoyable to watch. I did notice the girls were quite serious with many feeling quite upset if they lost. However, in the end it did not matter as all the girls received the same prizes regardless of how their team placed in the final tally.
Afterward all ate the delicious meal, and the girls had time to visit with their families. It was very touching to see the girls with their parents as they seemed very proud of their daughters and you could tell there was much love amongst the families. The girls were all very excited to introduce their parents and show off their american "Didi's" and "Sir". All in all the day was one of my favorite days so far in India.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Women's Co-Op
After our daily breakfast of egg, thick toast, and jam, Mr. Sampson gathered Tim, Kat, and I on a rickshaw and we headed off to visit the women's co-op in nearby villages. Not only is the YMCA here in Ranaghat the girl's home, but it also is involved in some great community outreach programs such as the women's co-op.
The women's co-op is a collective of 14 local village women's groups that work together to produce goods and products for sale at the local markets. Each Village or group has 12 to 20 members whom form their own co-op team. These teams work as individual teams in various areas including: rice cultivation, patty making, poultry farming,and animal products like goat and cow milk and eggs. The profits from the sale of these goods then go back into the co-op to help progress the program and ensure that it is self-sustaining. The women receive pay for their individual group's work and are also allowed to take out loans from the co-ops funds at an extremely low interest rate. In fact, we met one family that had just taken out a loan so that they could start their tailoring business. This consisted of a sewing machine, materials, and a small tailor shop.
Our visit was very lovely, as the villages were very peaceful and the women extremely nice. Their husbands also work in town, but the co-op is something run by the women to help provide for their families. The members needs are being met, and you can see there is a great camaraderie amongst the women and village people. The villages, by the way, are very small and close together. Without realizing it, during a few minute stroll we had traveled through a few different villages.
The YMCA has little role now that this co-op if self-sufficient, but the members are still quite grateful to the Y and welcoming as it maintains an overseeing role. The Y, mainly donated the first rice seeds, chickens, etc. for the formation of the program. Also, their is a small building where a doctor comes on Mondays and Tuesdays to treat the women especially for women health issues such as helping with their pregnancy and pre-natal care. I believe the Y had a role in finding a doctor who would donate thier time for little or no pay.
After our tour we were invited for tea and sweets at one of the homes. In true Indian style, the women here were very generous buying sweets for us and giving us tea when they themselves and thier families have very little money. I definitely have noticed a great generous spirit amongst the people of India to make you feel welcome and to share what little they have. Even the girls at our home are always trying to give Kat, Tim, and I their snacks and breakfast...which of course we politely decline. Thinking of generosity. Namaste.
The women's co-op is a collective of 14 local village women's groups that work together to produce goods and products for sale at the local markets. Each Village or group has 12 to 20 members whom form their own co-op team. These teams work as individual teams in various areas including: rice cultivation, patty making, poultry farming,and animal products like goat and cow milk and eggs. The profits from the sale of these goods then go back into the co-op to help progress the program and ensure that it is self-sustaining. The women receive pay for their individual group's work and are also allowed to take out loans from the co-ops funds at an extremely low interest rate. In fact, we met one family that had just taken out a loan so that they could start their tailoring business. This consisted of a sewing machine, materials, and a small tailor shop.
Our visit was very lovely, as the villages were very peaceful and the women extremely nice. Their husbands also work in town, but the co-op is something run by the women to help provide for their families. The members needs are being met, and you can see there is a great camaraderie amongst the women and village people. The villages, by the way, are very small and close together. Without realizing it, during a few minute stroll we had traveled through a few different villages.
The YMCA has little role now that this co-op if self-sufficient, but the members are still quite grateful to the Y and welcoming as it maintains an overseeing role. The Y, mainly donated the first rice seeds, chickens, etc. for the formation of the program. Also, their is a small building where a doctor comes on Mondays and Tuesdays to treat the women especially for women health issues such as helping with their pregnancy and pre-natal care. I believe the Y had a role in finding a doctor who would donate thier time for little or no pay.
After our tour we were invited for tea and sweets at one of the homes. In true Indian style, the women here were very generous buying sweets for us and giving us tea when they themselves and thier families have very little money. I definitely have noticed a great generous spirit amongst the people of India to make you feel welcome and to share what little they have. Even the girls at our home are always trying to give Kat, Tim, and I their snacks and breakfast...which of course we politely decline. Thinking of generosity. Namaste.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A breif history of our Girl's home
It is another sunny warm day in India, and I am still very much enjoying my stay. I thought I would provide some information in responce to some inqueries about the YMCA here and the history of the girl's home.
The YMCA 14 acre campus in Ranaghat began as hospital in 1916 serving the people of Ranaghat and surrounding areas. Most of the buildings were erected for this purpose and the clay that built them came from the land itself. There are presently two ponds on the campus which were dug for the clay and to create a water source. The history of the hospital is a little hairy to me, but from what I am told there was some disagreement between the various doctors and at some point the hospital ended. (On a side note, the hospital system here in India is divided between Government hospitals and private hospitals with the latter apparently having better care.) Then from 1970 to 2002 the YMCA in Ranaghat (acting as a satalite campus of the Calcutta YMCA) was a boy's home.
Around 80 boys were selected for the home based on thier poor living conditions. They came from surrounding areas, but mostly Calcutta where many of them lived with their families on the streets. It was here at the YMCA that the boys were given proper nutrition (three meals a day and perhaps snacks), clothing, a place to live off the streets, and were placed in local schools for the needed education. They had a very organized daily schedule that included games, gardening, prayer, the school day, and most importantly study time and tutors. The tutors included curiculum based tutors and trade teachers. In addition, the YMCA boy's home had a strong community outreach program and was visited by India's generla secretaries, the vice-president, and Mother Teresa (whose home for the destitute is based in Calcutta). The boys left after 10th grade and many have become successful based in strong part from what they learned here. I have met a few whom continue to work for the YMCA, and I also met one man who is now an excellent artist. His art pieces have recently been selected for an upcoming show in Calcutta where only 100 artist throughout all of India were chosen to display. Despite all the sucess, most of the buildings were in such need for repair by this point that the whole program was becoming too costly and came to an end.
The campus was inactive for some time and then in 2005 it was reopened as a girl's home. The builings on campus remain vacant with the newest building, the Terry Waite Vocational Training Center, becoming the sole building used on campus (besides the guest house where I now live). There are 52 girls ages 5-16 whom now call this building home. There are three large bedrooms upstairs which the girls share and thier house mother Mrs. Roy stays with them. On a floor above there are also one or two rooms for some staff members. On the main floor there are three class rooms that the girls use for study and socializing. There is still ample amount of lands and gardens for the girls to roam. The girls home is set up in structure very much like the boys home but on a smaller scale and with some additional activities: no gardening but sewing, cooking, computure, and dancing. A lot of this was made possible by a joint venture between the YMCA and World Vision, a charitable organization that funds the girls. Without World Vision's support the YMCA would not be able to provide the building and caretake for the girls. A representative from World Vision stops by on a monthly visit.
Like the boy's, the girls were chosen based on thier poor living conditions. Local community leaders recommended the girls as possible canidates for World Vision sponsership due to their financial needs. Perhaps, the leaders noticed our girls on the streets begging, or living in inadequate housing along the footpath and thought of them as being able to benefit greatly from this opportunity. Some of the girl's come from single parent households and caring for them is a great monetary stress on thier parent. World Vision then approached the girl's families and asked if they would like to participate in this great opportunity. So while our girl's home may look like an orphange, it is not as the girl's all have families. The parents do visit on parent's day, the journey is 2 hours by bus from Calcutta, but Ranaghat remains their home almost year round. While this is a new program and sucess has yet to be determined, I feel it is a very worthwhile program and is a great benefit to all the girls and families involved.
The YMCA 14 acre campus in Ranaghat began as hospital in 1916 serving the people of Ranaghat and surrounding areas. Most of the buildings were erected for this purpose and the clay that built them came from the land itself. There are presently two ponds on the campus which were dug for the clay and to create a water source. The history of the hospital is a little hairy to me, but from what I am told there was some disagreement between the various doctors and at some point the hospital ended. (On a side note, the hospital system here in India is divided between Government hospitals and private hospitals with the latter apparently having better care.) Then from 1970 to 2002 the YMCA in Ranaghat (acting as a satalite campus of the Calcutta YMCA) was a boy's home.
Around 80 boys were selected for the home based on thier poor living conditions. They came from surrounding areas, but mostly Calcutta where many of them lived with their families on the streets. It was here at the YMCA that the boys were given proper nutrition (three meals a day and perhaps snacks), clothing, a place to live off the streets, and were placed in local schools for the needed education. They had a very organized daily schedule that included games, gardening, prayer, the school day, and most importantly study time and tutors. The tutors included curiculum based tutors and trade teachers. In addition, the YMCA boy's home had a strong community outreach program and was visited by India's generla secretaries, the vice-president, and Mother Teresa (whose home for the destitute is based in Calcutta). The boys left after 10th grade and many have become successful based in strong part from what they learned here. I have met a few whom continue to work for the YMCA, and I also met one man who is now an excellent artist. His art pieces have recently been selected for an upcoming show in Calcutta where only 100 artist throughout all of India were chosen to display. Despite all the sucess, most of the buildings were in such need for repair by this point that the whole program was becoming too costly and came to an end.
The campus was inactive for some time and then in 2005 it was reopened as a girl's home. The builings on campus remain vacant with the newest building, the Terry Waite Vocational Training Center, becoming the sole building used on campus (besides the guest house where I now live). There are 52 girls ages 5-16 whom now call this building home. There are three large bedrooms upstairs which the girls share and thier house mother Mrs. Roy stays with them. On a floor above there are also one or two rooms for some staff members. On the main floor there are three class rooms that the girls use for study and socializing. There is still ample amount of lands and gardens for the girls to roam. The girls home is set up in structure very much like the boys home but on a smaller scale and with some additional activities: no gardening but sewing, cooking, computure, and dancing. A lot of this was made possible by a joint venture between the YMCA and World Vision, a charitable organization that funds the girls. Without World Vision's support the YMCA would not be able to provide the building and caretake for the girls. A representative from World Vision stops by on a monthly visit.
Like the boy's, the girls were chosen based on thier poor living conditions. Local community leaders recommended the girls as possible canidates for World Vision sponsership due to their financial needs. Perhaps, the leaders noticed our girls on the streets begging, or living in inadequate housing along the footpath and thought of them as being able to benefit greatly from this opportunity. Some of the girl's come from single parent households and caring for them is a great monetary stress on thier parent. World Vision then approached the girl's families and asked if they would like to participate in this great opportunity. So while our girl's home may look like an orphange, it is not as the girl's all have families. The parents do visit on parent's day, the journey is 2 hours by bus from Calcutta, but Ranaghat remains their home almost year round. While this is a new program and sucess has yet to be determined, I feel it is a very worthwhile program and is a great benefit to all the girls and families involved.
Monday, February 2, 2009
A few new trinkets
Well the days here have taken up quite a rhythm and routine. We fill everyday playing with the girls, helping them study, and joining them with cooking, prayer, or other activities: such as the dancing, watching their marching, or hand sewing. We have played a few new games and the other day we watched them play cricket. It was a makeshift game with parts of trees as bats and a stool as the pegs that the pitcher trys to hit for one of the options for an out. While i may not have all the terminology down i finally understand the game!
I have become much more comfortable in the market, so our trips are less overwhelming and I can even find my way around. I purchased some fruit, since my diet has been lacking it to say the least. I consume 21 eggs a week!! and over that in potatoes and rice so the apples and oranges are very exciting for me. I have been filling some of my free time making jewelry for the girls for their birthdays. We have had two already: Suman and Kajal and we get the girls together to sing happy b-day and give them our gift. I enjoy hand making them a present from the three of us and I feel it is very important to acknowledge them on their special day. If we were not here, they would not be sang to or receive anything special at all. I feel it is very important to let them know they are cared for especially since their parents are not here and the workers here tend to not lavish on the attention so to speak.
Speaking of giving gifts, Kat, Tim and I also purchased the girls a large blanket for them when they are sitting inside. They get to watch TV as a group for 30 minutes a night (they love love love this, it is pretty much the only thing we can threaten to take away if they are not studying)and their old blanket was so gross it was kicked to the outdoors. (even outside i choose to sit in the dirt because it is seriously the nastiest piece of material i have ever ever seen). As a result they sit on the floor or drag down their only bed blanket, which gets dirty in the process. Needless to say they were very very excited and appreciative. They are just so cute. The power was out so when we gave it to them by lantern it had a very mysterious feel. We made some ground rules: indoors only, put in bag each night, and no Ramoan. Ramoan the adopted street dog who while so sweet has many fleas! ( I have a deep love for him though and long to give him pets but I'm advised not to really tough him... Oh Ramoan who walks us home, and has no bone).
On travel news, Mr. Sircar has plans to bring us to some other YMCA locations in the month of Febuary. It will be very interesting to see the other programs. Also, Tim, Kat, and I are planning a trip to Himachal Pradesh...which will be a once in a lifetime experience to say the least. That's all for now, although on a very funny note Kat fell into the mucky, snake filled pond which was very funny. She's Ok. ha ha. Namaste
I have become much more comfortable in the market, so our trips are less overwhelming and I can even find my way around. I purchased some fruit, since my diet has been lacking it to say the least. I consume 21 eggs a week!! and over that in potatoes and rice so the apples and oranges are very exciting for me. I have been filling some of my free time making jewelry for the girls for their birthdays. We have had two already: Suman and Kajal and we get the girls together to sing happy b-day and give them our gift. I enjoy hand making them a present from the three of us and I feel it is very important to acknowledge them on their special day. If we were not here, they would not be sang to or receive anything special at all. I feel it is very important to let them know they are cared for especially since their parents are not here and the workers here tend to not lavish on the attention so to speak.
Speaking of giving gifts, Kat, Tim and I also purchased the girls a large blanket for them when they are sitting inside. They get to watch TV as a group for 30 minutes a night (they love love love this, it is pretty much the only thing we can threaten to take away if they are not studying)and their old blanket was so gross it was kicked to the outdoors. (even outside i choose to sit in the dirt because it is seriously the nastiest piece of material i have ever ever seen). As a result they sit on the floor or drag down their only bed blanket, which gets dirty in the process. Needless to say they were very very excited and appreciative. They are just so cute. The power was out so when we gave it to them by lantern it had a very mysterious feel. We made some ground rules: indoors only, put in bag each night, and no Ramoan. Ramoan the adopted street dog who while so sweet has many fleas! ( I have a deep love for him though and long to give him pets but I'm advised not to really tough him... Oh Ramoan who walks us home, and has no bone).
On travel news, Mr. Sircar has plans to bring us to some other YMCA locations in the month of Febuary. It will be very interesting to see the other programs. Also, Tim, Kat, and I are planning a trip to Himachal Pradesh...which will be a once in a lifetime experience to say the least. That's all for now, although on a very funny note Kat fell into the mucky, snake filled pond which was very funny. She's Ok. ha ha. Namaste
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A few more lovely days
As I am having trouble accessing my last post, I will try my best not to repeat anything I have written. On the 17th of January was parents day at the Y here in Ranaghat. All the girls were very excited to see their parents and have us meet them. It was a great day, and we layed low so that the girls all had ample time with their parents since they do not get to see them all that often. We returned to Calcutta on the 19th, in order to meet the board of directors and to sit in on the Y's swim program. The pool in Calcutta is a very very large outdoor pool, which was drained of all water in order for the annual cleaning. It is not chlorinated, since it is filled with pond water and the floor of the pool appeared to be the earth. We met with their swimmers many of who were on the national level. We talked with them about the importance of swimming and Tim gave some helpful strength building advice.
While on our visit to Calcutta, we went to new market where we poked around for suvineers and Kat and I purchased material for some traditional Indian garmets. We are awaiting them from the tailor who measured us for proper fit. We also were lucky enough for Mr. Sampson to bring us to the Queen Victoria Memorial and a famous Cathederal.
We returned to Ranaghat on the 21st and got back to our schedule of games, TLC, and studying with the girls. I also joined in on their dance class on Sunday mornings. I learned an Indian dance with the girls which is quite beautiful. All the girls are very beautifull dancers, and Rinky (one of the girls) even wants to be a dance teacher when she gets older.
We have also started to help out in the kitchen. There are not knives but instead a wooden plank with a huge blade attached that you use to cut everything. You push the said vegetable or such against the blade. Kat and I have been doing some dicing of tomatoes and onion. I believe we are getting the hang of it, although we are much slower than the girls and the cook. That is all for now. I'll keep you all posted. Namaste
While on our visit to Calcutta, we went to new market where we poked around for suvineers and Kat and I purchased material for some traditional Indian garmets. We are awaiting them from the tailor who measured us for proper fit. We also were lucky enough for Mr. Sampson to bring us to the Queen Victoria Memorial and a famous Cathederal.
We returned to Ranaghat on the 21st and got back to our schedule of games, TLC, and studying with the girls. I also joined in on their dance class on Sunday mornings. I learned an Indian dance with the girls which is quite beautiful. All the girls are very beautifull dancers, and Rinky (one of the girls) even wants to be a dance teacher when she gets older.
We have also started to help out in the kitchen. There are not knives but instead a wooden plank with a huge blade attached that you use to cut everything. You push the said vegetable or such against the blade. Kat and I have been doing some dicing of tomatoes and onion. I believe we are getting the hang of it, although we are much slower than the girls and the cook. That is all for now. I'll keep you all posted. Namaste
Sunday, January 25, 2009
India
Kat and I arrived in Calcutta on January 15th after a long flight originating in Boston. Tim Losee and Mr. Sampson (the Secretary of the Ranaghot YMCA) met us at the airport with welcoming and excited smiles. We were brought to the Calcutta YMCA, which was built in 1857. It is a very interesting building with a few floors and and indoor sporting court. The rooms were very nice as they had been recently renovated in 1996 (i believe). The view from our room was wonderful. In the morning we met with both Mr. Sircar and his wife, who both welcomed us to India and the YMCA. We then made our way by bus to Ranaghot, which is north of Calcutta. The traffic here is quite overwhelming as there is endless honking and vehicles pass so close that you could reach out and touch passengers on another bus!!! Add in all the bicyclers, rickshaws, pedestrians, cattle, and dogs and it is quite an adventure.
Anyways, we arrived at the Ranaghot YMCA to much excitement.
The girls were all waiting for us with flower lai's, tons of energy, and excited faces. They all seemed to love Tim and were very happy to meet us, although maybe a bit shy. We were shown our room which was quite nice and is in a very old building that used to house doctors. The Ranaghot Y prior to being the girl's home was a boy's home and prior to that a hospital. In fact many of the building on campus were built from the clay dug from two huge holes which are now ponds for fish.
We spent our first afternoon playing games with the girls. We played a mixture of American (Sharks and Minnows) and Indian games (Golla Churi and Gouchouri). The girls are very very fast. We then helped the girls with snack, went to prayer, and then very important study. The girls all attend three separate schools: English, Bengali, and Hindi. Cat, Tim, and I each take a room to help the girls focus on their studies. Afterwards we went to dinner, rice, eggs, dal, and potatoes (this is Tim's favorite), pretty mild since Tim is not a fan of spice. Don't worry I will definitely spice things up around here.
Anyways, we arrived at the Ranaghot YMCA to much excitement.
The girls were all waiting for us with flower lai's, tons of energy, and excited faces. They all seemed to love Tim and were very happy to meet us, although maybe a bit shy. We were shown our room which was quite nice and is in a very old building that used to house doctors. The Ranaghot Y prior to being the girl's home was a boy's home and prior to that a hospital. In fact many of the building on campus were built from the clay dug from two huge holes which are now ponds for fish.
We spent our first afternoon playing games with the girls. We played a mixture of American (Sharks and Minnows) and Indian games (Golla Churi and Gouchouri). The girls are very very fast. We then helped the girls with snack, went to prayer, and then very important study. The girls all attend three separate schools: English, Bengali, and Hindi. Cat, Tim, and I each take a room to help the girls focus on their studies. Afterwards we went to dinner, rice, eggs, dal, and potatoes (this is Tim's favorite), pretty mild since Tim is not a fan of spice. Don't worry I will definitely spice things up around here.
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