Homes & kids, little kids

Day 9 - 12/20/12   Homes & kids, little kids

Fr. Matthew is quite amazing and it has nothing to do with the fact that he too read one of my most favorite book The Art of Possibilities by the Zanders.  It could be that he has organized the building of homes for folks in Kerala, India and now in Sri Lanka.  He also pays it forward, enabling others to continue the help he began.  I appreciated his patience in explaining to me why cement is the preferred building material (does not rust and has longevity) and the role water plays in curing cement. We also talked about the way his communities handle waste (what we call trash) when he is around – create a safe place to burn and work together to collect and transport trash to a local dump.  There is still a lot of work to do both in Kerala and in Sri Lanka in providing housing but at least here in India many folks no longer live in shacks but in homes.  

Afterwards, I visited 3 preschools in Chalakudy - a day care where Fr. Leo’s nephew attends, Our Lady of Fatima nursery school that opened 2 years ago, and St. Joseph Nursery School.  The average age is around 3 & most kids live in the neighborhood.  Each place was physically different from the others.  The first day care consisted of a 2-room building with a dirt yard where the children could play.  There were 2 women in charge of around 20 kids.  Due to a language barrier, I was not able to ask much and instead took pictures of the kids.  I felt the kids were a bit intimidated by me and so I sang some nursery rhymes to them. They did send me on my way with a lot of kisses blown to me. 

     

 

I was impressed with the facilities and accomplishments of the 20 students at Our Lady of Fatima.  The facility was larger and contained a garden and playground.  Inside the building were tables for the students to use and each child had a slate board and chalk.  Fr. Jain called them their iPad’s.  These students sang nursery rhymes for me and that was such a hoot.  I was amazed at how well they also wrote as well as recited the alphabet and knew their numbers up to 50.   Here is a video of them sharing the nursery rhymes:      http://youtu.be/yFoo2u2mxHs

I learned that the Malayalam language spoken in Kerala contains 53 letters of which 20 are short and long vowel sounds. English is also spoken here as evident in the nursery rhyme songs. These students were around 3 years old as well.   
The head sister there is another exuberant nun who treated us to some chi tea and biscuits.  She and the teachers absolutely love the children.  It was quite evident during the children’s singing of nursery rhymes and the interaction between and among everyone there.  This was one group of happy children. 

Before heading to the last day care, I was treated to another excellent meal at Fr. Leo’s family home.  His mother is a fabulous cook and I appreciated her going the extra step and preparing me a soup that was mild for my digestive system. 

The last group was at a church and we arrived at a time where the children generally are napping before heading home so the visit was short.  

 On our way back to the friary, we did stop at a shrine – The Holy Land.  It is a cement version of the Holy Lands and the life of Jesus.  Very unique and very hot. 

That night, the friars and seminary students had a farewell dinner for us outside.  We helped christen their tandoori oven and I got to roll out all the bread.  It felt good to participate.  The fellows are excellent cooks and entertainers.  One young seminary student demonstrated Bollywood dancing a few times.  Jovan and Christian did a fabulous job learning.  I videotaped.  The quarter moon was shining and there, when you view the moon, it is at a different angle – it has rotated 45 degrees counterclockwise so that a quarter moon looks like a bowl in the sky rather than a crescent.