End of January Already..WOW

Namaste and Hello everyone

The week has zoomed by. After Mumbai on Monday, we had a fairly quiet week at the Ashram. The children are trying hard with their English, but there are a group of 13 children that go to the village school and really don't get much English, just Marathi and Hindi. (Kinda like core french in the schools in Canada.) The teacher at the school doesn't have much English to teach it. The children can write a lot of words by rote, but they don't seem to have a very extensive vocabulary. The children who go to English school meduim are doing a lot better with their English.

I re-organized a small library that we read from, after school homework is done. I brought some simple picture books and science books for them and they love "Where's Waldo" type searching books. They have set up a volleyball net on Saturday and we had a loose and wild game of "throw the ball over the net any way you can".

On Friday, I went to a small village that the manager's mom and dad live in. It's about 12-14 kms from us, but it took two rickshaws and 45 min-1 hour to get there. We had a wonderful lunch and then Grandpa cut down a coconut from their tree for us to eat. The town is called Hanuman Pada. It means places where monkeys gather. There are not any monkeys in the town anymore. So far I have not seen any monkeys. The house is directly beside a min railway line that goes from Mumbai to Goa (A beautiful beach area that was Portugese until recently, very touristy) Hope to go one day but not sure.

Saturday we walked down behind the Ashram, across the river and visited the gardens there to buy some veggies for dinner. Beautiful.

Hope everyone is well,

Tata for now (Marathi for goodbye)

Beth

Hi again

It's Tuesday and I have slipped into town to try to upload some pictures to show you.



I went to Mumbai yesterday to visit with a Naturopath that is the father of the manager of the silk factory down the road from our Ashram.

We rode in a small VW type van and went with the silk factory's manager and his wife.

It was a full day.
We left before 7:00 am and although it is only about 100 km away. It took over 2 hours to get there.

















The roads are busy and hectic with people passing on curves, up hills and also 2 abreast. The diesel from some of the trucks and rickshaws choked me, and I often had to breathe into a scarf (that's part of why the women wear them, they're very handy)

We spent the morning visiting the 70 year old Dr. and then his daughter in law, who is also a Dr., and speaks English.
After a thorough consultation for Margaret who was shown exercises and herbal medicines, we went to the silk factory manager's home for a wonderful lunch complete with fresh roti, buttermilk, bringal (like eggplant) and dal/rice. Grandmother and Grandfather ate with us but not mom and dad. Then they sent us to their bedroom for a rest and they ate lunch . Strange but kind of nice.

Mumbai is a big city, over 22 million people. Very busy lots of poverty and pollution everywhere. Glad I saw it but I don't think I will come back.

A Typical Day at the Ashram

People have been asking me what a typical day at the ashram would be. So I thought I would try to describe it for you.

The Child Haven Ashram (home) sits on a small hill over looking a winding river in the valley below, with low rolling hills all around. It is just a 10 minute walk from a small rural village called Savarsai, with about 100-200 people. We live in the countryside but we are right on top of a busy (crazy) highway. The trucks, and rickshaws, motorcycles and ox carts going along horns honking and passing willy-nilly, sometimes passing 3 cars abreast.

I haven't been able to go down to the river yet as they say I should have a child take me there and the children's day's are very full. There are 34 children here and they start their day at 5:00am with wash up and then group prayers and exercises. The highschool kids catch the bus at 6:00 am the other children have fresh hot soy milk then and on to homework. The Primary English school children head off on the bus around 8:00 am and we walk the village children down the highway at 10:00. Most children spend their days barefoot and all Indians remove their shoes when entering a building.

We have a cook, a woman who washes the clothes and a matron who lives and sleeps with the girls..(she is 24 and has just started.) Talk about a full time job!! All staff gets one day off a week and we can choose which day we want. I took Tuesday off and went to a near by town Pen, (40,000 maybe) to shop and have lunch in a restaurant. It was market day and the city is full of life and acitivies from all directions. After lunch (1;00 or so) it is rest time until about 4:00pm. Then by 5:30 all the children have come back from their various schools and it is time for some homework and then 6:00 pm prayers, and exercise and yoga en mass. I hope to able to join in some but for now we sit at the front of the class and watch. 7:00-8:00 pm if homework and practice English. Dinner is at 8:00 pm then bed at 9:00. I usually play with the two young puppies they just adopted here during the down times and catch up on my reading and my yoga in the evenings. It is full but very relaxed. I hope to be allowed to help with the cooking preparation soon and maybe the washing but for now they tell me they are fine.

Tomorrow I will spend the day seeing a few things in the area, the leprocy colony and not sure what else.

I had hoped to upload some picture to go with this blog but I am having technical dificulties. Next time, Until then, stay welll, and I would love to hear from you.
Hugs and Namaste,
Beth

pictures of child haven

Hi everyone
The past few days have been a busy time of learning names and routines. The children go to 4 different schools and leave a 6:00 am all the way to 11:30 am for school. They wake up at 5:00am and start washing up and getting dressed, prayers are at 6:00 and then hot soy milk and the high school children head off on the bus, then homework and breakfast at 9:30. The countryside is beautiful and the rickshaw that I catch to come to town is a lot of fun. It is called a 6 person ricksaw, but 8-12 get squished in most times. I find the people here very friendly and I have met so many interesting people commited to helping India's poor and landless, encouraging children to stay in school.
The bike in this picture is new and the children are excited to have a ride. The bike was donated by the woman in the picture so that the Tribal Ashram in the town of Pen can come out and get fresh soy milk from Child Haven on the weekends. I tried to up load a few more pictures but I am having some technical difficulties. Will try again next week. Love Beth

I've arrived

Hi everyone

Just wanted to let you know I've arrived in India. The home is very welcoming and I am able to help the children practice their English homework. I am in town shopping today (Saturday ) and will write again on Tuesday or next Saturday. The computer at the home is not working All is well and I am learning my routines. Love Beth

leaving tomorrow

My bags are packed and sitting at the front door, I have said my good bye's and I stocked up the pantry. I leave on Wednesday at 5:10 pm and fly to Frankfurt, Germany; then straight to Mombai, India. I will arrive in India early on Friday morning. I'll send a post Saturday or Sunday, once I have settled in.

Take care and have a wonderful winter !!! See you in the spring !!!

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about Child Haven

Happy New Year !!!

Just wanted to mention the organization I am affiliated with is called Child Haven International. You can check their web site http://www.childhaven.ca/ourstory.htm to find out more about Bonnie and Fred. The videos are quite good as well. There are 7 or 8 posted on YouTube.

Hi everyone

I want to thank all of you for your help and support as I prepare to head off on my 4 month journey to India. I am so blessed and feel very lucky to have all of you cheering me on. I head off in less than one week! I will be staying in a children's home just south of Mumbai, in a town called Savarsai. There are 34 children and 4 women living there. The temperature is around 30 degrees celcius most days although they say the nights are cool. I have packed 2 large hockey bags with things for the children......... arts and crafts, vitamins, science books, a soccer ball, a parachute (great co-op game) and lots of clothes and saris. I have brought pictures of friends and family to share with the children at the home. I'll write again once I am in India. Take care.