End of first week

Me and Lydia have settled into our guest house nicely now, it’s a few minutes’ walk away from the supermarket and some cool looking shops selling saris & handmade things so we’re looking forward to having a nosy. Its also just up the road from one of the top 10 beaches in India (so we’ve been told), which has the most amazing powdery sand & nice restaurant shack things so I think it will be a regular hotspot for us!

We went to the two day centres Wednesday and yesterday morning and did the lost sheep again with the children, this time we had more time and less children though so we were able to make crafts with them, as modelled below J

They are all lovely and really cute, but most are not disciplined properly at home so they regularly have to be pulled off each other! – its really important for them if they are hoping to get into mainstream schools that they are taught rules and manners, as they will not learn them from their families. They are so happy and smiley though despite everything, we could do with learning some lessons from them.

The centre is held in a small room no bigger than a garage, but they have access to a field round the back so we took them a parachute which Mum & Dad’s midweek club helped to raise money for, and they loved playing with it outside. It was the first time most of them had ever seen one, so I think they were a bit dubious at first as to whether we were going to have them jumping off buildings! They eventually got the hang of it although the first few games were fairly chaotic, so we will leave it with them and teach them more games they can play once we’re gone.

We also visited the slum for the first time Wednesday which was probably the most eye-opening experience of my life. I’ve seen pictures before and been appalled by the conditions people are living in, but having it in front of you is completely different and such a shock to the system. There are 4 slums in the area but we visited the one closest to the day care centre and helped run an afternoon club for the Dalit children. About 7 children from the day centre live in this particular slum, more have been invited and given uniform, but never turn up. The boy in the middle is Deepa, he goes to the day care centre. The parents of the boy in the bottom picture have kept his hair long because girls make more money on the streets, so some boys have long hair and wear girls clothes to earn more money.

The picture below is one of my favourites, a little boy from the day centre recognised us as we were walking round the slum & put on the hat we’d been making in the morning. Not only did it look very sweet, but it’s also nice to think that a little bit of what we’re teaching them has gone back to the slum with them, and it will hopefully be a constant reminder of God’s love for them.

We helped with a kids club in the afternoon for about 40 children from the slums, they were so streetwise & cheeky but again really cute, and we’ve seen them while we’ve been out & about too so its nice to be able to recognise them. We taught them a bible story & a song as well, and just played with them for a few hours.

Yesterday after the day care centre we went for lunch with pastor David, his wife Pushpa & their twins David & Jessia.

After that we went to a second slum where Pushpa's tailoring class is held. There we met the girls who are halfway through the 6 month course, and they showed us what they have been making. Many of the girls were the same age as me & Lyds but were already married with children, and many of them have abusive husbands who gamble, so the tailoring class will allow them to earn their own money with the skills they obtain.

Think I’ll finish there for today because I’ve written a lot! Bye for now,

Amy x