A short livesignal from Vadsalyadham:
Hello friends,
It is really nice to tell you, I am still alive! =) The first and hardest thing what I have had to learn- and I am still learning- was to never make planes. It will never work out. India is not just a country with a lot of opposites, it is also a country with a lot of surprises. When you think it will be a quiet day it could become one of the most interesting days. Even when I am making just planes for my own, they are not working out. I planned to leave Vadhu to another project of Maher- Name: Vadalyadham (Place of Love). In the morning I was ready to go, but Sr. Lucy asked me, if I would like to come with her to a slum this night, where she was asked to go to. There should be a streetfestival and of course I wanted to see it. So she decided that I would not go to Vadsalyadham this day. I should go with one Social worker to some of the day- care- centers and kindergardens around Vadhu and in the evening I should come with her. Ok, I said and I went by motorbike with the social worker to see this kindergardens somewhere in the middle of the mountains. Afterwards we went to this streetfestival in the middle of the night. Since I am here, I think it was the fourth or fifth festival.
Like I told, I changed now the project of Maher. I am living in a bigger place now with a lot of different people and a lot of different stories. Here are children, mentally disturbed women, pregnant women and elderly women living together. The most of the children are from families who are so poor that they cannot taking care about their children, or the children where living at the streets or the mothers came together with their children to Maher. The most of the mentally disturbed women were found at the streets- bagging, full of mud and sometimes sick without a family or just an idea of their family background. A lot of the pregnant women are very young and not married. Now there are not getting any support of their family because of that unmarried pregnancy. Or they don’t want that the society is getting to know about the pregnancy- most of this women wants to give the babies free for the adoption after birth. In India it is very hard for a woman to live as an alone raising mother and it is even harder to find a husband who would take her with a baby from another man. The most of the elderly women are mentally fine. Mostly they are very poor and are not getting any support of the family as well or the families cannot take care about their relatives. At the first time I came here, I ask myself if it is so good for the children to live with the mentally disturbed women together?! I am living here now since 2 Weeks and I have to say, it is not a problem at all. They are living under one roof but the children are living upstairs, with the pregnant women together and the mentally disturbed women are living downstairs. The elderly women are having an own house at this airier. They are living with their own timetables and with their own rules. They are celebrating everything together and some evenings they have the prayer together, but most of the time they are not in contact when they don’t want.
I have a special timetable for my self now- what is really good, because before I didn’t had any specific work at all. In the morning I am getting up at 5.45 o`clock to help with the children getting ready for school. So I am giving out the uniforms and handing out the oil for the hair. Afterwards I am still there for the prayer but I am leaving than for getting ready for myself. At 8am there are exercises for the mentally disturbed women- like walking for a half an hour. Than I am helping by the feeding from a little girl- what is mentally disturbed and is living with the women together. Afterwards I have my breakfast and than free time until 11am. This free time I am using for washing my clouths and reading a little bit. (You will not believe how I am washing my stuff!!! I am really getting mussels from it. There is one big stone and water and that is it – I have the luck it is at the rooftop and I have a beautiful view when I am doing that kind of hard work... =D. ) At 11am Catherine ( one very nice woman from the UK who is here for 4 month as well and is sharing a room with me) and me are going in the Montessouri-room and are having until 12o`clock the montessouriclass for some of the women. It is always very nice to spend some time with them. Afterwards we are going to help the social workers to do some activities with the women until lunch at 12.30am. Between 1.30 and 3.30 we are free to do what we want to do. That is really good, because the most of the time I getting really tired and I just want to have a little rest. At 3.30pm we are taking some of the children (the most of them are going in English medium schools and can speak English kind of well) for the Montessouri-class. (I have to say- I have no idea from Montessouri. But one volunteer from Canada came to Maher, thought it would be a nice idea to have Montessouri and was buying all of the stuff for it... So we are doing it. Please don’t ask me for the sense...) Between 4.15pm and 6pm we have no duty as well. But the most of the work from the volunteers are to spend a lot of time with the children and the women, to give them love and attention. So this is the time when I am going down to spend some time with them. At 6 o`clock we are taking some of the Marathi medium school children for English- class. It is a kind of hard time, because these children don’t know English at all ant is hard to make them understand what I want from them and to keep their attention at the subject. Between 7 and 7.30pm there is the prayer and the dinnertime is starting again, where I am going to help with that child. Afterwards we are eating with the staff together in the storeroom. Mostly we are going up at 8pm and are in bed by 9.30pm. I know, when you know me quite well, it is surprisingly early for me to go to bed that early- but I really need the sleep.
It is kind of hard for me that I cannot really go out. I am living in this project but I don’t feel secure to go out of that airier by my own. There is just one day when Catherine and me are going out. At Sunday we are spending our hole day in a mall in Pune, where we can go and buy everything what we are needing. There I can drink a nice cup of coffee and go in the Internet for a little bit longer. I don’t have my laptop with me (I was so proud of myself when I left Germany. Now I would like to bite me in my bud...). So I cannot write my e-mails before I am going to the coffeeshop. And the most of the times I have no luck with the electricity. I have one chance to go to the Internet for a kind of short time. Catherine has her laptop with her and she bought an internetstick. I don’t want to use her laptop so often- so I can sometimes have a look into my mailaccount, but to write my block, I feel bad to take her laptop away for such a long time...
Now the live here is changing again. The children are having now their Diwalyholidays. Diwaly is one of the biggest hindufestivals in India- the festival of the lights. So at the weekend we will go to Vadhu and celebrating Diwaly with all of the children together. At the beginning of December I will go with Amy on Holidays around India for 3 weeks.
I miss you all so much!!!!! I have to say =D. Everything – and when I say everything I mean everything- is different and sometimes not that easy....
I give all of you a big hug and a very big thank you for all of our nice mails. Please keep one writing me- I love to know how youre lives are going on as well!!!
Yours Bekka
It is really nice to tell you, I am still alive! =) The first and hardest thing what I have had to learn- and I am still learning- was to never make planes. It will never work out. India is not just a country with a lot of opposites, it is also a country with a lot of surprises. When you think it will be a quiet day it could become one of the most interesting days. Even when I am making just planes for my own, they are not working out. I planned to leave Vadhu to another project of Maher- Name: Vadalyadham (Place of Love). In the morning I was ready to go, but Sr. Lucy asked me, if I would like to come with her to a slum this night, where she was asked to go to. There should be a streetfestival and of course I wanted to see it. So she decided that I would not go to Vadsalyadham this day. I should go with one Social worker to some of the day- care- centers and kindergardens around Vadhu and in the evening I should come with her. Ok, I said and I went by motorbike with the social worker to see this kindergardens somewhere in the middle of the mountains. Afterwards we went to this streetfestival in the middle of the night. Since I am here, I think it was the fourth or fifth festival.
Like I told, I changed now the project of Maher. I am living in a bigger place now with a lot of different people and a lot of different stories. Here are children, mentally disturbed women, pregnant women and elderly women living together. The most of the children are from families who are so poor that they cannot taking care about their children, or the children where living at the streets or the mothers came together with their children to Maher. The most of the mentally disturbed women were found at the streets- bagging, full of mud and sometimes sick without a family or just an idea of their family background. A lot of the pregnant women are very young and not married. Now there are not getting any support of their family because of that unmarried pregnancy. Or they don’t want that the society is getting to know about the pregnancy- most of this women wants to give the babies free for the adoption after birth. In India it is very hard for a woman to live as an alone raising mother and it is even harder to find a husband who would take her with a baby from another man. The most of the elderly women are mentally fine. Mostly they are very poor and are not getting any support of the family as well or the families cannot take care about their relatives. At the first time I came here, I ask myself if it is so good for the children to live with the mentally disturbed women together?! I am living here now since 2 Weeks and I have to say, it is not a problem at all. They are living under one roof but the children are living upstairs, with the pregnant women together and the mentally disturbed women are living downstairs. The elderly women are having an own house at this airier. They are living with their own timetables and with their own rules. They are celebrating everything together and some evenings they have the prayer together, but most of the time they are not in contact when they don’t want.
I have a special timetable for my self now- what is really good, because before I didn’t had any specific work at all. In the morning I am getting up at 5.45 o`clock to help with the children getting ready for school. So I am giving out the uniforms and handing out the oil for the hair. Afterwards I am still there for the prayer but I am leaving than for getting ready for myself. At 8am there are exercises for the mentally disturbed women- like walking for a half an hour. Than I am helping by the feeding from a little girl- what is mentally disturbed and is living with the women together. Afterwards I have my breakfast and than free time until 11am. This free time I am using for washing my clouths and reading a little bit. (You will not believe how I am washing my stuff!!! I am really getting mussels from it. There is one big stone and water and that is it – I have the luck it is at the rooftop and I have a beautiful view when I am doing that kind of hard work... =D. ) At 11am Catherine ( one very nice woman from the UK who is here for 4 month as well and is sharing a room with me) and me are going in the Montessouri-room and are having until 12o`clock the montessouriclass for some of the women. It is always very nice to spend some time with them. Afterwards we are going to help the social workers to do some activities with the women until lunch at 12.30am. Between 1.30 and 3.30 we are free to do what we want to do. That is really good, because the most of the time I getting really tired and I just want to have a little rest. At 3.30pm we are taking some of the children (the most of them are going in English medium schools and can speak English kind of well) for the Montessouri-class. (I have to say- I have no idea from Montessouri. But one volunteer from Canada came to Maher, thought it would be a nice idea to have Montessouri and was buying all of the stuff for it... So we are doing it. Please don’t ask me for the sense...) Between 4.15pm and 6pm we have no duty as well. But the most of the work from the volunteers are to spend a lot of time with the children and the women, to give them love and attention. So this is the time when I am going down to spend some time with them. At 6 o`clock we are taking some of the Marathi medium school children for English- class. It is a kind of hard time, because these children don’t know English at all ant is hard to make them understand what I want from them and to keep their attention at the subject. Between 7 and 7.30pm there is the prayer and the dinnertime is starting again, where I am going to help with that child. Afterwards we are eating with the staff together in the storeroom. Mostly we are going up at 8pm and are in bed by 9.30pm. I know, when you know me quite well, it is surprisingly early for me to go to bed that early- but I really need the sleep.
It is kind of hard for me that I cannot really go out. I am living in this project but I don’t feel secure to go out of that airier by my own. There is just one day when Catherine and me are going out. At Sunday we are spending our hole day in a mall in Pune, where we can go and buy everything what we are needing. There I can drink a nice cup of coffee and go in the Internet for a little bit longer. I don’t have my laptop with me (I was so proud of myself when I left Germany. Now I would like to bite me in my bud...). So I cannot write my e-mails before I am going to the coffeeshop. And the most of the times I have no luck with the electricity. I have one chance to go to the Internet for a kind of short time. Catherine has her laptop with her and she bought an internetstick. I don’t want to use her laptop so often- so I can sometimes have a look into my mailaccount, but to write my block, I feel bad to take her laptop away for such a long time...
Now the live here is changing again. The children are having now their Diwalyholidays. Diwaly is one of the biggest hindufestivals in India- the festival of the lights. So at the weekend we will go to Vadhu and celebrating Diwaly with all of the children together. At the beginning of December I will go with Amy on Holidays around India for 3 weeks.
I miss you all so much!!!!! I have to say =D. Everything – and when I say everything I mean everything- is different and sometimes not that easy....
I give all of you a big hug and a very big thank you for all of our nice mails. Please keep one writing me- I love to know how youre lives are going on as well!!!
Yours Bekka
Rebekka in Indien - 7. Nov, 08:17
