The Days Wind Down

These days we are in South India, Madurai, to check on last year's project, making plans to improve the school we set up.  The children have grown older and their needs have changed, what worked last year is not sufficient for the age of these girls anymore.  So now the planning, moving material, shifting to suit the range of the girls.  I'm trying to get back the material I left there last year to utilize in the project I'm working on with Maher in Pune.


The women who run the orphanage were so happy to see me, normally volunteers come and go in places like this, promise to return, and don't, so a familiar face from abroad is a big deal.  I had time to feed the girls some lunch and then spend some time playing with them.  Things at the orphanage are much improved and this is heartening.  I am full of hope.

Maher

It's half way through our journey now, and although we have accomplished much, the time feels very short.  We've put together a little school in one of the Maher centers, trained 5 teachers, but it still feels somewhat impermanent.  Space is always an issue, Sister Lucy is very kind and working hard to find us adequate room and time.  Next week shelves are being built in another room in the same compound, they're tearing out their kitchen for our school. 

The children are beautiful and they adore every minute they spend with the material, some sneak in for double classes.  The older children, even if the material is somewhat too childish or easy for them, also ask for time in the classroom.  When we first opened up the material, even the teachers and house mothers were taken and became distracted with the colors, the objects and the curiosity.

Further than the school it has been wonderful to spend time not only with the children but with the teenagers, the mothers, the seniors, the mentally challenged women and the volunteers staying at Maher.  This place is as good as it looks on paper.

India

We're here.  As much as I can, I'll be updating this blog while we're here.  It took 2 days to make it to the country I am sure I will be calling home very soon.  It's monsoon season, the heat is still thick and abates at the first sign of winds and rain.  The first day was all sleeping and eating, unpacking, cleaning.  Today we were taken to the projects this organization runs.  Truly, Maher is an amazing organization, the work that it does, that the men and women who run it do, fills my heart with hope and love...mostly love. 

Now to make plans, my mind is constantly running...how much potential this organization has for expansion, how can I be a part of this and more importantly, how can we all be a part of this? 

There are big things, wonderful things, love things in the air.