Day 1 - Getting to Work

Admittedly, today was a reality check of the hard work ahead of us. Although there are six of us, we each are paired off to different locations. My roommate, Linda (from Boston), and I are at SEAM (Southeast Asia Mission) for the first half of the program helping with construction. No, we are not painting, laying brick, or spackling walls. That job is for the men. Our job (i.e., the woman's job) is to be a tender, which means we carry everything to the men who do the stuff listed above. Our first task is to carry 4 7-foot piles of bricks up to the roof of the new orphanage. Today, we completed 3 of the 4 piles. You may ask, "Why only 3?" That is because we carry them on our heads. Do the math. Yes, the more you pile on your head at once, the quicker it gets done. Or, as I quickly found out, the less you pile on your head, the longer you last to actually get the work done. I started with 4 bricks, then 3, and ended with 2 per trip.

Mind you, the kids were off today and could not wait to help us! Some of these tiny, adorable kids were carrying 4! Get this. The local woman who partnered with us (we always have those in the community helping us as we are there to help them as opposed to them being there to help us as this is what builds a true community) could carry 8 (yes, 8) bricks on her head. She did not even have to hold them! She simply balanced them as she gracefully (odd word, I know) walked up a flight of stairs.

Knowing we have intense labor ahead, I am keeping myself motivated knowing that instead of having 40 orphans sleeping on cement floors in one large room, they are about to have a home with 3 bunk beds per room. Once the dorm is built, our host will work on getting flowers in the yard. The dorm will be complete in early March.

I am impressed with how creative the kids are. Yesterday, we gave them Blow Pops. One boy found a water bottle and used the Blow Pop cap as its cap. He would stomp on the water bottle and the cap would fly across the yard. This entertained him all day.

Just before dinner, we taught small groups of boys how to use the computer. Some wanted to draw, others wanted to explore cutting and pasting shapes while coloring them in creative ways, and then some wanted to spell sentences in English. They would be overjoyed when they figured out how to do something new. Given that there is no lesson plan, the hardest was to figure out who knew what. Our sponsor is going to have us start documenting what we do so they will have a learning continuum.

The role of women vs. men in the Indian society is something to get used to. But there are other very cool traditions. Note that I am on sensory overload so I can only remember the latest story that I am told. I asked our host why women tend to wear gold and silver, where the gold tends to be above the waist and silver below it. From this question, I learned the following. Indian tradition is such that married people do not wear wedding bands, but the women do wear jewelry - and lots of it. Upon marriage, they are given an pendant called a Thali, which is tied around there neck with a string tied in three knots (thus the saying, "tying the knot"). Some women replace the string as it wears while others simply buy a gold chain to hold the Thali. Since it is inappropriate for women to wear low-cut shirts, men cannot look down their necks to see if they are wearing a Thali. Instead, they also wear silver toe rings. Only married women are to wear these, allowing men to look at their feet (instead of down their shirts) to determine whether they are single or married.

Hopefully, I can get to sleep tonight. Either the hard work or malaria pills (or both) are tiring me out so much that I take long naps, but then I am wide awake at night.