A stroll through the park...

On Sunday, we had our outing with the girls… an afternoon at the Subhash Bose Park. Everyone piled into the school bus with smiles, laughter & singing. The whole trip to the park was filled with rounds of Malyalam songs (and probably some Bollywood hits) and dancing in the isles.

(Just a side note about school buses in India… unlike U.S. school buses where windows could rarely be opened without some sort of knuckle-busting feat of strength and assigned seating prevailed, Indian schools buses have no windows, or rather, no glass in the windows, with very relaxed seating plans. They are open-air rides with children sitting or standing wherever they could… in the isles, on the steps to the door, in Americans’ laps, etc. The relief from hyper-safety concerns and excitement from the girls going on a field trip made for a truly joyful experience)

Before unloading at the park, Sister Sophie laid down the rules or the afternoon (she was the one with The Whistle around her neck). The Buddy system was in effect… the each older girl was responsible for one of the younger girls on arrival & departure. And when the whistle is blown, it is time to come back to the bus.

The park was filled with tons of Indian families enjoying a Sunday afternoon together. And as a group of Westerners palling around with nuns with little Indian girls dragging us around by the hand from swing-set to jungle gym, we did get some curious looks and questions from the locals.

The afternoon was filled with playing & laughing and swinging & sliding. There was also an international exchange of group hand games (i.e. Miss Mary Mack, Tip-Top and some sort of Eye-Spy game). Some of the girls enjoyed a change to grab some of our cameras and play photographer for the afternoon as well.

Giving gifts and connecting communities

On Sunday before going taking the girls to the park, our group presented the girls and the Sisters with all of the gifts & donated items collected. With Sister Sophie providing translation, we passed out all of the gifts and goodies with an explanation of where they came from, who they were from and why we were giving them these gifts. We presented the decorated wall hanging from the Friends School and the photo album scrapbook to the girls to a buzz of excitement to see & learn about American students.

Without a doubt, the gifts that received the most laughs were the Disney costumes donated by Danielle Cooper. The girls especially loved dark skinned Kaliyani wearing the blonde Cinderella wig. They adored the dresses and jewelry of Snow White, Little Mermaid, and Beauty (from Beauty & the Beast). Since there weren’t enough dresses for all of the girls to have one, the Sisters decided to save them in the special closet and brought out only for school plays.

The other major hit were the baby dolls that were donated by the WYC Community. Wow. This was the true tearjerker. Upon receiving the dolls, every girl seemed to go into her own world, immediately creating a special relationship with their “baby” and immediately reverting into a mothering role, cradling and cooing at their baby. This was very bittersweet to watch, because it seemed to highlight the desire they have for being nurtured. It was so beautiful to see how much they appreciated these. Thank you so much to Christina Enneking for spearheading and organizing this idea b/c it was a real hit. This is probably the only toy that they each own as an individual, so these dolls will be very special to them for years to come. As for the jewelry, hair barrettes, etc…girls will be girls! They love decorating themselves and immediately adorned themselves for the rest of the week with their new goodies.

Thank you to everyone from Wilmington Yoga Center & beyond for donating medicines, jewelry, mats, dolls, photo albums, and much more. The girls were truly grateful from their heart and felt so special receiving. We wish that you all could have heard the hundreds of “thank you auntie” and “thank you uncle” statements that we enjoyed during the rest of our stay.

Decorating With Love… “After”

Having finished the painting project during the holiday break, we were fortunate enough to be there when the children had their first look at rooms when school started back up in Monday. Both the students and teachers were so gracious and excited to see the improvements. The LKG teacher started off getting the children’s minds back in learning “gear” by running them through the newly painted alphabet and corresponding colors.

Yoga with the girls

Within an hour of arrival on the first day, the girls began immediately asking “Yoga? Yoga” with huge smiles and nodding faces, they couldn’t wait to practice again since it had been a year since our last classes with them. Kristin taught the girls that had nowhere to go for “holiday”, and Noelle taught the biggest class yet with all of the girls of the orphanage-ages 5-18. Sister Valsa helped to translate, and the girls would often erupt in fits of laughter at their own lace of flexibility, and the partner work. Noelle couldn’t have been a better yoga ambassador with her “Peace” t-shirt and perma-grin at the front of the room. We also donated the yoga mats that we had been collecting in the states. After visiting Kaliyani’s mother’s home, and seeing the coconut tree leaves for her roof, we decided it would be best to donate the yoga mats to her mother to best use for her hut/home to somehow help during monsoon season.

Homebase at the ABAD Plaza

The staff of Hotel ABAD was incredible, and we couldn’t have been more grateful to have the Ayurveda “hospital” on the top floor. Many of us got daily Ayurveda treatments, along with free consultations from the doctor. The staff had been through intensive Ayurvedic schooling, and many of us received prescriptions for ayurvedic medicines (oils) for everything from tennis elbow to congestion. The ayurvedic pharmacy was also a walk-able distance away and it was such a treat to be able to purchase all of the medicinal oils at such inexpensive prices (these oils are very pricey in the states.) We fell in love with our therapists and the herbs have been incredibly healing.

Decorating With Love… “During”

What a way to bring in the New Year. The painting project got underway with a definite “bang”. The Sisters had the girls help get the room ready by moving the benches out into the halls to make room for the painting the walls. And the girls got into the action, too! They were so excited to be able to help… they take such pride in their home and school and loved being involved in this project. The “team” broke up into two groups. One group prepped & painted the rooms a beautiful blue with pictures to act a teaching aids and the other group sanded & painted the desks & benches.