Everything is still going amazingly for me in Bombay. For the past three weeks, I've been working in Santosh Bhavan Sherma Wadi; a small rural community located in the suburb of Nallasopara, 2 hours away from Bombay. That means I have to travel 4 hours every day in a crowded train and leave at 7:30 am to get there around 9:30 am. For those of you who picture a Via Rail kind of train, it's not quite exact. The trains are old, rickety and have carriages exclusively for women. Catching the train is an adventure on its own. As everywhere else in India, no rules apply when you get on or out the train. Every morning, I am caught in a jungle of women who fight and shout at each other because - I assume - they are scared of missing the train, or simply want to get a seat. This is the only time when I'm happy to not understand Hindi! My lack of agressivity often leaves me waiting patiently on the platform until the crowd picks me up and dumps me inside –literally! But I love the local train. It is, according to me, the center of Bombay’s life and I think, one of the best ways to learn about the city. During my train journey, I have the opportunity to see the sun rise above Bombay and the city waking up slowly. It gives me the opportunity to witness hidden sides of the Indian culture, including various aspects of everyday life, and share unique moments with different types of people - especially women whom I usually don't get a chance to talk to because Indian streets are dominated with men. On the train I feel like I can experience "the real India" - if there is such a thing - with all its contradictions.
I still love my work with One! Nallasopara's school is One!'s newest school and has no proper facilities, a missing toilet and, most of the time, non-existent electricity... Verrry, verrry challenging, especially when I have to teach exercise to a group of 20 children when 35 degrees outside (and probably 50 in the school). Everything has to be done there which I find extremely interesting although it is not easy to adapt working with the Indian staff. Let say that efficiency is not part of the Indian vocabulary; at least, not as we define it in North America. My first impression was that the teachers I work with rarely take the fastest route to get things done but I slowly realized that they usually end up with the expected results anyway so everything end up to work fine at the end of the day. What to do?! I try to keep that in mind when I notice something that makes absolutely no sense to me. Be patient Sofie Didi! In other words, I am learning to work the Indian way and try my best to respect every aspects of it.
Santosh Bhavan is not a slum but I first thought the opposite because of the lack of infrastructures and the open sewage passing right in front of the school. The people living there have permanent houses (or I should say bungalows) and most of them come from surrounding villages - in Maharashtra, Gujurat and Madhya Pradesh - and thus observe more traditional values. They moved to Nallasopara in order to find work in Bombay but couldn't afford to live in the city. I'm probably the first Westerner they've ever met; therefore, I get a lot of attention during my 15 minutes walk to the school. But as time goes, the residents of Santosh Bhavan are becoming friendlier and seem to slowly accept my presence in their neighbourhood. The looks I get are changing from animosity to curiosity; which I’m totally fine with. It’s a good start!
Half of my students go to "private school" in the afternoon so they are more disciplined and a little better in Maths, Hindi and Science, but not in English. As I understand, Indian's School are very strict and value memorization rather than understanding. As a result, the children know how to spell and write complicated English words but have no clue of what I'm saying when I ask them "What colour?" Beside my teaching duty, I often help with record keeping, writing, scheduling, or anything else I can do to help Tania on the administrative level. I also started to organize and implement the rudimentary medical services to be provided at the school. During the past two weeks, I shared my knowledge of first aid with the Indian staff and tried to educate the children on basic hygiene and nutrition. For example, I taught them that there is not point of putting a band-aid on a wound if we don't wash it and disinfect it before doing so. It probably sounds obvious for all of you but it is not common practice here. The children now have to wash their injured area with soap and water (provided by the school) before coming to see me so that I can look at it properly. But still, the only thing that interests most of them is to get a band-aid and a little bit of attention... children will always be children!
Overall, I think I am adapting quite well to my new life in Bombay even though it is not always easy to live with 5 other people in a one bedroom apartment. No, not a lot of privacy! However, what I find the most difficult here is to see young children begging on the street… and it is even harder not to give them money. The problem is that most of them are not as poor as they look like but put on dirty clothes and rent babies - yes, rent babies - in order to collect more money. And even if the child is really in need, the money he earns usually goes to his alcoholic parent or even worse, to someone who hires him for a few rupees. Knowing this doesn't help me to become less sensitive to the problem and it still breaks my heart to see them and imagine that they might be living on the street. Guilt would be the word that best express how I feel: I feel guilty for not giving money to all the beggars who ask me to do so, guilty for knowing that it wouldn’t be enough and guilty for not having the power and resources to do more for them… but this something I’ll have to deal with alone... or simply get use to? Probably not but this is only due to my personlaity. Again, what to do?!
On Wednesday, I am going to Goa for a 5-days holiday. Nothing on the program except relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean. I'll send pictures when I get back!
Sofie XX
Chowpatty Beach in Bombay: not exactly the best place for a sunbathe or a dip!
A view of Chowpatti Beach and Downtown Bombay
Bandra St: where I take the train every morning
Only to show you that Bombay is also a beautiful city with amazing promenades
Santosh Bhavan Sherma Wadi (Nallasopara): shaky bungalows, mud and cows everywhere
Nallasopara: the school
Nallasopara: the children
The school playground: not exactly what we are use to in Canada but the kids still have a lot of fun
Some videos:
Train
Nallasopara: on our way to the school
