Last Work Day in India...

(Linda and I with the teacher of the last slum school we visited...)

Monday was the last day of working in the schools in India... it was a day of mixed emotions. The school was the newest and smallest slum school. If monsoon gets too crazy, the school closes because it will flood. We had to walk deep into the slums to get to it...kind of scary. Met some really interesting kids on the way in and on the way out... The teacher ath this school was young and working through college...she spoke English better than any of the other teachers we met. The kids were really interested in us and really interactive.... (We taught them the Hokey Pokey...)

I am so glad we had the opportunity to go and work with these teachers and kids. It has already changed the way I look at my life and my job. I hope the schools can use the strategies we gave them to improve their classes... I have a such a special place in my heart now for India. I would love to bring the knowledge of these problems back to the states (ehem, Schulze) and start a school wide project.... And maybe some of my fellow teachers will go with me next summer...hint, hint!!

Fun stuff...Tuesday was just a day to sight see, hangout with the new SOS friends, and street shop... I got two pairs of shoes for 5 dollars... I know some of you are super jealous!!! Love you guys!! Almost home!!

Teacher Training!

We held the teacher training on Saturday! It went awesome! We had about 35 teachers come to the Dharavi school. (Dharavi is the biggest slum in Asia) The training lasted from 10 to 3...and the time flew! We taught the teachers how to teach with phonics, building words, making complete sentences, and then forming guided reading groups and centers! The teachers were like little sponges and seemed to really enjoy everything. At the end we gave each location a kit to get started in their classrooms and even raffled off some prizes! They were so excited! After the training the teachers all came up to us and asked us to come back when we could...it was so nice. One of the best days we have had so far for sure!

Today we went to a church called Metro, pretty close to downtown Mumbai. (I think, Donnabelle, don't yell at me if I'm wrong!) Afterward, we got some coffee, did a little street shopping, and took pictures at the Gateway to India. People from all over India go to the Gateway so there were TONS of people there! After that, we attempted to go see a movie but they were playing too late so we bought Night at the Museum 2 off the street (yes, pirated for sure, haha) and went back to the Weehunts to watch it. Pretty good day!

Stomach yuck and walkin' in muck :(

Well, I have been out of commission for the past two days with a stomach thing... Not too fun. The Weehunts were kind enough to call their doctor and he came by to check me out and then he hooked me up with the good stuff-antibiotics! YAY! That was Wednesday night and yesterday I just layed in bed all day. So today I am feeling much better, but the plans were to stay in and work on the training for tomorrow so I dont get to venture out much any way. Linda went and saw a couple of the other schools while I was resting and she said they are even worse off than the others. In one school the room was so small they couldnt really walk anywhere and when there are heavy rains they have to cancel because the school floods completely. They didn't have any books or anything. :( I want to pack a couple of the kiddos up and bring them home for Jeremy and I, but I dont know if he would approve too much. :)

The rains have been heavy and there have been 5 meter high tides coming in!! Crazy! I I have been collecting newspaper headlines since I've been here... so far I have Hillary, the solar eclipse, the Mumbai shooting trials, and 5 meter high tides!! Pretty cool for a weeks worth of time!

Anyway, so today I finally got internet in the room, but you are all asleep so I am trying to bottle all of my excitement for a little while until a reasonable hour to call and wake some of you up!

Sorry the pictures are pretty random... Check out Linda flirtin with the locals! Ha ha!

The Real Deal

This was their bathtub and kitchen sink all in one :(

This slum was built on top of a trash dump.

Today we went into another slum school that was quite smaller than the last. It was very hot, no ac, only fans. We did the same thing the kids, taught them a song, fed them, and found out what the teachers needed from us.
One of the young teachers had a really sad case, but it is the same for MANY if not MOST of the women in the slums. Her husband is an alcoholic, does not work, and she is expected to support the family on her own. What is the worst is that she only makes 20 dollars a MONTH! So, she invited us to her house in the slums. Now, we have seen some really bad things, but this was the hardest for both of us. She walked us through the slums, which were built on TOP of a garbage dump, filled with stagnant water, mud, and tons of trash. When we got to her house, I could not believe my eyes. The entire house was MAYBE 10 by 10 feet. There were no beds, and a tub of water was used for cleaning themselves, clothes, and dishes. The "wall" that divided them from their neighboor was just a large sheet.
This teacher has a son who is 4 and a daughter who is 12. The daughter is one of the best students in the school that she is in, but the mom is having a hard time keeping her in the school because it costs money each year (it is a little better than regular public schools.) And guess what?? It is only 150 dollars a YEAR! Thats it. To us, that is nothing, but to this teacher that is everything to keep her in the school. I thought it was crazy that this woman had to worry about such little money! I am hoping that we can bring this back home so that some of our friends/family/coworkers can sponser a student if they want. When we were leaving we gave her some money to buy groceries for the week, and she was so happy.
So, that was our day today. It was heartbreaking seeing all the children actually in the slum homes. The pictures I took look like they belong in National Geographic. We were so mentally exhausted that we came back and took a nap.
Anyway, the wi-fi is still an issue in the hotel and the light of hope is getting dimmer every day so keep that in mind as we are trying to contact everyone! I can not upload pictures from my zip drive right now for some reason so I will try later! Check back because they are the best ones so far!
Love and Light!

Biggest slum in all of ASIA!

Cows are everywhere in the streets!

Today we went to the school that is located in the biggest slum in Asia! There is more than one million people living in one square mile!!! It was raining like crazy! We got to observe the teachers, ask what they needed from us, and help serve the kiddos lunch! It was a great day. The kids all looked really nice because in order for them to attend school there they have to wear a uniform. (It is provided.) They do not normally look like this. They live in houses with their whole family that are about the size of the inside of a Honda Civic. What was amazing is that even though they live like that, they were the sweetest most well behaved kids! There were up to 60 students in each class and they were so respectful to their teacher! I was so amazed!

Life Center!

On Saturday we went to the Life Center that SOS has provided. It is an orphanage for kids whos parents have died or are not able to take care of them. Many of them have lived on the street for many years. It was a two hour drive to a place called Lonavala. It was in the mountains so it was beautiful. And there were wild monkeys on the side of the road!

Once we got there, Linda taught the kids some really fun games that they can play inside when it is monsoon season! We had so much fun and played all day! We got so attached to the kids and it was really hard to leave. It was a really good day!

Jaywalking!

There are two reasons I named this blog that.... keep reading to find out!

Okay this is going to be a long one since i have not gotten to get on yet!
We arrived in India around 2:30 in the morning on Friday. Two girls were there to meet us from SOS, Donnabelle and Season after an hour of horrible, croweded baggage claim, customs, and Swine Flu guns being pointed at us! I felt like a rat in maze! It was nice to meet Donnabelle because she helps to run the schools we are going to and I have been emailing her back and forth. She is an Indian girl, about thirty and she knows 6 different languages!

Anyway when we got here we found out that the hotel messed up and didnt book us and they were full!!!!!! Kinda scared me at first, but then they got us into their sister hotel which was very nice and we went to bed at about 4:30 a.m..
The next day we woke up at 7:00 (do the math!) and went to meet Dr. Rajhuns! Dr. Rajhuns is this amazing lady who worked at a prestigious school here called Queen Mary's. She was about to retire when she said that "God began to break her heart for all the children of the slums" and that she was the one who was going to help them. She did, and she now has 75 schools! WOW! Her husband was really intersting too, he was a film director for many years! After meeting with her about the teacher training, she invited us to eat with her. She made an awesome indian lunch and I was a little nervous at first, but it ended up being sooooo good!
After lunch we went to downtown Bombay and looked at the shops, then back to the flat for some Dominos pizza! (Who woulda thought?!)
Even though all of this was nice, you would not imagine the horrible things I saw in the city. Children were running up to us begging for money. You are not supposed to give them any because they are working for an adult and have to give it to them every time. We gave them granola bars instead. I almost cried every single time. One was clinging to my leg when i walked back to my car and I cried when I had to get in and lock the door. There are tons of stray, hurt dogs...and you all know how much I love dogs, so that is really hard for me too.

Okay now on to why I called this "jaywalking"

1. The driving is crazy here! I swear we have almost hit like 4,567 people in the two days I have ridden in a car! There are no laws, everyone just honks at each other!

2. When we started watching TV one night, the news anchor looked like an Indian Jay Leno! See this!

Love and miss you all! I will be back on later to post more!