have met some wonderful people. have friends in indore. still continue to be blown away by the girls at the institute.
there ar 87 girls here at the Barli institute. Some are from the cities. some from villages. the majority of them don't speak hindi. only bhilali. they leave the institute, most of them passinng hindi literacy exams.
daily schedule.
girls wake up at 6.
7-9 is their assigned task to serve the institute. some do gardening. some make briquits (smokeless- environmentally friendly fuel to cook food), some sweep, some make batik (wax- tye dieish) clothes. everyone contributes
9 is nasta (breakfast). eat poha and chai
10-1 is class - either health class (learn to treat common ailments- like diorrhea, lice, rashes- with available supplies- like neem tree branches or neem oil, onion, garlic, tumeri), or hindi literacy class, personal development class (importance of the equality of men and women, women should be educated and aware of her rights, importance of truthfulness. and the like)
1-2 khana (eat food
2-4 i teach typing class- goal: to develop the power of expression. we use the computer and practice expressing ourseves by writting letters, making speeches. this class is for 5 manipuri girls. the rest of th girls are in another class learning sewing
4-6 more clas
6-7 rest
7-8 khana
8-9 pratna (prayer)-beautiful prayers sung in hindi
9-10 i teach english class- grammer for the more advanced students, vocab for the beginners
10 lights out
monsoon started two days ago.
its much needed. the institutes well dries up almost everyday and we only get 15 minutes of water pumped from the government supply.
we also teach the girls the importance of saving water and the scientific understanding of it
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4 comments:
Wow! What an intense schedule! It must be pleasent for the students to study lofty themes with such a kind English teacher, right before going to bed :-). The overall program at the institute sounds really wonderful! According to the Baha'i Writings, a key to changing the world is empowering women to take their rightful place in society-- it sounds like this is something that is happening at the Barli Institute. It must be exciting to a part of that!
too many questions:
* have you tried the pohu? : )
* how do they relate seeing as how you're foreign?
* do the girls have families?
not too much happening on my end- moved to the city; still interviewing - might have something in a few weeks. i'll let you know when it happens.
It's actually pra*r*thna
I m highly impressed by your thinking, your views, your guts, by the way you carry yourself, and the reason you are in India for.. I m not getting words to express my feelings, so for now i can just dedicate this poem to you..
Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
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