Back again

So I am back in the UK, and have been for a few days now so it is about time that I finished this blog off.

Where was I?

Ah yes the movie, it was alright I suppose, a little odd, terrible special effects and a bit about the Tsunami which was a little close to home and very poorly thought out, but I did stay awake for the whole thing this time. Sadly Rachel and Ruth left a few minutes in as Ruth was feeling sick.

The next morning (Wednesday) a bunch of us went to visit an Oasis English course that is for the girls on their tailoring course, however the teachers, Rachel and Ruth, were by this time both very sick, hopefully nothing to do with us taking them out for dinner?! So we declined the offer to stay for the day and do some teaching and instead played some games. It was fun being with girls, they love singing and dancing but were always embarrassed when it came to their turn, Lydia and I performed a very half hearted 'great great brill brill'.

Afterwards we went off to visit the Oasis head offices. One Auto (mine, we had the tailoring teacher with us) made it, the other with Lydia, Isaac and Cathy, took a little bit longer, the driver hadn't got a clue where they were going. They did make it in the end though and Rebecca told us all about what Oasis is up to and why which was interesting stuff, they are a very cool organisation. In the evening we dolled ourselves up in Saris and went To Ebi's house for dinner. His wife cooked up and amazing meal for us, home-made chapattis! The conversation came round at one point to Auto driving and Ebi learnt that Rob and James were very keen to have a go at driving one, not a problem, one of the YMCA employees had a son with an auto, so Ebi was straight on the phone and it was all arranged!

Oooh going back to Monday, we had a morning of shopping for lovely things and getting some tailoring sorted, then in the afternoon we went over to Kottivakum for the official inauguration of the water purification system, complete with reverse osmosis, and also to open the newly air conditioned computer room and have a play on the new computer. We also got to see the progress that was being made in the painting of the school.

And so to Tuesday during the day. We went to visit Fort Boys Town School, run by the YMCA. This was one of my favourite places that we visited. Fort used to have a boys town and a school, but the government built a railway right through the middle of their site. This was a few years ago and the boys town continued, with the boys sleeping in the classrooms at night, however last year it shut and the boys went to Kottivakum. The school is still up and running though with 1400 students on a ridiculously small site, the standard classrooms are maybe twice the size of my bedroom if that, and I have a small bedroom! All of the students are from a slum area the other side of the railway and many have to study by streetlight. The government pays the salary of the teachers but the building is kept by the YMCA and they also provide a lunch for the students and teaching supplies. The average school fees in Chennai are about 10,000 Rupees a year ( about £125) but Fort charges only 100 Rupees (£1.25) a year and if you can't afford that then it is free. Despite the difficult circumstances for the pupils both at home and at school, a pass rate of 100% for 10th standard (GCSEs) has been achieved for the past four years! It really is incredible, especially when you factor in the flooding which forces the school to close for the month of November. Sadly we couldn't stay for very long as we were a little disruptive to the classes but next year Chennai Challenge will probably be a lot more involved there.

After lunch at the amazing Tidel Park (the IT site by Kottivakum) we went to visit the Kottivakum Boys town school and disturb all of their classes as well. The difference between the two schools was amazing, Kottivakum has much bigger classrooms, with desks and chairs, a computer lab, tailoring classroom and science labs, albeit very basic. It was great to see our boys all smart in their uniform and very eager to show us the school. Then a short rest and change of clothes before running a programme with the boys.

And we are leaping forward to Thursday. We started off the morning with an Auto lesson! Very exciting, they have controls like a motorbike, something I am not used to! But after a couple of false starts and some serious revving (a problem I have in a normal car) I managed three reasonable laps around the site. Amy the non driver surprised us all with some very professional driving and then scared us all by coming within an inch of a wall!

After deciding that Auto driving was better left to the professionals for now we went to visit the YMCA headquarters and enjoyed the view from the roof. It was also exciting to learn that Gandhi had given a talk in the very room in which we were sat! Then a last visit to Sathmanagar community centre to see the new floor that we had funded (debatable as to whether it had been fixed or not) and also a chance for Sarah to give out the teddies for tragedies that she had bought with her. There were no children obviously at the centre but a few were soon rounded up and posed with the teddies.

That afternoon was our last programme with the boys, a chance to finish off the banner of hands and to paint a permanent twister board and hopscotch by their cottages. We rounded off the afternoon with a nice game of 'chase James', and all went home very sweaty and dirty.

For our last meal as a team we went to Raj Bhavan and completely pigged out on juice and ice-cream, with a total bill of less than 2000 rupees! Incredible. It was also a chance to give Isaac, Cathy and Rob their gifts from us. A biography of Regnikath for Cathy and Rob, and a c.d. 'Coffee with Regnikath' for Isaac, they seemed very pleased!

Friday was our last day in Chennai. The morning meant lots of shopping for the boys packs (toothbrush, toothpaste, sweets, talcum powder, a pencil, and a toy) Goldmine proved itself the most amazing shop in the world by supplying us with 148 small forms of transport for less than 25 rupees each! The afternoon was last bits of personal shopping and packing, and then we dressed in our nicest Indian getup for the last meal with the boys. At the meal we were presented with Lungis and shawls by Ebi and gave out the boys gifts along with some sports equipment (Cricket!!). All too soon it was time to get changed and leave for the airport. It was horrible saying good bye to the boys, not knowing when I would be back (which I will be, sometime).

It takes a very long time to get though all the checks at Chennai airport, it's almost as if they don't want you to leave the country, and we had to be rushed onto the plane, yes we were those annoying latecomers, and yes we were spread out all over the plane so no quick finding of seats. I guess the flight was o.k, I slept for most of it, we made it anyway, and now we are home!

It's kind of weird how quickly I have slipped back into life in England, no obvious reverse culture shock, it wasn't even all that cold on Saturday! The only negative effect I can think of is forgetting that my phone was set to India time and having my alarm go off at quarter to three in the morning! I do very badly want to go back though, and take people with me! Let me know if you want to come too!

So until my next trip, bye and thanks for all your support.
XxX