So we're back at field base again for a couple of days before we head out to our village again for the third and final phase of the project.
My summary of phase 2 (the last 3 weeks) would be wet, windy, busy and tiring...but also very productive. Our construction has started, and so far it has been hard work, but pretty rewarding when we look at what we have done. The masons only arrived this week, so we have done the majority of the work ourselves, with a bit of help from the villagers, when it's not raining of course - the locals are definitely fair weather labourers!
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| Getting ready to pick up the poo from outside the Mense House before we start demolishing it |
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| Saving all the existing materials to use again on the new Mense House |
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| Smashing down the walls and moving all the rubble for future use |
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| Levelling the land ready for the new build |
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| Digging the foundations |
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| The masons arrived and we have now started to lay stones and cement the foundations of the new house! |
All in all, the 12 girls and 2 boys on our team have done a great job, battling against the elements to get to this stage. We now have 2 masons who have come to stay in the village for the duration of the build and are leading us each day to get the house built. Luckily the rain has also started to ease off a bit which is making it easier, although the heat is now a new challenge!
During the last couple of weeks we have also been to visit the Tribal Research Centre in Ooty, a nearby town. It was really good to learn some more about the Kota tribe and we were also given some books about the tribe and saw photos of some of our friends in the village which was a little surreal. It was a weird feeling to be reading about the Kota tribe from people who had studied them and to know that we are currently living and making friends with them. It was also strange to think that I now see them as people, where as reading about them in the museum they seem like distant people who are studied. Either way it made me feel privileged to have this current opportunity to be working with them!
Last week we held an eye camp for the local villages. Despite the horrendous weather on the day we had a really good turn out of 100 people, 7 of whom had cataract operations, so we are all pleased with the success of the day.
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| Cataract patients waiting for their operations |
We also held a sports day for the local children where over 50 children came and played a variety of games which they all seemed to enjoy!
This phase we have also organised home stays. All the volunteers have spent a night in a local's home and learnt some more about their culture. This week I spent the night at the Postmans home with his family. We had dinner with them, learnt about some of their festivals and then in the morning they taught me how to make mint chutney, which we had with idly (rice powder flat things) for breakfast! It was really good and another example of how welcoming and friendly the people in Kokkal are.
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| The Postman and his family outside his home |
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| Amrutha (one of the volunteers) and I enjoying our meal at our home stay |
We hit our 'storming' stage this phase within the group - living 24/7 started to take it's toll on some of the volunteers, but nothing that we haven't now overcome. You have to be multi-skilled to manage all these strong willed volunteers!
We've all managed to stay relatively healthy although there has been a few cases of D and a few less of V, plus a concussion and a fractured finger. All in all, everyone is still alive and well. My sympathetic side and patience has definitely been improving/tested.
Things I have learnt...although not everyone in India uses a Mense House, having a celebration when a girl first comes on her period is quite a common thing. When trying to work out why children within the village are malnourished and so small I found out that new born babies are given rich tea biscuits and milk as their only food for the first year of their life - I'm no nutritionist, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as a healthy diet. I'm learning lots about the culture here and am really interested in the different role women have. My last 'did you know' for you...it is illegal to find out the sex of your baby in India when you are pregnant, because it is common practice for girl first borns to be aborted due to having to pay a dowry when they get married and families being unable to afford it.
Tomorrow we head back to the village for our final 3 weeks! I really hope that we get the Mense House finished before we leave, I am sure we will now we have the masons help and hopefully some village help if the weather stays dry for long enough! We have health and vet camps to run and a few other projects within the village. still to complete, as well as our regular clubs and meetings. It's going to be busy and I am sure it is also going to go fast with so much to do!
Some more pictures from the last couple of weeks...
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| Monkeys at a Temple we visited - they stole one of the volunteers' drink and crisps! |
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| Our day trip out to a Temple and the Palace in Mysore |
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| Teaching the kids to wash their hands with soap! |
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| A 'Tippy Tap' we built for the kindergarten so the children can wash their hands after they have been to the toilet and before they eat their lunch |
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| We started a toothbrush club to encourage the local children to brush their teeth |
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| One of the villagers giving me a rendition of a traditional Kota song on a traditional instrument he had made |
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| Local tea farmers hard at work |
