In-roads

In memory of Colin Holloway, Christchurch, West Wimbledon.  I first met Colin in 2003.  He was the first congregant who introduced himself.  We sat on the PCC together and then the Standing Committee, he as Treasurer and I as Warden.  A retired Head teacher, Colin took a keen interest when I retrained to be a teacher and was always eager to know how I was getting on especially as he taught teenagers and I was qualifying at the other end of the age range.  My move to Mongolia was fascinating to him and we had some great conversations about my experience there.  His interest in my most recent challenge here in India was just as great.  It is fair to say that I am incredibly saddened that we will never have the opportunity to discuss it in person.  Wherever you are Colin, I hope you can see just how phenomenal a road it is.  May you forever rest in peace.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King Jr

I pick up this blog on Sunday 11^th November 2018.  It was, of course, Remembrance Sunday and the centennial anniversary of the end of World War I.  Messages from home told me it was an occasion fittingly honoured by our nation.  That’s as it should be.  With no cenotaph or even sense of occasion for the day here, I happened on a memorial statue (to a married Christian couple), on my morning run from Kashyem to Munsong.  It seemed as good a place as any for me to remember and that is what I did.  A while before she died, my Grandmother told me she feared that Remembrance Day would soon be forgotten, along with all the soldiers who have died, as there would no longer be anyone alive who bore witness to the horrors or who knew people who had.  It seems, and I hope, that those fears she had, will never be realised as we continue to honour those who have died in, been injured during and survived, war. 

                                             

Before my run that same morning, I returned to the home of the man who had, the day before, been buried.  I knew that his four sons would be honouring their father’s life and memory.  I hadn’t quite realised how.  It is incredible.  The same room where the body had been the day before and where the old man’s bed had been a few weeks ago, had been transformed.  It was empty of furniture and the four men (sons) were sat on the floor behind a small wall of wood, not 10 cm high, separating them from the rest of the house.  They had, the day previously, after the burial, bathed in the river and shaved their heads and faces.  They had also wrapped themselves in white linen, with a small white piece tied around to cover their heads.  Except for a blanket and a small rug for insulation from the cold floor, that is how the men had spent the night.  Hanging from the walls were branches of the medicinal herb that I have talked about before.  The man’s son (father of the girl in Class 4), was peeling and preparing ginger, which the men would eat a lot of with their meals.  They had to prepare their own meals, sometimes with help from the priest who came daily.  The men would live like this for 10 days, from the day of death (8 remaining days in this case).  On the tenth day, there would be a small gathering and the men would have completed the honour.  It is fitting to think my experience of this incredible sacrifice to honour a parent was happening on a day synonymous with remembrance and honour.

It was a little strange to sit and watch the men for half an hour on that Sunday morning.  It was clear that life had to carry on around them and they talked to different people about things that might need doing – one of the four sons even took a call on his mobile phone.  But, ultimately, the sacrifice of the next 10 days would need to be borne by someone.  The men really wouldn’t leave that small space except to bathe in the river and use the toilet.  The families would need help.  Step up SM and Santos.  As the nephews of the old man, and with SM’s status in the village, they did quite a lot of the fetching and carrying, shopping and supporting required to help the rest of the family.  That week, SM was often home late and out early.  He missed a few things at school, such is the larger role he holds within the community.  The honouring of a father in this way is a testament to the close family networks that have been created over generations.  And, despite the simplicity of the rooms, cooking equipment and resources, everything and everyone works together to ensure things happen.  If something goes wrong, then all hands are put to the grindstone to work out a solution.

On the tenth day (the final day of the mourning period I mentioned in the last blog), the gathering was a little larger than I had been led to believe.  Pretty much half the village were there as far as I could tell.  Money was donated by each and every male guest and the accounting was done in much the same way as the wedding a few weeks ago.  The lunch was, as I am fond of saying, delicious (mee toche).  I can’t tell you how many different flavours and strength of spice I have experienced.  The chick pea curry was particularly tasty.  Mind you, I still seem to be able to make a fool of myself - The food was served buffet style, in large dishes.  There are people behind the table who lift lids generally for you to help yourself (we have all seen this).  As I am walking along, I come to a pot filled with Puri – like a roti (fried chapati) – so I helped myself.  People began giggling, which, at once, tells me I have messed up.  It seems that the Puri was for dessert.  I put it back and SM laughed saying “you can eat it”.  Anyway, I carried on, filled my plate and sat down to eat.  A little while later one of the hosts came along with a Puri, especially for me, with a bit more of the chick pea curry alongside.  Totally mystified as to how this was dessert, or the muddle I had made, I thanked him and finished that too.  It is something I have to laugh off, as do the locals and, I am pleased to say, it is getting easier to laugh it off too.  So many more people said hello during lunch and two people I have met on a few occasions in the village, sat down to talk to me.  Small steps and a little bit of patience.  It was such a relief because, despite some of the children from school being there, Atit and Reshav included, they do not want to be talking to me all day.  So, the funeral ceremony ended on the tenth day with a celebration and respectful gathering of many.  Atit, Reshav and I made our way home after a couple of hours or so and started weeding the garden – it needed doing!  SM performed one last accounting duty on the following day, but the responsibilities got a little easier for him too.

                                (Frying shell roti at Diwali)

(Engaging children)

(How many have you got?)

Getting back to school on the Monday after Diwali was sensational.  Sorry, but it was.  It was great to see the kids, I was raring to go with Nursery, LKG and UKG teaching and I had plans for the ‘Library’ (well, stack of damp and moulding books piled up in the Science Lab).  The resources I had bought for Nursery and the KG’s went down a storm.  There are only a few so I had to keep taking them from lesson to lesson, but the kids loved it.  How do I know?  The noise, the level of activity, the general exploration that was going on, oh…and the fact that, as more than one child walked away, they said “This is so exciting”, “that was fun” or similar.  In truth, it was, and it revealed a lot about rote learning.  Whilst I was teaching addition, practically, with children who are still securing their understanding of the value of number (5 as five), another teacher was writing multiplication calculations for the same class (age 4/5) to do in their exercise books.  The contrast was phenomenal.  It is not for me to say if it is right or wrong, but I do know that, if several of the children on the carpet can not count out five beads for me without stopping at 3 or continuing to 9, then they certainly will not have an understanding of what 3x5=15 means.  If, or when, this understanding comes is something to look out for, but in the meantime, it is both challenging and rewarding to engage children in a totally different way of learning and watch them thrive on it.  As I have said before, I don’t know that there is a right or wrong way, but finding a compromise, where the children concerned can benefit the most, is something I can really get my teeth into and, as our working relationships become closer, there are those teachers who are also very interested in working to find similar compromises that will benefit the children on an individual level as well as, as a class.

On the Wednesday of that same week it was Children’s Day in India.  This day is sometimes held as a holiday, but at New Rise we celebrated with Children’s Day at school.  The day was held on the birthday of their celebrated freedom fighter and first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.  In short, we danced, we sang, and the children played games, whilst the entire staff cooked lunch in the playground.  Make shift cookers (fire pits) were erected and huge steel pots were borrowed from the community centre.  There were teachers chopping herbs, vegetables and meat.  There were others cooking vast amounts of rice – we got through 10kg for lunch!  It was a great, whole school event.  As teachers, we sang a song to the children, wishing them a Happy Children’s Day and generally honoured them throughout the day.  It ended with a lot of dancing and singing along.

(Children on the playground)

(Cooking fires on the go)

(Teachers singing a song)

(Teachers serving food)

(Can't wash up when the water stops flowing!)

(Suman Sir keeps the chicken curry cooking)

(Having drawn around his body, Rayan checks out how to spell a word for his own labelling activity)

(The results of their own, independent adding, are below)

(Moving vegetation)

I thoroughly enjoyed being with the 3-6 year olds in the mornings that week.  Counting out, addition and number recognition through beads, plastic animals, peg boards and skittles – you can’t get much more practical, or fun!  I really would like to commit to upping the number of practical resources before I leave as, first impressions, reveal a real keenness amongst the pre-school teachers to have the children be much more interactive.  For now though, it is important that we work to ensure the resources will be utilised appropriately.  In UKG (Upper Kindergarten) we taught parts of the body through song, the children drawing around each other and then using labels to identify the relevant parts.  These are activities I know work, get children involved and keep their attention.  Just drawing around the first child, lying on a piece of paper on the floor, had them oohing, aahing and laughing.  Priceless.  Although, realistically anything has to be better than groups of 3-6 year olds being expected to sit and wait for a teacher to write an activity in each and every exercise book for them all to complete.

On the Friday of that week after Diwali, it was the Inter-school Sport’s Day.  A much-hyped event, it totally lived up to expectations. Hosted by a school at 20^th mile, the field had been marked out brilliantly and bunting and tents gave the whole area a very genuine feel on arrival.  A band, including bagpipers, from the local higher education college (18+) played on arrival, which was an inspiration to all the students, who, following the band, marched on to the field to their own drums and beat.  The rehearsals at every school in the preceding weeks took up a lot of time!  I have now become very used to ‘Indian time’ and like to think I am pretty relaxed as the minutes turn to half hours as we wait for this or that, before we start whatever it is.  However, what I was not relaxed about was the fact that children (as young as 9) were allowed to ride on the roofs of jeeps.  I feel that, in the UK, we have a tendency to wrap children up in cotton wool and are so reluctant for them to take risks.  But, this was a pendulum swing the other way.  I know it is just another thing that happens here and something that I am getting used to (it has happened before), but when there are empty seats in the jeep, I just can’t see the point in taking the risk with the children.  The journey was 30 minutes, not that the length of time makes a huge difference.  It is a hard call to know what to do in that situation, but I knew I could not live with myself if anything had happened, so I did let my feelings be known.  On the way out, children were removed and only the oldest children rode atop with all jeeps full to the rafters inside.  However, on the way home, up to 6 children were crammed onto the roof of two jeeps and 3 on another.  Free seats inside.  I shudder I at the thought, but at the same time admire the plucky courage of the children.  Frustratingly, it is the adult’s reaction “but what can I do?  They want to sit up there”, which I find slightly shocking – I mean, of course they do, they are children.  Anyway, we all made it home in one piece, so I guess my worrying is a moot point – on this occasion.  

(NB - Not long after this a jeep overturned on the road between Kalimpong and here.  It was overloaded on the roof and top heavy.  Several of the people were admitted to hospital, although there were no fatalities.  It was on the day I was training in a village local to the accident and one of the six teachers had a family member in the accident – such is the community here, it is more like ‘two degrees of separation’, not six!)

(Children on the roof with the drums and flags)

(A misty arrival to the sport's ground)

(Medals and trophies)

(VIP tent)

(New Rise getting ready to march in)

(The marching band of bagpipers)

(New Rise march past the VIP tent)

(New Rise dance)

Back to the day, and the individual sporting events went very well.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day.  It started quite formally with the marching in of teams, past the VIP tent.  Many of the races were similar to ours and then those that were not so similar.  The ball and spoon race, where the spoon is carried in the mouth.  The needle race where one girl runs 50 metres with a needle to another girl who has cotton.  Together they thread the needle and run the remaining 50 metres together.  It was all great fun and very well organised, with perhaps just a little more of the usual chaos and disagreement that goes with events of this size here.  A dance competition at the end saw the New Rise dancers finish is second place for a dance they had won an external competition with only a couple of weeks before.  Mind you, I must admit, the winning dance was pretty special, including boys, in traditional Nepali dress, dancing with the girls.  I had been asked to present the final award to the winning school, which was a lovely honour.  I hadn’t wanted to sit in the VIP tent, what teacher would when their children are running races, and I think, judging by the volume of my cheering SM was glad I hadn’t sat with the other VIPs – a chief priest, a retired Army Colonel, a retired Headteacher…and a few others.  I think the man I awarded the prize with was the retired Headteacher.  All I do know is…wait for it…I made the newspaper!!  Haha, well my photograph did anyway.

(Presenting the 1st place cup to Lotus Academy at 20th Mile)

Not quite the same coverage as Bloomberg Mongolia perhaps, but it is a start – five months to go!  An exhausting, but very satisfactory day and the children had an amazing time.  It was clear that many adults saw the reason for participating in a race as winning, often scolding the children for not coming first, but I think this view is changing.  A few teachers, from New Rise and other schools, celebrated the participation of children over their final position.

Nat returned to Alpha.  She loved it so much that, following visits to Varanassi, Agra and Delhi, she cut out continuing to Mumbai and came back here.  She will pick up here travels again, flying straight to Kerala for a couple of weeks before a flight home in time for Christmas.  As we both enjoy trekking we decided to walk to a village directly up the mountainside from Kashyem.  It was reputed to be a small village with stunning views and to have an old fort.  We took the circuitous route (on purpose), walking a total of 14km to arrive at the village.  The views were simply that – stunning.  If I thought it was great seeing Kanchenjunga from Kashyem, from Sillery I was reminded of the numerous incredible views from the trek we had done a few weeks previously.  Well, you can see for yourself.

(The irony still amuses!)

Anyway, sadly we did not find the fort.  It seems to be our lot.  When Nat first arrived, we had gone looking for a monastery close to her in Barranumba.  Google maps (that have yet to road mark this area) had us on top of the monstary, but we walked up and down stairs, around the river bed road and even through a little thicket of trees, but all to no avail.  The most we got to see of the monastery was a little part of its golden roof.  Our trip to Sillery was the same.  Google maps had us 5 minutes from the fort three times and then suddenly a lot further from it.  To be fair it was in dense forest, but still mildly frustrating not to find it.  The local Lepcha community keep the fort ruins in a good state.  The fort was used as a defence, first against the Bhutanese and then against the English.  In both cases the area fell into the hands of the ‘enemy’, but whereas the Bhutanese used the fort, after the English arrived it fell into disrepair.  Looking at a youtube clip of the fort, it does look like just a pile of stones, but as Sillery is one of the most incredible local viewing points (not to mention it had a fantastic lunch), I think I ought to visit it again at some point.  We think, thanks to NB (Head of Alpha school), we know where we went wrong. 

By the end of November, I had trained staff in four schools along similar lines to the headteachers training in October.  Focusing on the practicality of lessons and how to engage children in their learning, the sessions went down well.  There was some hesitance to take a chance and offer suggestions, but once the training opened up, there were lots of ideas as to how to make lessons more interactive.  Despite a lack of training for many staff, the experience of working with children shines through.  Many agree with the idea of engaging lessons, but are concerned about time, the availability of resources, parent’s expectations (which are very much on reciting and writing) and how long it will take a child to assimilate information if taught practically.  The view is, it is quicker ‘by rote’.  They are interesting arguments to take on and, delicately, counterbalance, but I found myself engaging in the most fantastic discussions with people I have become to know as both friends and colleagues.  At one school, I gave the example of a Year 5 boy who, having memorised the word crystal as a piece of highly transparent glass, had no idea what the word transparent means.  He was memorising it for his exam.  How much learning had really taken place I asked?  All 16 teachers at one school nodded in agreement.  For me, it was the moment I realised that there is a willingness to approach change and to try to find a better balance for children.  Of course, publicity is key so, again, I found myself on the facebook page of one school, along with Nat.  I just hope they did not refer to me as ‘Goatman’ in the accompanying text, which is how (affectionally I hope) one man referred to me because he loved the beard so much!

(Since writing the blog, examples of how teachers at one school have used creativity include - large paper and even the floor, with chalk, to get children drawing around each other to label bodies and making a display of the map of India and the surrounding countries with a jigsaw map created for children to piece together as part of the main lesson)

As November turned to December we had our final year exams.  A selection of questions from the two previous term exams with some from the final term of learning, almost all are found within the textbooks used to learn.  Mornings started at 5.00am, earlier even, with the sound of children reciting words from their exercise books or textbooks.  Not sure of what questions would arise, it was important to commit to memory the answers written and corrected.  There really was no room for putting things into their own words.  The element of composition was in many exams, especially English, and some Science questions revolving around explaining understanding.  However, reading just a few of these demonstrates that, when asked to compose independently the missing articles, confused adjectives and muddled forms of a sentence, children find it very difficult.  Well, we can’t change an education system in a day.  Besides, Satish Sir was very pleased with the work we had done in Classes 1-4 on grammar, as he was convinced there had been a good level of improvement in this element of his children’s exam answers.

And so, I leave it there.  The many moments of doubt I experience with regards to what I can, what I am, achieving here, simmer away continuously.  However, the doubts are often catapulted into the shadows by moments like the training, or Satish Sir’s words, or the practicality of a teachers lesson when I realise, as a team, we can, ARE, making a small difference to children’s learning and lives.

"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you're riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!"
- Bob Marley