First Days at Rising Star Outreach

Good thing McKay had this grilled cheese sandwich before we went to Rising Star Campus, or he might have starved to death.  I made some chicken tikka masala for supper tonight, and was astonished when he took a big serving.  He wouldn't touch Indian food in India, so he was a hungry boy most of the time.

Remember the options for tour bus I posted a few months ago?  No, this was our mode of transport, complete with driver.  Tempo Traveler.  Keaton says we need to get one.  When we first got in, Makenzie was mad that Dave and I weren't sitting with her--I was thinking, sweetie, we can each have our own row!  I wondered about the expense of hiring a driver/doing paid tours while in India.  We don't do it anywhere else.  Lucky we did, or we'd still be trying to find our way out of Chennai.  Or, dead in a car crash, more likely.  Here, we're being dropped off at Rising Star's campus.  Our driver was very unsure about it, since it is in the middle of no where.

Children from the village near the school campus.  Such a bunch of cuties.  We were picking up trash across from their houses, and they just sat there and giggled and giggled.

We spent New Year's Day cleaning up in the village.  Like shoveling snow in a blizzard.  There is basically no trash services, so everyone just throws their trash out the door.  Afterwards, we took candy around to all the children, who immediately threw the wrappers on the ground.  LOL.  

Play equipment at the local school (not Rising Star).  This stuff has been illegal in the US for decades.  There were just piles of trash all around the school yard.  When we started picking it up, the school children all ran to help us.  I was thinking, why don't they just keep it clean, if they are so eager to help.  This is not the Rising Star school, of course, which is very clean and well kept.

This is the school yard of the local school.  Wow.  

Pretty much everywhere we went, even in very poor areas, all the kids looked dressed up in their finery.  Of course it was New Year's Day, but I was surprised at all the glitter and gold.

Women working in the rice paddies.

I was also surprised how many people wore flowers in their hair on a regular basis.  Tons of flower shops all around with these garlands for your hair, or for offerings at the temples.

Men and women alike make their clothing from these large pieces of fabric.  Sari's for the women, a skirt that can be worn long or folded up short for the men.

A few hours of picking up trash in the heat killed McKay off.  He crashed as soon as we got back.

Laundry on the fence.

Makenzie got a mosquito bite on her hand, which was badly infected and swollen within a day.  These are her medications to treat it. 

I guess those are clothes :)

This is the school; 220 students, UKG to 10th Standard.  All the classrooms are open air.  This is 5 star compared to the local school.  80% of the students come from leprosy colonies, 20% from nearby villages.  This is so brilliant, because if the villagers want their children to get the higher quality education, it forces their kids to interact with the children from the colonies, who are considered untouchables--it breaks down barriers.  With a good English education, these kids will have a brighter future.