A Community Celebration: Hope for Our World.

One thing I’ve learned in life is that time moves at a speed that has no regard for sentimentalities of the heart. No matter how meaningful an experience, no matter how much you want the tick-tock clock to slow down, time refuses to halt. The saddest part about this illusive time, which seems to slip away, is that, try as you might, you cannot turn back the hands of time, you will never get back the experiences that stay frozen only inside your mind. And so I find myself in a place where time is, as they say, running out.
April quickly came, bringing with it an excursion to North India in which we were able to explore some of India’s most beautiful landscapes, like the foothills of the Himalayan mountains and the Goan beaches, as well as see breath-taking architecture like the Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple. But as soon as it came, it went, leaving us tired of traveling and relieved to be returning home to Kerala.
May, although at times appeared to be moving slowly, was gone before I knew it. The school and college were still closed during May, so it was a time of visiting people in the community, spending time with the girls in the hostel, the children from the lower primary school, the college students, and friends who live in nearby areas. There were weddings and other celebrations, as well as an Arts and Crafts camp for the community children. While working with the children in the Lower Primary School this past year, I realized that Art is not a part of their weekly curriculum. And so, after speaking to Achen and my site supervisor, I decided to create a one-week camp devoted to making Arts and Crafts, with some fun games and songs thrown in as well. From what I understand, children in Kerala are not encouraged to explore extracurricular activities, like arts, sports, music, etc, and even if they wanted to, they often times do not have the materials needed or opportunities necessary to follow those interests through. The week before the camp, I walked around the community, passing out flyers, which announced the dates and times of the camp. Sudie and John, a couple of the young adult volunteers, and Prajod and Bijo, two of my close friends from Kerala, who helped translate our English to Malayalam for the kids, came to Kallumala to help lead the camp. We bought materials for each day and helped the children to make different kinds of bracelets, paper bag puppets, and mother’s day cards. We also painted, sang songs, read stories and played games (we introduced them to capture the flag and water balloons, which they loved). There were 40+ students from the LP school and the CSI church in Kallumala that came to the camp each day and in the evening we would walk around visiting their houses. At the end of the week, the kids were requesting for another Arts and Crafts camp next year.
The children from the Lower Primary School have been the heart of my experience here. Every morning as I walk into the gates of the school I am greeted with so many happy children running up to hug me or shake my hand and shout, “How are you?” in which they immediately answer for themselves, “I am fine”. Everyday as I walk to and from the college and the school or go on house visits, I see so many familiar smiling faces and raised hands as the children call out in their high pitched voices, “Miss, Miss,” that it is impossible to walk without smiling from ear to ear. The children are one of the main reasons why I feel like I am such a part of the community here. Not only the children welcome me with their expressions of joy and tiny hands, but their parents welcome me with signs of appreciation which let me know that they trust me, and I have found in my experience as a foreigner, there is nothing better then to feel trusted.
With June came two exciting changes. One, the monsoon rains, which make Kerala even more green and lush then it already is and which cool down the oppressive heat so that it is actually a pleasant temperature; no more waterfalls of sweat down my back! And secondly, this past Saturday was the 150th Jubilee of the Lower Primary School and Inauguration of the new LP school building. The old school building, which from what I here was not in good condition, as can be expected after 148 years of use, was torn down after its ceiling caved in two years ago. Since then, the children have been meeting in three storage rooms underneath the college auditorium. The classrooms are dusty and dirty, there is not sufficient lighting or ventilation and the chalkboards are basically unreadable. This past year there were only been three teachers for four grades and it was clear that both the teachers and students were losing the motivation to teach and to learn. Needless to say, they were all ready for the new building to be finished.
The school was started150 years ago by English Missionaries. At that time it was called “Pallikudam” which means the building was used as place of study during the week and as a church on Sundays. In 1947 India gained Independence and at that time all the missionary churches were unified into one church called Church of South India C.S.I. Although the school is called the Kallumala CSI School, the money raised for the construction of the new building came from Kerala’s Central Diocese, along with various institutions, mostly schools and colleges in Mavelikara, and from some of the members in Kallumala CSI church. It is a government-aided school, which means, the teacher’s salaries and the school lunches are paid for by the government. The school uses the Kerala Government Syllabus and the classes are taught in Malayalam. A majority of the children come from financially poor families in the area and several members of the church contribute to buying uniforms and books for those students in need. The construction of the new building has taken two years to complete. But on this past Saturday, June 6th, the community celebrated together as their hope became reality. The excitement was palpable, in the workers, in the parents, in the college students, especially in the teachers and students. The Inauguration started with a community march that started from the central junction in Kallumala and ended at the new School. A band led the way, followed by the children waving their flags, and the rest of the community cheering loudly behind. There were a couple hundred people there in full. The Bishop came and christened the new building and all the classrooms. And many retired teachers and graduate students of the LP school came and gave speeches.
The new building has four classrooms and an office. Two more teachers are joining the staff and a nursery is being added. This past week I moved the children’s library that was started by former volunteer Katherine Bryant, to the new building. Classes in the new school started Monday. It is truly amazing to see such a big change happen in this community. I am so happy to see that these children, who I love and who have been such a meaningful part of my experience here, now have the opportunity to learn in a good school with good desks, chalkboards, and books. On the one hand, knowing that their situation here has improved fills me with a great hope for our world. On the other hand, I can’t help but think about the many children who continue to learn in poor conditions, and I am reminded of all the work we have left to do. But as history has taught us, change happens in small steps. I have felt so blessed to be a part of this celebration with a community I have grown to love as a family and that with a sad heart I will be leaving soon.
I’ve experience a lot of anxiety and sadness in realizing that my time is almost finished here; Anxiety about re-adjusting to the American lifestyle and sadness knowing that it will never be the same when I come back. The children will grow and change just as I will. Nevertheless, I am ready to go back. To face the new challenges ahead of me and to discover the ways in which I’ve changed. I am excited to get started with my life and to be a part of the change happening in America. I am ready to put Gandhi’s words into action, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” There is a lot of change yet to come and we still have a lot of time. And so in my last two months remaining I find peace, with the ever-moving train of time, by trying to live each moment to the fullest and with an optimistic attitude that many more changes are yet to come.