At Long Last !

I fell like a drowning person since my arrival here . Until this moment, I have no means of communicating with the outside world.My mobile is unable to access any network, Uma's pc is infected with a virus which she cannot get rid of.I have spent hours patiently trying to access my email to no avail. I felt like screaming on a few occasions On top of all that Uma is ill. At the same time,I was suffering from migraine through lack of proper sleep etc. I have to say I was feeling quite low till late last night But it has all changed since

I am currently sitting in a internet cafe following my physio treatment at Blue Birds clinic, accessing the net. Another first time for me. Wow, what a wonderful feeling to be able to communicate again after the lapse of almost 5 days My arrival here was greeted with heavy downpour The weather in September is usually sunny and dry I have not seen any rain in my 2 previous trips. So it has come as a real shock to see rhe usual dry heap of garbage on the road side becoming heaving pile of rotting matter . The aroma emanating from them is rather unpleasant as well. People starting to throw dead rats onto the road. SomethingI have not seen before.I am not sure whats going on here. This has made my 2 previous trips seemed like honey moons. My trip out each day to the physio is like an obstacle course.I have to take a longer route to circumnavigate away from the crushed and half eaten bodies of the rats. urghhhhhh. I tell you, its grim !!!!!!!!!! I need public health people down here fast

However. away from all that. Its wonderful to see the children. They are all much taller than last year. Not surprising, I suppose,given that they have such big appetites for some as young as themselves.They all look as though they have been stretched. Most of them are truly speaking longer sentences, and with confidence, They were all concentrating hard on reading the cards/letters/photos the sponsors sent. It was lovely to see. They love the jigsaw puzzles. Every evening when they have finished their home work , they will all come upstairs, wanting me or one of the volunteers to be involved in doing the jigsaw puzzles. By 9pm we chased them back downstairs to bed

Uma has a houseful at present- 4 volunteers plus me.They are all doing voluntary teaching at the private school where the children are attending One of the best news I was given 2 days ago was during the school's annual prize giving , 7 out of our 8 children (Sangmu excepted) were awarded prizes for exemplary conduct and achievements . There are 500 children in the school.Our children are at the top 10 % of the school population. I was so chafed.I was speechless when one of the volunteer teachers wes talking about it during lunch.Rajesh brought the school reports up for me to see later on that evening. They were the ones sponsors were sent as attachments for their email a few weeks ago. I have to say they look even better in real life. I told them all that the sponsors are very proud of what they have achieved, And that they must keep it up

The children are also taught Karate weekly as a form of exercise. .They have the nightly tuition for an hour from a neighbor. overseeing their homework etc, Then the English teacher comes on a Saturday morning for 2 hours to do the conversational English. The school has started computer classes for the children.They are accessing the 2 pcs but tends to be the older ones who are more interested

So much for now. I will blog regularly now that I have found a cafe thats efficient and fast, for a change. And its only 20 rupees an hour. Am unlikely to break the bank even if I do it often.Apologies for any spelling and grammatical mistakes which I may have missed.