Every time I go to placement I feel like its Christmas or my birthday or something. The night before I can never sleep because I am too excited to go and see what the day will hold. I guess this is what loving your job feels like, I hope when I join "the working world" that this feeling will remain.
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| Devi & I (Edward in the Background) |
I have been spending a lot of time within the village of Pudupakkam. Hanging out with Devi and Namada are always a must of Tuesdays and Thursday. Each time I see them I am bent over in a side-stitch pain type of laughter. On Thursday, the village was gearing up for a wedding that was to take place in the evening. There were two GIGANTIC speakers outside of the grooms house blasting Tamil & Hindi love songs. I swear you could hear that music for miles. Anyways, I received my first wedding invite that I very regretfully had to decline. Hindu weddings can go on for days, this one was starting at 5 pm and lasting into the wee hours of the next morning. Unfortunately for me, I had a big test the next day and was heart broken to say no to the offer.
While in the village I interviewed a woman named Ravati who has three girls and is seven months pregnant. Mad respect to this woman who spends almost the entire day working in the fields and will continue to do so up until the day she delivers. I don't understand how this can be healthy but I have been assured that this is "what works" for these woman and that it ensures that there are not many complications during delivery.
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| The cooks, Sheela & Amsa |
I also interviewed two woman who work as cooks for the school. They work long hours and feed around 150 children per day. However, the highest paying wage $1.50 per day. The woman are payed by the state government and do not receive any pension. The woman do not know who to contact for a raise and even if they did their request could take years to be even looked out. I'm learning fast that people in the village have no idea what goes on in their government.
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| Walking to WIN |
Also, now we have decided that instead of taking an auto to Pudupakkam we are going to walk (to save money or enjoy the scenery? who knows). Let me tell you, a 2 km walk in the middle of the afternoon with no shade in INDIA is taxing. My god, it is so hot. But it does provide for some amazing views and a glimpse of rural living which you will not see in Chennai.
Case & Point:
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. Nice photos! Does the village you work in have a well for water?
Mom
i haven't seen wells but i have seen a small water tower. i think they get that water from a nearby river that has been dried for the past 3 months. they have pumps that tap into ground water but they are only alloted a small amount of water per day from that.
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