Happy Anniversary!

What's more fun than an anniversary? You get to celebrate the start of relationship or project and take a little time to reflect on the good that has happened in the last year, or the good you have had from the beginning.

On August 4th we celebrated the dedication of St. Peter's English Medium School's pukka building. The school has been running for a decade now, but the physical space that our children now learn and play in was officially unveiled just 3 years ago.

Now I know Barak might be living in the White House but its actually our friend John Roff who's running the show.

Two weeks ago it turned out that the Rt. Rev. Prince Singh, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester NY, along with his wife Dr. Roja Singh and their two sons were on holiday and visiting with family in Chennai. Roja, Prince, and Ned (their eldest son) jumped at the chance to come visit for the 3rd Anniversary. For those who don't know, Roja and Prince are the catalyst who started this school project some 12 years ago. Prince was the priest in this Pastorate 20+ years ago, and the experience stuck with him and is one that he brought with him and shared in every community he lived in since.

Arriving in a hired car we were greeted by the Headmistress and and school staff as kids craned their heads out the window to get a look at the visitors. We entered the main office for some water and chai before partaking in a tree planting ceremony, where the guests were suckered into manual labor (my kind of party).

Ned testing out his green thumb.

From there we took a tour of each classroom, meeting the teachers and the students asking all sorts of questions of the kids and then gifting them with chocolate - the teachers got some too. It was really fun watching all the kids interact with the Singhs. Roja had a special fondness for all the children.

Kavita madam, Michael, Ned, Roja, and Prince standing with 4th class.

After our tour there was a proper welcome ceremony in the assembly hall. Like any good indian production the guests were ushered up front, gifted with shawls, some speeches were made, then Prince gave a short prayer, and kids were brought up front to sing songs and do dances.

5th class singing.

We then sat for a traditional south Indian lunch of byriani, brinjal curry, raita, a banana, and some sweets. After this the Singhs had to leave but not before giving some gifts to the school. Even though the traditional gift for a 3rd anniversary is leather, Roja thought it best to bring an oversized duffel bag filled with games and toys.

Then, as quickly as it came, the party was over. The Singhs had to make their way back to Chennai as they had to catch a train to Kerela later that evening.

So it was a fun day, with good friends and a nice time to showcase the school and its children. Let me know if you want to come out next August to be a part of the celebration (flowers are the traditional gift for the 4th year).

Even Tiger came out to party.

Until then, be good and read something,

Michael

Don’t Bump the Glump!

I think one of the best ways to teach and to learn is through books. Reading and writing are fundamental to mastering any language and if you can find things that encourage that in a way children like all the better.

My mother knows this fact and she also remembered that in my formative years I was very fond of poetry, specifically the poetry of Shel Silverstein. So mum sent me a copy of his masterpiece Don't Bump the Glump!, a book full of rhymes and colorful pictures and I shared it with some of the older children to see what they would make of it.

A poem or two into the book though, I realized that this might not have quite the effect that I thought it would. With titles such as ZRBANDGRALDNK and stories about THE GLETCHER I wasn’t quite sure how this experiment would end up.

However, the nonsense ended up being great fun and a great way to work on comprehension, both literal and implied, with the kids. It also provided another outlet for play-acting. As for the made up words, the children were quick to pick up on the fact that these poems were written just to be funny and words like ZRBANDGRALDNK provide for great exercises in annunciation.

So to Mr. Silverstein, I, along with the children of 7th Standard would like to thank you for a fun and educational distraction from out regular lessons.

Sincerely,
Michael Haslett

This image of Uncle Shelby belongs to someone else. I found it on the internet.

The Bishop came to visit

The Bishop of Madras, Rt. Rev. Devashahayam made a trip out to Kothapallimitta last week for a conformation in the village. He took some time to swing by the school for a short program and some photo ops before going to confirm some parishioners.

For anyone who has been privy to an “official” function in India, you know that there is a good deal of ceremony and ours was no different – though I didn’t manage to get any pictures of the good stuff. The Bishop rolled up in his shiny car (see picture below), was greeted by a throng of fans, and given a garland of flowers.

Then he was pulled aside where he had a chance to catch his breath and take some coconut water before going into the chapel to meet his fans.

He was ushered up front with the new Correspondent and Headmistress of the school; I also was called to the front. There were some short speeches, and nice prayer, and a bunch of shawls placed around people’s shoulders.

side note: Like the garlands of flowers and other such articles, the shawl is a traditional gift for someone to give an honored guest. I have received several in my travels and have finally figured out the right system for handling this. Basically, I re-gift. I have little to no need for a shawl anywhere in life, let alone in south India in the month of April. I was pleased to find that the Bishop does the same – when we stepped outside after the ceremony, I saw inside the trunk of his car and saw perhaps 40 shawls thrown around in there, including a few that looked identical to the one that was recently given to me. No, I did not manage to get a picture, it all happened in the blink of an eye.

Here are some shots from the day:

This is a great press shot of the Bishop with Sudarshan. He is one of our 6^th grade boys, he is wicked smart, and one of the nicest children I’ve ever met. He’s also a case study on kids being nice. He has polio, which obviously makes things difficult for him, but his classmates always help him out with out question, or even being asked, and I’ve only seen him get picked on once in the whole time I’ve been here, and even that was unintentional.

Here is a group shot of the teaching staff; the new Correspondent and Headmistress, Mr. and Mrs. Sachinanandam, along with most of the teachers, and some of the non-teaching staff.

Here’s Pushpa, one of our Kindergarten teachers. She is one of the only ladies at the school who likes when I take their picture. This also gives a good shot of the new uniforms the teachers received a couple of weeks ago.

And last but not least, the Bishops ride, he’s got a flashy new Toyota; it comes with a driver who even wears one of those driver hats – like the ship captain type, white with a black bill…

So that’s what went down last week.

As for now, exams have started and school is winding down. I’ve been going bonkers in the last week finishing everything up, but it seems as though the scholarships will go off without a hitch, as will several other projects I have been working on. More on those later.

Until then, be good,

Michael

Party Tonight

Hey Everyone,

Don't forget that we are having a concert tonight in Morristown - 8pm, 70 Maple Ave. The nice people at The Morristown Green gave the show a write up, check out the link and read on.

Blair Reinhard Band to play Friday fundraiser in Morristown



Can't wait to see you all tonight!

The D. deVoe Foundation

The Hood

For posterity sake I had decided to go into downtown Kothapallimitta and take some pictures of my favorite people and places; the spots I go to during the week for all of my dietary needs. These places are all on the same block or so that makes up downtown and they are all special in their own way.

First up, my favorite hotel in town (note: hotel means restaurant in India; guest house means hotel). This place is owned and operated by a mother daughter team who serve lunch and dinner 7 days a week. A meal starts with a plate of rice with is topped with sambar (south veg. curry) and served with papadum (the best description is that they are like one large Muncho - if you don't know what a Muncho is you're missing out). The meal goes on to include rasam (pepper water) and curd if you want. Now they do serve chicken on most days, but I’ve never actually tried it preferring to stick with veg. And at $0.45 for a full meal, it’s a pretty solid way to go about things.

Next up is the vegetable stand. Now there are several of these in a row, but this lady is who we haggle with to get our cabbage, eggplant, green beans, and chilies. Her grandson attends our school and while she tries to play hardball, she always gives us a good deal. She also really liked her picture.

The general merchant is where I go for coffee, spices, sugar, toothpaste, chick peas, and rice. You can also get eggs, soap, biscuits, and a litany of other tings, but so far I’ve only needed that first list. The store is owned and run by a family from Tamil Nadu who came to set up shop in our little village and are doing quite well for themselves.

Cool Drinks is where John makes us stop every day to get badam milk (a sweet pista flavored drink) or fruit mixture, which consists of one part badam milk to 4 parts fresh fruit puree. These folks are also from out of town, but with the days getting warmer and warmer their business is going well and should stay strong through October.

And our last stop might be my favorite, the bujji stand. here we get our fix of deep fried goodness; batter fried chilies and plantain slices, batter fried hard boiled eggs, and of course bondas and wadai, which are the same batter but thicker and mixed with diced onion and cilantro. these ladies have the best location in the whole village being right next to the bus stand – and I’ll guess the liquor store around the corner helps them out a bit too. When I returned from my trip home during Christmas, the bujji lady was deeply concerned that I had been not getting my daily does of vitamin B – she was also upset that I hadn’t said goodbye and that I hadn’t been paying my share her rent. She did forgive me, but only after John and I gorged on fried stuff.

So that’s the quick tour of town. Katie and Kurt will recognize these faces, and I’m sure many others who have passed through our neck of the wood have had the chance to meet these fine citizens.

Now go eat something deep-fried,

Michael

We're having a Party!

For those of you who haven't heard:

Benefit show for the D. deVoe Foundation - a scholarship foundation for underprivileged children around the world.

Beers + Bevs + Burgers + Brownies + The Blaire Reinhard Band = Benefit Ballyhoo

$20

Friday, April 9 - 8pm

The Parish House - 70 Maple ave, Morristown, NJ

All beverages are donation only after ticket purchase!

ballyhoo - a clamorous attempt to advance a cause

healthy cooking

So it’s been a whole bunch of exams and a mess of review since I’ve last written. Unfortunately for you, loyal blog reader, that means its been quite on the blog-front. But to keep you happy I’ve decided to post some pretty pictures.

They have nothing to do with the school. However, there has been a large public health push in (south) India to have people start cooking with sunflower oil. For those of you who don’t know, Indian cooking is often oil heavy. This is due to several reasons, not the least of which is the lack of non-stick cookware. The medical thought here is that sunflowers are better than vegetables or peanuts as far as oil is concerned. Please note the D. deVoe Foundation does not endorse any particular oils for cooking – we are an equal oil foundation.

That being said, I was in Nagari with John, everyone’s favorite science teacher, and he took me to a huge sunflower farm by his house. Its new this year and I thought you might enjoy some pictures.

So here they are:

There will be another installment riddled with human rights and lessons learned coming soon.

Until then, enjoy some healthy cooking,

Michael