Recently I went to Calcutta in India. I went with four other amazing people all wanting to serve God in a school that our church sponsors. This school provides education to the children of slums and poverty in hopes that speaking English and being able to achieve their certificates will give them a chance at employment. Our job for the week was to teach using games and creativity (my favourite word) both the children and the teachers and to revamp the school.
I don't have 'before' pictures on my phone but here are some of our efforts to turn a small dingy classroom into something a little more special.
In the older group we made personal flags, when I spoke to the tutors about displaying the children's work they didn't really seem to know what I meant. Here is hoping they get the idea.
This was to inspire the children to dream but to encourage them to work hard.
This room is for the youngest of the students and was the biggest room to try to turn into something good.
There were five of us working on these rooms, the base colour is gloss paint and I can assure you that the smell of gloss will live with me forever, there was some definite hysteria produced from close proximity with the fumes!
We didn't have long and only had the resources we had taken but I'm hoping that the children see and feel a massive difference.
The time we spent there will perpetually teach me a lot of life lessons, of that I am sure, and more than one thing will stick with me for a long time but for now it's the image of a ageing lady who couldn't speak English that was with us at every moment. If we painted, so did she, if we were covered in dirt, she tenderly cleaned our hands and faces, if we were tired, she fetched drinks and fans. Without a word of communication, without knowing us, this lady cared for us in an incomprehensible way. To her and so many others I will be forever thankful.
I guess my crafting went with me to India, and I guess my time in India will go with me everywhere else.
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