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Hong Kong by birth,
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Monday, November 22, 2004
yay finally here! after an arduous 24 hour train ride. I was feeling really sick on the train. I dont know why but I had a fever and everytime I tried to lie down I felt like vomiting. eeEk. The people I sat with were super considerate though. Even though I didnt feel like eating they were really concerned that my stomach was empty so they kept offering me food and when I declined they started buying food for me from the platform each time we stopped. And when I arrived at Bangalore station, this man helped me to carry my luggage and lent me his mobile to call Ravi (the cab driver) who was supposed to pick me up at the station. I was driven to the volunteers house where I will be living in over the next 2 months. I met three other volunteers at the house, Stephanie (my room mate) from France, Retchan from Canada and Thomas from Germany. They are so friendly.
Today felt like such a long day, so much as happened. In the morning I went to Parikrma office where I was briefed about Parikrma and the work I would be doing. Jill (the volunteer coordinator) took me to the school and gave me a tour around all the classrooms. The children are so cute. Everytime we opened the classroom door, they would be like "good morning" "what is your name Aka (sister)"? "where do you come from". They are just so curious about you. Parikrma runs three schools and provides free education, community help, medical check ups to children from slum communities (a fair number of them come from orphanages where volunteers are also encouraged to visit). It is amazing how far Parikrma has come considering it only started last year. Im really excited about my stay here. This afternoon, the kids had their first football match with another school. You should have seen how excited they were! they looked so smart in their new football uniforms and so proud of their shoes. its so funny cos' you could see them just keep looking at their shoes while their warmed up. And guess what? they won the match 7:1!! We had brought the entire school (around 130 children) with us to the other school's field and the cheering was loud!! the other school was overwhelmed by the support we had with us. it was great.
Okay im feeling super tired. I really must rest. The kids have boundless energy.
write soon
Today felt like such a long day, so much as happened. In the morning I went to Parikrma office where I was briefed about Parikrma and the work I would be doing. Jill (the volunteer coordinator) took me to the school and gave me a tour around all the classrooms. The children are so cute. Everytime we opened the classroom door, they would be like "good morning" "what is your name Aka (sister)"? "where do you come from". They are just so curious about you. Parikrma runs three schools and provides free education, community help, medical check ups to children from slum communities (a fair number of them come from orphanages where volunteers are also encouraged to visit). It is amazing how far Parikrma has come considering it only started last year. Im really excited about my stay here. This afternoon, the kids had their first football match with another school. You should have seen how excited they were! they looked so smart in their new football uniforms and so proud of their shoes. its so funny cos' you could see them just keep looking at their shoes while their warmed up. And guess what? they won the match 7:1!! We had brought the entire school (around 130 children) with us to the other school's field and the cheering was loud!! the other school was overwhelmed by the support we had with us. it was great.
Okay im feeling super tired. I really must rest. The kids have boundless energy.
write soon