Make block. Left, right. Up, down. Side, side. Breathe in, breathe out. And no scare fish. - The Karate Kid (1984)

Welcome to Puja Season, only comparable to festive season at home. As a result all Hope projects are closed for two weeks thus allowing us and the new volunteers to get to know the area further (see my last entry/essay). 

Puja Lights

But it’s not all fun and games, due to the two week hiatus a few of us newbies have been roped into doing some maintenance work, but to be honest we are all grateful for this. As you can understand we are all keen to be of use. So off we go; myself, Jenny, Marcella and Stephanie (who’d only arrived a day or so earlier) to a slum in Chetla to paint the inside of a school house.

We haven’t been to this project yet and Gora (Hopes “Go to guy” - how they haven’t tried to clone him yet is beyond me, night or day he’s there to help) gets us the primer, paint and brushes as well as introducing us to the locals.  It’s only a single room so by my reckoning it would be a days work at most! (I was sadly mistaken, forgot where I was for a second)

View of the slum and nearby river

Day 1: First step was wiping and sanding down the walls, which in 35 degree heat and nothing to cool you down but a solitary fan is tough… unfortunately the heat drove me to do something I hate to admit but the t-shirt had to come off, this you may think is nothing to blog about, but the crowds that came to gaze upon the overly proportioned white man (or as Elaine referred to me as “Shakaka” *see Ace Ventura 2) was definitely worth a mention. There were plenty of locals popping in to observe our not so handy handiwork and the kids were a delight once they got passed their original shyness.

My lofty position

Next we got out the primer and brushes (now these I would hazard a guess were the first brushes ever made; considering their condition but it’s all based on reducing costs so we struggled on happily) and spent the remainder of the afternoon priming the inside walls. Enough for one day we packed up our stuff and headed home for some well-needed showers.

Boy swimming in the nearby river
(note the rubbish in the distance)

Day 2: We get to Chetla eager to get the job done before the end of the day. Unknowingly, I seemed to have begun the delegating jobs as we put on the first coat, I don’t think the girls were expecting the barrage of orders being sent their way from my lofty position (I was painting the higher points) but I wasn’t exactly sitting on my backside either. We were making some good time due to the use of rollers and an improvised paint tray (you’d be surprised what you can do with a plastic bag, cardboard box and a stick of bamboo). Something small that I found endearing was that we didn’t have as many kids watching us work today, but it seemed that every adult in the slum was out to see what we were up to. Almost as if they sent the kids out the day before to test the water. By the end of the afternoon we’d put on 2 coats with great detail and got ourselves roped into a 3^rd day of mural painting while the outside would also receive some attention – What could we say? They are hard to say no to!

Michelangelo! ... Like to see him top this...

Day 3: Okay so this would be our last day out in this area for the foreseeable future and I think we all felt a touch sad about this, seeing as we made some new friends and got to know some nice kids, but I suppose this is something you have to get used to as a volunteer. Plus we now had a chance to finish off 2 days’ worth of sweat and sore muscles with something that will last a bit longer.

Marcella and I decided to work on the murals while Stephanie and Jenny got to work on the front wall. Credit to Marcella as she really knew how to translate her sketches onto the wall, I, however in spite of an Honours Degree in Fine Art, struggled with making circles for the planets I was painting. Meanwhile the other two had employed the services of some of the resident young men to help with their work, so much so that they were removed from their positions of authority and came to give us a much needed hand. It was great to see the whole community pitching in to make this building, a school for their children, look as good as possible.

After & Before, would have done it the other way but it's all about composition!

Something that really stood out for me was when some kids asked to take pictures with Stephanie’s digital camera, ran off, only to return a half hour later with some great photos. It really struck me that you need to leave your cynicism behind you come here, these children are living in slums, in small one room homes (there are bigger en suites in hotels) alongside a black heavily polluted river and when given something worth so much, the thought of being dishonest is never considered. I know I’m only here a short period but the one thing that India has thought me so far is it will never stop surprising you.

Patrick (23^rd of October 2010)

*Big thanks to Jenny and Stephanie for some great pictures.