Year 12 Camp - Heading Home

Beninal, Lynn and the bricks - a matching set

Our last day was full of expectations. There was the trip home, including the 85 km descent that was still very much in some of the travellers' minds. This morning following Devotions and Breakfast there was a three hour shopping excursion planned. We were to visit the usual haunts of the TG's mates where we were assured we would get the cheapest and the best of everything, plus several places in the township of Kodaikanal before returning to the hotel for lunch and packing for a 3:00 pm departure down the mountain.

There were several stops planned along the way which would break the trip into smaller sections. Our train did not depart until 9:25 pm but Mrs Wesley wanted us to be there in plenty of time as the train only stops for one minute so we had to be ready to find our carriage and get on.

The scheduled stops were the Shenbaganur Museum, the Silver Cascade Falls (with plenty of water assured) and the aptly named Dum Dum Rock View Point.

Things went as planned but I really struggled with the four hour shopping extravaganza where we had about 70 kids from very well off families buying everything in sight and our hostel girls who walked and looked. They had some money and some of the hostel girls who did not come had given them small amounts of money to bring a small gift back.

It was more my problem than theirs as the day students walked around laden with gifts our hostel girls seemed just as happy visiting and looking. We walked and chatted and they seemed OK but I still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

We arrived back for lunch and packing which brought our next surprise. In packing I noticed that my Diabetes Testing Meter was not in its case and the testing strips were on the bench. IW thought I had just put it somewhere but we packed and it was nowhere. IW then noticed that her portable reading light was missing. The strange thing was that the Computer was still on the desk.

I went to get the Hotel Manager and he was quick to respond. He arrived with the Housekeeping Manager and they noticed that the window was unlocked. The most likely scenario was that one of the cleaning staff saw the computer etc and unlocked the window while cleaning the room. We also arrived back to the hotel 40 minutes early and I think we disturbed whoever it was and they left with things they could put in their pockets.

The Hotel staff was very good in their investigation but I don't think we will hear anymore about it. We had our bags out the door at the scheduled 3:00 departure time and found a group of girls sitting talking. They had not packed and were just enjoying the afternoon. We suggested they go and pack and got the famous 'Indian smile and head nod'. They set off in the direction of their rooms.

NOTE: For some unexplained reason our camera was packed in the port so we have no photos for the following part of the story.

At 4:00 pm there were a few kids and teachers there and the TG arrived. No one was worried so neither was I. By 4:30 pm we were in the buses, ports tied to the roof, for the famous Hill Station descent. All gir)ls (including Hostel girls) who wanted them, were administered motion sickness tablets. We had changed buses into a smaller one which made us more cramped with IW and I sharing a two-seater sideways seat at the front of the bus with one of our Hostel girls.

First stop was the Museum which was for us a disappointment. It was old and looked very unloved. There were a number of stuffed animals on display that were named incorrectly and overall it did not measure up to what had been written about it.

We proceeded on to the Silver Cascade Falls which were right on a dangerous bend of the highway down the mountain. This did not stop about fifty stall owners setting up stalls selling all sorts of eats and trinkets. It also did not stop buses, cars, motor bikes and trucks from stopping and the occupants alighting to view the waterfall. The waterfall is the overflow from Kodaikanal Lake. It was nice to see and the kids roamed up and down the stalls looking for that last elusive bargain.

After a while we reboarded the bus and proceeded to Dum Dum Rock View. Everyone seemed to be handling the downward trip a lot better that the one up - except me. We were sitting right next to the engine and the smell of the engine and sitting sideways was slowly turning my stomach into a major gymnastics meeting.

I jumped out at Dum Dum Rock to get some air and respite from the engine smell. The legend behind the name is the mythical belief that Lord Muruga used to visit the Rock on his entourage to Palani. Local people still have rituals corresponding to this belief and regularly offer prayers at this rock, and create drum-noise during the prayers, hence the name 'Dum Dum Rock'.

After ten minutes in the open I was feeling OK so we returned to our seats and continued - for a very short time. I turned to IW and said I had to get out of this so proceeded to the back of the bus and asked three day girls there if they could swap places as I was feeling quite ill. To my suprise two of them looked up and said "No, we want to stay here". I said nothing and turned to return to my seat. I had just reached the front when all three appeared behind me saying they would swap.

So off we went to the back seat where the gymnastics competition almost immediately ceased. It was a great relief to me and an even greater one for those around me even though they were not aware of it. Soon after we were at the bottom of the hill and pulled in for a 'toilet stop'.

The toilet block was a nice new, clean block but with about 70 of the 75 girls and the staff wanting to use the facilities it was an interesting experience. IW was fortunate enough to get fairly close to the beginning of the line and when she finally got to the door wondered why the middle toilet (there were only 3 cubicles) was not being used. She was informed that it was a western toilet and was dirty. Presumably that meant that someone hadn't flushed and they were happy to use the two toilets because none of them would flush it.

IW was about to go in and flush it when one of the "bossy" teachers came shuffling in, shouting and pushing girls (who had been waiting patiently) out the door and getting them into an orderly line (which IW thought was okay before) and she pushed IW into the first cubicle, ahead of all the girls. IW proceeded into the cubicle only to discover that it was in actual fact a shower room which the girls had been using for toilet purposes. Needless to say IW needed to use the facilities so did, though was fairly uncomfortable about it. It certainly didn't bother any of the girls and they probably didn't even realise it was a shower room. The usual jug sat on the floor for "flushing" purposes.

We were on the way again and soon arrived at the Railway Station. Mrs Wesley soon determined the platform and where each carriage would stop and had the girls in position. Because this was not the origin of the train there was no carriage swapping and we were in a separate cariage from the teachers and girls. We both had top bunks so would have to climb.

Mrs Wesley was worried there could be someone already asleep in our bunks so got two of the bus drivers to stand with us and carry our bags on and make sure all was OK. The train stopped, we got on, bunks were free and off we set for the 8 hour trip home.

We got our bags stored under the seat, scaled the side and laid down. We were exhausted and hoped that some sleep would occur. Again we got some sporadic 'rests' and arrived back at Egmore station at 5:45 am Sunday. Upon alighting we were met by the school bus drivers, gathered the hostel girls and set off for the 30 minute drive back to school and a good sleep.

Year 12 Camp - Life at the Top (Part 2)

The girls at Upper Lake View

Today it was planned to start with devotions at 8:30 am followed by breakfast at 9:00 am. We would then depart for our morning sightseeing, return to the hotel for lunch and a rest (great custom) then another tourist venture in the afternoon. The evening activities are to be the cultural activities that did not happen last night (I thought our Oz cultural activities then were very good though) followed by an 8:00 pm dinner and bed.

Nice Indian plan to start with but it went off the rails at 8:30 am - yes, the very first planned event. IW and I were ready at 8:30 but there were no signs of life from anybody except the breakfast staff. At 8:50 a couple of kids straggled in and we chatted and shortly after some of the teachers arrived and said we would have breakfast first. I did make a cheeky enquiry about how kids got to school on time (which they do) and this was greeted by a nice smile and the traditional Indian sideways head shake. Enough was said in this non-verbal statement.

Breakfast was had and then we sang and did devotions. It was about 10:00 am when we departed for some more sightseeing. Pillar Rock, Guna Caves, Silent Valley the Pine Forest and Upper Lake View were on the itinerary. For some reason not many of these eventuated and the ones that did were so covered by mist that we affectionately called the morning journey 'Mistifying'.

We did get to the Pine Forest where a lot of Tamil Song Clips are made. It is a nice place and the start of the walk to the Upper Lake View. Another feature of this forest is that it is full of monkeys that are so used to human company and being fed by them. There were vendors there selling carrots that were purchased by one species and consumed by both species.

We got back to the hotel at around 2:00 pm for our lunch and a short rest. After lunch IW decided to stay at the hotel and rest as her throat was quite sore.

At about 3:30 pm we set off for Chettiar Park and Bear Shola Falls. Chettair Park was a nice green spot on the side of the mountain which featured manicured hedges cut into animal shapes. It did not take long to see all there was to be seen but for some reason we had 90 minutes here. After sitting for a while most girls were getting restless so I decided to introduce them to some great Australian pastimes.

I tried my best to explain how much fun rolling down a hill was but no one could understand the fun in it. The only thing to do was to demonstrate something I had not done for at least 35 years. I went halfway up the hill laid down and let gravity take its course. It was not exactly as I remembered when I was young, or the hill was steeper, or the increased weight caused a much faster roll. Needless to say the hedge at the bottom took quite a battering as I staggered to my feet to the applause of all.

It was not too long before we had girls rolling and squealing everywhere as they discovered the delights of 'hill rolling'. After 15 minutes of giddyness and crashes I was surrounded and asked what was next. At this stage I was appointed chief activities organiser. We had about another 30 minutes so I decided that seeing we had a ball that they were not very good at throwing. catching or kicking, we would engage in a bit of human ten pin bowling.

If you thought hill rolling was hard to explain, try explaining how to be a human ten pin that has to fall when hit by a ball or another falling human pin. Again I resorted to the human demonstration as I found one of the girls who understood the concept of rolling the ball.

I carefully positioned myself at the three pin position with nine girls filling the other positions and got the ball rolled at us. By an act of God it hit me and I threw myself in the air taking seven girls to the ground with my fall. There were no major injuries but a few did retire to the sideline.

The plus side was that they immediately got the idea and I could retire to the sideline thus saving any major injuries through having to demonstrate again. We gathered quite a crowd of onlookers as we proceeded to have a revolving 30 minutes of human ten pin bowling. As our time elapsed we heard the shrill call of the whistle of the Tour Guide (TG) calling us back to the bus.

I was very dubious about our next stop as it was listed as Bear Shola Falls (subject to availability of water). It looked like it hadn't rained in decades but these Indians are people of faith so we set off. After a short trip we pulled up at the bottom of a suburban hill and proceeded to walk up the hill, through a gap in the fence then off into the scrub. "Hasn't rained in a long time" I thought to myself as we tramped through the dry, dead undergrowth.

Some of the girls asked if there would be water and the TG assured them there would be. The cynic in me could not see how but I was soon amazed by Indian ingenuity. As the falls came into sight, there was a large rock face about 20 metres high, but they were as dry as a dead dingo's tongue. The girls protested loudly but TG stood defiantly and held his hands high, much like Charlton Heston in 'The Ten Commandments'.

A hush fell over the crowd as water started to trickle over the edge. TG had sent the bus drivers on ahead and they climbed to the top and emptied about six buckets of water over the top of the rock. It was not the most spectacular water fall I have ever seen but the girls seemed to be happy with it.

We returned to the bus and headed back to the hotel for the evening 'Cultural Activities' which were due to start at 7:00 pm. I was looking forward to the evening but soon found out that my understanding of 'Cultural Activities' was way off the mark. At about 7:40 pm the man brought in to run the evening sprang into action. He explained the evening. It would comprise the group being split into four teams and then contesting three rounds of competition comprising a quiz, a tug-of-war, and a dance contest. This was my signal to morph into the official photographer for the evening.

IW ended up in group 3 and at the end of Round 1 were joint leaders with group 4. Round 2 was a knock-out Tug-of-War. I immediately appointed myself as coach of IW's team and issued the tactical instructions of ToW. They seemed to grasp the idea well and easily won their first match against group 1. We watched the second match and it was obvious that we were up against a bigger, stronger team. The only way to win was to outlast them so we talked about not pulling but just holding them until their energy was spent.

What followed had to be seen to be believed. The other team pulled and pulled, they had our team within 10cm of defeat when the call went out to pull. They were taken by surprise and our team pulled them over the line for a great victory. Maximum points for the victory before round 3 - the Dance contest.

The dance comprised three parts, modern, traditional and free-form. IW was not feeling at all comfortable as all had to participate or the team got no points. After some quick instruction in traditional Indian dance IW entered the fray with her team. They finished second and thus assured themselves of the prize of first place.

The one hour 'Cultural Activity' finished at 9:15 pm and we were asked to sing some songs and lead the group in prayer before we moved off to dinner.

The victorious Team 3 (with IW hiding)

Year 12 Camp - Life at the Top (Part 1)

Ice Creams at Bryant Park

... continued from Year 12 Camp - Getting to the Top.

The horrendous Bus ride finished at about 9:30 am. we arrived at Sterling Resort. The girls were shown to their rooms and breakfast was available for those who wanted it. The girls could rest until 1:30 when we had lunch and boarded the bus for some sight seeing.

The weather was nice and cool - quite comfortable for us but the girls were quite cold so some put their 'one jumper' on. There was a lot of low cloud around and it was quite misty.

Our first stop was Coakers Walk. This is a short walk along a man-made path on the rim of the steep slopes. It affords magnificent views 'when the mist clears'. Unfortunately for us, the mist was as thick as a xxx yyy speech (Please substitute your favourite politician's name here). We took the ten minute walk looking down on a thick blanket of fog. It was quite disappointing when we reached the end where there was a large billboard displaying the magnificent views.

One of our drivers told us that it was always like this at this time of year as it was the wet season in Kerala (the coastal state to the west of us) and the prevaling winds drove the mist and rain over the mountain.

The highlight for us was the small stand at the end selling home-made chocolate. We invested wisely and thoroughly enjoyed our purchase.

Our next stop was Bryants Park and Lake. Our hostel girls love flowers so this was a highlight for them. The flowers were lovely although most of the garden beds were overgrown with weeds as well. This did not stop our girls from gasping at every turn. It was only the large 'Do not pluck the Flowers' sign that saved this place from being denuded in a matter of minutes.

We spent a considerable time roaming through the gardens and sitting on the grassed area talking. It was a great time as it let us meet a lot of Year 12 day scholars as well. For 20 rupees (70 Aust cents) you could buy small posies of dried flowers. This was a hit with all the girls and most availed themselves of this opportunity to have flowers that would last a long time for them.

As we were at the park the mist began to roll in which brought that eerie, mysterious feel to the place. All these sensations were new to the girls and fascinated them. Of course I offered a detailed scientific explanation as to why this occurred.

We returned to the hotel about 5:30 pm for a rest before the program resumed at 7:00 pm with what was listed as 'Campfire and Cultural Activities'. No one could offer much explanation except that some of the girls would dance. Being fore-thinking people IW and I immediately put our minds to some Australian Cultural activities we could share.

IW immediately discarded my suggestions of a selection of 'Bawdy Football Ballads' and 'National Beer Drinking songs'. After the pain of rejection subsided we made sure we knew the words of the National Anthem, Waltzing Matilda and that old favourite of mine from Rolf Harris 'Tie me kangaroo down sport'. We headed to the campfire for the evening entertainment.

We arrived at about 6:59 pm (Well actually it was not about that time but exactly 6:59 pm). IW did not want to arrive that early for an Indian 7:00 pm start but once again my judgment was right. Not that there was anyone there then but about five minutes later the Tour Organiser (I use that term very loosely) walked up and told us that the person organising the night got, not only the time mixed up, but also the date. He was coming tomorrow night.

We were politely asked if we could lead the night's entertainment. Why not - freezing weather with girls who had never experienced anything below 24 degrees, should be easy! We did have a bonfire, song books, guitar and years of experience in impromptu events. Organisation was easy, IW would sing around the fire then I would be unleashed on them to play mayhem with their minds by playing meaningless games with rules that changed every couple of minutes.

Would these tender almost naive Indian girls survive? Most did with minimal emotional scarring as we engaged in Animal noises, Maze making, People Tangles and finishing with some dancing to the amazing sound system with extra distortion from the resident Indian AV man. He got more indecipherable noise out of a sound system that anyone I know.

At 8:40 pm we finally overpowered the Indian AV man and pulled the plug on his system. We regather the girls, pray with them and send them off to an 'early' dinner at 8:50 pm.

It has been a long day that started at 7:30 pm the previous day, but a typical Indian day with minimal planning and a lot of changing schedules on the way but ending up with everyone very tired and happy. The perfect ending to a first day at school camp.

.... to be continued

Year 12 Camp - Getting to the Top

This is not a picture of one of the Year 12's nor is it Yoda visiting us to offer words of wisdom. It is from day 2 of our adventure that we will get to a bit later.

Anyway here we go with the three day adventure to Kodaikanal. Sitting back at the school on Sunday morning it seems more like an ordeal that an adventure. The time spent there was great but getting there saps you of all energy to really enjoy it and then you know you are faced with the journey home again.

To get there the plan was to leave the school by school bus, with the 12 Hostel girls who were attending, by 7:30 pm on Wednesday night to get us to the train station for a 9:30 pm departure. Bit early we thought as it is only 20 minutes to the station and who wants a 90+ minute wait with 85 excited sixteen year old girls on the platform with all their families plus the other 100,000 people who appeared to be travelling with us on the 'Pandyan Express'.

Of course the 7:30 departure did not occur. We had the kids ready but what we did not know was that four teachers were coming on the bus as well and they certainly did not want to spend 90+ minutes more than they had to with the girls.

So in Indian fashion we sat and waited for the teachers. Everyone was quite relaxed, there were no frantic phone calls just a calm air of expectancy. I wanted to start running 'a book' on what time we would depart but none of the kids could understand the concept. We departed at about 8:15 pm, arrived at Egmore Station at 8:45, in plenty of time to get to the platform and wait for all the day scholars and their families to arrive.

Happy Hostel Girls at the start of the adventure

It is a fully ticketed train with compartments of eights seats that convert to two triple decker bunks and a double decker. I am not a specialist on trains, but this has got to be the longest passenger train in the world. I assume this because by the time I had reached S7 (my carriage) I had consumed all my overnight water and had to have two rest breaks.

We were then informed by The Deputy Principal (Mrs Wesley) that we would not be sitting in S7 but should come to S10 with them. What seemed like an eternity later we arrived at S10 and followed the teachers in and sat where we were instructed to. It was an Indian train, very old, very dirty and now with our girls on board very loud.

The train was as full as .... I was going to say as full as an Indian train can get but I do not believe that the exact number that constitutes a full Indian train will ever be found. Somehow Mrs Wesley convinced two people that they should walk all the way to S7 and sit in our seats so that we could all sit together.

We are hopping off this train at a small station called Kodai Road at 5:06 am the next morning. Mrs Wesley informs us that the train only stops for 1 minute so it is a major exercise to get all the girls off the train.

I sit and ponder at this statement. If Mrs Wesley can get two people who are already sitting on a train to pick up their bags and walk two kilometres to another carriage surely she can get the train to stop a bit longer at the station. I mean, punctuality and Indian Rail are not usually mentioned in the same sentence.

After some chat Lynn and I are offered the double decker which Lynn is ecstatic about. The thought of having to scale the side to the top of a triple decker (which is what our original berth in S7 would have been) with no safety harness was quite scary. Although the carriage was not air-conditioned there was quite a breeze from the continual procession of girls running back and forward followed by Mrs Wesley yelling at them to be quiet (the three ceiling-mounted fans and the 60 mile an hour wind blowing through the window also helped but did nothing for the hairstyle).

I again sat and pondered at how you get someone to be quiet by making more noise than four of them together could possibly make. The girls laughed, Mrs Wesley laughed, the game continued and IW and I "slept" sporadically.

Twenty minutes before our arrival at Kodai Road Station Mrs Wesley sprang into action. She was up barking orders to the girls who responded magnificently. The train arrived, all alighted safely, and the train departed on its journey.

Kodaikanal is one of the Hill Stations of India. A Hill Station is a high-altitude town, used especially by European colonialists, as a place of refuge from the Indian summer heat and tropical diseases.

We knew we were being transported by bus from the Station to the Hotel. The one minor fact missed in this message was that it was an 85 kilometer trip that went from 250 metres above sea level (820 feet) to 2133 metres (6998 feet). The buses were 21 seaters with the luggage tied on the roof. On our bus were our hostel girls plus day scholars to fill it to capacity.

So the scenario is an 85 kilometre winding mountain road rising 1883 metres (6178 feet) and a group of girls who had rarely seen a hill let alone drive up one. It all adds up to 2.5 hours of unimaginable excitement. The Wallis travel experience had us with a backpack that had a plastic bag with some fruit in it, a plastic bag with a wet washer, a plastic bag for scraps and a plastic bag with spare plastic bags.

Some would say we had an excess of plastic bags and on most occasions you would be correct but by the 30 minute stage of the trip, with the Indian music video blaring full blast, the first plastic bag was used. A lot of my friends would say that I am prone to exaggeration, but as I sit at home with a calm mind I can quite comfortably say that the bus trip up the mountain was one of the most trying things I have experienced.

We used all our plastic bags, we used the washer, we used all our water and the biggest miracle of all was that we managed to retain the contents of our stomachs. Not all girls got sick but those who did (about seven) were quite ill.

All in all it is a great recipe:

• Overnight train ride +
• No sleep +
• Plenty of junk food +
• Overcrowded bus +
• Inexperienced travellers
• = TECHNICOLOUR PLASTIC BAGS

As the four buses reached the top we found out there were only a couple of cases of slight sickness on the other buses because the teachers had given those girls motion sickness tablets before the climb began. We're not sure why our bus was missed.

Not so happy girls at the top

And don't get IW started on the Indian Rail toilets!!

.... to be continued

A Great Day

We have just had a great day. It is Saturday after a week of tests for Yr 10 and 12 girls and they just wanted to relax. We had a constant stream of visitors wanting to talk (and enjoy our air-conditioned room) about the week.

There was a mix of year levels coming and going. There were several Tamil "teacher" instructing IW. Makarla had brought her a book about 'How to learn Tamil in 4 Weeks' and the kids found it and were determined to help her.

I headed out the front door at the invitation of a few girls to play with them 'at the circus'. This is the small area of the ground that has two double slippery slides, a couple of trees, some bouncy tyres and plenty of DIRT.

They call it 'The Circus' because at the circus you have fun and can see the world. We climbed the stairs of the slippery slide and sat at the top. As we sat there talking I was told to look around and see the world I realised what they were talking about.

It was quite sad for me as I realised that from the top of the slide you can see over the wall that encloses the school and their world. From here they can see out of the school ground and see the shop over the road, the cars and all the activity of life. For the girls of the Hostel, this is the world. As I think I mentioned in a previous post, the only time they get to see the other side of the wall is when they hop on the bus on Sunday morning to go to Church or at the end of Term when their families come to get them to take them home.

So while IW was learning the intracacies of the Tamil language I was bouncing on the tyres and engaging in mass slippery sliding. We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. I drew the line when they invited me to climb the tree with them. I would have liked to but fortunately I realised my real age and knew there were large danger signs there for me.

After lunch the visitors continued to come and we had time and space with a lot of kids that had not availed themselves of that opportunity. We spent the early afternoon talking and laughing and learnt the intricacies of the Tamil language. Eventually we cleared the room and had an opportunity to rest for a while.

At 6:00 pm we walked to the Hostel where we participated in Evening Prayer. IW played the guitar and we sang, listened to a Bible reading, then prayed. At the completion of Hostel prayer all the Year 10 girls came back to our place for their prayer time. This was instigated by them and we are invited to participate. This finishes at about 7:30 pm.

After they leave we had dinner and then settled down to watch an old war movie to get us back in touch with the reality of life, although I prefer the reality of the Hostel a lot more.

Guest Blogger - Makarla Craig

Makarla at work in her new 'Indian Nightie'

Our first Guest Blogger and Visitor is Makarla Craig. Makarla works with Gary and last year did the 'Alpha in the Workplace' Course with him. She is at the end of a seven week European Holiday.

Makarla arrived in India early Sunday morning and leaves Friday night to return home and back to work on Monday.

Day 1 India:

I have never felt so at home, welcomed and at the same time a little out of place. My thoughts were with so many people today, not to mention the girls in the school and their families as well as Gary and Lynn. I had De-ja-vous this morning when I arrived and it made me think of Monica. We kept saying (on our cruise ship tour) that we must have had a past life and known each other in Greece and Turkey and that’s why we were having so much fun and met lots of nice locals.

This morning we went to church which was nice, until it went on for 2 ½ hours but it was good to pray and worship with Gary and Lynn again as I haven’t done so for a long time. I have made a promise to go to church more regularly when I get back home.

Around the school is a good and mostly clean area, Lynn has said she feels safe walking along by herself, even at night time. We hopped into an Auto today that took us through a part of the slums before going to a western café. For some reason I did not feel disjointed when I was seeing their “housing” which is mostly rubbish which they have formed rooms out of. Some are natural products and some are concrete but all are dirty and weathered.

There are a lot of scraps and waste on the ground which is from so many people living in such a small area. I have not seen too many beggars including children but I am sure I will. Lynn has mentioned that they do not really hassle people passing by which was a relief to hear, after the stories Tess (a friend from work) told me before coming over.

India so far is not what I imagined, although I was definitely out of my comfort zone when I arrived in Bahrain and then the Chennai airports. I was wearing black pants and a singlet top and everyone was watching me. I had someone tell me that the flights to India are terrible because of the smell of the people who don’t wear deodorant but my flights were ok. I am very interested in coming back in the future and spending some time living here and learning more about the culture, as well as simply enjoying the atmosphere. I would love to come back to see some of these girls again as well. They have stimulated my spirituality, something I have lacked over the past couple of weeks.

Tonight, as like every other night, prayer took place at 6pm. The girls sung hymns and songs in both Tamil and English and Gary and Lynn coordinated the musical sway. It is peaceful to listen to them sing and they are so passionate about their faith and prayer time.

This vocal prayer time was followed by the 10th form girls coming back to Lynn and Gary’s place to pray a little more in-depth. I was floating, for me this was the best prayer time I have ever experienced and I really felt connected to God and everyone in the room. I prayed for so much; friends, family, events that have occurred or are coming up and Jim. It was certainly an overwhelming experience, a sense of completeness and I can’t wait for tomorrow night.

It is enlightening and uplifting to be here and around these young girls, they have mostly come from disjointed homes and their families suffer from many forms of abusive behaviors but they are full of joy and positive outlooks which put my outlook on life to shame, if I may say so. Their faith and beliefs are what guide them, they are learning in order to provide for their families. An education is highly sought after and the girls are embracing every moment of their schooling career. I don’t believe that one could come here and not be moved by such passion and love that these girls show each other and you as a guest in the school.

The school itself is run by the church and the some of girls are sponsored to be here by people like you and me. The cost of a year of schooling at Jesse Mosses is only $500 per student which I would think everyone I know can afford over a year - money well spent in my eyes and I will definitely be a part of one of these girl's lives when I get home.

God has definitely been with me on my holidays and I will go into more detail about it soon but for now I am going to bed and I will update you with my further experiences in India soon.

Love Always Makarla

Hope you enjoyed Makarla's comments. We will have a few more guest bloggers over the next month as Anna then Kath and Sam arrive.

Tower Park

When you arrive in Chennai you are greeted by a huge flourescent sign 'Anna International Airport', and as you travel around you come across many things, places etc that begin with 'Anna'

My extensive reseach (2 minutes on Google) reveals that 'Anna' comes from the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (this is the State that Chennai is the capital of), Dr. CN Annadurai.

He is remembered as a person who served the people with extreme honesty and dedication. He had such a mesmerizing and gripping impact on the people that they affectionately began to greet him with the name 'Anna', meaning elder brother.

We live in Anna Nagar (Nagar meaning 'area or locality'). Part of our suburb is Tower Park (or to give it its oficial name Visweswaraya Tower Park), a delightful place that we walk through daily on our way to coffee and also a place we sometimes visit in the early evening when we can, as it is then that it comes alive with people. The tower is referred to by locals as Chennai's Eifel Tower.

In one way it is beautiful and in another very sad, because like most things we have seen, it is in great need of repair. Since we have been here the actual tower has been closed. To get to the top there is a circular ramp that you walk up but it has been locked. The Hostel girls have been to the top and tell us that there are spectacular views from there.

When you enter the park from our place you go through a delightful playground with all the normal equipment. This is where we took the girls on Easter Saturday. The park contains extensive fountains that are very rarely turned on and so are filled with all sorts of garbage.

On our daily walk in the morning the park is pretty deserted. The odd couple sitting and talking but not much else. If you visit after 5:00 pm the place really comes alive. There are vendors everywhere selling all the things we don't want but lots of things little kids love from balloons and fairy floss to toys with flashing lights.

There are families everywhere enjoying the warm Indian evenings. The playground is packed with kids enjoying the swings, seesaws and climbing frames. All with no warning signs, no rubber matting underneath and some with dangerous, sharp metal protrusions. Yes, a playground that would be condemned in Australia, but here it is an utter delight to everyone who comes.

Another great part of the park is the roller skating rink where in the afternoon there is coaching and races for the kids. The cones are laid out to form a makeshift track and adults are there to organise it and away they go. It is great to sit and watch as the kids are encouraged to go harder and faster. We only spotted one 'over competetive' coach who wanted to whip his charges with a length of cord attached to his whistle as they passed him on the corner.

The kids and the parents seem to enjoy themselves and the 'over competetive' coach just gets more frustrated as the evening wears on.

Another evening feature is the groups of people sitting talking. It is like the Indians are suffering from 'Aussie BBQ' syndrome. On one side of the fountain there were groups of 10 - 15 women sitting talking while the males are in the same configuration on the other side.

There are families everywhere and as usual everyone wants to talk to us and have their photo taken with us. We spent quite a bit of time with a Muslim family who befriended us. They enquired about what we were doing, wanted us to tell them all about educational opportunities in Australia and express their opinions on how good the Indian cricket team was and asked us to pray a blessing on their children (which is a very common occurrence in India).

In the interest of cross-cultural unity IW confined me to just a few comments on the absurdity of the cricket statements being made. We had the family photos taken, exchanged email addresses and that night sent off the photos and have since received a delightful reply thanking us.

At a time in the evening when most Australian families would be home putting their children to bed, Indian families are out in evening enjoying the cool weather and 'tiffin' (snacks). This fits into their evening time frame as dinner (for everyone including children) is not until 8:30 pm at the earliest and for some not until 10:00 pm.

The park is a great meeting place and is full of wonderful features. There is a lot of work going on that we will cover in our next story. Here are a few more pictures from Tower Park.