Errampatti Village School

We're really excited about the new connections we're making with Errampatti Middle School in our village.  Over the last couple of months talks have been underway with the new principal and we hope to start a evening tutoring program at the school in June.  We've been trying to get this up and running for over a year but sometimes things take longer than we expect.  The other exciting news is that Payne Road State School at The Gap in Brisbane is now working with us to fundraise for equipment for the school and uniforms, bags and school supplies for poor families in our village.  Our aim is to increase school attendance amongst the poorer families and help provide a better learning environment for all the children in our village. The school has about 450 students in 10 classes.  There are no toilets for the boys.  Grade 9 and 10 classes were added to the school at the beginning of the year but the additional classrooms are still being built so the 2 youngest classes are presently having their lessons under trees in the playground.

No fancy playgrounds here

The day starts with morning prayers

Pointing out where Australia is on the world map

Younger students waving their greetings

Two classes have their lessons under trees

The students don't have any desks or chairs

March to April at Shalom

The second floor is looking really good now and Israel has managed to keep everything way under budget, which is great news.  Well done Israel. We're just waiting on the painters and tilers to complete their work.  Unfortunately power cuts have continued to increase as we head into the hotter weather, so the people making the bunk beds we've ordered for the boys are way behind schedule.  At this stage we're hoping everything will be finished so the boys can move upstairs in June.

Israel was planning to harvest the rice in the second week of April, but heavy rain at the beginning of the month meant we had to act quickly or risk losing the whole crop.  In the end we got everything harvested before the rains did too much damage and our yield was 113 bags, twice as many as last year.  This will give us plenty of food and some income from sales.

The freshly harvested fields

Bags of rice ready for storage

The boys filling the new duck pond with water

A group photo with Israel and Hannah, Prabhu the warden and our bus driver

Special Announcement

IT’S A GIRL!!!
At our meeting with the board of the children’s home they decided they'd like to take in some baby girls. Madurai District is one of the worst for killing and abandoning baby girls, with many being left at hospitals or thrown on rubbish heaps at the side of the road. We are pleased and impressed by the board's decision, as it would have been simpler to continue to care just for orphan boys. Once we have sufficient funds, child sponsors, and appropriate government approvals, we’ll construct some additional accommodation, and give some girls a second chance at life in a place where they can grow up and receive lots of love and care.

Hales Feb Visit - Trip To Black Thunder

Early in our visit we took the boys on an overnight trip to Coimbatore for a bit of fun and relaxation. After a 5 hour drive, we dropped in to see our friends Jo and Robin who are setting up a YWAM base there. Jo is from our home church while Robin is from the neighbouring state of Kerala. They have a beautiful baby boy Nathaniel. In the photo below, you can see everyone crammed into their sitting room enjoying snacks and cool drinks. Geoff and I stayed the night while the rest bunked down on the floor of a local church. The next day we went to Black Thunder Park which has lots of water slides, pools and rides. We received a surprise blessing when the management heard we were from a children’s home and gave us 50% off entry fees and a free meal each from the restaurant. It was so lovely to cool off in the pools and lots of fun going on the rides with the kids. Everyone had a fantastic time but the trip home was very quiet as children and adults slept most of the way – poor drivers, no one to chat to.

Hales Feb Visit - Construction Indian Style

Traditional building methods used in India sometimes leave us shaking our heads over OH&S issues. The only mechanical item used on-site during the current building work was a small cement mixer on the day the roof slab was poured. To work on the exterior walls hand tied bamboo ladders and scaffolds are used and painters are suspended by a rope held by another man. Please don’t anyone distract the guy holding the rope!

Hales Feb Visit - Farm Development

Water is still being released from the dam, so our well continues to refill each night. However due to power shortages our pumping time is greatly reduced and sometimes pumps have to be turned on and off and pipelines moved in the middle of the night. Israel has arranged to pump extra water from our neighbours well, so we can water all the fields when power is available. However we’ll need to convert to a diesel motor and install underground pipes to cope when power outages increase during the summer months. The rice fields look lush and green in stark contrast to the unplanted fields in the area. Twice as much rice has been planted this time, and Israel plans to sell half, which will give us some extra income. Milk production is down as our two cows reach the final stages of their pregnancies. The boys, Radha and Prabhu now look after most of the cow care, with Subu our neighbour dropping in to help with milking.

Hales Feb Visit - Morning Routines

The roosters here seem to crow on the hour every hour through the night so our mornings started with bleary eyes. I loved starting my day on the roof, with my coffee in hand watching the rising sun gradually spread its golden light out over the surrounding fields. The three oldest boys usually left before we got up so they could catch the bus to Madurai where they’d have breakfast at Ps Daniel’s house and then ride their bikes across the river to their technical college. The younger boys had a bit more time to complete morning chores, revise homework; share devotions, bathe, get dressed and eat breakfast before heading off to school.

Hales Feb Visit - Visiting The Village

Walking the younger boys to school is always a highlight. We love the chance to interact with the people in the village. The children usually mob us, but many adults still watch shyly from a distance. We were invited to have a cup of tea at the home of one family, who have been very supportive of Israel and the boys. You can see us with part of the family in the final photo. The family consists of the Grandmother, her five sons, their wives and lots of children all living together. They’ve been a big help to Israel in making connections with people in the village, and sometimes they give us vegetables and fruit from their farm. When we start our new goat group in the village they've offered to help co-ordinate it.

Please click on the OLDER POSTS link to see some of our building dedication photos plus previous posts.

Hales Feb Visit - Building Dedication

On Sunday 26 February about 100 people from Madurai and the village gathered at Shalom for a time of celebration for the new rooms which are now completed to lock-up stage. Karen joined the women and girls playing chase and catch games, the men watched the boys play cricket and everyone enjoyed tea and snacks. In case you're wondering about the last photo, don't worry, Geoff and I don't usually dress like this at functions, we were presented with the turbans and sashes as part of the ceremony and asked to cut the ribbon before everyone entered the rooms for a time of prayer, singing and speeches. It was nice to take part in the formalities and help present new saris and shirts as thank you gifts to the main builder, electrician, village rep, Radha our cook and Prabhu our warden.

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Mid January Update

January is Pongal (harvest) festival time in South India. Every year, thousands of people travel to watch the Jallikuttu bull fighting festival in Alanganallur, not far from Shalom. It's a very dangerous time with lots of drinking and many serious and sometimes fatal injuries. The festival days halted our construction work for a few days but now everything is back on track. The roof slab has cured and most of the brick work for the stairs and parapet walls is finished. This week the electrical conduits are being laid and next on the list is the rendering and plumbing of the new bathroom. Thanks to a generous gift from a local Pastor and his family, we now have a water purifier to filter the bore water. This will reduce the risk of any contamination to the drinking water after heavy rains. You can see Israel standing alongside the new filter in the photo below. I've also posted a photo of preparing the reinforcing rods for the roof slab, and some from the day the roof slab was poured. The slab pouring took all day and was very labour intensive with buckets of concrete needing to be passed by hand up the wooden ladder at the front of the building. On the same day ladies from the village were busy transplanting our rice seedlings onto 4 acres of the land. During December and January we've been able to employ between 50 and 60 people from our village on building and farming work.

December Building and Rice Photos

December has been a rather busy month with lots of building and farming activities. Israel and Hannah have returned from their honeymoon and work is progressing well on the second floor. If all goes according to schedule, the roof slab will be poured on around about the 23rd Dec. The slab will need daily watering for awhile to help it cure properly. In the new year, work will start on the widow's building and finishing off the parapet wall and electrics upstairs. While Israel was away Daniel organised sowing the seeds for the rice which, as you can see in the photos below has germinated nicely. At 20 days growth a team of ladies will be hired from the village to begin transplanting the seedlings into all the fields that you can see with water in them. Ponnumani (Mani) is recovering well and able to do a little bit of walking.