Day in the Village

Originally posted on October 31, 2011.

Over quarterly leave, being at Rising Star with no children here was REALLY depressing. The children breathe life into these grounds and we all missed them so much. My roommates and I spent almost an entire day moping around and wishing the kids would come back. So, in order for revival, the day before school began, Diana, Kenady, and I went to the village on a walk and ended up running into some of our kids!

This is Ashok, Kartik, and Vijay’s home. Ashok is a member of LifeDANCE and one of the goofiest kids I’ve ever met. He does the robot like none other! They invited us in and we played for a while. Seeing where they live can completely change how you feel for the kids. This home has two rooms and a hallway. Dad, Mom, and kids all sleep in one room on the floor and kitchen and storage are next door. Their mother is Silvy, who is the house cleaner of the ‘Greenhouse’, so I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. These boys took us on a tour of Thottanval.

We got to see Rajesh Roket, Priya and C. Vignesh’s home also, along with meeting their mother. Over the break, all these kids do is watch Tamil movies. So, of course, there was an amazingly cheesy Tamil movie playing right in the middle of dance scene when we got there. Then Roket and Ashok took us over to the village water well.

Isn’t little Kartik pretty heart melting? He is gonna be a stud. I walked all the boys over to the local “market” and we bought fireworks for Devali and then I got them each a piece of bubble gum.

It was a pretty great outing. I love these boys so much and getting to see what regular life is like for them gave me a completely new perspective. Their wants and needs are so simple. It is beautiful to see unspoiled and helpful kids. It is so easy to make them smile and laugh and it warms my whole body up, it is a job that I could do forever.