Tuesday, November 16
Varanasi
If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 Years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, Educate Children
This is the motto of the school of Minta, who gives a hundred underprivileged children of Bodhgaya education, care and nourishment.
I did not live what I lived when I moved Minta was to accompany to school Monday morning ..
So I reached home at 6am .. eveidemment as expected, she had just rolled out of bed (they dormemt a 4 on a wooden bed frame: Chottu after, Minta, Sunia and finally Dulriya close to the edge and cold air from the outside ... I prepared a
Sunita chai and chapati, which I soaked in hot chai is delicious ...
Chottu does not rise, and is currently completing his homework he has not done it before ... must write the numbers 1 to 100 on his little notebook, in English ... of course at 6am, when it was 7 years, we're not very motivated ... I will learn their way home from school with MINT late morning it is ultimately not going to school ... They know it's a chance for him to go to class, but the living conditions at home are sometimes return to the harsh reality of life takes over ...
Before leaving, Dulriya fills me with a bottle Chai, and gives money MINT to buy biscuits for the road ... 5 kms to do, fortunately the morning at 6:30 the sun does not hit still too high ..
here we part, arm in arm ... She wears the school uniform: short skirt gray striped shirt, socks and sandals, and a navy blue sweater ...! On the belt, one sentence: "Education IS wisdom" ...
We pass route first, then borrow a dirt road for a few hundred meters, turn left ... and here we are. 30 to 45 minute walk to the beat and energy we will put ...
The school building is a hard, and yet the "classroom" is located on the roof, outdoor .. We removed our chappals (sandals in Hindi) at the entrance of the house, and I make the acquaintance of Sujeet, Professor of Minta. Sujeet is
student in computer science and also teaches economics at Bodhgaya. He was 24 years.
With his parents and brother, they decided and chose to devote their energy and their economies to help disadvantaged children in Bodhgaya, by providing education, food and care.
Their project is enormous, because they receive no assistance from the Indian state, and the only contribution comes from a share of the brother of Sanjeet quyi lives in Jaipur and earns a good life, and secondly of the few tourists who give a little money .. but school is very eccentric to Bodhgaya and at the nerve center of town, so few tourists who venture through. . The father of
Sanjeet invites me to climb onto the roof to attend class with children ... I'm a little embarrassed because I do not want to disturb, and apparently they did not used to be that SOMEBODY this ...
Gradually they get used to my presence, and I spend vraiemnt a magical moment in this school in the middle of nowhere with these children from very poor families with Minta also ... it's funny to see how learning methods differ from one country to another ... I'll post pictures
videos and tomorrow will be more telling than all my long speech ..
The return is more difficult, it is very hot and tired .. Minta is His bag is heavy Maisler she would not let me ... is the way we stop to buy a bag of channa with chilli-tomato-onion- Lemon, ie chickpeas with lemon juice, peppers and tomatoes ... Delicious! That kind of snack that is sold on buses and trains, all prepared in large plastic buckets ... Lunch arrived
(chapati-sabji-oeufs-omelette!), then I'll do a short tour to the temple alone, without children who talk incessantly and do not arise in the quiet 5 minutes to enjoy anyway the serenity of the place .. We
will then return all 4, go around the temple and the sacred tree ... break samosas for children every night as the only solution to motivate Chottu had to walk home with him then On
:-) the way home, little time to ponder proposed by Minta at Japanese temple near their homes. It's time for the Puja ... It's surreal to see these 4 Indian children (a friend of Chottu joined us, he sells miniature Buddhas was leaving the temple, he offered me one without I ask him anything ...) Close your eyes and stay silent ... 10-15 minutes Last meal
then chicken and chapati like every night since my arrival ... Dulriya has had to bleed to buy chicken every night ... the kids, Chottu especially, are thrilled ...
also surreal moments when I did listen tubes bollywwod on my ipod! They sing loudly, it's magic!
At 20:30 we leave for the station of Gaya Dulriya, "Uncle" by Minta and Chottu who surreptitiously slips between us and that we can not compel a stay at home ... una ballad night in rickshaw what fun!
Dulriya obviously has prepared a thermos of chai of chapati and chicken in a stainless steel container without a lid (the coup she packages it all in 5-6 plastic bags), and a eBottles water ... My mom Indian ...
It's hard to leave the girls, too hard to say goodbye to the station ... Dulriya shows little emotion, I would thank so much differently than giving a little money ... at the same time in India, things are done without expecting thank you, and I know that even if Dulriya said nothing, his heart is sad to see me leave, beyond any materialistic aspect, which has nevertheless also because I will not go to Bodhgaya before next summer probably ...
I send you the website address of the School of Minta, do not hesitate to take a look. Next post on
Varanasi where I got this morning, where I found my 2 nutcase Vinay and Sonu!
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