Going to Sri Lanka

Hey All--

A quick update to let you know that I and the other YAVs are headed to Sri Lanka, to renew our visas before re-entering India. We will be in the country for two weeks as we apply at the Indian consulate. Wish us luck!

Wintry Update

Hello dutiful blog followers!

I figure that a quick update is in order, since it has certainly been a while! As many of you may know, I suffered from a broken wrist in early December, for which I needed corrective surgery and a steel implant. This left me incapacitated from computer use for a good two months time! While many of you were waiting out the bleak midwinter, I was trying to keep cool in a full arm cast in a much sultrier climate. (Linguistic note: When Malayalees say 'sultry', they mean 'humid'.) The cast, however, is now removed, and I hope things are looking on the up and up following some physiotherapy. This also conveniently lets me get in better touch with all of you!

Although I was in a cast for a while, I was far from incapacitated! The South India YAVs had two fascinating retreats during this time, one in December to Alappuzha, one in January to Vayanad. In each place we met with different communities in Kerala. While in Alappuzha, we got to meet with some community organizers that deal with the local fishermen. India still has a large number of traditional fishermen who largely work with traditional methods such as land-based fishing nets and beautiful painted fishing boats. Unfortunately, many of these peoples lives and livlihoods are threatened by declining fish stocks, environmental destruction, and competition from mechanized trawling ships. It was really interesting to learn about their lives, as well as to witness how they go about bringing in the fish that just about everyone eats in Kerala. (Worthwhile tidbit: Individual fishermen sell their fish in ad hoc auctions that take place on the beach/the pier. The buyers are usually people who sell them in market stalls or distribute them to other organizations.)

The second retreat occurred just this past weekend, in the hill town of Vayanad. This time the goal was to interact with some of Kerala's tribal people, or adivasis. In India, there are large numbers of adivasis who have their own traditions and languages separate from the rest of Indian society. Oftentimes these tribal groups have been exploited or maltreated by the more powerful groups from cities and towns. It is possible to draw analogies between the experiences of Indian adivasis and Native Americans. In Vayanad, we met with a school entirely operated by tribal people, in which their regular state curriculum is supplemented with an education in the language and history of their own tribal group, as well as cultural activities such as music, dance, and handicrafts. We (and a school tour of about 150 9th grade girls) got to see an absolutely great music and dance performance put on by the teachers and students of this school.

Sandwiched in between these two programmed retreats was a visit from my parents and sister, who stayed with me in Kerala for 8 days. During this time I got to see some places I had yet to visit in Kerala, as well as spend some much-needed catch up time with family. The above picture was taken by my sister Colleen on a dam in the Kerala hill region near the town of Munnar.

Whoo--An Update!

The Horror? The Horror?

Hey loyal followers. It's been a while. But I have big plans for this blog! Today I'll give you a general update on what I've been doing since my last post. Coming up in the next week I'll have some follow-ups on life in Kerala in general--the food, the people, and the general environment.

I am a man of many hats here in Kottayam. The easiest thing to do is break down what I do by day of the week. This will maybe give you a semblance of what I've been up to!

Monday: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I teach classes to students in CMS College's Department of Communicative English. Concretely, this means that I give them small reading assignments and class readings, lead them in discussions, and explain vocabulary words. Mondays are for the first year students--college students who are 17 or 18 years old. These students are pretty bright, but also 17 or 18 years old. If you get my drift.

Tuesday: On Tuesdays I catch the early bus out of town to the nearby village of Pollum, where I teach classes in two different schools. The first of these is the Buchanan Institute girls' school, which houses both an Upper Primary (5th-7th) and High School (8th-10th). In the afternoon I go to CMS Boys' School, which is actually a serious misnomer, because they educate both boys and girls. Both Buchanan and CMS Boys students frequently come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and many of them are 'Malayalam Medium,' meaning they are educated primarily in Malayalam.

Wednesday: On Wednesdays, I take class with the second years in Communicative English at CMS. This is the class that I have seen the least, because, for some reason, student strikes and holidays always seem to fall on Wednesdays. My theory: they just want a break in the middle of the week.

Thursday: On Thursdays I go into Kottayam town to the Baker School complex. The Baker School is a group of schools for elementary- and high school-aged children, that comprises people of a lot of different backgrounds. I work at three schools here: Baker Girls school, which is an upper primary (5th-8th) school; Baker LP school, which is a lower primary (1st-4th) school; and Baker Vidyapeedth, which has 1st-12th grades. The students here come from a mixed set of backgrounds. In Baker Girls and LP, students are often from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and can be educated in English or Malayalam medium. Vidyapeetdth is sort of a 'College Prep' kind of school--here I've had the somewhat strange experience of meeting the children of professors, CSI priests, etc. that I've known in other contexts.

Friday: Fridays I take class with the 3rd years (seniors) in the Communicative English department. NB: 'To take a class' here means 'to teach a class', the opposite of its meaning in the United States. Visitors are thus advised to be prepared with a lesson plan when asked to 'take a class', not just show up willing to learn.

Saturday: The biblical sabbath and day of rest. No official duties, but I am often roused from inactivity by the hordes of students that still come to school on their day off, traveling dozens of kilometers to sit in the campus and do nothing.

Sunday: Church services, which bear a whole post of their own!

Ongoing projects: Other than my teaching duties, a number of other projects are coming down the pipe, including: Computer literacy courses, taught by me!; extra-curricular English club, led by me!; other independent tutoring!

I also am involved in the campus in a multitude of other ways. One of my favorites is my membership in the college choir, which is in the process of preparing for its Christmas music program. This is a really common and popular activity here; Malayalees love to go to choral concerts, and love to participate in them even more. Christmastime is the season in which these musical events come out in full force.

Other miscellany: Have you seen my flickr page, with various pictures of the goings-on in Kerala? You should!

Serious promises: New blog post soon!

Photos

This link is also on the sidebar, but I figured I'd put it front and center for any of you who missed it: You can find photos of my year in India at the following URL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cameroninkerala/

First few weeks

Hi All

It has been several weeks since I arrived in Kerala, so I figured it was time for an update on what and how I have been doing here in South India.

First, a little background. Kerala is a state of about 30 million people in the southern part of India. The people of Kerala speak a language called Malayalam, which looks like this. I am here as part of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program. My service will be centered around the city of Kottayam, where I am staying as a guest of CMS College, Kottayam. CMS is run by the Church of South India, a local Reformed Protestant church. (My home church, First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, has a partnership with a CSI church in the nearby city of Ernakulam, Kerala.) I will be serving as a teacher of communicative English at CMS and other nearby schools, and also becoming involved in local religious and cultural life.

Kerala itself is a truly fascinating place, with a lush and diverse environment and a unique political history. One of the most interesting aspects of its history is the diversity of its local religions. Both Christianity and Islam have coexisted with Hinduism here in Kerala since the first millennium A.D. Because Kerala has long been connected to the Middle East through trade, cross-cultural contacts facilitated the peaceful spread of these religions to South India. As a consequence, these different communities thrive in close proximity to one another. Indeed, it is not unusual to hear the Muslim call to prayer while standing in front of a Hindu temple, only to have to jump out of the way of a bus covered in Christian iconography.

Immediately following my arrival in Kerala, I spent a week at the home of the Young Adult Volunteer site coordinator for South India, the Rev. Thomas John. Thomas John is an Achen (read: Father) in the CSI Church who has had a long personal history of collaboration with PC(USA). During the orientation event, we spent a lot of time becoming acclimated to the weather and the spicy food, hearing lectures on Kerala’s history, politics, and economics, studying the Bible with Achen, and taking the first steps towards learning Malayalam. We also got the chance to go to a celebration of Onam, one of the most significant Malayalee holidays, and also to ride an elephant.

Since that time, I have gone on to CMS College, where I have been getting adjusted to my surroundings as well as making preparations for my work for the year. My supervisor here at CMS is a chemistry professor named George Jacob Sir, who has done an outstanding job of introducing me to the faculty, staff, and students of the college, as well as setting me up in service sites in and around Kottayam. Next week I will begin giving classes, as well as commencing other service projects in my new environment. I will be sure to keep you all updated with my progress here in India.

Thanks so much to all of those who have supported me with your kind words, prayers, and financial gifts. Watch this space for future details of my year in Kerala.

All the best,

Cameron

Well, I'm Definitely in India

Hey all--this is the first post in what portends to be a year-long series of updates about my year as a Young Adult Volunteer in the Indian state of Kerala.

For more information about the YAV program, click here.

For more information about the YAV site in Kerala, click here.

For more information about my travels in India, check this space! More posts to follow...