M.R. School Skill Training Center Inauguration and Camp Starts!

Hello all. The past few weeks have been, well, very busy.
Between the finishing of school, the opening of a new skill training center at the school for the mentally challenged and the start of camp I have had very little time to keep up on my blog. However busy I am, with every new day I am increasingly impressed with the Madurai YMCA. The more I learn about their programs and am able to understand how they function as an organization the more impressed I am. It is amazing to see how much they can do and remain completely self sufficient. All of their programs are funded completely by donation and fund raising as well as income from the International Guest House (my home). If I thought back home at the Keene Family Y everyone was doing two or three peoples' work, here everyone does the work of 10 and always with a smile.

April 13th was my last day for this school year working with the hearing impaired school and it certainly went out with a bang. The longer I am here, the more often I see that giving notice of any kind or establishing a plan in India is a foreign concept so my ability to be flexible and just roll with things has been of quite a lot of help. That being said, much to my surprise rather than having only an hour or two of teaching on the last day, I had the first standard kids the whole afternoon all to myself. We learned all sorts of things like colors, parts of the body, basic greetings and so much more and when I ran out of teaching material had some much needed play time. With only 1/2 hour for lunch during which not only is it too hot to actually play outside, but only the boys are allowed out, by 2:00 the kids turn into caged wild animals. We played soccer, had running races and they even taught me a few games. Overall, it was a great day and I can't wait to start back up again in June.

The Saturday following my last day of school, April 16th, was the inauguration of a new skill training center at the school for the mentally challenged. The event was filled with many speeches and some wonderful dances by the mentally challenged kids as well as one wonderful classical Indian dance performed by one of my students from the hearing impaired school. The event was held to honor the opening not only a new building but the beginning of the future of the mentally challenged program. The Madurai YMCA has purchased a paper cup making machine that allows for up to eight people to work simultaneously in production. This paper cup making machine is to be the basis of the new center in which graduates of as well as the older mentally challenged children will be able to work on to help produce paper cups to be sold so that they may gain some revenue for the center. It was a wonderful event with quite a turn out to show their support for this new program.

April 18th was the official start to camp for the summer. Being blessed with a number of sites not being used during the summer time, the Madurai YMCA is able to run more than 75-80 classes for both children and adults from across the city. Everything from Yoga and Karate, to doll making to keyboard is taught at the various locations. I have been spending most of my time at the Guest House programs as well as at the Boys Home run by the Madurai YMCA. The Boys Home located only a short distance outside the city center provides free living space for up to 65 young boys throughout the school year, most of whom are near orphans (having only one parent or grandparent) and would not be able to attend school if it were not for this space. The families go through an application process in which the YMCA staff chooses the best candidates to fill the spaces and then the boys are able to come and live at the home with three staff members for the length of the school year.

At the Guest House I have been assisting (but mostly practicing) Yoga with a master who teaches at the famous Gandhi Museum in the city. The master is quite an interesting guy who initially studied to become a lawyer and once finishing school realized that he actually wanted to study Yoga instead so he followed his calling and dropped all of his law practice and here we are today. I have also been assisting in a Spoken English class at the Guest House. At around three or four o'clock I head to the Boys Home (my favorite part of the day). The Boys Home is an amazing space. Once just an open lot filled with thorn bushes and roaming livestock, today is a hugely successful sports area with a skating rink, two cricket batting cages, a tennis court, a volleyball court, five badminton courts and space for more growth. Although the thorn bushes have since been cleared, the livestock are still often found grazing in the unused space. In the coming months I hope to start work on a fund raising project to install basketball hoops so if any of you out there are feeling generous, I know a great cause to give to :). Most of my time at the Boys Home is spent mingling with the boys and working with the tennis master but when the sun sets and the camp kids go home, there is always time to get a kick out of teaching the white lady some Tamil! Now I know all of maybe four of five phrases, something I am very excited about!

Next week is the start of yet another camp run by the Madurai YMCA that I will be working with, a Volleyball coaching camp. This will be the first year the camp is being run and we hope to make it a huge success. The Madurai YMCA has been working with the PE Teachers association in Madurai to come together and provide coaches, equipment and the facility for the camp. I have been working with Vincent, a drumming all-star of a YMCA secretary who has me hop on the back of his motorcycle to go out and personally invite schools to attend the camp. The camp will serve up to 60 kids (both boys and girls) who want to work on their Volleyball skills. Vincent has also been the one assisting me in finalizing my registration in India which has been anything but easy and has even included a few cash "payments" to help things along...

I haven't had a chance to take too many picture of camp but here are some of the other things like the hearing impaired school and the M.R. school skill training center inauguration.