I think I can…I think I can…

October 5th.

I had the privilege to work on the land/school of soon to be Visthar operated. This “work” was done by various individuals: Devadasi women & their children, SJPD students, the contractor of the project, various supporters for the school, and the many workers for construction jobs.

When we first pulled up to the land and group 1 (there were 2 groups this day) were dropped off I was first surprised by how welcoming every single individual was. It was difficult to stay fully engaged within the greetings when, at the same time, I could not help but look at the amount of work left to be accomplished before the children could attend school here. We were told that the buildings would be finished in six months, and the landscaping may be a little bit longer. We set our belonging down in one of the completed building, and got to work right away.

We were able to help out with the various tasks: plaster the outside of the building, pass bricks to the rooftop of another building, and plant a few trees. However, regardless of which tasks we were doing we were given equal opportunity to help out. It was also great to observe that the women and men were doing the same work tasks together.

I have to say that it was also quite ironic that Koppal was the one field visit I decided not to pack my sunscreen for to save room in the luggage department. Little did I know this was the one place I desperately needed it. Most of our group managed to pull off a slight burn that day.

It was quite unfortunate that we had a short amount of time to work on the land before meeting with the Devadasi women & their children (another blog on this topic should be added). I think it is safe to say that the entire SJPD students from group 1 wanted to keep working until every last building was up and running!