horses

Final edit, the kids reporting...

2012-04-30T14:46:32Z

Check this link on youtube!:
NEWSFLASH!!!

And Finally...

2012-03-29T00:22:34Z

Back at the Ranch
Once back at the orphanage, I only have a few days left before I head to Delhi for my flight back home. This means, all unfinished projects go into hyperdrive. there's a horse that needs an operation, a peacock that needs painting, a video that needs editing,a last painting class, and the oven that needs to be tested.
Let's start with the self portrait class -by far the most difficult and met with some groans.
First I made a slideshow of portraits that other painters have done, sort of an overview of different styles. They are amused. Here's a Jen Uman:

Sketches to begin with.

Then Ravi starts in with the paint...

and the results...

RaviSamuel
Sushmitha
Divya
David
Maheshwari
Anil
Ashwini
Anitha
Christu!Roja
Vinod
Abishek
Renuka
Danikar
Srivinas!

Well,let's skip over to the oven. I'm no expert bread maker, but with the little package of yeast doe , I managed to knead up some loaves to be baked. We heated up the oven with a fire inside, and well, the tandur stone couldn't take it and broke. The oven itself did alright. We will get some refractory bricks and lay a new floor. As soon as those refractory bricks show up...
The bread only got half baked. The doorway to the oven needs to be shaved down and a door fitted to it so the heat stays in better, there was too much escape unfortunately. So, I don't get to see the glory of a working oven, but hopefully it is fixed soon.
Stoking the fire...

SSmokey business.

Moving right along. This was the scene right before leaving to Chennai:

There was a lot of indecision about what color to paint the horse, and they kept asking me what color to paint it. I told them they had to decide, because if they leave it up to me I will make it pink. Finally, Vishnu makes some decisions and starts mixing paint.

Now, after returning from the trip to Chennai, I learn that the horse has had an accident...there was hearsay that Ravi was involved, and a leg had been broken, (the horse's) so surgery was in order.

I Wasn't joking about the surgery.

Most of the kids had to go to the hospital for the day but a few of the kids didn't have to go, so they are helping and documenting the operation.

So, I shaved off some leg, it was just too long and causing problems.

After, more papermache.

Girls get busy painting and decorating , and I am in the classroom with the younger kids doing a painting class--the tiger!

Never a dull tiger!

And hey HEY, the horse gets a tail, and well, that darn leg is still too long! So, it will always have to stand
here at the edge.

the tail is of the same ilk that Renuka is sweeping with..

Uh oh! He comes alive and makes a run for it!

Now there's a handsome fella

Spirulina to the People!

2012-03-24T04:37:43Z

The first sampling of spirulina is a success here at Living India/Home of Hope, orphanage for HIV+ children. Green lemonade hits the spot after the late afternoon playground time.

The lineup

It's lemonade but it's green

really green

    This is the spirulina we brought back from our adventure in Chennai where we learned how to grow spirulina from the people of OfERR, the Organization for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation. They are Sri Lankan refugees who are activists and are passionate about sharing information to promote self sustainability and health, growing spirulina for empowerment.

     If you are curious to know more about spirulina, you can look at this: Spirulina!
Ok, did you look? Are you flabberghasted about how much protein and beta carotenes this stuff has? And on top of that , research is indicating that spirulina has HIV inhibiting properties- as well as good for blood balancing for diabetics, anti cancer properties, etc etc, just read it.
We are now in the process of setting up our own spirulina pool to start cultivating enough for daily consumption at the orphanage with some to share. Once we get that down, we can expand to more entrepreneurial ventures. Spirulina soap, spirulina chocolate, spirulina patties or spirulina noodles for our neighbors. Who knows.

   So, earlier this year I began emailing with David, house director at the orphanage, about spirulina and the possibility of taking a trip with some of the kids to go do a training. With the time frame that I would be at the orphanage, we found OfERR had a training in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Four of the older kids, Sushmitha, Divya, Vishnu and Samuel were chosen to go learn the art of spirulina cultivation and bring it back to show the other children.
     When I arrived at the orphanage, David showed me the field that had just been plowed where the spirulina could be planted.... heh. Something lost in communications was the fact that spirulina is an algae, and grows in water, heh. Anyway, we planned for our trip by overnight train from Hyderabad to Chennai. Getting train tickets in India is a racket. You need to book so far in advance if you want to book online, otherwise you need to go to a travel agent OR do what we had to do which is book the day before at 8am sharp for 'emergency' tickets. It is nerve wracking because you know there are hordes of other people trying to snap up these tickets, and to make it worse, the internet was not working at the orphanage, so david and Sateesh drove to the next town to find internet ... but the store wasn't open at 8am, luckily david's mobile internet usb thing was able to pick up a signal... and so, we got our tickets and set out to Chennai in the first class sleeper car that had us arrive in Chennai at 7am.
   Now, we arrived a day before the training actually started because we were told the trainings started at 6:30 am each morning. The only train was the overnight which got us there too late (from the train it was still an hour and a half to the site). So David had decided to make a day of seeing some sights in Chennai and arriving at the training center in the evening. We hired a driver and went to get some breakfast, then to the beach, which was the kids' first time seeing the ocean!

That was pretty exciting, and refreshing.
We made some other stops, but finally arrived at OfERR late in the afternoon. We started exploring the grounds and went out into this field where we were met by goats.

Finally we came around to the spirulina pools. The kids were looking back at me suspiciously. It turns out David hadn't told them that spirulina was an algae that grows in water, they were still under the impression that we would be farming in a field. Samuel asks me,'so, what is the difference of this and what grows in a pond on the surface of the water?'
Nothing! It's pond scum! But a very specific type that grows in a medium too alkaline for other algae to survive.

The first surveilance of the spirulina pools.

Next morning, class begins with introductions. We were made to play a name game like telephone, where we got up and stood in a circle, one person says their name, the next person says the first person's name and their own, and it goes on like this adding names around the whole circle. I was doomed, only five people in, names were difficult sounding. I called one guy Biryani, which is a rice dish popular in Hyderabad, and sounds very much like his name, but not quite the same, and everyone burst out laughing. I did alright, condsidering I don't know much Telegu and less Tamil. Tamil, by the way, sounds more confusing to me than Telegu.Maybe I am getting used to Telegu. Bagunnara? Anyway.

our presenters
and then we go outside and gather around the spirulina pool to see how it is done.

Morning is the best time to harvest, but first we determine if there has been enough growth to warrant harvesting.Take the temperature first..

Then check for depth of growth with the Secchi disc.

Then water density with the hydrometer

Sushmitha and Divya get the filter screens ready...

Then you just start pouring. The top filter still lets the spirulina through, but filters out the other bigger debri.

The bottom screen cloth has a finer mesh, so catches the spirulina.

After awhile, you check to see what spirulina has been caught in the bottom mesh and decide if it is time to scoop it out.

Ours weighs in at 2.88grams.

There's a lineup at the scale.

After the weigh in, bowls of spirulina are combined and washed with clean water.

Then it is lifted out of the screen and brought over to the sqeezer to remove water.

The rock slab goes on top, then that lever contraption puts more weight.

Spirulina is scooped into the noodlemaker. Vishnu and David have a go at it.

Wet noodles are brough to dry in the sun.

Not done yet- after harvesting, you have to replenish the spirulina pool with nutrients of sodium bicarbonate, urea, potassium sulphate, magnesium sulphate, phosphoric acid and ferrous sulphate, which you figure out with simple math from the weight of spirulina harvested to find the amount to mix back into the pool.

The mix is poured into the pool and agitated to spread it around, more food for the spirulina.

Divya adds their mix.

Later, we learn how to filter out bric o brac. (some bugs and leaves that fall in)

too soon, it is time for us to rush off to our train, another overnight express, back to Hyderabad. Here we are waiting in the train station. We make a new friend and name her Biryani. Vishnu has a conversation with her, asking her what foods she likes. She listens intently and is weirdly shaking her head yes and even smiles at onepoint:

Vishnu keeps going down the list of foods and when he gets to Chicken Biryani, this happens:

(accompanied by a weird sound)
She hangs out a little while more.
But eventually she has to go take care of business and leaves:

and so do we.

Guitar with Lawrence,Portraits,Horse and Peacock updates,and let's make an oven...

2012-02-26T16:13:10Z

Too much going on, and by the end of the night I'm too tired to post the days photos on my blogggg. But here we go
Lawrence has arrived a week after I arrived. Here's Renuka and Maheshwari getting their first guitar lesson.

then Vishnu and Samuel have their turn

Other visitors arrive the same day and stay only one night. They brought cake supplies and crochet classes for the older girls.
Roja and Anitha become the cake pioneers of the orphanage.

Cupcake recipients look happy.

Nancy takes the older girls for crochet class.

Ashwini has made something on here own, we're not sure what it is, but she puts it on like a hat.

I find a new model/victim/good sport for our drawing class, Bev Pitner. And so here I post all I can, because these drawings just crack me up....

Ashwini is turning pro

This one's mine

Remember the Chewbaka looking grandma painting? Here we go with colored pencil ....by Ravi

This one is Lawrence's

Dinakar once again captures fabulous expression

ok, so that was the bev Pitner drawing class....

Several projects are going on at once, so here is an update on the boys paper maché project. We decided to make one big animal this year. At first it was a carribou looking creature , but as we started making it , it looked more like a horse. And then we ran out of masking tape, which is impossible to find in these parts and it took over a week to get more . Guests who were coming from Hyderabad brought us a bagful. But in the meantime, the horse fell apart because, well , the masking tape is of questionable quality, not so sticky really, not to withstand a week I guess, so daily our horse fell more and more apart as if it were decaying. I brought it into a corner of the computer room so the boys weren't looking at the depressing heap everyday. Finally, with the new tape, we had a surge of energy and taped it up and got a layer of paper maché on there to harden, and our horse stood in the sun to dry, with the help of a propping stick. Really, I make sculpture, I should know better that something this scale should have a sturdy armature inside .. more on the horse later. here's the start.

These are some fine sturdy legs actually

And the body is coming together...

This is after major surgery and a layer of paper maché

and then, there's the peacock.Another unweildy creature that the girls picked.

We go hunting for some sticks to make an armature and get sidetracked at the tamarind tree

We end up finding a bunch of sticks, so we start building the peacock and get a layer of paper mache on it to dry.

inner armature is a good thing

ok, all for now
gnight

Ok, I'm Back..
Let's start with an interlude, Mary's birthday, now she is six.

Cake was followed by:

which was supposed to be fun, but alot of the kids got scared,and gave me looks later like, why did you show us that? And the staff were worried about everybody having nightmares that night. Ooops!
But then in dance class the next day a flurry of new moves and also as I was walking by one of the girls rooms, Leela popped out to scare me with her eyelids turned inside out making a ghoulish sound and doing a dance step...so it's all good.

Another project starting up, we are making a tandoor earth oven. Ingredients: local clay, sand, dry grass, cow dung, fire stone.
The firestone was the difficult one to find. Nobody knew where to get these. Finally we decided to get stone that some of the floor was made with. David told me it's name-tandoor stone- so it seemed like maybe tandoor stone would make a good tandoor oven.
Anyway
We started out collecting the sand and making a base for the oven. The boys run off with the wheelbarrow and return with bricks and sand to fill in the cement base rings.

We go harvesting the cow dung, it's like an easter egg hunt.

Srivinas starts mixing up the clay and sand .

Reshma,Munju and Bheemama show up to help with the mud mixing...

Supta is in there too..

Boys watching from the roof....

We need to go get the stone, so we go to another town that is known for there tandoor stone...
These are my helpers for the trip:

They work for samosas

Choices choices, but we go with 3 of these:

Now, I was feeling fairly confident about the tandoor stone until I saw a sign as we entered this town."Welcome to Tandur" hmmm. But there were some little cooking areas rigged using the stone at this place, so it seemed like a good heat bearing stone, whether Tandoor or Tandur...
Here's the beginning. The bricks will be covered in sand, and the sand sculpted into the shape of an igloo, which will eventually be the negative space of the oven inside. On top of the sand we start with a layer of mixed clay, sand, and cow dung, about 3 inches thick. Then the next layer is the same, but ad straw grasses for tensile strength.We started in late afternoon when the sun was going down because otherwise it is too blazing hot.

There were alot more pictures taken of inbetween stages, but

it turned out that the camera wasn't working, so , wala, oven.

Cutting away part of the door frame to fit a door later.

Ok, here we will take a break from the oven. It needs to dry for a couple days. Movie break!

Gene Wilder, yesss!

2012, Here We Go

2012-02-08T16:45:32Z

I arrived in Hyderabad with what seemed like a cold, but I think it is just a case of pollution overload from waiting in the New Delhi airport for five hours for my next connection to Hyderabad. It was smoggy inside the airport and I instantly had asthma like symptoms. …Anyway, I arrived in Hyderabad and went shopping for art supplies,
then headed out the next day to the orphanage. Before coming to India, I was able to get a projector and some Bose speakers to go along with it from the calendar sales, and they are in use almost every day for classroom and of course movie time. But first order of business is showing the kids the calendar that was put together of the photos we worked on last year in Photoshop. Much excitement about this!

Then a look around at the grounds. New gardens since last year.

Bringel---eggplant

tomatoesand this is the outdoor cooking area. We are going to build an earthen tandoor oven out here. David stirs the pot...

Girls have taken over cooking meals

The afternoon I arrived we started out with Kung Fu Panda. I also have a slew of nature videos that they have been liking a lot , I haven’t seen them yet either and it is quite amazing footage, and projected on the wall it’s like traveling to the arctic tundra to visit a polar bear family just waking up and then on to a bat cave in Burma. It’s all happening in our little village in Chandrakal.

The next day was Republic Day, which means dress up and go across the street to the hospital clinic for a short ceremony hoisting the Indian flag, tribute to Ghandi, some sweet treats, then back home for some cake.

Leela is the newest addition to the family. She’s come just in time for shoe distribution day,

The girls try them out for size.
\
Sony takes a test run in front of last year's mural (so 2011)

With paint left from last year, the girls painted these murals:

Boys painted these:

I have arrived in time to catch the monthly sojourn to the hospital in Hyderabad. This is starting out in the morning, everyone's fresh. Unfortunately, we got stopped by the police along the way for a random check to see if the bus was legal or something. We had the proper papers, but then they said it would take a couple of hours to write a report about how we had the proper papers, knowing full well we had a busload of HIV+ children going to the hospital . Basically they needed a $2,000 rupee bribe. That guy no doubt will have his arms and legs fall off shortly from bad karma, poor thing.

Ok , we shall start out with very important matters here....little kids drawing class, learning to draw a turtle and mix some colors.

and the results:

The ol' turtle with a flower in it's mouth

So , this year I'm having the older kids drawing class do portrait painting. First class we practice just drawing noses , eyes and mouth and some perspective on faces. Then, we jump right in and have grandma pose for us. Why not, the best learning is to just do it, and the results are pretty amazing. Makes me like painting all over again!

First, we tell grandma who is out sunning herself that she is our model for class. We give her a minute to get ready.

ok, Grandma is in place, and sketching ensues before the paint...Ravi starts out pretty good.

Anil is ready to paint..

Adivya observes grandmas eyes looking sideways...

Renuka observes a round face...

Vishnu starts in with the paint...

Dinakar is sitting practically under grandma, so is observing some unflattering neck angle...

and the results are in:

Adivya's with the sideways looking eyes:

Mareshwari's

Vishnu's grandma is looking a little slight of figure...

David's grandma:

Mine looks a little E.T.ish...and I'm the art teacher?!

Dasu's

Samuel's catches grandma's expression

Renuka's

Christu has a touch of Picasso...

Ramsudheer's

Vinod's

Anil's

Ahswini's

and remember Ravi? I think he hasn't worked with watercolors much...he's laying the paint on a bit thick...

Grandma was a good sport.

Well, I'm closing up shop here in the computer lab, everyone else is in bed I think. My day today was like thisL: 6:30am yoga class, breakfast, then taught english class...here's today's vocabulary list:

More results from portrait classes...

Munju in the hot seat

and another sketch class of David

Lion attack!

2011-02-02T16:09:00Z

It happened suddenly in the afternoon while we were busy learning Photoshop…

Ok, the lion was paper mache; Ahkil made him with his own hands and was an accomplice in this photo shoot and trickery.
This is January's photo in the calendar where each month depicts the outcomes of our Photoshop class. 2012 Calendars are available here:http://www.bethanyjean.com/calendars, an auspicious year, where the kids are rapidly getting tech savvy in the computer lab with their newly donated 10 computers from the Gates Foundation, a new world. Proceeds from calendar sales will go towards more art supplies for the kids , classes like Advertising Awareness, how to use the internet for research, Journalism, basic movie editing, more photoshop, and learning to grow spirulina.OUr equipment wants are: a projector, speakers, Imac, portable hardrives. Tax deductible equipment donations are possible, email me at: bjf@bethanyjean.com

The laboratory:

Here we are working on a photo together, the image is projected on the wall and the kids look at what I am doing as I give directions. It works really well teaching this way and since we are repeating the process over for each photo, they catch on and start working on the next thing by themselves.

Projection on the wall:

The technicians:

Ok, Here's another one , David escapes on a motorcycle with his rabbit..

This year’s chapter starts by scrolling below to the segment called Scarface in India, then move upward to the next chapter called Arrival and Sandpainting. Then read here if you want to go in sequence. Such is the blog form. To learn more about this orphanage for HIV+ children, go to this website, Living India

Or check out 2010 for my trip last year. Or leave a comment/question on this blog and I will try to answer.

We finally got to the part of painting and decorating the paper mache animals probably the favorite part for the kids. The animals were painted then some glitter and glam added, sparkly whiskers and noses, fancy designs. Then we went out for photo shoots. Finally the lcd projector arrived that we were able to borrow and I revealed my plan. We did photo shoots of each animal in a scene, and then each girl and boy posing in a certain way that would interact with that animal when we cut and pasted in Photoshop. This was particularly fun to show. Up until then the kids may have thought it very odd that I had them posing against a blank white wall (makes it easier to outline, cut and copy in Photoshop). It’s like magic-suddenly a lion has his paw on you about to take a bite.

How cute is this horse?!! please leave comments

David with his red rabbit

Roja and Rani dress up the donkey.

Ahkil with his lion beast.

Then we go outside, to the banyan tree!

The rabbits

And now for a story interlude,

A side note for a side project I’d planned. … I was successful in smuggling kefir all the way to the orphanage. Kefir grains that came from somewhere close to this part of the world, who made there way to the Hamptons, where I received them and nourished them back home in Astoria, Queens until the smuggling operation to India. Kefir is a living thingie that comes in the form of what looks like mini cauliflowers called kefir grains. They like to eat milk and form a curd, which is the part you would eat and get the benefits of powerful intestinal flora that boosts your immune system. I wanted this for the kids. When I arrived at the orphanage, we set the grains up with some fresh milk to eat.

At the orphanage they already make their own curds of yogurt, which is great, but about a tenth of the power of kefir. Also about a tenth of the taste…which is more fortunate for the yogurt and the kids. Kefir can take a bit of getting used to, so there was no guarantee anyway that the kids would actually eat this. Unfortunately, someone was in the kitchen and came across the kefir grains in the milk and thought it was yogurt gone bad. Kefir is also a little more dramatic looking when it forms its curd. The kefir was promptly taken to the garbage/somewhat compost bin where the giant crows are waiting to pick. So, the crows have just built their immune systems and will have great longevity for picking through the garbage of the future cancer free, etc.

Ah well!

and now for a yoga class interlude. Everyday at 6:30, we woke ourselves up with yoga/movement class. Vishnu was the most thorough and showed enthusiasm, so by the end I was having him lead part of class. Hopefully he continues this. Also of special note, Vamsi came to class everyday to sit and watch. He had broken his arm in two places while flipping on his bed a month ago and just had his arm taken out of the cast . He still had it curled up in a sling made of rope. Outside of class he got some massages and encouragement to move it and stretch, so by last class I had him warm up with us and do head rolls, shoulder rolls, hip stretch, and then for a big surprise he put his arms up for tree pose. I hope he does that at his next doctor visit. The pictures were taken by Bev, who was visiting from the states and working with the smaller children. It wasn't snowing inside, just a dirty lense.

Lotus is easy- for them

Some Up Dog

Crow pose

Vishnu starts to-lead

Then he goes it alone

Vamsi with his arm out of the sling.

One more thing. We had painting classes, yes. Then planned for the wall we would paint. We decided on a mountainous nighttime scene(to compliment the sunrise mural) with a river and various creatures. Once started, it went fast. What do you think?

The day I left was Republic day, everyone dressed up fancy and they put me in a sari. Here's me and Grandma

The Chandrakal Gang

And here's the Drawing Class in there best:

The Artists:

Arrival and Sandpainting

2011-01-28T16:35:00Z

The drive was quick, Solomon my driver makes no stops. I have lunch with the kids , and instead of jumping in and having a class, Roja, Anitha, Rani, Sushmitha and Aswini show me sandpainting.
First, Roja gets some white ash to map out the design

Anitha drawing,

Ashwini,

K.Rani

notice the peanut gallery...

more to come...

OK, a new day...

6:30 am yoga, 9am drawing and painting class, 3pm same..

Roja drawing some deer and turtles.
some bears, then painting..

Vishnu's painting.

then out to jump rope!!!!

There's Double Dutch and......Triple Indian?

ok gotta go, very busy days here...

Another Day

Hey, let's paper mache!

I asked the kids to pick an animal to make. We got 6 rabbits, an elephant, a lion, a giraffe, a horse, a donkey, a chimpanzee and a monkey. Not too shabby. I'm not sure why the rabbit was so popular. When we were outside in the back yard, we came upon the rabbit den and a rabbit shot out. The boys chased it and also began smashing the den. I told them they were naughty and they laughed exuberantly. Vishnu , who actually did not partake in this, explained that the rabbit is a lowly creature in India. Hmmmmm. Anyway, her we go with the paper mache, the quiet hum of busy hands, and Madam Madam Madam Madam Madam for when help is needed making an animal body or giraffe head, or horse back legs...

Helping Vishnu with his horse (above)Vishnu almost lost his pinky finger to a scissors accident while madam teacher was cutting a horse leg shorter.Close call.

The chimp is sent outside to dry (below)

and the giraffe is sent outside to dry..

and so on

ok, let's put these down for now and have giraffe painting class.

why not!

feel free to leave comments.

Next Day

time for a base coat.

Anil's elephant set in a tree to dry

Ashwini waiting for her rabbit to dry

and time to paint them

Scarface 2011

2011-01-13T20:49:00Z

Well, starting off a new year by returning to India.....what will we do this year? For starters, I arrived in Hyderabad at 4:35 am this morning. I got to the hotel in Hyderabad, was washing my face when my door buzzer buzzed and there must have been a blindspot right where that bathroom door was open to , because I smacked into it and it had a sharp edge. Really, the picture just does not show what it looked like at first, because of course it cut across the bone and swelled up and was a bleeder . My contact here, Leela, was sending an ambulance for me at first, but I convinced her not to do that. I did end up going to the hospital up the street. By the time the doctor got to me (after I had been icing it and holding it shut) it looked like it was gluing up ok. I had thought I might need a couple stitches just to hold it. Anyhoo, looks like I'll live if I can manage to keep my distance from sharp doors.
I'll be off to the orphanage tomorrow in the morning. They don't have sharp doors, I'll be safe there.

....and a little later, the black eye is starting to form...

The housecleaning team at the Golkonda sent up some roses and a fruitplate and checked on me every hour . It was kind of funny because I was trying to sleep and the doorbell kept ringing. Everybody in the workstaff seems to know the woman who bumped her head in 502 . Over night I actually put the do not disturb sign, but i can hear people coming up to the door to check every so often. No low profile accident here. Thank goodness an ambulance didn't come to take the ridiculous westerner to the hospital half a block up the street. Phew.

Ah well, I see the kids tomorrow

And last, the Mural at Chandrakal

2010-03-13T14:55:00Z

We got up at 6am to start painting because once the sun comes up and reaches over the roof of the front building, forget it! too hot.

finishing touches

and one last thing before I go, Anitha puts henna in my hair, Roja takes picture.

aches over the roof to the wall, we're done for. Tooo hot.

Mask Making with the older kids... chaos with the younger kids

2010-03-13T14:31:00Z

First there was a class with the older kids to make masks, then a couple days later we had 10 women from Hyderabad and the older kids to help the almost 40 younger ones with the paper maché.. There were more younger ones than I even realized so I had only prepped for 30 masks...so there was some scurry in the beginning to get everyone their materials.
Here's from the first class:

masks drying

Santosh jumped in to the first class, he doesn't like chaos with the younger kids...plus his buddy Vishnu was there.

the boys

the girls

Post Chaos

Then the decorating part, easy .

A trip to Ghandi Hospital and back, Reflexology class and yoga

2010-03-13T14:30:00Z

5:30 am we are off to Ghandi hospital with a bus load of kids for their checkups. A two hour ride on mostly a dirt road, speeding through bumps, bypassing bicycles, villages, cows....there is a rather large barf bucket on board that gets some use.....not a fun trip.But the government is now providing free meds for them, a very big deal.

This is on the way back, a very long day and we are making stops for groceries. This was the last stop before home. We are waiting at the side of the road while the driver is picking up supplies.

Sylvia, the house mother, sitting by the bus door.
The center of town starts to crowd up with cows and waterbuffalo....

I could have touched this one passing by my window

Then, on another day we take it easy and relax with a reflexology class

Sky Painting

2010-03-13T14:14:00Z

So, one class we practiced painting the sky in different moods. Here are some sunrises with the Banyan tree and then also monsoon season with the Banyan tree. I think they are great.

sunset soufflé

Here we go, landscape painting classs

2010-03-08T16:39:00Z

How about some sky....

Santosh observes class

Chasing me with their landscapes.

To Chandrakal

2010-03-08T04:26:00Z

Sad goodbyes at Prem Kiran, but I will have to go back, and with some new art itinerary.... just need to figure out some logistics .
So, on to Hyderabad after spending a night in Mumbai at Umale's . I got to spend an afternoon with Vanitha and Moni, who drove me there and had lunch at Leonardo's nearby the Taj Mahal. That was fun to just have some visiting/hangout time.
In Hyderabad I met up with Joseph and Machelle and had a day to go around with them, pick up new art supplies for the kids at the Chandrakal orphanage for kids infected with HIV and go to Golkonda, an old muslim fort .
If you would like to learn more about the orphanage, the website is: Living India
Machelle and Joseph are co-founders, and Living India is a non profit 501c.
They are working hard to raise money for school supplies, green energy so they can be more self sufficient, etc. and etc. There is a donation button on their website.
Also, if anyone at their business has an lcd projector they don't need, we would put it to good use to project movies & educational programs. It's a long rainy season. And lastly, I will be looking for grants for myself to get me back there next year to do more projects!

At the top of this Muslim fortress there is a Hindu temple built now, Joseph called this 'poking the bear'.

Hyderabad is growing fast with new Microsoft and Google headquarters. High tech and low tech city.

Driving out to Chandrakal...

the orphanage .

....first class, making their names so I can remember:

Madam teacher ...

The Indian government has come out to visit to see what they do because the kids are doing well. They get free meds now from a government agency, a big relief. There is a hospital/clinic across the street . A few years back there was a handful of children that just started living in the hallway because they lost their parents to AIDS. That is when some action and fundraising happened to build the orphanage, and now there are 57 kids there. HIV education is difficult in the villages.There have been songs made for people that don't read (there are tribal peoples in the surrounding villages, many languages) , but the virus concept sometimes just does not compute so well. the orphanage also has more boys than girls because girls are more often kept to do housework by relatives.

Before leaving Prem Kiran

2010-03-07T17:11:00Z

They fed me with the traditional banana leaf style-papdom, greens, plaintain , chapati, curry cauliflower. Jeba feeds me and what is missing from this picture is the pile of raw carrot, beets, turnip and cucumber that comes with every meal. They know i am veg, and I appreciate it. Most of there meals are vegetarian, but it is nice to eat some raw food-
And in case you are wondering, I haven't gotten sick the whole time, except carsick on the ride out from Mumbai the first day. There's a lot of start and stop driving , those water buffalo really don't care about getting out of the way on your clock. And then there's the guy who just stops his car in the highway lane to get out and pee on the side of the road. And coming back to Hyderabad last night, there was a roundabout that connected to another roundabout and an unfinished part of the highway that turned into a makeshift one lane dirt ramp onto another highway.
well anyway, I ate well and all is well in that department.

They also dressed me in a sari:

The balloon scavengers..

To the Mountain

2010-03-07T16:57:00Z

After all the mural work, we had a day to go for a hike to the mountain. It was a hike into the hot afternoon as well.... 3 km to the end we all broke down in the shade and got rides back.

girls line up to go

it started out well

We came upon a hindu temple

it had this statue... a rock god?

We go to the water.
Kathy, Balla, and Neha check the parameters.

Well, we lasted a little while longer after leaving the water, but not much longer. We got rides back with 3km still to go.

The making of the Mural at Prem Kiran

2010-03-07T16:44:00Z

This was a feat, and I'm happy to report , no one was hurt in the making of this mural. I was a little worried with Santosh scaling the wall to paint the sky, but all went well.

And that is that