The activity week at St Josephs school
finished with a flourish yesterday – final lessons taught, final games of
cricket/ rounders / volleyball, final arts and crafts sessions, and then a
grand finale of a concert in which every child had a moment on the stage, and
all the parents who came to watch got the chance to see their child perform
something.
The team also treated the school to our
best yet rendition of ‘Lean on Me’, and we were treated to some beautiful Indian
dancing.
Once back at the hotel, had fed and watered
on good wholesome food, we treated the young people to a visit to the local
ice-cream parlour – a place some of the adults have been sneaking off to during
the week, but have kept secret until last night, for obvious reasons!
So, despite flight and transport hassles
galore, relentless heat, the occasional minor medical issue, and an unreal
number of flies hanging over life at the school, the team has achieved what it
set out to achieve.
Our young people have been stretched, have
risen to the challenges, and found new depths of resilience and inner strength.
Some are now reviewing plans for the future based on new-found skills, whilst
others are returning with revised perspectives on life.
But today is more possibility for change,
as we visit a very poor rural community who earn money breaking up stones, and
then go on to a slum-dwelling community and leprosy community, all of whom
Janaki spends time ministering to. These three locations will add extra layers
of insight for our team into life as a poor and marginalized member of society,
and it won’t be comfortable.
So, please keep praying as we embark on the
last full day, before I wave goodbye to them and they fly home whilst I stay on
here for a few more days.
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