So Kristen and I have only been in Satyon for a few days now, but I find that first impressions are always worth noting.
I came down with a tummy bug for the first 48 hours, and now I'm back up and walking around. Having nursed me back to health, Kristen has now caught a cold and is in bed with a hot water bottle, honey and ginger medicine, and Chai.
Satyon is a farming community. They grow wheat, peas and cabbage, and keep cows and goats for milk and meat respectively. The population of the area is sparse, and the village thins out over the rolling mountains, and eventually merges with the neighbouring villages, so a population count is difficult to say. Somewhere in the region of 5,000 - 10,000 would be my guess.
In the winter, it is so cold here it snows. From November to February, the sun just peers its head out from behind the mountain, and warms the earth enough give you something to dream about at night. Given the altitude, the sun is a dangerous heat despite it's infrequent appearance - it has already kissed my nose.
Here is a picture that I pulled from another person's blog. We'll put pictures up once we reach a computer that can read our memory card.
The government school system here has primary school running from Grade 1 - 9, and secondary school running from 10 - 12. The national certification board examines the students at grade 10, and again at grade 12, which means that student leaving primary school leave without a national certification. As a result the primary school education in this region leaves much to be desired. Students are pushed through primary school as quick as possible, and it is not uncommon to see 14 year old students starting grade 10 (the international normal being 16). As one can expect, the literacy is very poor. Grade 4 students in government schools struggle to even read and write in Hindi, let alone English.
This is where the "Town-School" comes in. It is a simple, but growing idea, bringing quality education to students that otherwise don't receive it. It too has far to grow, but the kids here are at least learning to write, read and speak in English.
In South Africa, I remember hearing of organizations protesting for high level learning tools, for example each government school to have a library. By comparison, the "Town-school", which is 100 times better than the government schools, only occasionally has power (so the kids sit near the windows for light) has no heating (so the teachers freeze, and the kids wear beanies and have to play outside to keep warm), have no computers, no library, and barely a decent set of school books for the teachers to establish a curriculum from.
Furthermore, volunteers are here to support the teachers that are single-handedly juggling 2 classrooms... which is an improvement from the government school, where teachers often don't turn up until an hour or more after class begins.
Kristen and I took a 3 hour walk up into the mountains to meet the children's families. Its was really humbling to see the families take such good care of us. FYI - it is rude not to accept Chai from a host family, so Kristen and I had cups and cookies pretty much every 20 minutes! It was humbling to meet the families, and to watch them offer us parting gifts of fresh vegetables and nuts. While most people collect for themselves, in Satyon, families that live off the land will sacrifice large portions of their yield to visitors!
Its midday here, and the sun is at it's peak (just up over the mountains). I'm leaving Kristen in bed, and after some lunch, I'm going to head up into the mountains to a small peak. From there I am told I can see the whole village, and even the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas beyond them.
Despite it's problems, this village is a beautiful place. Having travelled to over 20 countries, I can honestly attest that to live here can only be described as a dream - from the view, to the clean air, to the natural silence, to the people, to the smiles, to the language, to the peace, to the food, to the Chai, to the smells. I wake up every morning to a dream! Now that is worth selling everything I owned for.
I came down with a tummy bug for the first 48 hours, and now I'm back up and walking around. Having nursed me back to health, Kristen has now caught a cold and is in bed with a hot water bottle, honey and ginger medicine, and Chai.
Satyon is a farming community. They grow wheat, peas and cabbage, and keep cows and goats for milk and meat respectively. The population of the area is sparse, and the village thins out over the rolling mountains, and eventually merges with the neighbouring villages, so a population count is difficult to say. Somewhere in the region of 5,000 - 10,000 would be my guess.
In the winter, it is so cold here it snows. From November to February, the sun just peers its head out from behind the mountain, and warms the earth enough give you something to dream about at night. Given the altitude, the sun is a dangerous heat despite it's infrequent appearance - it has already kissed my nose.
Here is a picture that I pulled from another person's blog. We'll put pictures up once we reach a computer that can read our memory card.
The government school system here has primary school running from Grade 1 - 9, and secondary school running from 10 - 12. The national certification board examines the students at grade 10, and again at grade 12, which means that student leaving primary school leave without a national certification. As a result the primary school education in this region leaves much to be desired. Students are pushed through primary school as quick as possible, and it is not uncommon to see 14 year old students starting grade 10 (the international normal being 16). As one can expect, the literacy is very poor. Grade 4 students in government schools struggle to even read and write in Hindi, let alone English.
This is where the "Town-School" comes in. It is a simple, but growing idea, bringing quality education to students that otherwise don't receive it. It too has far to grow, but the kids here are at least learning to write, read and speak in English.
In South Africa, I remember hearing of organizations protesting for high level learning tools, for example each government school to have a library. By comparison, the "Town-school", which is 100 times better than the government schools, only occasionally has power (so the kids sit near the windows for light) has no heating (so the teachers freeze, and the kids wear beanies and have to play outside to keep warm), have no computers, no library, and barely a decent set of school books for the teachers to establish a curriculum from.
Furthermore, volunteers are here to support the teachers that are single-handedly juggling 2 classrooms... which is an improvement from the government school, where teachers often don't turn up until an hour or more after class begins.
Kristen and I took a 3 hour walk up into the mountains to meet the children's families. Its was really humbling to see the families take such good care of us. FYI - it is rude not to accept Chai from a host family, so Kristen and I had cups and cookies pretty much every 20 minutes! It was humbling to meet the families, and to watch them offer us parting gifts of fresh vegetables and nuts. While most people collect for themselves, in Satyon, families that live off the land will sacrifice large portions of their yield to visitors!
Its midday here, and the sun is at it's peak (just up over the mountains). I'm leaving Kristen in bed, and after some lunch, I'm going to head up into the mountains to a small peak. From there I am told I can see the whole village, and even the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas beyond them.
Despite it's problems, this village is a beautiful place. Having travelled to over 20 countries, I can honestly attest that to live here can only be described as a dream - from the view, to the clean air, to the natural silence, to the people, to the smiles, to the language, to the peace, to the food, to the Chai, to the smells. I wake up every morning to a dream! Now that is worth selling everything I owned for.
Thank you Leen and Kristen for the detailed updates! We are happy that you seem to be coping with the hiccups. Let's hope that tummy bugs and colds will pass and that your bodies adjust! Mum and I are also starting a blog - will keep you posted - we are going on a holiday soon ourselves, but not in your direction! Take care now and look properly after yourselves. Paps
ReplyDeletethis is wonderful Leen. What a beautiful experience you're having there. The comparison to township schools here is so humbling. Glad that you're developing all these meaningful experiences. All the best. Keep the wonderful posts coming.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for such an interesting post, I really enjoy learning about different places and people. Sounds like a big challenge for you and Kristen and very happy to see you two taking this on together. Take care.
ReplyDeleteHello Leen. Do you have any contact number of that town school? I'm very much interested in joining them.
ReplyDelete