Village People

“Che-lo, Che-lo,” we say to the children. Like always, they are reluctant to leave the afternoon activities but eventually follow us towards the gate of the government school giggling and whispering in Punjabi. They grab our hands to shake them time and again. “Hello, bye!” they repeat to us, some heading home by bicycle. Most of them walk with us to our home, pointing at buildings and puppies to teach us Punjabi vocabulary. After a month of interaction with the children and youth of Sotla, we feel like we know them although we may not know all their names; from the mischievous nine-year old girl with the short hair who insists on leading outdoor activities to the older boy who cannot let go of the ball in dodgeball games.

We have been preparing to set-up a VIKAS (development) Centre in the village here and testing out the concept at the Sotla Pilot Centre. Bringing along Western summer camp games to teach them basic English, we mostly communicate through gestures when we are without interpreters. They are familiar with their favourite games now and we have just started introducing computers to them with four laptops. We’ve had almost 100 participants come through our “centre” and we are now thinking of way to sustain the centre and how to start provide full-service through programs to the villagers.

There are a few migrant families who relocated to our village from Eastern India to look for work. One of these families has five children, ranging from age 2 to 11. The parents sent the children to the government school in the past but they always returned home and the parents have given up on sending them. Perhaps they find the material difficult or because they are afraid of the teacher. We’ve been encouraging the children to attend the after-school programs that we are initiating but the oldest child, an 11-year old girl has to take care of her 5 and 2 year old siblings while her parents worked in the field. Initially, she wouldn’t come because she had to stay home to care for them. But now, she brings them along.

Initially, Indian time (aka. it will happen at some time. . .) had prevented us from diving straight into the work here, but things are now slowly taking off. I’m looking forward to the marketing and planning work that I hope to accomplish while I am here.

Outside of work, village life had proved to be enjoyable and comforting especially after traveling in hot, polluted cities for days. The fields of green and the tranquil, slow-paced life is comparatively relaxing. Predominantly an agricultural society, Punjabi villages are surrounded by field, worked by farm labourers and landowners. I was invited to my co-worker Jinder’s village where she proudly showed me her land with sunflowers, corn, wheat, sugar cane, spinach, mustard greens, eggplants, mint and coriander among others. Her family owns cows and buffalos that she milks and takes care of everyday.

Dairy is easily available in the village and are consumed as is. Milk from either cow or buffalo is rich as cream, used in curd, lassi and milk straight into chair. Sugar is also liberally used in the diet as is oil when making chapati and butter in dahl. It is the way to gain “healthy” weight although I hope I won’t bring back excess load through customs on my return. . .

To see some of my experiences so far, check out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107012&l=e32e6&id=604205042