Sunday 1st September

Hello friends! How are you today? :)

Ok well it has been explained to me that some of you do not know how to watch the videos I have posted so today I am going to teach you how, don't be scared its actually very simple once you know how. There are two links at the bottom of this post for you to practice on. 

Step one;

Move the mouse pointer to the beginning of the link, the bit that starts http:// there are two buttons at the top of your mouse click and HOLD DOWN the LEFT button. Move the mouse pointer along the link while holding down the button until all the link is highlighted. 

Step 2;

Let go of the left mouse button, the whole link should now be highlighted (if not repeat step 1)

Now move the mouse pointer again over the link and click the RIGHT mouse button but do not hold down this time. A single click will do. 

Step 3;

A small box will open. At the top will read OPEN LINK. Click once on this and the video will play. Please feel free to go back over the previous posts and enjoy the other videos I have posted. Bye for now, Stuart :) x x x

http://youtu.be/nHjKFUQP-eA

http://youtu.be/XHAF56GiJ1w

Thurs 29th August

Hello friends!

Today's topic is the monsoon, or the lack of of it. Things are actually starting to get quite desperate for the people here & not just at the hospice but for the whole district. The lack of rain has its most obvious and immediate problems of drinking water and the watering of the lands so that food can be grown. But now things have got progressively worse. 

As the wells are dry for the past few weeks the hospice has been having water delivered at an ever increasing rate which is obviously a drain on their limited funds. 

But as I said before things have now got progressively worse. The power is now being shut off to the whole district for 5 hours a day so that it can be diverted to pumps to extract water for the whole district, from 6-9 am and 12-2 pm. The first is a minor irritant as this means no fans which makes it hard to sleep. The second means that businesses have no power for 2 hours which causes more problems to very poor people who need every customer they can get. I know of one business that missed out on selling me some cheeseburgers that I was very much looking forward too. Some of the shops have generators but others cannot afford them. I'm not sure what will happen if this continues for another month, but I'm hoping I won't find out. Please pray for the rains!!! :) To give you an idea of how the land looks here below are some pics :)

Our neighbours arid farmland.

Not that much for hungry Daisy :(

These were fruit trees.

I'm really not sure how these trees actually have any green on them as a few feet beneath the soil it's solid rock & the soil is bone dry.

This is the Hospice's farmland, dry and rock hard at the moment.

Some more of our neighbours land.

Ok then the second of today's topics is work. After whinging & moaning enough they are letting me do some work! Woo hoo! Today I have been helping the woodcutter cut down trees & trim the branches off the logs, which is great. Also we have been moving the delivery of hay into the barn for the cows (another problem of the lack of rain- no rain = no grass for hungry grazing cows).

As for the kids they are all doing well. Arnan (the new boy who I wrote about a short while back) is settling in well. He seems to be a very strong boy and is adapting well to life here. I've become quite friendly with him & enjoy chasing him around & if I can catch him slapping his face around a bit. Which is all good fun, especially as I enjoy slapping faces ;) Also, I finally got the chance to get the kids some cricket stumps although they are massive, about 3 feet high, not sure why they are that big but they will do and they are much better than the sticks they have been using. All they need now is a ball of which I found out had split when I got back & gave the kids the stumps hehe, of which I'll get tomorrow as I'm braving the bus into Dindigul all on my own tomorrow for the first time which should be a fun adventure & hopefully on the third attempt I might finally get my tasty cheeseburgers. Oh yeah. Bye for now, Stuart :) x x x 

Friday 23rd August

Hello friends!

It has been 5 days since my last post. I am a very, very, very, VERY naughty boy and should be spanked furiously with something flexible and pointy. But enough of the kinky fun....

Now even though I didn't know what to expect at all when coming to India there were some assumptions that were made in my mind. One being that as a volunteer there would actually be work for me to do but unfortunately there isn't, which has been a large contributor to my lack of posts. I have had to try to think & find jobs to do and ways to help as they won't let me help out (they treat me as a special guest of which I understand why but find frustrating as I came to serve not to be served) but I have found one thing that will keep me busy for a while & will contribute to helping the hospice. 

Anyone who has been to a third world environment will know that rubbish is absolutely EVERYWHERE which is something I actually find quite upsetting, so I've bought 30 large bin bags & over time I'm going to go around the hospice grounds  (about half a square kilometre approx) when it's not too hot & pick up all the rubbish & burn it. This should give me something to do for a while. 

Good news as well though! We have donated 5000 rupees (about £53) to the hospice to towards them getting their septic tank emptied and enlarged so whatever happens at the end of all this it can truly be said that we have helped these people out of the s**t! ;)

Also, they were going to stop the weekly visits to to the villages to give injections as they don't have the money for fuel but we are going to pay for that (300 rupees a week, about £3.50) so that these very poor people can get the medicines they need, which is the kind of thing that I came out here to be a part of so I'm really happy about this. 

Now I have been to the school with the children but I have not written a report on it yet as I need to go back again, as it was an untypical day for them, also we had to leave early so I need to go back and get more information. 

I had fun there though, lots of the kids were coming up to me to say hello so I was shaking their hands and they would repeat "hello" after me. After about 20 kids I got bored of this so started saying "bonjour Madame!" to all of them of which they also repeated. 

Now whenever Im out at home time every time I pass the kids coming home from school in the street they shout out in a chorus "bonjour Madame!" which is both funny and strangely surreal.  

Ok then that's me done for now I will keep updating my post from now on maybe once or twice a week so I actually have something to tell you about I hope you are all well and energetic getting lots of spare time to dance the funky chicken. Bye for now, Stuart :) x

Sun 18th August

Hello there friends.....

Well it's been a funny kind of week, with not much going in here at the hospice & not really doing much at all as I've felt drained all week. I'm sorry I haven't had anything to post about! Next week though I will actually be going to school with the kids to write up on what happens there. 

After being here for three weeks now and getting a fair I idea of what goes on here I am concerned about how I'm going to keep this blog going for 6 months. Generally this is a very uneventful place- granted it may not seem it from the previous posts I've made but I cannot keep re-posting the same material!

So then, I have a few plans of things I will write about but I think I will need your help. Please ask questions or ask me to report on things you might like to know about. 

I was thinking to do an individual blog for each child that lives here detailing things about them & their lives at the hospice. The problem is I can imagine that might be interesting for the first 5 maybe but by the time I reach 20 I'm not sure I'll have any following this blog anymore. Hmm maybe I could just space them out instead of doing one after another?

Please let me know what you think or if you have any ideas. Thanks to everyone who has commented I have replied to all the comments I've received but I do not know if you have received them or not!

Ah I just thought of something to tell you about. Yesterday was the day all the flying ants come out here- now the ants here are BIG here's a pic of one of the average ones:

I didn't get a picture if one of the giant queens as that would have meant allowing them to crawl on my feet as there were loads & I was more interested in running away & screaming like a girl. 

Now seriously the queens were huge. At least one inch long and there were millions of them. Just like the ones back home they are dozy fliers and kept landing on you & in your hair & crawling all over you. Now it  shouldn't have been but prayer time became quite funny. The kids kept trying to flick these giant ants away as they crawled towards them, then another child would flick it away & so on it became a bit like that air hockey game with giant winged ants! One of the boys picked one up and threw it at one of the other boys & it went down the back of his neck! It was one of those moments your not meant to laugh but can't help not laughing! Hehehe :) At the end of the prayers after the boys left there was a small pyramid of stacked up giant ant bodies. Unfortunate but necessary. Anyway that's my story for the day. Attack of the giant ant-queens. Tomorrow I wrestle a one eyed stuttering rabid dog. Stay tuned guys this one could actually be interesting........  Stuart :) x

Thurs 15th August

Hello there friends how's things? 

I'm sorry I haven't posted any thing for a while the illness I had has left me quite lethargic over the past few days- also there hasn't been anything happening here to write about except this one thing......

Now from time to time we will get visitors here, I'm not sure what for I'm guessing its mostly for business, other times friends coming to visit maybe, either way its not any of my business so I pay little attention to it. 

A couple of days ago a group of people turned up with a young boy in tow (which is not unusual ether) and all stayed for a few hours chatting away with words I know not. As usual I paid little attention. Later on, a while after they had left I noticed the boy was still here, sitting on the steps of the entrance to the hospice watching the children in the park opposite playing. I wondered (but had a suspicion) why he hadn't left with his family. I approached him and gestured to him that its ok to go play with the kids in the park. He flatly refused. 

There was great pain in his face with red eyes worn out from crying. His head was downcast, he didn't make eye contact, actually he didn't want any contact with anyone at all. This obviously troubled me so I went to find someone to ask them who this boy was & what was wrong. 

I was told the young lads name is Arnan, he is 12 years old & the answer to my question was very sad. His mother had died only two weeks ago of AIDS, his family were not willing (my guess is actually unable) to take care of him, as he is also infected. 

So here he was feeling alone with strangers in a place he didn't know, with his mother dead and abandoned by his remaining family. 

Obviously I wanted to help but how? I sat and watched him as he sat staring almost vacant with pain towards the children playing in the park. 

Maybe there's something in my room I could give to him but what & what good would it do? Maybe I could just go give him a hug? But he didn't want anyone near him. I sat and prayed, thought some more but soon it became clear that there was nothing I could do but sit and share a tiny fraction of his pain with him from a distance. 

It became clear that this was out of my control & ability to help & this is something he just had to go through by himself which really was frustrating as this was why I came here to help ease these children's pain. 

So, this was two days ago. Since then Arnan seems to have started to settle in and started to make friends. I have managed to make a connection with him & we seem to be on our way to becoming friends. He has stopped crying and started to make some friends among the boys and there's even been some smiles. 

But.

Obviously his pain is still there & he keeps lashing out at some of the kids, he's very quick with using his fists. Other than this he appears to be doing very well (though more than likely isn't) but it's still only been two days & I can only begin to imagine what is going on inside him. 

Well that's all I have to say on that. Please pray for Arnan's pain & his new life here. Stuart :) x 

Mon 12th August

Well hello there. 

Ok well I'm not 100% but I'm well enough to get up and write this plus I'm bored of lying in bed. 

Right then. On with the beach report. 

Now before I start I would like to make it clear that I'm not being negative in this post I'm being honest, & I would actually be being untruthful if I buttered up my experiences on this trip. 

Now then, we left on the bus from the hospice at 9:30pm on our 6 hour drive to the beach. Now I had said that I would prefer to go to a beach that was only 2 to 3 hours away but they wanted to go to see a Roman Catholic Temple so that's where we went. Now 6 hours is tough when you have good roads but most of the roads were uneven & pot-holed & with the added bonus of a driver who thought he was in an episode of The Sweeney & Indian music blasting out like we were in a nightclub (this is standard practice on long journeys here, especially on public buses) getting any sleep was an impossibility. Plus I was starting to feel unwell. 

So after 6 hours of immense discomfort at 3am we arrived but sleep was still impossible as some loud noise would happen just as I was about to drop off or a group of people would gather right outside the window where I was resting where we were parked to have a very loud conversation. By sunrise I was feeling really unwell & literally had no sleep at all so we went to find a room where I could get a couple of hours sleep. Now there were no rooms available as everyone was on pilgrimage to the temple but a room was found in the end, but in an area that was only one step up from a slum. The room was the grottiest I  have ever stayed at in my life. The toilet was a hole in the floor with a urine stained jug to 'wash' yourself with. There was no bed as such, just a concrete slab to lie on, with a filth covered pillow. The 'walls' didn't go all the way to the corrugated iron roof so you could hear conversations like they were in the same room. The iron roof absorbed the 40c heat, intensified it and cooked you like a chicken in an oven. Sleep again was impossible so I gave up & just sat outside. 

Right then the Temple. Again I was baffled by this. As a Christian I understand why people want to go to church but why do some Christians want to go on pilgrimage to crawl a mile on their knees to pray to a statue? I just don't get how they cant see & will not except how blatantly explicit the bible is that this is forbidden.

Anyway the church was very pretty again. 

Here's a quick video (and pic) of what it was like inside with all the people queuing up to pray to their idol;

http://youtu.be/W8uRRTdJ5hk

So then finally at 4pm they decided we could go do what this was actually all about. Take the kids to see the seaside for the first time in their lives. This is where things actually came together & went well. 

Now there was no rain, even though it rained most of the way there & back (thanks to God for answered prayer for that) and the kids absolutely loved it! Here are the video links of them seeing & playing in the sea for the first time; 

http://youtu.be/3uHc7E_8Nac

http://youtu.be/Tjjxs7iHj2E

So I'll leave it there, as you really don't want to know about the 7 hour drive back. At the end of it all I had a really hard time, except for seeing the kids play on the beach for the first time in their lives & knowing I was a part of making that happen, which was actually quite a moving experience for me. But everyone else really enjoyed themselves & had a great time and that's what the trip was about- not me but them, and in the end that made all the grief I went through worthwhile. 

I still really think we should have gone to the closer beach though.......... ;)

Stuart :) x

Sun August 11th

Hello out there all just to let you know the trip to the beach went well there was no rain. The only thing is I am not well at the moment so I won't be writing up on it until I'm feeling better. Catch you in a little while I'm going back to bed, by for now. Stuart :) x

Fri 9th August

Hello out there hospice fans! Hows things?

Well it turns out that the kids have (another) day off school so my plans for writing up on their school day has been temporarily scuppered. Also they have decided to bring our trip to the sea-side a day forward so we will be leaving tonight instead if tomorrow so please again, pray for no rain!!!

Well I don't really have much else to report today other than I bought a couple of guitars while in Madurai City the other day and have started teaching a couple of the older boys how to play- we shall see how that goes please pray for them to have the commitment they need to accomplish this difficult task.

I am hoping that if they learn they can teach the younger kids after I am gone. Also the plan is to teach the kids some English worship songs which should be quite fun I'll make a video of that when it is accomplished. 

Ok then just a few pics here for your viewing pleasure. Bye for now, Stuart :) x

A true Indian restaurant. No cutlery or plates just fingers & banana leaves! Excellent! (Plus a meal for 3 only cost about £4!!!!) :) :) :)

 

Health & safety a work in practice India style :)

Thurs 8th August

Hello again everybody how's things going back there?

Well after a crazy day in Madurai City yesterday, trying & eventually succeeding to register my stay here with the local authorities & am now able to bring you the second part to an 'average' day here for the kids. 

I don't really need to write that much more at this point as its pretty much all explained in the first of today's videos. Now I actually had quite a bit of fun making these vids there were a few funny moments in there, here's the first link;

http://youtu.be/4asWkXAfdmU

So then after playtime & homework & then some more playtime its evening prayers & dinnertime. Again the video shall explain all;

http://youtu.be/3KMroIpMoTQ

And basically after dinner (which is about half 8) the kids go back to their dormitories. I'd like to let you know what they get up to before bed (which is about 9-9:30) but I don't know as they lock the doors to the Hospice & I'm locked in as this is where my room is (I'm all on my own on the creepy 2nd floor where all the ghosts are) :'( 

Tomorrow, if all goes according to plan I should be going with the kids to school which should be fun so I'll be reporting back to you on that hopefully Saturday. 

Now Saturday evening is the beginning of our big day out the the sea-side the kids are getting quite excited about it as most have never seen the sea before. 

We leave Saturday night because its a 6 hour drive & I wanted the kids to enjoy the whole day there not just a few hours. 

We are hiring a mini-bus & I have decided to take all the staff with us as well, they are also HIV positive & work damn hard for 5000 rupees the equivalent of £53 a month, which is a low wage even for India. So I think they deserve it as much as the kids. 

This is by far the most expensive & biggest gift we will be doing for all here at Arulagam so please pray that the monsoon doesn't decide to get started this Sunday! In total it will cost 25000 rupees which is about £264, which isn't bad considering bus hire, fuel, paying the driver, & food for at least 30 people for the day, but is 5 months wages for one member of staff here!

 I'm really looking forward to this as this is something I've had in my mind to do for a long time now so please pray for Gods blessings for our trip. 

Ok then you crazy cats I hope you enjoyed today's videos God bless & catch you again soon.  Stuart :) x x x

Tues 6th of August

Hello friends how are you today?

Well today I'm starting as promised with an average day for the children starting with the morning. 

The day starts for the children at 6am which I think is particularly early as they don't actually start school until 9, now I got up a little late to film the kids getting up but I figured seeing kids wake up and wander round like zombies for 15mins trying to get dressed wasn't all that essential to see anyway. But here's the video giving a general idea of what goes on between 6:15 & 7am;

http://youtu.be/R63XbBpqWVU

Now at 7am it is time for songs & prayer! If your not awake by this time you will be very soon. The bell rings calling all the kids to the chapel & gradually they (mostly) all turn up. Now this usually lasts for half an hour & I've managed to edit the video of it down to just under 15 mins. This is a bit of a long one but its worth a look even for the non-churchy people following, even if its just for a couple of mins so you can see how I usually get woken up each morning! :)

http://youtu.be/y4GiqC7rGqk

After this at about 7:30 - 8am is breakfast time. The buzzer goes and everyone makes their way to the canteen. Now I didn't film this part for two reasons, firstly it was already going to take almost forever to upload the videos I had already planned to upload & secondly I'm going to be putting a vid up of dinner time later this week & really theres no difference between them. Now I really quite like spicy food but believe me they serve curry-fied spicy things here even for breakfast which for me is akin to a shot of whiskey for breakfast it's just wrong! (Even the sweets here are curry flavoured they are a bit obsessed, I think they might need some counselling!) ;)

Anyways after the weird breakfast the children head back to their dormitories for their school packs & what-nots, then at about 8:45 it's into the jeep and off on the school run which leads into the next video;

http://youtu.be/lJl41Sel9G8

And that's basically it for the mornings. I'm planning on taking a trip along with the kids to school to report on their school day soon, probably Friday. I can't do it sooner as I have to go to Madurai City to register my stay here tomorrow & on Thursday I will be busy as well. Next though I will report on the children's day after getting back from school, of which will be in about half an hour from now so I'm off to get prepared for that. Bye for now! Stuart :) x x x

Sun 4th August

Hello all out there how's you today?

Well I'm having an uber lazy day today so I'm not going to be writing much but I have uploaded a couple of videos for you to watch. 

The first is of the church we go to every Sunday, the service is all in Tamil so you won't be able to understand what's being said but you'll be able see where we go & what it looks like. The second, well, it puts this place into perspective really, I'm just glad kids don't die here any more. Here are today's links;

http://youtu.be/t77LzVuyuN4

http://youtu.be/k0K7HzKFQPs

Hmmm the first video I've listedin the post below about visiting the doctors did not upload properly so ignore the first link that ends Upk20. Here is the new link;

http://youtu.be/1oJcPTQMT44

Sat 3rd August- End of the first week.

Hello everyone I hope you are all well. :) Well it's the end of my first week and I can imagine many of you may be wondering why I haven't written that much about the children & the hospice operations yet. 

So, if you have been wondering, the answer is that this has been a very hectic week for me, this place is so different from home I've hardly known my up from my down & my left from my right. I'm very much still settling in & getting to know the place, people & children. One minute I'm here, the next I'm being taken off somewhere, I'm only just starting to get a feel for how things work here so up until now I've just been trying to give you a feel for what it's like to be in India & to share with you some of the things I am seeing & experiencing. 

As soon as I get properly to grips with what's going on around me, how the schedules work here & getting to know the children a little better, I will be in a position to make well informed posts for you to see what life is like here for the children at Arulagam Hospice. Basically, softly softly catch the monkey. 

My plan is to take you through an average day here for the both the kids & the staff, how they worship, how they pray, how they celebrate, how they generally live & the many other things that I will discover about these peoples and this place as time goes by over the next 6 months.

I also plan to write a detailed individual profile on each child, with a short video of them so you can get to know them a bit, & also so you will know who I am talking about if when I talk about them. How all these things come together we shall see, with God's help & guidance I'm sure it will all come together. I'll do my best to get started with these things in a rough sort of way next week. What I do know about this place is it isn't easy to make plans & stick to them as I'm reliant on others for everything at the moment,  which means I can't always get things done when I want to get them done. Also Internet access can be hard here as there may be no-one around to let me into the office or there may be a power failure when I have that access. Plus it takes 1 hour to upload a simple 3 minute video, which doesn't make things any easier. But enough of that for now.

Today we are off to the doctors in Dindigal (the town we went shopping in before to get the kids toys, I just didn't know the name of it then) to have the children checked out & to see if their medication is working for them, at least that's my best understanding of what's going to be happening. There are a few communication problems here sometimes. Ok then off we go........

Right we're here at the doctors & I'm getting a better understanding of why we are here. It's basically a checkup. The kids are having their weight checked and if they have lost weight then they will need lots of feeding up to get them back on track & to keep them healthy & strong. The good news is after their checkups all the children are ok & are all their correct weights.

I have made a few videos of our trip to the doctors for your viewing pleasure. Here are the links;

http://youtu.be/56tB-Upk20

http://youtu.be/4mZ12isSBuA

http://youtu.be/lSwnMya4i2U

http://youtu.be/fUi2AA4lzAU

http://youtu.be/KtH1uwk2E2U

Friday 2nd August Hello guys goes it going? While out and about today I came across this Church with a massive statue of Jesus being taken down from the cross, so I took some pics of it which I have posted below. Now in India they really, really, really their statues and images when it come to spirituality. It seems so ingrained in their society that even the Christians here do similar things. Although when you compare the Christian Churches to the Hindu temples they are comparatively a lot less idolatrous. I'll get round to taking some pictures of some Hindu temples soon so you can see what I mean. They are actually the most beautiful, colourful works of art that you will see as you go about this part of India, some of them are actually quite spectacular it's just a shame what they have been dedicated to. Anyways, here are my pics for today, bye for now! Stuart :) x Stuart Wicks

One of their statue things, I'm not sure what its meant to represent. It might be honouring a saint??

Great artwork. Shame it's idolatry :(

Random photo of one of my little monkeys messing around with his rice sweets :)

I think this ones of Mary.....

This sign says "You should not make a graven idol" ;) ;) ;)

Here is the church from the front...... :)

The alter

The inside from the entrance of the church

This massive 40ft statue confused me a bit. Who is the giant woman holding Jesus meant to be? Any ideas? And why is she a giant???? :( confused :/

Here's another shot of the statue with the church in the background