Hallo all – leaving for India for 5 weeks on Tuesday – early train to NYC, visit with cuz in Brooklyn, get a ride to JFK, night flight directly to Mumbai on air India – will my arms get tired from flapping? I’ve heard stories…
 
Trying to decide among three service projects:
 
1) a  K-5 school for dalits in Jaisalmer – students ages 4 -12; not sure what I could do there, but the weather is good now (the desert) and I could support teachers in the classroom around math/English, or offer music classes (which they don’t have in their curriculum), and maybe sit in on their Hindi classes so I can learn some (just now I only know acha OK and cello LET’S GO). Their curriculum is simply “math’s” English history Hindi. They don’t have a library. I think the kids probably speak a tribal language as their first language, so maybe the Hindi classes will be easy enough for me to get going! I’ve been to Jaisalmer, and it is great! If you don’t know, or don’t feel like googling, the dalits are the untouchables, the lowest caste, with no opportunity for education.
 
2) a tribal village project in Yercaud, a hill station in Tamil Nadu where one aspect is creating a community reading room/library. I am still waiting to hear back some details on this. Monsoon, but cooler.

3) BALM, an affiliate of Banyan, is running a project in Chennai for homeless, mentally ill women – they have a small library which needs cataloging. The weather will be monsoon.

Also have the opportunity to go stay in Patty’s Himalayan retreat in Almora – far away and no Patty boo hoo. but tremendously beautiful countryside; challenging to get to, and challenging to live from day to day.  monsoon. but maybe cooler…

Finally, does it make more sense to send group emails like this, or post on my blog (which might be too public, dunno, and I’ll have to start using capitals…)

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Feel free to weigh in on any and all dilemmas…