Pre-Christmas update – Administration and After-School Club

Merry Christmas one and all (for those who celebrate christams and don't just get coerced by the mass media into buying unnecessary presents).

My apologies for taking so long in getting my fingers caressing the keyboard to forge another update for you. Turns out I've been quite busy. I have found myself in the dual role of admin assistant and examiner. It is the time of the students and of term exams and Miss Nehra and I have been putting ht students through their paces in their physical exams. When not doing this, I have been helping our MD Sodagar to get things moving with the FCRA. This is the governmental body concerned with foreign currency and charity donations. They have to date been blocking funds to the school, for some reason that I'm not sure any of us can fathom any more. Knowing India, it is probably the case that someone is holding out for a bribe and hope that if they delay us long enough, even though every scrap of paper work is now in order, we will eventually succumb and ask how much it will cost us to get things moving. Thankfully they will be disappointed.
Things are certainly moving now. We have been to meet with the Deputy Commissioner for Fatehabad district – a clearly bright guy of my age who told us that now the case is with his department he will ensure a speedy resolution. The only minus point to this meeting was that the DC decided he wanted to show how important he was in front of the Gora by totally misrepresenting Sodagar to me. It took me about an hour in the car afterwards to calm Sodagar down and explain that the DC was probably just trying to look big and make himself feel better because his wife had argued with him that morning. This cheered up our MD, though he was amused by my attempt to make him feel better rather than the factual content of my reasoning, since he informed me that the DC was in fact unmarried.
Having put in a word for Miss Nehra in my last blog I must now big up (which is hip hop speak for praise) Sodagar. He has quite successfully transformed himself over the last week or so from a human being into a Beesque Blue-Arsed Fly, so busy has he been and such has been the amount of running about he has done to try and get the various issues sorted.
Sodagar even managed to fit in the trip to Jalundar to buy the sports equipment. The school now possesses sufficient footballs, volleyballs, badminton rackets and nets etc to provide an excellent level of coaching. Consequently the school's reputation as an institution that builds human beings well versed in teamwork and leadership as well as academic excellence will be built henceforth.
The After School Club will begin tomorrow – my Christmas present to myself – with some unique coaching drills that combine cricket, football and athletics. We will then be playing some theatre games in the vein of 'who's line is it anyway' and will be building a brick and clay oven together so that in the coming days cookery can become an integral part of the activities. It is my intention also to share the role of documentary makers among the students each day, so hopefully once I've taught them how to edit the footage we'll have some amusing and insightful clips to parade on youtube, all of the children's own making.
The only fly in the ointment is that the ***&^%$^%$ing roller has still not %*&%$#%#$^$%& been **^%&%$^#^%^ delivered, despite the man promising it more than two weeks ago. This has gone beyond a lesson in 'this is India and be patient' into George would swear and curse profusely were there not a minute chance children might be reading this. We have now been promised a roller in two days time…I'd say watch this space, but you might end up with a very hefty broadband bill and square eyes from staring at this space for longer than…(insert suitably lengthy metaphor/simile here)

The other major development is the discovery is that it is possible to get broadband at the school. We just need 1000m of wire, a capable engineer and some persuasive arguments as to why we would get our broad band service from a different village telephone exchange than we currently use to receive our phone services. The experience of the roller has taught me not to get too excited yet, but the very fact that there is now a light at the end of the tunnel means I'm going to start working towards it with all energy and means at my disposal.

A mention must also go to my family, who have been very supportive in recent weeks. Of particular note is the sympathy of my sister, who was always the fat kid at school who hated sports (before she blossomed into a fitness fanatic who runs marathons) so she sent me some money to buy both supplementary cricket equipment, for those of a sporting persuasion, and arts materials for those children who want to take part in After School Activities of a non-sporting nature. I have used some of this to buy some pots and pans and an electric whisk, so I can show the children how to make pancakes in time for pancake day, it is also my hope that we may be able to bake a 'welcome back to school/happy new year' cake in time for the return to school on the 1st January.

I'll try to let you know how the activities pan out. I've laid lots of plans as best as I can, so I'm sure everything will be perfect!

Have a good festive period. Don't do anything I wouldn't have done in my youth.
Massive love.
Xxx

Unifying disunity and the growth of sports…

Since my last missive I have been working to get the after-school sports and English club up and running. Having discovered that the main sports pitch would not be ready with its growth of grass until march, I scaled back my plans and am now working with the space you can see in the area surrounding the community centre's foundations. Here I have marked out two volleyball courts, four cricket nets, two badminton courts and a good sized 5-a-side football pitch.
Three main tasks exist for the preparation of the pitches – to remove the small stones and rocky debris from them, then to water and flatten them. The removal of stones was completed with the help of the first standard children during a games period. As punishment for misbehaviour, I thought to teach them a lesson in appreciating their games period by making them undertake the boring and laborious task of removing the stones. I still cannot help smiling at the lesson I was taught – for the children considered it one of the most fun games periods they had had since my arrival, delighting in showing me the size and number of the rocks they had collected, before depositing them in the bucket I was carrying. Proof if ever it was needed that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter!
I have commissioned the making of a pitch roller, which will be a lasting gift to the school, as it will enable flat pitches of all kinds and especially well maintained cricket wickets to be prepared. The watering will soon be underway in preparation for the roller's arrival.
The only practicality that remains is the purchasing of the necessary equipment to furnish a successful coaching program. To this end I have drawn up in consultation with Miss Nehra (my games teaching colleague) a list of necessary purchases and intend to make these before the week is out. This will necessitate a visit to Jalundar, a prospect that excites me, as I've not yet had a chance to visit a city since my arrival.
Here it is worth making a brief mention of Miss Nehra. She will shortly be getting married and thence leaving the staff. The school faces a definite challenge in adequately replacing her. Not only is her English proficiency the highest among the staff, but she possesses a degree in physical education and has played basketball, netball and Kho Kho (one of india's naitional games) at a national level. The luck of the school in having a staff member of such all-round competence in the neighbouring village cannot be overstated, and it is my firm belief that if the school is to go from strength to strength, finding a long-term replacement who can adequately fill her void will be essential, not least because she is one of the few teachers who will speak her mind when the Principal invites discussions in staff meetings. To date, I have learnt it is a rarity that the teachers will choose to speak at all. More on this anon.

In admin terms for the after-school club, I have sent a letter round the parents of 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th standards outlining my intentions and stating the need for the parents to be responsible for the collection of their children, since after school hours the school-vans will not be available to deliver them home. I have had a hugely encouraging response from those students who expressed an interest in participating in the sessions. I now, in discussion with the Principal and Sodagar, the schools MD, need to draw up a start date and schedule. It is my hope that I will be able to begin these sessions before January, but with exams looming, I am aware of the possibility that this may not be possible.
My intention is to work into the participation in the sports an understanding that achievement in academic work is essential if they wish to be able to consistently take part. Those who have watched the movie 'coach carter' will have an idea of the kind of thing I am referring to here. It is my hope that come the end of year exams I will be able to demonstrate that the self-discipline and team ethic forged through the after-school club will see participating students performing significantly above expectation, not just in English but in all their subjects.

Such hopes will be greatly affected by the willingness of the teachers to aid me in monitoring the homework and class performance of the students taking part in the sessions. Here I confess my heart has slight fears. I mentioned that none of the teachers responded to my questionnaire. This in itself is of course enlightening. Since then, it has become clear that disunity is rife among the teachers, many of whom seem to be unable to refrain from gossiping and slandering one another simply as a means of passing the time of day. This has inevitably fostered factions within the teaching family and has led to the teachers focussing not on the job they are doing (beyond doing the bare minimum to earn their wage), but rather on holding a constant microscope under which they can place the actions and behaviour of their colleagues. If such attention to detail could be focussed instead upon the future growth of the school and upon the immediate challenges present
in raising the standards of the weaker students in each class, then the school would not have to be constantly fighting the fires of malicious gossip and hearsay in the villages that, at times, threaten to overwhelm the repute and standing we have worked so hard to build. My hunch is that if the teachers can be given something bigger than themselves to consider, something that provides them with ample seams of productive conversation to mine, then we may be able to turn a corner. Once I have the sports and English club up and running I will turn my attention to this in partnership with the Principal. Any sage advice from across the pond would be well received.
Writing a day later…
My hunch above has been semi-confirmed by a day's illness I am in the process of recovering from. It appears that as soon as my absence was noted, all conversation among the teachers switched to what might be the matter with me. Such evident energy to tittle tattle could be considered a negative thing, but nothing is good or bad etc. The encouraging fact is that such a type of energy exists. It now simply has to channelled in a way that will bring expansive benefits, rather than being allowed to foment division.

Expansion and trees…
During all the wedding parties that have been happening, I chanced to meet a gentleman from Birmingham who is a trustee of another school over here. I showed him around the GMMCS and listened to his observations. Two main things stood out in what he said. Firstly that we should plant more trees and secondly, that we ought to consider building the accommodation blocks outside the main school grounds, as this would allow for expansion in the future. For the trustees back in the UK, the latter is definitely worth thinking about. At present the school has no way of providing for the study of Music and Drama or CDT. The space currently assigned for hostel and accommodation blocks would seem a sensible choice of location for such facilities.
The planting of trees is of course a no-brainer for any human being concerned with our planet's survival. There are already numerous trees planted around the school, but having observed the rote nature of much of the teaching, it occurs to me that one could usefully take teaching of environmental science out of the class room and institute tree planting as a practical class, with each year group having responsibility for each of the trees planted by their yeargroup as the years progress.
Whilst on the topic of growth…it has been a little wounding to discover that the growth of the school ground's flora is aided by the use of fertilizers. I know for a fact that a nutrient supplement of rockdust and a small quantity of sea salt will provide a far more balanced and broad span of nutrients than the costly 'DiAmmonium Phosphate' currently in use. Even if my suggestion is impractical, surely we must find a way of pioneering non-chemical based plant growth in our own back yard if, in time, our community centre is to have the desired impact. Again, I invite suggestions or advice from those in the farming or organic food communities, or anyone with an idea of an alternative approach.

To many it may seem that I often have only concerns to raise and discuss, so I feel I must dispel this notion. The brighter the candle in the darkness, the more one is aware of the darkness when the candle is removed from sight. So it is with the GMMCS. The children are such bright mirrors, and the way the project has developed is so commendable, that anything which is a source of gloom amid such shining is always going to be more keenly felt.

Returning to this after a day or so, I can now confirm that we are to head to Jalundar to purchase the sports equipment on Saturday. The roller should be ready by Saturday evening (an annoying delay that is an inconvenience, but not a disaster) and the afterschool program will begin on Monday. My excitement has been enhanced greatly by seeing the swift progress the students seem able to make with even a small amount of coaching. Given that we currently only have one volleyball between about 30 students, Miss Nehra and I initially deemed trying to teach volleyball to the students a very ineffective use of time. However, we picked up on the students' enthusiasm to try and play the game during their lunch breaks. Consequently, we have been having short 10 minute games at the end of their break session and have imparted to the students the basic necessities of technique. In the space of a week, they we have progressed from weak, inaccurate serving and
non-existent rallies to serves that have power and enough accuracy, and rallies that can now be said to constitute a game. Yours truly must, at this juncture, confess his surprise. I had dismissed volleyball coaching as pointless until we had sufficient equipment. I am glad that as with the 1st standard I was given a wonderful lesson in 'truth' as it exists to our younger minds, as opposed to what we of a more aged bent believe we define it to be. I am glad to report that such is the speed of the students mastery of the basic skills, I have happily forgone my entire lunchbreak to play as longer game with the students. Each day I select 5 students and 3 subs for my team of 6 and appoint an opposing captain to do the same. This has now become an established routine, and the benefits in the actual games periods are manifest. The students are dedicateing themselves with a zeal to improving each day, in the hope of winning a place on 'George sir's
team' at at lunchtime.

More next week...as I report on the (hopefully painless) birth of the GMMCS After-School club. Should AfterSchool club be hyphenated? Capitalised? Who knows? (no seriously, if you do know, tell me so I can get it right in future!)

Much love for now.