To Teach and be Taught, My Adventures in the Chander Abha Memorial School for Blind Children,Kullu. Episode 2.

We appear to have entered into the goat herding season here in Himachal. Every night this week , from 10pm onwards for 3hours or more I have heard the jingle of donkey bells coming up the hill. This ,I have come to learn will be followed by the cackle of two hundred goats and sheep, making their way from the lower valleys to the cooler pastures of Rhotang and beyond. This is all very well to listen to from the safety from my bed but to try to navigate through the masses is another story. And needless to say that is where I found myself at 11.30 last night, with only a meagre mobile phone to light the way. But thanks to the two tough local women I was walking with we made it through without a scratch.


Dance rehersal

What led to the late walk was yet another enthralling cultural programme. One of many I have been invited to.A couple of weeks ago six of the girls performed at such a function. They received a very warm reception and much praise. It is an honour for the school to be invited to perform and with such strong musical talent present here it is easy to see why it occurs so frequently.What these guest appearances also achieve is publicity for the school an awareness of the fact that visually impaired children can learn to sing and dance and be educated like all others. A lot of people here are not aware of Braille or that the same educational achievements are a possibility for the visually impaired.


Top Priority- Cricket on Sundays.

I have to admit it was quite a surprise to me to hear that the boys play cricket but why not! And what an enjoyable afternoon that turned out to be, watching the boys play their passion. They have had much reason to be happy of late because the boys in the government school got the results of their board exams. Two of them, in different classes, had the top results of all students and three others in very high positions. This is a huge achievement for both teachers and students and a really deserved result from what I have seen of the work input here.

Saturdays, activity day always ends in song.

I have been busy introducing craft activities here, which has proved a great success. The children had previously learned to make candles and paper envelopes and of course some of them have a great affinity to this creative process. The process itself is great in many ways but also the result, one of which was a papier mache bird has led to lots of other activities, games and stories in hindi and english, and the imagination of free and innocent children is always worth listening to.

Apart from school I have been out rafting with staff. A surprise trip with some of the women , whos enthusiasm for fun never ceases to amaze me.I am also busy doing hindi classical dancing classes, Kathak, which sometimes involves me reluctantly singing! So never a dull moment.

What am I expecting of the forthcoming month? Well hopefully no more noisy goats but a bountiful supply of ripe and juicey lychees, plums, walnuts and pears, to name a few.

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