The End of Monsoon

September has been a very busy month for me and has mainly involved work, work and more work. But now I feel I have got my head above water again. I have given two workshops on record keeping/goal setting one to Deepshikha staff, another to a group of staff from NGO's around Jharkhand. Also held a full day workshop on sensory integration at our outpatient clinic which seemed to go down well as asked for resources by numerous staff this week. We have also finished assessing every child's handwriting in the school and set individual goals for the Diploma students to encourage on a 1:1 basis. In the background of all this going on I have been building a multi-sensory room. This has been a big challenge as I have found it difficult to find the resources i needed, many of the items had to be made and negotiating in Hindi is not my strong point. With the help of some colleagues this room will be open next week for the first time, but im awaiting a planned date for an open day by a special guest, so will have plenty more photos to share with you. The kids are really getting to know me now in pre-school and have started to mimic my English accent and words its very cute and funny.

Im trying to get my head round the lack of communication at work, its difficult as nothing seems to be based round a solid structure. Therefore things can change with the drop of a hat. One minute you've been planning a lesson to give in the afternoon the next your told sorry we are doing a test instead. I don't think its just a matter of not speaking very good Hindi that things are not conveyed I'm starting to get the feeling this is just how my colleagues are used to working. For me this is really hard as I like to be organised and well prepared, maybe I will adopt a more laissez faire attitude when im finished, who knows? definitely struggling with patience at these times.

These are some photos of the last month

Other than work I've been playing squash and badminton, enjoying aerobics sessions and even trying out some classical Indian dance with two left feet, sorry no photos! I've also been planning some trips away before I have to leave India for good, cant believe I have been here 7 Months now. Anyway Im travelling with my friend Sue in October to Varanasi, which im told by many is a must, cant wait. We have a festival here called Dussehra also in October so have got 10 days off and will have to see some places near by with friends as trains get really booked up round holiday times and if you don't get booked early there is nothing you can do. So with that in mind I have booked a trip to see friends in Bhubaneshwar and I am booking a trip to Darjeeling and Kolkata in November just after Diwali another few days off. So my next few blog's will hopefully be full of the wonders of India. The rain has stopped here but can not really say we had a lot anyway, its now coming into the winter season apparently, its 20 degrees at night 30 in the day, feels warm suddenly to me. Im also running out of book material, please send me your ideas of good reads, as am going through so many at the moment. Thank you to all those who have been sending me cards, they are decorating my wall at home and are a nice surprise when they arrive.

Half way through

As you will see I've been keeping myself busy, the club has come through again with a great night of music by two singers from Mumbai who sung both Hindi and English songs with the odd mention of signature whisky throughout the evening (the sponsors). I keep saying this but I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a membership here. Racket sports have become my new interest as swimming is a bit too cold outdoors at the moment and I've even had a go or two at aerobics.










I also had my own party in my house with a few friends and VSO volunteers. It was Joel's birthday so I got a cake and listened to a mixture of Jazz and Hindi music. With all the space at my place there was no problem getting room on the dance floor.

I have finally got myself some trousers that are not so baggy I will take off on the bike, but even though the population in India are naturally quite short compared to westerners, I couldn't believe the leg was 34inch. Lucky I could get them adjusted.

 The handover of my handwriting workshop is going well this week my colleague should have experienced facilitating the whole course and be well on the way to setting up the next one. I have also given a workshop on record keeping and goal setting with the teachers and outpatient staff and have been asked to facilitate this session to an NGO service day where many NGOs are meeting  together to discuss their work in India with disability. My next workshop will be on sensory integration and hopefully we will have the multi sensory room up and running by then.
We celebrated teacher's day at the weekend, this is celebrated all over India and seems to be bigger than mother's day. I even got a day off work. The students gave me this card and I was honoured by Deepshikha with a pashmina and a speech of gratitude, quite overwhelming. The students also performed and we had a great lunch put on.

6 Months has passed so fast, but every week I'm enjoying more and more as I find my place in this exciting country. Hopefully in October I will venture out on some more travels. I have already planned a big trip at Christmas when my sister visits to Mumbai-Goa-Kerala so am looking forward to that treat.