Marinda De Villiers is spending a month at the Hebron Orphanage

I arrived finally in Rajamundhry after a 1 day delay in Chennai.  I have never travelled by myself before or done anything as adventurous as this, so by the time I landed I was feeling quite emotional but managed to hold it together. At least that is, until I arrived at the orphanage where Sagar, his wife and all the children had put on a huge heart warming display to welcome me.  All the kids had been waiting for me and stood in two lines down the walk way and were chanting my name Marinda Marinda Marinda!!!.  Well that was me and the flood gates opened (in a good way) I was so overwhelmed, excited and happy. I had the best nights sleep that I have had in ages.   Later on in the evening I helped to dish up food to the kids who are so adorable and well mannered.

In the morning Sagar walked me around to the classrooms and get this, you remember my anxiety about speaking in front of people well I am so over that now.  I actually sat on my own for about 30 mins being entertained, reading to a class and asking them to read, dance sing etc. 

The college is not completely finished but almost there just a few finishing touches such as the marble flooring (apparently only a little bit more expensive than concrete but much better quality and cooler too).  Its a great building you/ ALMT supporters should be very proud.

I am already in love with this place and just would make it possible for them to have everything they need. 

30th January 2009

Its only my third day at the orphanage and I am so at home and have bonded so quickly with the kids that I feel I have known them forever. 

My day starts around 8am when I sit outside with a cup of coffee soaking up the fresh country air and watching the dense fog lift lazily from the dusty ground like something out of eerie movie.  Children rush about busing themselves with their chores and getting ready for school,  I walk around chatting to Sagar and his wife about the days activities and relax before we feed the kids .  Breakfast is served at around 8.30am and usually consists of a vegetable biriyani or plain cooked chickpeas.

We read poems or paragraphs out of their text books and gauge which direction the class should go. I am mostly accompanied by either Sagar or Mr Prakesh a retired teacher with over 20 years experience under his belt and they translate what I am saying to the class. We also land up doing fun stuff like simplified charades which the kids love and gives us all loads of laughs.

In the afternoon I go to the college and take classes with the older students.  Yesterday I did revision with the first and second year Primary Care Giver girls.  They will eventually get well paid jobs subsidised by the government to go out into the rural areas where people don't have access to health centres or hospitals.  The are allocated an area that they are responsible for and will provide basic care and advice on heath, nutrition and midwifery support and report back to a central governing body and doctors if further care is needed or prescriptions required etc. 

After school I spend an hour or say playing dodge ball, hop scotch or other games with the kids.

Next is prayers for the evening and then dinner, which I also help to serve.  Both lunch and dinner consists of a generous portion of rice either stir fry or with a ladle spoon of curry and an indian soup. 

After dinner I spend some time with the family then go to my room to read and go to sleep.  What an incredible experience so far.  It will be my first weekend here tomorrow so I am excited to go out into the town to buy myself a Sari.

8th February

It's almost the end of my second week at the orphanage.  Helen and Guy arrived a few days ago which has been brilliant for me to  have company of my own age (ok, ok so maybe they are several years younger but a girl can dream can't she!!).  I watched as they got the Hebron welcome and were also completely blown away by the reception. 

As the days have gone on I have started to really get to know some of the characters here, their wonderful sunny personalities and also some of their tragic stories. It's hard to imagine what they have been through. I believe this is a testament to the work that is being done here, made possible by those who send donations but also because of the love that they receive from Sagar, his family and friends who all pitch in. Everyone that I have spoken to has said they love it at Hebron with even the final year students saying they will be really sad to leave when their school year is over. 

I found out that one of the girls here was the only witness to her mothers murder committed by her father and had to testify against him in court. He was jailed and is now apparently dead.  Another brother and sister arrived at the orphanage when their father was murdered in front of them after another family carried out an honour killing on him. Another girl ran away from home when her parents tried to marry her off, she's only 13 years old. Then there is Sash and his brother Sabash, they were found living on the streets by one of the schools bus drivers. When you see how tiny and frail they are, its really heart wrenching to imagine how frightened they must have been, having to scrounge for food and find a place to sleep each night. They don't look older than 4 or 5 years old but believe they are 8 or 9. Sagar said that when they came in they looked so bad that it brought tears to their eyes. 

Last night Guy, Helen and I arranged a bonfire/ activity evening with dance music and a few british games. (Most of the credit going to Helen and Guy in all fairness). All of the children were split in to four teams and they competed against each other for points.  The night was a huge success with the kids having an absolute blast.  I don't think I have been so filthy in over 25 years and laughed so much it hurt. 

On Sunday (today) we are taking a trip to the beach which I am really looking forward to so will keep you posted.

14th February

The 3rd week of my experience at Hebron is almost over and reality is setting in.

Last week we ended the week with a trip to the beach which was great fun and the kids had a blast of course.  We went to the Bay of Bengal which is the coastline that was hit by the tsunami so was sad to see that some old fisherman's boats were still left lying  stranded in rice paddies, hundreds and hundreds of metres away from the actual waters edge.  (Apparently 120 children had been taken in as a direct result of the tsunami with several of them still living at Hebron today.) 

I must admit it was good to get out and about because I hadn't actually been out since my arrival, except for the quick drive to get my sari. 

On Thursday, we were very lucky to have been invited to wedding that Sagar was officiating at.  This was the most authentic experience of rural India that I have had so far.  Needless to say the three of us were treated like film stars with people asking to take photos of us.

On Friday we cut the ribbon to the opening of sports day for the junior kids at Corbett English School. This was also a really funny day because the kids were so young and clueless they ended up running across lanes, stopping halfway and turning around or just walking off the field completely so a bit chaotic but they got there in the end. Once against loads of laughs. 

On Saturday night we managed to hook up an ipod to a speaker so played Western music tothe children. We didn't realise what a reaction we would get because they became almost over excited to see Helen and myself dancing like two crazy ladies who had become covered in stinging ants and were trying to shake them off.  We then played air guitar and sang at the top of our lungs to Sweet Child of Mine by Guns and Roses only to be told by the kids in all sincerity what amazing dancers and singers we were. It was only when we stopped dancing and looked around did we notice how everyone had started running around and jumping and screaming, the playground looked like something out of a National Lampoon movie so we quickly turned off the music and tried to sneak inside to restore a bit of order.   I am actually stiff today from all the activity.

Other than that its been another amazing week with loads more on the agenda for next week including Corbetts Annual Day and Angus Day so looking forward to that and will keep you posted.

3rd March 

My final week at Hebron has gone by so fast and I must admit to leaving with a heavy heart. It was a week filled with a lot of activity on campus.  There were preparations for various sporting and formal events which promised to keep us all busy as we would all have various tasks to perform as the special VIP guests -  ranging from cutting ribbons, handing out awards and my personal favourite ..... NOT!!!........  SPEECHES!!!.  The first event was a farewell party for the senior students of the Angus Lawson Vocational College.  It is a particularly auspicious occasion because these students will be the first ever to complete and graduate from their two year course at the college that was created two years ago in Angus Lawsons memory. Very soon we will be able to see these students putting their new skills and training to use and for the orphan students many will be the first in their family or village to finally break the cycle of unemployment or working in low paid, unskilled jobs. This is obviously an amazing accomplishment and I am so proud to be associated with the college founders who have made this possible. 

The evening went well with the usual fanfare of singing, poems, recitals and speeches.  I had been approached to say a few words to the assembly so had my usual "stress out" around public speaking.  After some major butterflies and anxiety I finally did it and am really pleased I did, baby steps for me to get over this phobia of mine, but I didn't back out which was something I was considering doing.

Then there was the senior's sports day with running events as well a cricket and the national sport "cabaddie" that always seems  gets the crowd into a frenzy as it involves some trickery and cunning as well as speed and agility to prevent the defending team member being caught.  A bit like kissing catches without the kissing of course. 

A few nights later there was a massive event for the Corbett School Annual Day. I was really surprised to be told that around 2000 people were expected to attend, lo and behold there were indeed thousands at the event.  This time I managed to get out of making a speech but poor old Guy Pattison got the task which of course he sailed through.  The rest of us had to pose for hundreds of photos as we handed out academic and sporting awards. 

 These kids love to dance and sing and its a joy to watch and they are good at it too.     

I forgot to mention that whilst I was at Hebron I learnt a Telegu Christian song and at one of the evening prayers sang it to the assembly.  Can you believe it, me, singing and also to around 370 people, my lord what is going on??  I just love the song, it has such a sweet melody so when I was begged to sing it how could I refuse and so did my solo debut in dedication to the girls who spent time teaching me the song.

My time at Hebron is now over and all I can say is that I am eternally grateful to Nick for telling me about this project.  I was so lost and scared not knowing what I wanted to do after being at DB for 11 years and my role being made redundant.  I had always wanted to do something like this but had always been frightened of travelling alone and not knowing if I was going to be safe, so this worked out perfectly.  I wanted to go and do something good for someone else, to get out of my head and the "feeling sorry for myself" zone I have been in and boy did I achieve my goal.  

The biggest thing is that they are always happy.  I find that amazing.  So I came to Hebron hoping to be helpful and giving something to the orphanage but in the end I am the one who has come away with so much.  I feel like a bit of a fraud going there, with them believing I am some amazing goddess and being treated like royalty when in fact I was just a frightened, unsure,  insecure stressed out girl.  I have come away feeling proud of myself, strong willed, confident and more relaxed than I have been in years. 

I left with a heavy heart with a few tears, knowing that it is time to get back to reality, but, do you know what, I am excited to get home. I have so much, I have my own home that I purchased on my own when I was only 25 how many people can say that? I have Deutsche to thank for that. I have an education and skills and so much to look forward to as a new adventure awaits for me.  So here I come London ready or not.

To be honest I don't even want to start looking for work just yet, I want to take at least another month or 2 off to work on myself, maybe travel a bit more and do a few courses.  At least now I can say I know what I want.  So thank you god for working in your mysterious way.  This has been a life changing series of events for me and I wouldn't change any of the past 3 months for the world.

Nick- thank you so much

And Sagar and Sunitha a huge thank-you for your amazing hospitality.