Posted on March 31, 2017 under Storytelling with 16 comments

 

In a few days time, I will be heading to North India for a vacation. I won’t have my laptop computer with me, so I am going to try and publish my stories on my iPhone.

This is a test to see if I can do this efficiently and accurately. Now don’t go all haywire on me if this post doesn’t come out perfectly.

Do me a favor, and send me a short note to let me know that you have received this message.

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Posted on March 18, 2017 under Storytelling with 6 comments

My saving Grace

Anybody who has been a parent has a potty training story.

Looking back, training a young person to use the toilet is child’s play compared to some of the other challenging aspects of child rearing. But it takes a lot of time and patience to teach a toddler the niceties of where and when to expel body waste… preferably not in a busy dentist’s waiting room or in a lineup at the grocery store.

Many of us thought we would do our bit for the environment and decided to go the cloth diaper route. That charming experience lasted about as long as the gestation period of an opossum : 12-13 days. Of course, our parent’s generation had no choice. With large families and always a couple of youngsters in diapers, seeing a long clothe lines full of them was common. On the coldest days of the winter, they would be as rigid and hard as a rock, standing at attention like a guard.

Disposable diapers are not as environmentally friendly and are costlier than the real thing but most of us threw in the towel ( the cloth diaper ) and “pampered” ourselves. Even dads could figure out how to affix one of these to a smooth butt. We all went through a period, especially with our first child when we wondered if they would be crossing the stage at high school graduation wearing a diaper, such was the slow progress in figuring out how to use the toilet.

We all naively counted up the savings we would realize when the disposable diaper days ended.

And even when we thought that our child was fully trained, there would always be a small accident.

Shopping is like potty training for men like me. The only difference is that I still keep having “ shopping “ accidents at the age of 65.

After a couple of particularly challenging weeks in India , I decided to have a “ time out” day and head to a town nearby to do some shopping. Things must be bad when I will willingly and knowingly head to a large department store but desperate times call for desperate measures.

After all these years, I know a thing or two about shopping and I have my own “ code of conduct.” #1. Stay home. Do not go shopping. #2. If you absolutely must go, make sure you’re accompanied by a woman. # 3. Repeat step #1.

I “ doubled down” on step #2 and asked two women to accompany me to Pothy’s , a seven floor glass and steel emporium of merchandise in Nagercoil. I know exactly three words of Tamil and one verse of a song in Malayalam, the two languages spoken in the state of Tamil Nadu. These two women would act as my fashion consultants and translators. We entered the modern, air conditioned building and I swear that half of the population of Tamil Nadu was working in this store. I have been known to wander aimlessly through Walmart without finding a solitary salesperson.

I was hoping to add to my extensive wardrobe ( three shirts, a pair of shorts, 5 pairs of underwear and a bathing suit ) by adding a new spring wardrobe of Indian clothing. It didn’t take long for the women to find me a new white kurta , even though most of the offerings made me look like a priest. Then it was on to a pair of pants to complete the ensemble. These kinds of pants are loose fitting at the top but narrow and bunch at the bottom.

A pair of maroon colored pants was recommended and I went into the change room to try them on. I found it very difficult getting the pants over my heels but I am a determined shopper if nothing else and I tugged and pulled until I got them on. I modeled them for my two friends and the sales clerks. I got the “two thumbs up” from all quarters. I re-entered the change room and found out that getting the pants off was far more challenging than getting them on. So difficult in fact that I had to go back to the sales clerk and ask him to come into the change room. It was quickly determined that these pants were not coming off in a conventional manner.

I was paraded through the store amid stares and grins from the other clerks. I was marched into the alterations room and the head seamstress carefully removed enough stitches from each pant leg to allow me to remove the pants. I walked back to the change room looking like I had purchased a bargain pair of pants from Frenchy’s , with pieces of thread dragging behind me on the floor.

The checkout procedure was interesting, to say the least. Another clerk ( not the one who sold me the goods ) walked me over to a table to secure an invoice of sorts which I was instructed to then take to the cashier. My merchandise was then shipped to another location ( the pick up spot ) where I would go once my bill was paid in full. I quickly found out that the credit card machines in this ultra modern facility are not synchronized. Regrettably ( through translation) I discovered that they only accepted “international “ credit cards on the 2^nd. and 7^th. floors. I was on the 3^rd.

Another voucher was produced and I was off to pay my bill. The good news is that my card worked flawlessly but when I saw the clerk grab a fistful of rupees ( 500 or so ) to hand to me, I knew something was amiss. He had entered the incorrect amount and I ended up getting “ cash back.” All of these transactions were carried out in Tamil. I knew right then that my shopping trip would have lasted maybe 30 seconds if I had come to the store unaccompanied.

 As my new kurta and pants were being altered one floor above, we decided to go to the fifth floor to purchase a few pairs of shorts. You guessed it. When I went to pay, I had to go two floors above to pay and then come back to claim my goods. My final purchase was a new backpack and this was on the 6^th. floor. There were many trips up and down stairs and escalators to pay and then secure the items that I had purchased. True. They had an elevator but I have seen molasses flow uphill quicker than the one in this building.

After having afternoon tea at a nearby restaurant ( called a “hotel” in India ), I bade farewell to my two fearless accomplices and took a bus back home. I decided to model my new threads for my friends only to discover that the maroon pants had not been altered. Thankfully, my shopping buddies’ mom was a seamstress and a few days later, Grace had me back in business.

Now that I have had some “Pothy training” I just might go back to this store someday. But I won’t be shopping. I will be standing in the middle of the sari floor admiring the thousands of beautiful dresses.

 For me, shopping should only be a spectator sport.

Posted on March 8, 2017 under Storytelling with 2 comments

500 Indian women walking on International Women’s Day

“ We are family; I got all my sisters with me.”

We Are Family. Sister Sledge.

They are the healers and providers.

It all started with a chance meeting at a community dinner in Antigonish in the fall of 2016.

 Sister Archana Das, the Executive Director of the Stella Maris Institute of Development Studies in Southern India and a student at Coady, was present at the event. We struck up a conversation and when she heard that I would be traveling to India, she invited me to come to the convent. Her congregation, The Daughters of Mary, are social workers at heart. They run several programs including 11 orphanages, two facilities for mentally ill women and an old age home.

Twenty two years ago, under the guiding hand of Sister Archana, a leprosy community was established on a property next door to the convent. During all of this time, the Sisters have provided nourishment for the body and the soul as well as free water, electricity and medical supplies.

Sister Archana had heard about the Coady Institute through friends and decided to apply for admission. She was successful and with the financial support of the Federal Government, the C.W.L and the Sisters of St. Martha, she attended the Fall session.

The Sisters of St. Martha know a thing or two about caring. They have been health care providers for decades having established St. Martha’s Hospital, currently a regional facility. They are educators and social workers.  In addition to this, they have reached out to the community at home and abroad providing support to many organizations including the Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre.  Back in the early 80’s, they were instrumental in helping CACL get on a strong financial footing.

I decided to take up Sister Archana’s offer and “ entered the convent” on December 30, 2016. It didn’t take me long to realize the ethos of the Sisters. They work with the poorest of the poor. They are kind, humble and very hard working women.

One of the first places that they showed me was the leprosy colony. While there are no active cases of this dreadful disease in the community, the physical and psychological scars are still evident. These are ordinary people who were dealt a bad hand and have spent a lifetime of being shunned and marginalized.

Despite the heroic effort of the Sisters, they face many challenges. The Indian government no longer provides financial support to the facilities operated by the Sisters and foreign aid has all but dried up.

As mentioned, the leprosy community has a supply of fresh water but the 60 homes are served by only 10 outdoor water taps. As part of a fundraising initiative, it was decided that now was the time to rectify this situation. The “Fifty Taps” project was launched a few weeks ago encouraging individuals to contribute $100 to purchase a tap. The overall cost of the project was $6000 which included the installation of a second water holding tank. Several people immediately stepped forward with donations totalling $1,000.

The Wishing Well Society is well known in the Antigonish area. They have been in existence since 2000. Their mission is “ to provide financial assistance where needed for sustainable water systems to improve the quality of life in rural communities.” Some of the Society’s Board members became aware of the plight of the leprosy community through social media and decided to step up in a major way. At a recent Board meeting they decided to fund the remaining $5,000.

The Wishing Well Society receives donations from individuals , businesses and other groups. One of those groups is the Sisters of St. Martha. I was informed that the $5,000 being committed was a contribution from the Martha’s, the same group that helped bring Sister Archana to Antigonish in the first place.

In a remarkable coincidence, two religious orders, half a world apart , have joined hands to help those who cannot help themselves. Bringing water to the doorsteps of those affected with leprosy is a game changer.

When the people at the leprosy community turn on their new taps for the first time, they can thank the Daughters of Mary who are their neighbors , along with the Sisters of St. Martha’s and private donors from across Canada.

On this International Women’s Day, let us celebrate Sisterhood.

It’s a small world after all.