Day 1: Sainji Village

The last two days, our Pitt group went to the small Indian villages of Bhatoli and Sainji. What an experience! The first day, we left our sanctuary up in the foothills of the Himalayas to travel north to the  Gharwal English Medium School. It was an hour and a half long drive mainly due to the fact that you can't just simply drive north over the Himalayas. By George, no. You zigzag up and up and up, until we were forced to come back down. The school is located directly above a tourist attraction in India known as Kempty Falls.

The story of the school is absolutely amazing. A woman by the name of Lori came to visit the Hanifl Center the day before to let us know what we were going to experience in "her" village. After visiting this region of India as a cultural anthropologist to do research; she totally fell in love with the area, a local man named Kunwar, and the children of the area. 4 score and 2 months ago, she built a local school in Sainji that had 8 students. Well, news spread fast, and 4 years later, she has a brand new facility and 400 students! When she gave her presentation to us, it was obvious how much of an emotional investment it's been for her. She became noticeably teary-eyed and emotional during several personal stories of some of the kids.

So, we arrived at the school around 11 in the afternoon, and were welcomed with tea, snacks, handshakes, a dance, and a song performed by the kids. What started out as a rather strange experience, because of the fact we were treated like royalty, quickly revealed to us the fact that the kids and teachers were just ecstatic to have us there. Upon interaction with the kids, you would've thought we were superhero's or something. Agh, wonderful, wonderful, bright kids.

Being welcomed by the kids.

The view from the school.

After getting welcomed at the school, a few students took us to the village of Bhatoli where we learned about the current corn harvest. All over town, corn is drying in every crevice and crack of the neighborhood. The women do all of the really difficult labor and it's strange to seem them lugging gigantic bags of corn up sharp inclines. 

Corn harvesting.

After our experience in Bhatoli, it was off to the village of Sainji where we would be staying overnight. Once again, we were welcomed to dinner, and a pleasant timeframe of tea. Kunwar and Lori have students stay at their house and have festive dinners for many of the town residents. They're incredible people. 

Arrival in Sainji Village

In the center of town, our group spent a solid two hours with the kids playing games, giving piggy-back rides, playing music, taking pictures, you name it. The kid's absolutely loved it. One of the guy's in our group, Zach, played guitar for the kids, which had them absolutely enthralled. They loved it. Hell, they loved everything about our presence. It was really heartwarming.

Playing

Perfectly captured.

Eventually, we had dinner and then got ready for bed. We had a big day in store the next day as we had to teach a few classes with the kids. The school has grades pre-k through 7. We had a wonderful house that Lori was kind enough to let us sleep in... but I had heard about an opportunity to sleep outside. On top of Lori and Kunwar's house was where Nick, Rohan, Samir, and I fell asleep. The Milky Way was clearly visible with its white, cloudy surroundings making itself known in the night sky. Pretty rad stuff.