A wee Namaste Update

Stephan

So there have been some changes to my work at Namaste now. After the New Year things seemed to fall into place and Katie and I have started teaching in the afternoons. There are two quite capable girls - Geraldine, 10 years old and Yasmina, 14 years old. They are very keen to learn. I mainly work with Geraldine. Geraldine hasn't been to school in over two years. I teach her English. I may have mentioned this before, but all the school curriculum in Mauritius is in English. Yet, Mauritius is a French/Kreol speaking country. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Anyway, her English was quite limited before our wee afternoon lessons started. But now she knows the alphabet, colours, some facial features and various other vocab which she's learnt from books - like 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'!
It's a bit of a puzzle the story behind Geraldine. Since arriving in Mauritius over 6 months ago it's become quite apparent that Geraldine has no mental or physical handicap... yet, she's living in a home for mental and physically handicapped girls? What Katie and I have learnt is that there is an extreme shortage of homes and places of safety for children in Mauritius. Which inevitably results in some of the unlucky ones being placed in homes unsuitable to their needs. It's really very sad to see.

Katie and little Sebastien

Though Geraldine comes across as a very happy little girl. She is well taken care of at Namaste. In some of the homes in Mauritius children live in far worse conditions. She often comes to us for cuddles and kisses. She has a little trouble with her speech - and can't pronouce my name correctly "Keeeeeeloeee!" (very cute). And causes a little mischief at the home. She lives to wind one of the older girls up, Jenny. Who will then chase her round the house with Geraldine screaming at the top of her lungs!
It's going to be hard to say goodbye. She has all of a sudden realised that we're not going to be here forever... everyday she asks us, "Are you coming tomorrow?". And now she's started to ask us, "Are you coming in January, February, March??". And every time we tell her, we go home in August or yes, we're coming tomorrow. But still she asks. When the day comes that we have to say "No, we're not coming tomorrow" it's going to be heartbreaking. But on the brighter side, hopefully there will be volunteers at Namaste next year! And they can carry on the work we left off. Nick our Desk Officer from PT is coming to visit soon so we shall see!
That's all for now!

The Kindness of Strangers

I'm very glad that from time to time I'm still pleasantly surprised by the absolute kindness of some Mauritian Strangers. I've been here over 6 months now and had a thought that maybe I should start documenting this stuff... Here is just one days worth of kindness that I've experienced in Mauritius.

Charlie and I spent a lovely Saturday together last weekend. Much of it shopping in Rose-Hill. We've recently discovered the 'Turidard' (I'm really not sure how to spell that!). The most gorgeous, comfy indian clothing. I managed to pick up some material in Port Louis which I have taken to the tailor to be fitted! I just popped by to see how he was getting on, it's looking wonderful! I'm so excited! Anyway, we happened to be in Rose-Hill searching for some material for Charlie. In one shop we met a lovely woman. Seeing Charlie was getting a little flustered (we couldn't find a turidard she liked) she invited us to sit down and took a can of pear juice and some nuts out of the side drawer of her desk, offering them to us. We sat with her, had a chat, met her son and 20 minutes later she was insisting we call her Mama Maurice. I think she felt sorry for the fact we're so young and living by ourselves without a mother to support us from close by - I miss you mum. Many Mauritians are completely bewildered when we tell them we're only 18!! Eek! How embarrasing! I've been having some trouble with learning Creole - a much bigger task than I had anticiapted. Mama Maurice was very understanding and kindly offered to teach me! She said, "You come and help me in the shop and I will teach you Creole!". Unfortunatly my spare time is limited. And I don't think I will be able to. But she's always going to be there for a chat! Charlie and I will visit again soon no doubt.

Eventually, we did find some material for Charlie in a shop close by. But we walked away from the shop not just with Charlie's material but with a "petit cadeau" - 3 free Saris!!! The shop assisant insisted that we take them! We would be doing him a favour, they were old and he couldn't sell them! Charlie and I hurried home afterwards and tried on our "petit cadeau". They are massive! Hanging of our waists! But very comfy! We had a ball of a time prancing around the house in our saris sagging behind us! Ha!

After we walked home. There is a small housing estate near to where we live. Often there are children playing in the yard. We always say hello, but have never stopped to speak to them. On this particular day Charlie and I had the time to have a wee chat with them - very sweet kids. Later that day they arrived at our doorsteps with a lime for each of us - which no doubt they picked from the tree at the end of the road shh! So we invited them in for a drink and then took them to the river at the back of the house where you can swim! They were loving it, plunging into the water and splashing about everywhere! They enjoyed themselves so much that they asked if they could come round again on Saturday. Charlie and I have decided we will go to the housing estate to visit them. I want to teach them how to play rounders! Should be lots of fun!

Some recent antics...

After the Christmas period we decided we should definitely get out more (a New Years Resolution). It seems our life is becoming about work, work, work... and more work. Probably sounds familiar to some of you? Haha! Katie and I decided we would fulfill this resolution by going to the beach in Albion a couple of days a week after work. A great way to cool down - it is so hot at the minute. So we were at the beach about a month ago. And I managed to step on a Sea Urchin... It was rather sore... but nothing much could be done. I just have some lovely little black dimples on the sole of my right foot now - my little memoir of afternoons spent in the sea in Delicious Mauritius! But we did also make a new friend that day. A certain local called Bruno. He's currently studying Interior Architecture at an Australian University and was home for a few weeks. He has unfortunately returned to Australia quite recently. But Katie, Charlie and I still keep in contact with him. Anyway, he suggested we have a little expedition to the Lighthouse in Albion (the only Lighthouse on the whole of the Island). Katie and I were very pleased he suggested this as it happens to be the Lighthouse which every single day we pass on the bus, and every single day we say, "we really have to go and have a look at that lighthouse one day...". But being the disorganised bunch we are, we hadn't got round to it yet. And probably wouldn't have.

Albion Lighthouse happens to be placed on very picturesque cliffside at Belle Vue (close to Albion) overlooking the deep blue choppy sea. I suppose there's not much point in describing the actually lighthouse itself as most of you can probably guess - red and white stripes... rather tall... flashing light etc. I'd never been in a lighthouse before. It was quite a treck to get to the top. A neat little spiral ran up the edge with three floors breaking between. On the first floor there was a massive light (which I was surprised about as I thought there would only be one at the top). But apparently this is the case in most Lighthouses but it's often too small a light to see (Bruno's observation - not very sure myself...). So we climbed to the top and a step ladder led up to the final platform. We snuck through a little side door (Katie and I both banging our heads on the way out) and we were outside! Katie has a great fear of heights... so she wasn't too comfortable at the top of this massive Lighthouse. But she was very brave! And shimmied around keeping her back pressed against the wall. The views were spectacular. At one side we had the clear blue sea for miles and miles with the sun getting ready to set on the horizon. While the other side Mauritius' mountains spanned infront of your eyes with lots of green green green! Very beautiful. I can see why people would say Mauritius is Paradise.

Afterwards we decided it would appropriate to go for a little swim/dive around Monkey Mountain (as it's known by the locals). Monkey Mountain is a steep cliffside - maybe two or three times the height of my house in Scotland. It's where many of the locals will go to satisfy a want for an extreme adrenaline rush I suppose... Or maybe a quick death. I definitely wouldn't jump from the top. But there is a very deep, large pool of water at the bottom, quite sheltered from the currents of the sea. It's very safe to swim there. We climbed to the bottom and made our way up the rocky slope about a 1/4 of the way - plenty for me. And then jumped! I've never jumped from such a great height before! It was so exciting! As you plunged into the water you felt like all the air had been kicked out of your lungs! Haha! Such an exhilarating feeling! Ludovic (one of Bruno's friends who came with us) and I jumped a few times while Katie and Bruno were quite happy just to swim in the pool at the bottom.

So that's one of our little days out. Will write another blog entry quite soon!

The Chagossians

Sorry for the serious lack of blogging recently! Disaster has struck - Charlie's laptop may be broken. I haven't been able to write any since and all the blogs I was working on are temporarily inaccessible! Eeek!
I've been working at Namaste for over 5 months now! I'm feeling like I need a change and something a little more challenging. So I went to a meeting in Pointe aux Sables yesterday to meet Olivier Bancoult - the leading man of the Chagossians! I'm going to be teaching at their education centre hopefully within the next couple of weeks! Exciting stuff!

I’m not sure if you know the story behind the Chagossians so here’s a little explanation. The Chagossians are a large community from the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. They were exiled from their home in the 1960’s because Britain- who at the time ‘owned’ the islands sold them to the U.S. so they could set up a military base there. One day a ship came to take all of them away- shooting all of their dogs and leaving their homes behind. They arrived in Mauritius as foreigners without jobs, money or homes and were given very, very minimal compensation for it. Olivier Bancoult, the son of a man who was exiled, has taken on the cause and campaigns insanely hard to raise awareness of their struggle and also to try and get the government to allow them to return to their motherland. This is not seeming likely- especially as recently it has been suggested that a ‘nature reserve’ should be set up around the islands which would mean that it would become an impossibility for the Chagossians to return. Many are poor and live in slums, drug and alcohol misuse is a big problem too- but Bancoult believes that community and education can work together to try and solve this.

A Taste of Tamil...

Oww

Katie, Charlie and I arrived at Curepipe Botanical Gardens on Sunday afternoon. We had been in Curepipe that morning.  All the shops and cafes close at 1pm. Mauritius is a little lifeless on a Sunday – how annoying.  We decided it would be the perfect time to visit the Botanical Gardens! However, what we thought was going to be an afternoon of chilling, lying on the grass, having a wee wander turned into something a little more eventful. On arriving at the Botanical Gardens we were greeted with the sound of rhythmically beating drums. Being the curious volunteers we are, we followed the sound eagerly! It seemed the music was also on the move, so we sped up in anticipation! Once we had caught up with the mysterious drumming we discovered that there was some sort of Religious Ceremony taking place in the gardens. At first we decided to watch from a distance. We weren’t sure whether our presence would be an intrusion or disrespectful. We sat under a tree and peered over. Some Indian music began to hum out of a megaphone on the back of a truck and then two interesting men made their entrance. On their back, arms and chest were intricately decorated needles and metal spikes arranged in decorative patterns. At first, I didn’t even think how they stayed in place. It wasn’t until later that I realised they had been stabbed into the skin! Eeek!

We attracted some attention sitting under our tree. We stand out a little...  We were encouraged to go and ‘take a closer look’. There, we witnessed the ceremony. A man was kneeling infront of the small statue depicting the image of his god. Standing at each side of him were the two ‘interesting men’ holding a yellow sheet draped over him. Under the sheet a man worked, piercing the needles and spikes into his skin. He kneeled, eyes closed, slightly pursing his lips as if he was in a trance. When the needles on his back were finished he rose. The drums began to beat dramatically!  He danced holding a stick of bamboo with leaves bunched together on one section. It was almost like he was trying to psyche himself for the next half of the torture! Ow!! There was a small fire burning in a metal plate. He picked the plate up, dipped his fingers in the ash and flicked them towards peoples’ faces. He then placed a dot on their foreheads. After, he settled back in front of the small statue and hooks were pierced into his chest and then small limes and onions were hung from the hooks. I'm still not sure if they had any purpose! Again, he rose and began to dance, but this time he jingled! It turned out there were small bells on the hooks!

We were quite shocked/intrigued about the whole thing, so we asked some friendly people standing next to us about the purpose of the Ceremony. They explained that we were witnessing a Tamil Ceremony. The men we were seeing had sacrificed their pain to the gods as a prayer for sick loved ones, family and friends etc. But then… the worst part happened... As if it wasn’t bad enough watching them pierce the needles into their backs, arms and chest! One woman began to dance (a little crazily – it almost seemed like she was possessed). She collapsed and was supported while she knelt infront of the statue and a man pierced a needle through her tongue! Ow Ow Owwww! At this point I started to feel more than a little squeamish! Needles were then stabbed through the other men’s tongues and people gathered to sing and pray infront of the statue.

After Tamil Ceremony - Curepipe

And then things calmed down a little and a man came up to us and offered us a drink. We were all a little worried when we looked at it – it didn’t look very appetising, a little like bland looking jelly. But it was good! Nothing unusual or strange! Thank goodness! We were then invited to walk back to Curepipe with everyone! Gradually everyone dispersed. The ‘needle men’ walked ahead, taking it in turns to carry a tower of flowers, banana leaves etc. on their head and a bowl of incensed fire. The walk took us about 25 minutes and every so often the men would stop and dance (one with a massive machete!).

We decided not to continue watching the ceremony. Apparently, they were about to walk on fire or shoes of nails (we were slightly confused with the translations). Plus, we had to catch the bus home – very inconvenient how the buses stop at 7!

So, my first Tamil Religious Ceremony! It was a little shocking… but overall we were really glad that we stayed to watch! I wouldn’t recommend it for the squeamish though... Ha! 

A Brief Update on Namaste

Geraldine and Me at Namaste

Alexandra, a physiotherapist has started working at Namaste. She comes in two days a week and works mainly with the younger children who have Cerebral Palsy. Katie and I sit in on the sessions. We’re learning some physiotherapy! We continue the exercises while Alexandra is elsewhere. I’m finding it really interesting. I’m learning a lot. The kids are bed ridden and they lie in the same position all day. Imagine doing this for your whole life. I’ve seen dislocations, malformations. Some of the girls even struggle just to open their curled fingers. It’s really upsetting to see, especially when you know it could all have been prevented - just by doing some simple exercises a couple of times a day! Many of the kids haven’t had any treatment before, so the damage has been done. The exercises are painful… to emphasis this, one of the boys, who NEVER speaks (sometimes he sings Séga) cried, “Ayyyyyye-aye-aye!” when Alexandra was straightening his legs. And Rocha cries her lungs out!

The Girls' Home in Albion

Katie and I have started working at the Boys’ Home in Roches Brunes! We go once a week. In the morning we watch and assist with physiotherapy, and in the afternoon we spend some time with the other boys. They’re a lively bunch! They certainly like their hugs and kisses, “bisous!”. However, as loving and affectionate as they can be, they’re certainly more challenging than the girls. A little violent sometimes… For example, Katie and I are now well aware of Jean Noel’s potentially dangerous temper tantrums. On one of our first visits he was having a bit of a hissy fit. Katie was defending all the breakable objects in the room while Jean Noel tried his best to evade her. When his original strategy of trying to push past her didn’t work he had to change tactics. So he bit her… and then he bit her again. I on the other hand, was sitting down with a small child on my lap only a few feet away. Jean Noel decided to divert his attention to the other volunteer… And I, very stupidly, completely unaware that he had just bitten Katie, decided to offer him a supportive hug. Jean Noel knew just how to deal with this. He then took a chunk out of my arm also! Luckily for me, my little prince charming (the little boy sitting on my lap) came to the rescue! Ha! He hopped off my lap, held my hand gently and guided me over to a member of staff. He then frantically pointed at my big bite mark, which was turning slightly purple, and finger pointed to Jean Noel – who then started to look a little innocent. Now, whenever we’re left alone with Jean Noel a staff member will not so subtly instruct him, “Don’t bite the volunteers!”.  Katie and I had big bruises for a while after that – our battle scars!

Breaking the Ice

So, before last night we had only briefly met our neighbours, having exchanged no more than a few words and open-ended invitations. We needed a master plan to break the ice… so we made cake - lots and lots of chocolate cake. And that’s how it all started. First we went round to ‘The Banana Lady.’

You may be wondering why she is called Banana Lady. Well, Katie met her walking home one day. They stopped and had a wee conversation – she doesn’t speak English. Katie told her in French, “We have just moved in!” and then pointed eagerly to our house. The next day she dropped off a pressie – you guessed it, bananas. Alas, Banana Lady came into our lives. So, Katie and I wandered on round to her house the other night with homemade chocolate cake close at hand. Katie (who’s French is much better than mine) explained the cake was for her. She gratefully accepted it and then off we went to do the next errand. We should probably find out her name though, and then we wouldn’t have to call her Banana Lady…

Margaret and Rosemary live just a little bit more down the road from us. We briefly spoke to Margaret one afternoon. We were very surprised to find an English name in Mauritius! She told us about her father who had a love for the royal family - hence why she is called Margaret. Margaret and Rosemary invited us in after accepting our slices of cake. We had a long chat mainly about food and how we wanted to learn to make rotis; our first attempt didn’t go well, they more resembled biscuits; cyclones, particularly cyclone Carole in the 60’s which saw Mauritius left in ruins; our work and living in the UK. Katie was very pleased to be offered a Cappuccino. She hates Mauritian coffee so she’s barely had any coffee since she got here! We left Margaret and Rosemary later that night. They have invited us round for dinner one day. We hope they will teach us how to cook!

Banana Lady (number 2). Another neighbour whose name we don’t know! You have no idea how guilty we feel about this. But it’s so difficult to remember, and even worse asking again after having spoken to her a couple of times. Most Mauritian names are very new and unusual to us so it’s incredibly difficult to remember. Charlie has gotten into the habit of writing down names to ensure she remembers. Might take a leaf from her book. Anyway, Banana Lady (number 2) invited us in. We went into her living room to find her son sleeping on a bed. He quickly woke up and looked very embarrassed, frantically rubbing at his eyes! We had a wee chat with the whole family (whose English was very good). The TV was on and we all had a little chuckle together when an Indian man came on wearing a Sari. Her son looked again very embarrassed. Banana Lady has the Internet! She said we could use it whenever we wanted. In emergency situations this will be very good! She has also invited us round for dinner one night. I think she is keen for us all to become friends with her sons, one of them has a fascination with England. On leaving she gave us another huge bunch of bananas. They had millions! I’ve never seen so many bananas! Now we feel obliged to make her some more cake!

Saturday 13^th November

Suzelle lives down the road and has a crazy dog that barks and chews the wire fence (as if he’s imagining gnawing at our arms) while we walk past. Charlie was at work today as it’s the school holidays. So Katie and I decided we would go into Rose-Hill to find some lunch – rotis. We met Suzelle on our way in her garden. She then invited us in for lunch! We had rotis with cheese and butter. They were so good! We had another long chat. Apparently she cleans all day on Saturdays. We were there for an hour and a half… I hope we didn’t take too much of her cleaning time up. Also, she has a son who used to go to University in the UK. At the moment he is in California studying for a PHD in computer science. He won a scholarship over there. We’ve found that many Mauritians go abroad to study. Mainly in the UK and France. Suzelle has invited us to her mother’s house in Beau Bassin one weekend to pick Litchis which are coming into season soon.