Thank you

Thank you for your generous contributions towards the medical bills for Indira and Marimuthu. We raised £1000.

Indira is doing well following her surgery in March. (This photo of Indira was taken by Suruthi pre surgery and hospitalisation)

Marimuthu is recovered sufficiently to return to his studies.

Meet the children: P. Annam

Like all the children at the Illam P. Annam was always smiling.  She is 13 years old, loves cricket and  plans on studying for a degree in business studies.

She was one of the most prolific photographers, with a knack of capturing wonderful moments in the lives of the girls.

Meet the Children - Suruthi

A talented artist and dancer, 12 year old Suruthi was a natural with a camera in her hands.  "Leading lines, Aunty" she explained when showing me this image.  She quickly became aware of changing light and would arrange subjects in her photos.

I was surprised to learn that photography is regarded as a male occupation in India.  Wedding photography in particular is a very big industry, which is understandable given how many took place during my visit alone.  With no female photographers at all in the local region (they told me this was the same across all of India) I hope some of the girls might now at least consider this as a possible career.

Although Suruthi's ambition is to be a doctor she could easily use her talents in the arts. However, sadly it seems that artistic careers aren't a desirable choice, and children aim to be doctors, engineers or "work for the government". 

Where to from here?

It is hard to believe that nearly a week has passed since I left the illam.  Already I miss the clear blue skies and the amazing sunrises and sunsets.  It sure beats the grey fogginess of London in December, and I defy anyone not to miss the laughter and the energy of the children.  This is the view that gazes across the landscape between my little abode and where the girls live.  Some mornings the field would be filled with goats, sometimes not, but it was always a magical view.

The next step in the story of the children of the illam will happen in London. I plan bring some of the magic, the images, and the stories of the children, many that they created themselves, to be seen here first.  Images and introductions will appear on the blog throughout the Christmas period.  An exhibition is planned for January. Stay posted for updates.

The Exhibition

Last night we held an exhibition of the children's photographs at the DHAN Foundation headquarters in Madurai.  We even had a number of International guests attend the opening.

Something special for our photographers to put on their CV's.

More of the children's images

Another peek at some of the images the children have created.  It is fun to see images on a screen but there is nothing quite like a print in your hand.  So yesterday I took the hour long trip on the local bus to Madurai in search of a printer.  I had a lot of local help and advice so it wasn't too difficult to find a place that could produce some great hard copy.  Not only that but they printed them straight away and  Indian prices made it affordable to print plenty of images.

We're now planning an exhibition to celebrate their work.

A trip to the barbershop

The boys weren't that keen on having their locks shorn.  Just like boys anywhere they like to gel and spike and be trendy.  They didn't complain loudly but their faces expressed it all.  

In our neighbourhood

The other night I went for a walk with the boys and their warden My Thirumalai (I'm never going to remember everyone's name) to the neighbouring village.  It is truly beautiful countryside (mosquitos aside), a perfect place for these kids to grow up and learn.

The region is agricultural and I subsequently learned an area where many NGO's have set up to help locals make changes in a variety of ways.  One of the NGO's I visited is teaching sustainable and organic farming practices.  This region has the lowest rainfall in all of India.  The great Vaigai river whose path runs from the Varusanadu hills to the sea, stretching 258km is mostly just dry river bed.

The farmers here are being encouraged to change crops selecting plants that are better suited to the conditions.  In the past, rice, bananas and coconut trees, the traditional crops, were all that were grown, relying heavily on fertilisers.  The use of chemicals has also impacted on the precious water supply.  It is not only farmers that are learning new methods of farming.  Nature camps are run for children, based on a Swedish model using play, they are encouraged to find solutions to imaginary environmental problems (that aren't so imaginary anymore).  The vision is a long term one, planning for sustainable farming whilst caring for the environment that will be second nature to the next generation.

Back to our walk, we met one of the local farmers who was tending his cows. He invited the boys to meet a couple of calves in his yard.

We need to get more boys experiencing life like this.  The Illam is restricted to eight boys until the new dormitory is built.  Which of course needs funding.

Off to School

It's 8:30 in the morning and the children are off to the local schools.  The boys warden doubles as the bus driver, making two round trips twice a day.  One trip for the older kids and the other for the youngsters.  They'll return to the illam around 4:30 in the afternoon.

In recent years India's education policies on providing quality education for all is regarded as a major contributing factor to the country's economic development. One of the prominent policies that was the catalyst for change was that of the rights of all children between the ages of 6-14, to free and compulsory education.

However, the country still lags behind other developing countries such as China and Brazil in the numbers who then go on to higher education.  There are multiple and complex issues involved, poverty being one of the contributors.

The children at the Illam are some of the lucky ones that are assisted out of the poverty trap.  Supported and guided from primary to higher education and then into jobs.

Learning Camera Skills

We’re off to a flying start with learning camera skills and being creative.  With the assistance of Mr Veera from the DHAN media team, as translator we had our first workshop on composition. 

 Everyone turned up for the event. If only I had 40 cameras instead of eight!  Working collaboratively is very powerful, the limitations of equipment may prove to be a blessing in disguise.  Necessity being the mother of invention and all that.

Perhaps not surprisingly the cameras do not include Tamil in the dozens of languages on their systems.  The plus side is that they are increasing their English vocabulary as a result. I am not increasing my Tamil word count at anywhere near the same rate.

Sunday is the children’s free day so last Sunday we spent a good part of the day experimenting with the cameras. It was such a joy to watch them in action.