I just happened to be up at 6 a.m. yesterday morning following my usual routine, sipping a diet coke and drawing from my first Benson & Hedges Deluxe of the day; slightly amused by the sight of giant crows eating the husks of dead wasps burnt by the globe lights at the edge of my balcony. Mmmmmm life is good.
When from beyond the reach of my bungalo I could hear the suffling of feet and the slap of yoga mats being tossed to the ground.
I got up from my chair to see what all the commotion was about and much to my surprise about 50 Nationals had assembled poolside along with there guru and stood motionalist.
“GOOD MORNING!” the Guru shouted. “GOOD MORNING” the disiples shouted back. The sound of their salutation resonated throughout the compound; so loud that it almost made me drop my cigarette – almost.
I was unaware that the resort was playing host to a group going through a leadership program and the beginning of there day started with a rigorous Yoga class.
It was poetry watching them go through their poses instructed by their leader but after about a ½ hour I had to get back to my photo editing. That was about the time they started their primal screaming exercises. Oh Lordy.
It was the start of a great day.
We were joined by 3 Rotary exchange students on the build yesterday; one from the U.S. another from Denmark and a fellow Canadian.
After a brief introduction we climbed on our bus and it was off to the build.
We were blessed with a few clouds in the sky so the sun didn’t feel as cruel and it gave the body a bit of a reprieve.
The houses are coming along quite nicely and every day we are feeling more and more like family both within the team and with the locals.
At 1 p.m. we broke for lunch and were then piled on to the bus for a trip to the local town XXXX.
The town consisted of two unpaved main streets and was packed with small shops, the largest being about 7 feet wide by 12 feet deep.
Lots of tailors, fruit stands and dry good sales men and three barbershops. Apparently Indian men take their grooming quite important here.
Honestly that can be said off most of the Indian people. Despite the garbage in the streets, the disrepair of the buildings and shit everywhere great attention is kept to the quality and texture of luxurious hair and oral hygiene. I have seen very few toothless mouths in this ruale community.
I have tried to be respectful when photographing the people of this region, getting our guide to ask permission to take a photo of my subjects; I’m happy that most agree.
The thing that amazes me is the amount of people who approach me to have their photo taken. It’s shocking to have a local run up and motion at my camera and then back to then with the gesture “take my picture”.
They know that they are never going to see a printed result and the only payment I have to give them is to show the result of the image capture on the back of my view screen.
I would like to think that they believe that it is a way to capture an image of them that will be eternal. The truth is that they just see it as a quick thrill.
After about an hour of shopping we headed back to the site for a little more mudding and a team photo.
We quit work at about 4 p.m. and were then taken to a site where the bricks that we are using to build the house are fired.
Interesting site.
All bricks are hand made and it is back breaking work. Bricks are formed from the soil and rice is added to the clay to assist in the Kiln process which takes about 21 days to cure.
Take note that the average worker completes about 700 brick forms per day and is paid about 130 Rupees or $3 CDN a day. As my team member Ernie said “No wonder nobody smokes around here, a pack of smokes costs a days wage” wise words Ernie, wise words.
