From George Couperus

Keeping a perspective:

When writing about cramped living conditions and sleeping on floors, I have to mention that sometimes I am the guest in larger homes with ensuite bathroom and all. Some places even have two toilets in the bathroom. You are reading that correctly. One Indian style and one Western.

Although I love the comforts, I do prefer to stay with people in the smaller places. That's where the 2/3 of the world's population are. India, a land smaller then Ontario and Quebec combined, harbours 1/6th of the world's population. There just is'nt the space. Still there is plenty of open country. People are coping and it is really not all that bad.

Furniture in these places is sparse, beds are just a mat, which is rolled up in the daytime. Without furniture even a small room feels spacious. There is no space and no need for a lot of gadgets and the lack of it gives people more time. It is not the end of the world to sit eat and sleep on the floor. One does get used to it. My problem is that I cannot get my legs folded underneath me trying to sit Indian style. I sit with my back against the wall and legs stretched out in front. Of course this takes up more space.

People also live more outside the home. There is no air conditioning. If there is a need for air conditioning any place in the world, it would be in these warmer climates. No need for clothes dryers either. Many churches have no glass for windows, and the congregation shares the building with pigeons and other birds. The children at the orphanage have only the clothes they wear and some school supplies. Still I consider them well off. They have a safe place to stay and people who care. Their greatest need for a future life is a Christ centered education.

George Couperus

...continued

However, there is clear evidence of improvement according to these surveys. To start with, school participation has improved dramatically. Twenty percent of children in the 6-12 age group were out of school in 1996. In 2006, hardly 5 percent of such children were not enrolled in school.

Along with this, stark social disparities in school enrollment have virtually disappared at the primary level, whether it is the gap between boys and girls or that between children from different castes.

The report goes on to say that attendance does not imply learning. Even in functional schools, levels of teaching activity were absymally low. One reason is the widespread shortage of teachers. Evto en though there was a major increase in the number of teachers appointed, the pupil-teacher ratio in the survy areas showed little improvement over the years.

...to be continued

Report Card from India Schools

March 28

Two surveys done in Hindi-speaking states, in 1996 and 2006, show rapid change in some areas but resilient inertia in others. Classroom activity levels have not improved. Overall, they have failed to make the schools work well.

How would you feel if half of the buses and trains supposed to be running on a particular day were canceled at random - every day of the year? And how long do you think such disruption could continue until it created an uproar in Parliament and the national media?

Yet a similar disruption in the daily lives of children has been happening quietly for years on end. In rural North India, about half of the time, there is no teaching going on in primary schools. this was one of the key findings in the "PROBE survey" conducted in 1996-97 in Hindi-speaking states. A resurvey in 2006 showed that half of the government schools still had no teaching activity when the investigators arrived. Whatever else had changed, classroom activity levels had not improved.

...to be continued

from George Couperus

NEW LIFE SCHOOL:

Upon returning home from India I wander through our house several times. I really enjoy the space, quietness and comfort, and want to soak it up all at once. Our house is small, it is the minimum square footage Trenton bylaws stipulate. But coming back from the 2/3 world it can seem obscenely excessive for just two people. In the 2/3 world the majority of people are packed in small two or three room houses or apartments.

Recently I came to know about "The New Life School" in the state of Orissa. Orissa was in the news last August, when extremists murdered many Christians and burned their homes. New Life staff and students had to flee into the woods and live like wild animals for several weeks. Their crime being that they are Christians. They have now returned, but it would not surprise me if they are still nervous. If their homes are small by our standards, schools are functional but much smaller. Classrooms half the size of ours here accomodate twice the number of children there.

Fortunately the needs of the people are much smaller too. A teacher makes the equivalent of $62.50 per month. The principal makes $125.00.
Total cost to run a school with 8 teachers, 2 teacher assistants and the principal is $1050.00 per month. This includes rent, utilities, phone and maintenance.

The school is presently in a rental facility but New Life is in the process of building a new school. It is up to the roof. The cost of the roof is estimated at $11000.00.
New Life School is trusting God to provide for their needs.
George Couperus.

Greetings to you in Jesus' most precious name.

By the grace of God everyone is keeping well here. All the children are fine and enjoying the blessing of the Lord. We are grateful and thankful to you for your love, prayers, concern, care, encouragement and support.

The Lord is doing wonderful works here because of your prayers. New Life School is running well, children are preparing for the annual examination.

Praise God that more than 165 poor children have enrolled in this school. New Life School is a real blessings to many needy children here in Orissa. We have 8 teachers and 2 non teaching staffs, 1 principal involved in this ministry.

Your support goes beyond New Life School, and directly impacts hundreds of children's lives who would not otherwise have hope. Without your prayers and support we are unable to run this worthy work. As the ministry is growing, the needs are also growing. Prayerfully herewith we are sending the expenses details for your kind consideration and necessary action. Please pray and help for God’s glory and for the extension of His kingdom.

Thank you again for your love, prayers and support. We are praying and looking forward to hear from you. Thanking you

With much prayers and Love.

In Christ
Siani Harpal


Monthly Expenditure details of New Life School, Kesinga



Salary to 8 teachers @Rs2500/- per teacher So total Rs20000/-
House Rent : Rs5000/-per month
Salary to Principal Rs 5000/-
Salary to 2 peons @Rs1250/- per peon So total Rs2500/-
Electrical Bill per month Rs3000/-
Phone bill Rs500/-
Chalk & Duster Rs300/-
Printing, Xerox etc Rs700/-
Others , maintenance Rs5000/-

Total Rs42000/- per month

Yearly expenses:


Books, stationeries, Notebooks, pen , pencils Rs200000/-
Uniform , shoe , socks, tie, belt etc Twice in a year Rs200000/-
Sports equipments, Bench, desks, chairs, computers, toys etc Rs200000/-

If you would like to donate to this worthy ministry, please contact Worldwide Christian Schools at www.wwcs.org.

My Mumbai Friend

From George Couperus

One of my Mumbai friends is very religious. He is Hindu, but also professes to be a Christian. He believes Jesus is His Saviour.

Every Tuesday he goes to a special temple to worship. When I am with him I usually go along. At 6 am people are already lined up the entire length of the street of the temple. I cannot see the building yet, but I can clearly hear the temple music. The sides of the street are lined with merchants selling things needed as offerings. It makes me think of when Jesus overturned merchant's tables in the temple. What a mess it would be.

At one point our shoes and socks had to come off and were handed to a person looking after several hundred pair already. For a moment I worried about having to go home on my bare feet. We are stil a long ways away from the temple.

Closer to the temple the men and women seperate. Once inside, I go to the spectators gallery, but my friend moves on to hand his newly bought offering of coconut and some wilted flowers to a couple of temple priests. The priests just dump the goods on top of the huge pile behind them. My friend moves on with the crowd to pray and to prostrate himself in front of the statue of a cow and kiss the floor.

On the way home I ask why he goes and what he gets out of it. His simple answer is: "It gives me peace"
.

About Slumdog Millionaire

A friend in Canada wrote:

We went to see "SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" Not because of the "OSCAR" hype.
The setting is in a Mumbai, India slum. The film is a typical Hollywood production. It portrays India's worst with a happy ending when love prevails.

The reality is that the majority of the slums are filled with industrious hard working people. Behind many doors there is a small business. One person sells flowers, another occupies a corner of the sidewalk to cut rocks, next is a person repairing shoes. Another is expert at removing wax from people's ears, or cutting hair. A frail looking lady hawls a bag twice her size containing plastic for recycling. The list goes on. It really is amazing how ingenious the people are at eeking out an existance.

The slum is not a cesspool of prostitution, mafia and beggars, as the movie may suggest.

I came to know Ramesh who lives in a slum in Mumbai. A very pleasant normal 11 year old. No different then boys his age here. Ramesh has two brothers and a sister. The father expired. Mother works as a domestic earning an average of $1.50 a day. Ramesh is lucky, in that his family is acquainted with a Christian family who will lend some support to them. They will help him with his school work.

Meanwhile, Ramesh is only one out of the 42 million people living in India's slums, a population roughly equal to the population of Spain. But 42 million slumdwellers occupy less space then the city of Toronto. We bemoan lack of privacy on our one acre lots, a slumdweller would be happy to share it with 100 others and still feel blessed.

George Couperus