Arrival at Pokhriabong

After a 10hour train ride from Kolkata to Siliguri, and another 4hour drive to Pokhriabong (excluding our stop at Mirik), Jordan and I finally arrived at our home for the next four months. It is located within the hills so not only do we get an absolutely amazing view and are often immersed within the clouds, but we also have to walk some very steep pathways. Like the walk to school from the village. It is a 5minute walk that turns into 10 as the rocks are often slippery and even more so when it rains. Pokhriabong is mostly filled with Nepali people who have asian features, and because of that I fit right in! Everybody in town knows everybody else and they are extremely friendly. When Jordan and I were in town, she disappeared with our kid tour guides so I sat on the side by my self on the street and all I received was smiles and namaste's.

Jordan and I not only share a room but a small house on campus with eight other people, our hostess and her husband, her mother in law, a teacher and four boarding girls. There is no lounge room or kitchen (the kitchen is separate from the house) as every single room turns into a bedroom. It is very cosy and very comfortable. My only struggle is the shower. Because we don't have one. We use a bucket and a jug to pour cold water (there is no hot water access here) to wash ourselves. Fun fact about me: I can't handle the cold as my circulation is extremely bad. So bad that in the 15degree Sydney winters, my toes turn purple. And even in summer, I have warm showers. In this humid Indian temperature, I'm coping with the cold water as it's refreshing but I'm dreading winter where it can get up to 0degrees as I'm probably going to die from hypothermia. We also have to hand wash our clothes, which I need to do soon actually.

Our host cooks amazing food for us and I aim, by the end of my placement, to be able to cook! Because of their Nepali background, the food also has an asian mix to it, so the food is pretty easy to adapt to. I have yet to have any Indian food that I ate in Australia. The food is completely different! I can already feel myself gaining weight as I'm eating so much more than I did in Australia! Especially since potato is a main component within the Indian diet and there's so much sugar within the teas and coffees. But it's all so delicious. I'm starting to eat with my hands and I think I'm getting the hang of it! At first it was extremely hard and everybody was laughing at me but it is very fun (and messy at times) and easy to learn.

Although Sacred Heart School is a private school, it is a school established for the poor. And because of this, the school is very small with only one building and has limited resources. There is no electricity in the school besides the office and one other classroom that has a projector. The children do not have access to coloured paper, coloured pencils or crayons, stickers or even scissors as they are simply not available here in Pokhriabong. Ten students live on the school and the others either catch the bus or walk up to 1.5hours to get to school! Most of the student's parents work in the tea estates, which Darjeeling is famous for, and do not have a wealthy income. So the academically excellent students who cannot afford their tuition do not have to pay for their school fees. The teaching methods here are very traditional with the use of corporal punishment and openly telling students they are the worst in the class. Encouraging and giving extra help to the students who are slower is not common, instead teachers regularly shout at them to keep up or pinch their hands and neck if they are not getting it correct. They loudly announce their mistakes to the rest of the class,

“His handwriting is poor.”

“They (the students stand up) are the top three in the class, and they (the students stand up) are the worst.”

“He is the naughtiest.”

“He is the slowest.”

And I heard a teacher yell, “If you get any of these wrong, you will get it!” to six year olds.

To say the least, I was shocked. The students do not understand the concept of simply saying, “I do not know” or “I need help” as it is frowned upon. However, I am not here to change the system but am here to lend a helping hand. I would like my classes to be beneficial in their development of self esteem and their realisation that it is okay not to understand and it is okay for them to voice their own opinion.

Despite this, there is an incredible teacher-student relationship. The kids treat the teachers with utmost respect however also treat them like friends, outside of school hours. They share food and water with one another, play with each other, put their arm around each other, the kids even buy snacks for the teachers, and the boarding children eat together with the teachers. They are indeed an amazing bunch of kids.

P.S. I do not have any internet and can only update my blog when I go into town and find an internet cafe. So I apologise for my probably lack of posts!

A typical classroom.

The town of Pokhriabong

My room for the next four months!