Day 7 - Monday 13th October
After a relatively quiet day yesterday we are on the go again today. The rains have really arrived, yesterday saw heavy downpours for most of the day and we woke to thunder this morning. “Oh dear, rain again” I say to a local, “yes, wonderful isn’t it” comes the reply. I think we are coming from different points of view.
We met again with Sam and Priya today to have another conversation about their plans to offer life skills  training within the poorer schools. This will include AIDS awareness and dealing with the issues of prejudice around this; health and healthy eating; hygiene; career advice and other issues affecting children, particularly those from the very poorest of backgrounds.
We have a couple of hours free time before heading back in to the centre of Chennai with a lunatic driver. Believe me, we have experienced some crazy drivers so far but this one would win prizes. We made it in one piece and met up again with Gayathri from Steria who was taking us to look at another project supported by her company Steria.
This project is called the “Home for Physically Challenged Girls” and is a home and workshop for disabled girls. Some are physically disabled, others are deaf or dumb, and some are simply victims of situations like trafficking and have been rescued and found shelter here. Quite a few children have been affected by polio and have been abandoned by their families. There are now 25 children living here and they are part of a crafts workshop making the most beautiful straw cards, screen-printing and lamination products. Many of these items are made from re-cycled newspapers, but even though the raw materials are either free or very inexpensive, we are told that the market for these types of products in India is very limited and so the workshop is struggling to make ends meet.
 The youngest of the girls is Pooja aged 7. She has the face of an angel. She is physically disabled and we are told that she was left by her mother at just 2 months old and she was brought up by the other girls and ladies who work here. She is a very happy little girl, she has medical challenges and does not have a great life expectancy. A lot of the children have been left from an early age, and many have lived here for most of their lives. We meet a delightful young girl who is unable to walk and works on the ground. In fact this workshop is also their home as they sleep on the concrete floor. One young girl recently became engaged and will move on from the project, but a few have been here from the start of the project 25 years ago. It has a really peaceful feel to the place and you can sense how strong the bond is between these young ladies.
 We spent time chatting to the children and were then entertained by some beautiful singing. They are practicing for a cultural show which they will perform at the Steria offices in November.
We left and headed off to a shopping mall – yes, my worst nightmare, but Gayathri promised to hold my hand and help me find a new shalwar kameez (pants and top set worn by Indian ladies). She was true to her word and the process was quite painless and I now have a beautiful outfit.
We will have an early start tomorrow to catch our flight to Hyderabad. Thank fully Terry is feeling better so hopefully he can be back on top form for another curry tomorrow night!
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