Despite being adamant the last time I wrote
that I would keep more up to date, I’ve left it far too long to write the next installment
of this blog! Bear with me and my lack
of application while I fill you in on what’s been happening recently
Work:
I spent the Easter holidays working with the
shelter girls upstairs in CEDEM. Unfortunately for atheist me, Easter here means
the end of Lent, the Resurrection and a lot of church events - not the heaps of
chocolate eggs I was hoping for! Thankfully the rota at the shelter was kind to
me and I got my first 4 days off since Christmas so I had a well deserved
fourteen hours’ sleep and then did some sightseeing with Helen.
One of the girls turned eighteen during the
holidays, the first resident to do so since I’ve been here. That meant she was legally allowed to leave
the shelter and her mother and little brother came to collect her the very next
day. She was so excited to go but
couldn’t stop herself from becoming tearful when it came time to leave. If I’m completely honest, I was clutching onto
one of the other girls having a little sob too. On an outing to the beach once, this girl had
shown me where she used to live and I was completely shocked; the house was
entirely made of tin with the dirt yard covered in broken glass and, old bits
of machinery. I couldn’t have pictured a more desperate place to grow up.
Thankfully she was going to her family’s new house on the other side of the
island. She also will have no contact with her father or older brother who
makes me feel relived as they were the reason she was taken into the shelter in
the first place.
With the departure of an old face, we also had
the welcoming back of another. Once term
started again Miss Sandrine told us that three new girls would be starting in
the college. They were shelter girls from the notorious OYC (apparently the
shelter where troublesome and unruly girls are sent to live). These were
Elodie, Annabelle and Priscilla. The latter was a former resident of CEDEM
shelter who had originally come when she was seven years old but had had to be
sent to OYC after incidents at CEDEM and disagreements with Madame Rita. Of course this got all the other shelter residents
really excited and they started behaving pretty badly to impress each other and
the new girls - such a fun first week back … I actually find Priscilla very
mature and easy to talk to; at seventeen she only has one year of shelter left.
I’m also enjoying getting to know the
other girls too; Elodie has a laugh that
is even funnier than the joke!
In my last blog I wrote about Anastasia, the
shelter girl I was tutoring before she went to India to have the operation on
her legs. She has been and come back since I last wrote, having been in India
for about a month. On the day of her
operation we all held a vigil at the school and sent positive thoughts
Anastasia’s way. Her recovery has been
swift and it was fantastic to hear that she had stood for the first time. She’s now back and living in the other shelter
but I see her at school. She is so
skinny after her operation but she’s happy and encouraged to walk everywhere
with her supports on her legs so she can build up her muscles. It’s awesome to have her back.
The return back to school after the Easter
break also meant back to the special needs pupils – how I’ve missed their
little ways and eccentricities! Unfortunately
Fazial, the autistic boy who was obsessed with feet as gone back to his native country,
Dubai, so my tootsies are feeling pretty neglected! Now, however, I have a new table where I help the
pupils with their work, getting them organized for lunch, etc. One of my favorites is Emmeline who is just
gorgeous – very dark, voluptuously beautiful but so timid. However she has such an infectious giggle
that I can’t help but smile when I’m around her. Then there’s Luv who also is just so cheery
and a little cheeky and loves to try his English out on me. Unfortunately he
had an epileptic fit in the playground the other day - too much sun and running
about. It was heartbreaking for the other teachers and me when we could do
nothing but wait it out while it was clear he was in so much distress!
The school has suggested that I have a ‘Scotland’
day before I leave so the kids have an idea of my culture. It’s a little bit of
excitement and I’m already planning the mince and tatties, kilt wearing,
ceilidh dancing escapades! I tried to make tablet the other day in preparation
. . . came out resembling sand and then set so hard that we were in danger of
cracking a tooth at every bite – need more practice! If anyone has any more
ideas for activities on the day or materials or even an easy tablet recipe (!!)
would be much appreciated.
Social:
In my last blog I wrote about the catamaran
trip which I would be going on for my birthday. . A few months too late! Well we did eventually go, together with our
PT country representative’s son, some of his friends and Helen’s brother. It would
probably have been a lot more enjoyable if the weather hadn’t been choppy and I
got sea sick for the second time in my live. Vomiting into a plastic bag while
Daisy vomited into another plastic bag beside me was not the best of
memories! . But, apart from that, the rest
of the day was bliss, particularly discovering a perfect deserted island :D
While Helen’s brother was here (he had hired a
car), we took the chance to visit the horse racing track, Champ de Mars, on the
weekend which is a pretty big thing here. It was a lot of fun to get dressed up and
pretend we were part of polite society. We decided to pool our money to bet on each
race, 10 rupees each (about 20p) - heyy big spenders! However we lost on every race and, in
desperation, our choice of bet became more and more outrageous - our favorite color
that the jockey was wearing, which horse went to the toilet last . . . By the
time of the last race, most of the others had given up, calling it all a fool’s
game. However, Helen, her brother and I
upped the ante, bet 25 rupees each on the final race … and won! From the way we jumped up and down and
yelled, you’d have been forgiven for thinking that we’d won thousands of
pounds, not 250 rupees (almost £5). It
was enough for a celebratory McFlurry for each of us on the way home to finish
a most enjoyable day.
Since I last wrote I have been on some more
nights out in the north with new friends we’ve met on the beach and around the
island. Going out three weekends in a row was my record here! how the times have
changed . . . we also had a wine tasting night at the High commissioners
residences which was a lot of fun brushing shoulders with the rich and powerful
of Mauritius high society. And there were even some people from Scotland which
tugged at my heart strings.
So I’m on holiday this week at last! Taking the
time to relax and do some more exploring – Mauritius is so tiny it doesn’t take
very long! On Friday I can say that I will be coming home next month!! Not to
sound too much like a Project Trust lecture but I really am feeling the craziest
range of emotions. One minute I’ll be jumping about thinking about seeing
everyone at home then the next I’ll be sniveling to myself because I won’t be
able to Apollo noodles (my favorite snack) anymore! One thing I know for sure.
I CAN’T WAIT to have fresh milk again (powered milk for a year does not cut it)
and having that first Irn Bru will be fantastic . . .
The weather here is horrific at the moment. Last
night I had to wear a onezie fleece and woolly socks to bed and I still had to
brace myself to get out of bed in the morning. Winter has really hit! Or maybe
just Curepipe because we live up high where it’s as temperamental as Scotland. While
everyone at home is sunbathing and firing up the BBQs. You all should be very
smug indeed.
I’ll try update again before I’m back in
Scotland – I’ll barely have any time left! Can’t believe how fast the time is
going – it really does fly when you’re having the time of your life :D
Peace and love.
Rachel
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