KCAP
2008
by
Hattie ClarkeM
y first sight of India
was out of the plane
window, looking
down on Mumbai. It
seemed a bustling
city and as we
neared landing, the slums stretched away in
front of us. It was the first sight of real poverty
I'd ever seen which was both moving and a
shock: London seemed a long way away.
Nevertheless I was excited at the prospect of
the next few weeks … we were in India!
The aim of our trip was in aid of the King's
Community Action Project, set up by Mr Lloyd,
and we were to help build a house for a woman
in Kerala. The previous two terms at school
had been spent fundraising to raise enough
money for the architect, labour and materials
needed. We were staying at Philipkutty's Farm
in Kerala, owned and run by Anu Matthew who
was our Indian contact for the project and a
wonderful host. Philipkutty's farm is a magical
place, set on an island in the backwaters of
Kerala, seemingly completely surreal. It was a
huge relief to arrive there after our long journey,
and crossing the lake in the dark to the
welcoming lights of the farm was definitely the
highlight of all my travelling that day.
The first day was spent relaxing on a house
boat touring the backwaters, which was lovely,
and the islands were enchanting. It was also
our first taste of the monsoon season as in
minutes the sky had turned dark and we could
see the rain sweeping across the lake towards
us. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent
working on the building site which was hard
work, not to be underestimated! Mrs Baby, the
woman whose house we were helping to build,
was a hospitable, kind and honourable woman,
and these were characteristics which seemed
to be echoed by everyone we met.
By Friday, the walls were five feet high and the
windows and doors were in. We were
'unskilled labourers' so performed mostly basic
tasks such as lifting and unloading bricks,
mixing cement and carrying plates of mortar
(tiring work!). However, I had to a go at other
things too such as bricklaying which the local
workers made look so easy. The local children
were very friendly and the boys spent some of
the afternoon playing cricket while we chatted
to some of the younger children and the local
girls. We also learnt some Malayalam, the
local language, although our attempts were
often the source of much hilarity. 'Estiga'
(brick), 'Maya' (rain) and 'Namaskaram' (hello)
proved some of the most useful!
By the end of the first week, we were all
exhausted from the heat and the hard work, and
decided to take Sunday and Monday off to
regain some energy for the next week of
building. On Sunday we went to church which
was a strange experience for me, totally different
from what I am used to but very interesting all
the same. The church itself was very colourful
and lavishly decorated which showed the
influence of Hinduism on Catholicism in India,
baby Jesus himself was dressed in a pink dress
above the altar. Religion was the most
significant thing in daily life and most people
attended church every day. This was one of the
most noticeable differences from the culture in
England. On Monday we were invited to look
Aluredian
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