weighty 5kg gift of grey grit from one
monumental pile to an allocated
arrangement of prescriptive blocks.
Dripping sweat, throbbing muscles and
shredded fingers called for a water break
and a team talk. Resuming our positions
we continued to work throughout the rest
of the day, ensuring a calorific recharge at
lunchtime with the delights of some more
of the finest Indian cuisine, until our initial
zeal and zest for the KCAP quest rendered
us temporarily paralysed with fatigue.
Luckily, an affable revival of chaiand
some local sweet treats from our newfound
friends assisted another hour's
worth of brick business until five o'clock
delivered us home into the open arms of
the farm, cool showers and more tea.
In the evening the twelve apostles
gathered around the round table once
more for dinner. Silence. Sheer
exhaustion seethed from a hard day's
manual labouring, and it took the charms
of Mummy's Keralan cooking, brown rice,
dhal, chicken curry, fish mughlai, coconut
soufflé and ginger lime, filling the air with
rich and hearty seasoning, to spice life up
again.
The duration of our mission entertained a
similar series of tiresome days saturated
with cement mixing, brick brushing,
bricklaying, and dirt shifting fun. With
aching arms, buckling backs and heavy
heads we thrust onwards, as there was
still plenty of work to be done and less
than plenty of time for titivation.
Work on site grew to be much harder as
late nights spent enjoying the fantastic
food, the comical company and a handful
of hilarious basketball games deposited
us into our beds drunk with sleep and
drowsy with euphoria. For a few, an early
morning (6.30am) excursion to a church
service was highly impressive with all of
the bells and smells, and despite not
understanding much of the mass, as it
was conducted in the local dialect of
Malayalam, the visit was touching and
vibrant as the synthesized keyboard music
resonated into our hearts, complementing
our enchantment under the spell of India.
Aside from our strict and ambitious work
schedule we indulged in a midweek
shopping trip to Cochin, where we spent
many a rupee or two on goodies and
garish souvenirs, but also enjoyed the
pleasures of the Jewish synagogue and
the Dutch Palace (notable for some of the
best mythological murals in India), with a
detour to the seaside (well, the seafront
and the Chinese fishing nets). Brimming
with culture, peppered in tourist trinkets
and sprinkled with a hint of recreation, we
resumed work at the Vaikom site in a
gargantuan group effort to fill the
foundations. The weather: hot with
afternoon releases of monsoon
downpours. The sites: looking well on
their way. The team: enduring the turmoil.
As Friday brought us to our final day it was
all hands on deck for filling these frames.
Eventually, a long day rewarded us all and
the families with three blossoming houses,
one ready to be roofed and two chasing
up the rear.
An Olympian event of thanks and
goodbyes packed us off on the bus for a
five-hour drive to Thekkady, the Spice
Hills, for a much needed remedy of
shopping, swimming and elephant riding
before Tuesday morning transported us to
Cochin once more. The final destination:
home. The feeling: dejection. The
memories: endless.
Thank you India. Thank you Philipkutty's
Farm, and thank you Mr Lloyd for giving
us the chance to share some love, give
hope and build a sheltered future for these
families. Whilst we have built a house,
India has made a home in our hearts for
the eye-opening, deeply fulfilling, and
welcoming experiences it has invested in
us. "Children are like cement, if you drop
something in it, it makes an impression."
Aluredian 27
KCAP 2012:
A Keralan
Extravaganza
by Charlotte Dathan