A typical day

A disclaimer: this was written based on what my typical days used to be like. i no longer practice music. and i am very inconsistent about washing my clothes these days...

I wake up. I turn on the hot water heater (my greatest—and well appreciated—luxury). I soak as many clothes in water as I think I can handle washing that day. Sometimes I take care of other duties like brushing my teeth. Sometimes I get back in bed. Twenty minutes later I take my clothes up to the roof to wash. I scrub, I rinse (x2), I wring, I hang. I come back downstairs and get ready. On good days, I go back upstairs and practice music (the staff are supposed to teach me a folk song a week; we got derailed after Week 3, Song 2.5), or just sit. I go next door to the “mess” and help the cook finish breakfast if he’s not already done. I make myself coffee (although I recently gave it up on 4 days/week) and then eat. I pack some lunch in a box and then, before any of the other staff are even ready, I am on my way to the bus stop to catch my bus to Parangipettai. One and a half hours later I make it to Parangipettai, site of our VIP Centre. The staff give me a briefing on who has been there since the last time I was there, and the activities they engaged in. We sit for a while.

When the Centre first opened, I used to go to the nearby villages to see the girls and tell them about the Centre. A month or so ago, I began distributing field responsibilities, and I took the next few weeks to introduce each of my staff to their respective villages and the girls there. Since then, in the current phase, the staff-girls go to each village on a weekly basis and try to organize Adolescent Girl-Groups there. In that group they develop a rapport and an understanding, they talk about issues that the girls find important, they disperse information that might have been shared at the Centre during the last session held, they play games.

Now, some days I stay in Cuddalore to work on the IEC (Information Education and Communication) materials that have to be taught to the staff-girls. Some days I go to the village with the staff. Some days I make phone calls to arrange guest speakers. Etc, etc, etc.

I come back to Cuddalore in the evening. On good days, when the staff and I are all in good moods, we will sit in the office and sing songs. They will teach me folk songs. On bad mood days, we will sit in the office and just talk. We go to eat dinner. We come back around. We talk together for a little while longer. Some days the staff-girls will tell me things about their communities where they come from, or about issues they themselves are facing. Later, I go upstairs to my room, and I try to complete documentation that I should have been doing all evening, all week, all along! The staff-girls stay up talking for much longer. I go to sleep. Then I wake up again, and turn on the hot water.