The highlight of my trip to India, Nepal , Bhutan and Korea in October was a trip to St. Xavier’s Godavari to meet my sponsored student, Fr. Samuel and his staff and see the school. While the rest of the trip was exciting and enlightening, especially the Bhutanese part, I was thrilled to experience the school first hand.
A friend of mine from Toronto and I arrived at the school gates, opening only a smidge, to see what intruder might be approaching the school. Luckily the security guard let us in on mentioning Father Samuel’s name. One has no idea on approaching the school what lies behind those big iron gates. What a magnificent campus! A little paradise of quiet and calm, with the school much bigger, and better equipped, than I could have imagined. Father Samuel and Father Bill welcomed us at the main house, gave us tea and cookies and then a tour of the grounds, and then settled us in for the night at the Ashram, which was clean, cozy and close to the school. Father Bill, from Manitoba, Canada, joined us for a delicious dinner at the Ashram cooked by Babu, the Ashram cook.
We arrived at the school on the last day of the Dashan holiday, so the school was empty of children but busy with workers polishing up the school for the new term. The next morning, a seemingly endless parade of happy, smartly uniformed boys and girls poured through the gates and up to walkways and off to their classrooms with Fr. Samuel beaming beneficently at them.. each child saying “Good Morning Father” as they passed by. He would give a few of them little reassuring pats on their heads all the while explaining to me who they were… We attended their 5 minute daily meditation session where the message was ” you are unique…you are a gift… you are precious….. be kind to others… do your best.” Wow. I think our Canadian school system should do the same. Then we attended their Assembly where they sang Happy Birthday to Father Samuel, sang the school anthem, the national anthem and got their marching orders. Father Samuel then called the two of us to the platform, welcomed us to the school, awarding us with a “kada”, the honorific scarf and gave us both a lovely bouquet of flowers from the gardens. We had a chance to say a few words to the children.
A serious highlight was meeting my sponsored student (pictured above), Amrita, in Grade 8. It was a delight to see her classroom, share some time with her in her classroom, and give her a few little things from Canada. We were allowed to sit in on any class .. we chose Physics, a Morals class and some Grade 1 classes. All very impressive.
Seeing the school and meeting Amrita makes my sponsorship donation more meaningful. My visit left me with great faith for the future of the school and the students.
Catherine
Father Samuel, the school Principal, greeting some students as they arrive for school.
Catherine, Father Bill Robins, Kathy visiting St. Xavier Godavari with our kada scarves and a bouquet of flowers from the school gardens , presented to us at the Morning Assembly