Post #5: FabIndia

Left: Salwars (casual for girls) laid out for show
Right: Yards of stacked cotton fabrics ready to be bought

I was told that at the orphanage I should wear traditional indian clothing, as everyone else there would be, so today my mother and I decided to do a bit of shopping. We took advantage of one of my fathers old friendships from when he was traveling around India after college, and called the owners of FabIndia, who gave us the number for Ms. Belle, the director of the South East portion of the chain. FabIndia is a very popular clothing store known all over India for its beautiful cloths. The pictures I took above are from their largest shop in Chennai. When we arrived at the store Ms. Cheru Belle spent about an hour helping me find exactly what I needed. Her help along with Mrs. Benac's notes from earlier made it all a lot easier than expected.

Post #4: Chennai

Mother and I arrived safely this morning at the airport at about 5 in the morning. It was very hot, humid, and raining. It was completely dark out, too, so now I'm wondering what it will be like when its not dark out and not raining. Hopefully the heat is something that people get used to. Hopefully.

We plan on getting acclimated for the rest of today (even though its already 7) and tomorrow. I need to find a cell phone, calling cards, and clothing that I can wear at the orphanage that is appropriate. On Wednesday morning we will arrive at Pathway ready to go.

Currently our hotel room looks as if a tornado has hit it, due to my 2 huge duffel bags that I had to riffle through to find my tooth brush. Considering Mother and I literally only brought 2 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts, the bags are completely filled to the brim with art supplies, and are therefore very heavy. The bigger one weighs more than I do, no joke. But this is okay, because soon all of the art supplies will be with their rightful owners, and will be put to good use.

Pathway is run largely by volunteers, with a very small paid staff of teachers and counselors within India. This means that your donation goes directly to the children. Those who have donated in the past have been able to see firsthand the purchase power of their money in India. All donations of every size and kind are greatly appreciated.



If you wish to contribute to this cause: Make a donation online:



http://www.pathway-india.com/projectsupport.html



As Pathways is a 501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, all donations to Pathway are tax-deductible in the United States.

Post # 3: Thank you everyone!

I just arrived home after being at Girls State all week... And I leave with my mother early tomorrow afternoon for the airport. We are leaving from Burlington, VT, flying to New York, then to Mumbai, and then finally to Chennai. There's only one more day until I leave, but about 2 until I actually get there.

While I was at Girls State my mother contacted Dr. Prasad (one of the lovely people in charge of Pathway) and took care of last minute logistics in terms of the travel plans. Dr. Prasad has been wonderful in allowing me to come to the orphanage this summer, and for this I am very thankful. Thank you mother and thank you Dr. Prasad, as I would have not have been able to do any of this without you.

How I learned about Pathway in the first place was through one of my dad’s business partners, Mr. Benac. He told me how he had had some of his own children travel to Chennai to start some of their own projects at Pathway when they were younger; which is how I got interested in this whole idea in the first place. Throughout the whole process of interviewing and planning he has been always been there for whatever I need, whether it was taking time out of his schedule to call me, or just writing quick notes back on my emails giving me advice. I even got to talk to his daughter on the phone about her experience there (thank you Caroline). Mr. Benac was kind enough to introduce me to his wife on the phone, Mrs. Benac, who has also helped me with my trip. In fact I was just lucky enough to receive an email from her regarding the type of thing that I should wear when I am at the orphanage, which was very helpful, as I have never once worn a sahri or salwar in my entire life. Another person who has made a big impact and contribution on my project would have to be Judge Sheffield, who already does a ton of work for Pathway as it is, as the Benacs do. He too, has guided me through the whole process with his support and knowledge. Without all of the help that all of these wonderful people have given me, I do not know what I would have done. Their amazing guidance, support, and advice has meant the world to me. Thank you all so much for giving me this amazing opportunity.

I now must stop writing… There’s only about 23 hours, forty six minutes to go, and I really need to pack.

Post # 2: Curriculum

7 DAYS UNTIL I LEAVE Just FYI.

I thought I would add the general lesson plans for the 5 weeks I will be working at Pathway:

Week 1: Introduction to the class/color unit
Week 2: Shape(size/space/form/composition/sculpture)
Week 3: Texture
Week 4: World art (culuture and history)
Week 5: Final projects (the kids get to pick what they would like to do for a final project. some of what we have done must be incorporated, as well as an aspect of the culture and history from the previous week. At the end, we will have a small show of all of their work)

Pic of Prints

Left: One of the prints in purple and red.

Right: Me, Bear (the cat), and almost all of the prints. This was taken in the beginning of May, and now only a few of the prints remain.

POST #1: Supplies.

First post. To start off, I will be in India for about 7 weeks this summer, and for about 5 of them I will be volunteering at Pathway (http://www.pathway-india.com/), an orphanage in Chennai, India, where I will be teaching art classes. I started planning this trip about a year ago, but it really started to get going in about February, when I started to create my curriculum. Between February and now I have met with Judy Beaney (one of my favorite elementary school art teachers), I have volunteered twice a week as a teachers aid in elementary school art classes, and I have developed my own art curriculum for Pathway. I leave on the 26th of June... in 9 days. Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible.

This morning mother and I finally went shopping for art supplies. About a month ago I made around fifty block prints of an Indian skyline, which I sold around my home town and to friends and family. Thank you to everyone who contributed!! I had about 450$ from the prints, and this is what we bought with it today:

-feathers

-felt

-yarn

-every type of paper possible

-paint and paintbrushes

-pencils, colored pencils, markers, erasers

-popsicle sticks

-paper plates

-model magic

-one large ruler

-pom poms

-foam pieces

-scissors

-glue and tape

-sparkles, glitter, googly eyes.

-felt