letters from england...
Dear all,
What’s up? How are you guys doing? Well, I hope. Sorry I haven’t written in a while- in a long while-, the internet has been down at the office- and the laptop, AND desktop AND phone at home broke. It’s been a crappy time here lately for anything electronic. But now that it’s up and running again, I get to send out my ridiculously long emails once again….pleased aren’t you? ;) The Monday of the 14th was probably the most excitement we’ve had in a while here. My uncle, guruji’s husband, founded a charitable organization here called SACAR. http://www.sacar-trust.org/
They work with people who have Asperger syndrome and Autism and help them lead more productive lives. Check out the website- they do all sorts of artwork (mosaics, candle making, painting, copper tooling, etc- beautiful pieces, really). Anyway, this past monday. Vibha, Nikhil and I went with the Sacar group to a wildlife drive through safari and amusement park.
We were told the morning of that we were going to get to go on this trip. Got up at 6:30, showered and dressed then drove to Sacar by 7. We didn’t really know what to expect- nikhil, he volunteers at sacar, had met everyone before. We were told on the way there that some of the patients there- depending on the degree to which they were afflicted- might be a little hostile towards us, possibly a bit violent (pushing us, etc..) So, naturally, first Vibs and I were a bit apprehensive about meeting everyone. Our uncle dropped us off and gave us a quick introduction to everyone before leaving for work. We stood there, outside the building Sacar shares with a few other organizations, for a few mins smiling at everyone a little nervously before heading inside and upstairs to Sacars office. The office looks like a middle school art classroom, blue doors and trim, white everything else. Cement walls, art hanging from the ceiling, pictures glued to the walls, mosaic art and candles over all the shelves, and large art tables dotted with traces of paint and bits of glue and other materials. You enter the room- rectangular-with it’s length running north to south- from the western wall. The eastern wall is filled with windows, on the southern wall there are a strip of sinks and on either side of those are the mens’ and womens’ bathrooms, then on the northern- is the entrance to the Sacar administrative office. It’s a pleasant room to be in, sunny- good vibes. We stood there for a bit- a really long bit, 45 mins actually- but during that time got to know some of the patients who come to Sacar. Simon was the first to approach us- he had so many questions for us! Most of them about the geography of America and India….or about world capitals. He’s tall, with short cut brown hair- really sweet looking guy- kind of plump in the cheeks- but rarely shows any emotions (later when we were at the amusement park, I’d watch his face as he rode the rides…never a look of pleasure or fear or exhilaration, nothing). His eyes just keep looking around- while he’s talking to you, while he’s sitting by himself, darting around the room- he’s so calm but for those fidgety eyes. Then there was Richard- thin, which stringy blonde hair, he was simply dressed (polo t-shirt and shorts- and accessorized with a GMC baseball that he got in Florida, a bottle of water and a fanny pack- he was my favorite, I think. Such a sweet guy- we came in and he greeted us with little nods and hellos, then welcomed us and asked if we wanted tea….ha, even though he hadn’t any intention of making it even if we did. Those were the two who spoke to us the most- there were a few others I’ll mention briefly: John, he’s the voice of reason for the lot- completely in control of situations, infact he displays no signs associated with either of the syndromes…well, maybe none that I can pick up on. Then there was Adrien, who would suddenly start laughing- at nothing!- you could ask him to pass the salt and he’d start off, a great big jolly sort of laugh- sweet guy though. Then there was Alison- obsessed with putting on makeup and lotions, and would randomly cut her hair- little bits of it. There were about 25 people with us in all, all with some unique obsession or quirk.
The drive was about 1.5 hours. When we got there, we took a drive through the safari first- so all sorts of wonderful animals: baboons (who kept jumping on our bus roof and ripping things up there!), buffalo, tigers, kangaroos, lions, camels, all sorts of deer and antelopes, etc - all free range! It’s a wonder how they kept all these animals from eating one another, guess they all must be really well fed. Anyway, as wonderful as the animals were, it was the company that made it all worth while. The whole time the bus was filled laughter and just SUCH happiness, silliness…for instance, a sample conversation between Richard and John while the camels were all around our bus)
Richard: Sheesh! These are the biggest sheep I'e ever seen!
John: Ahhh, silly- those aren't sheep! Have you ever seen a sheep with two humps??!
(at this point he waited for people to raise their hands ;) )
Richard: No, I can't say I’ve seen a sheep with two humps…I suppose a sheep with even one hump would be curious enough.
John: Then?? You see, they aren’t sheep, they’re camels!
Richard: Camels eh? Well that's good, they make beautiful camels but right ugly sheep.
(approaching the deers…..)
Richard: Oh look! Goats!!!
John: (BIIIIIIIG sigh!)
The rest of the trip was much like this- after the safari, then after the amusement park and shows about parrots and sea lions…it was a bit rainy, but on the whole absolutely wonderful. I was commenting about it later, these patients- all who have difficulties and handicaps that I couldn’t imagine dealing with- put that aside, to take care of myself and vibha. They would keep asking if we were ok, if we needed anything, if we were hungry, thirsty, etc… so warm, so giving. Ahh okie, I’ll probably write again today or sometime soon J till then know that you are all in my thoughts and I miss you guys so much. Take care.
Love,
sadhu
Dear all,
What’s up? How are you guys doing? Well, I hope. Sorry I haven’t written in a while- in a long while-, the internet has been down at the office- and the laptop, AND desktop AND phone at home broke. It’s been a crappy time here lately for anything electronic. But now that it’s up and running again, I get to send out my ridiculously long emails once again….pleased aren’t you? ;) The Monday of the 14th was probably the most excitement we’ve had in a while here. My uncle, guruji’s husband, founded a charitable organization here called SACAR. http://www.sacar-trust.org/
They work with people who have Asperger syndrome and Autism and help them lead more productive lives. Check out the website- they do all sorts of artwork (mosaics, candle making, painting, copper tooling, etc- beautiful pieces, really). Anyway, this past monday. Vibha, Nikhil and I went with the Sacar group to a wildlife drive through safari and amusement park.
We were told the morning of that we were going to get to go on this trip. Got up at 6:30, showered and dressed then drove to Sacar by 7. We didn’t really know what to expect- nikhil, he volunteers at sacar, had met everyone before. We were told on the way there that some of the patients there- depending on the degree to which they were afflicted- might be a little hostile towards us, possibly a bit violent (pushing us, etc..) So, naturally, first Vibs and I were a bit apprehensive about meeting everyone. Our uncle dropped us off and gave us a quick introduction to everyone before leaving for work. We stood there, outside the building Sacar shares with a few other organizations, for a few mins smiling at everyone a little nervously before heading inside and upstairs to Sacars office. The office looks like a middle school art classroom, blue doors and trim, white everything else. Cement walls, art hanging from the ceiling, pictures glued to the walls, mosaic art and candles over all the shelves, and large art tables dotted with traces of paint and bits of glue and other materials. You enter the room- rectangular-with it’s length running north to south- from the western wall. The eastern wall is filled with windows, on the southern wall there are a strip of sinks and on either side of those are the mens’ and womens’ bathrooms, then on the northern- is the entrance to the Sacar administrative office. It’s a pleasant room to be in, sunny- good vibes. We stood there for a bit- a really long bit, 45 mins actually- but during that time got to know some of the patients who come to Sacar. Simon was the first to approach us- he had so many questions for us! Most of them about the geography of America and India….or about world capitals. He’s tall, with short cut brown hair- really sweet looking guy- kind of plump in the cheeks- but rarely shows any emotions (later when we were at the amusement park, I’d watch his face as he rode the rides…never a look of pleasure or fear or exhilaration, nothing). His eyes just keep looking around- while he’s talking to you, while he’s sitting by himself, darting around the room- he’s so calm but for those fidgety eyes. Then there was Richard- thin, which stringy blonde hair, he was simply dressed (polo t-shirt and shorts- and accessorized with a GMC baseball that he got in Florida, a bottle of water and a fanny pack- he was my favorite, I think. Such a sweet guy- we came in and he greeted us with little nods and hellos, then welcomed us and asked if we wanted tea….ha, even though he hadn’t any intention of making it even if we did. Those were the two who spoke to us the most- there were a few others I’ll mention briefly: John, he’s the voice of reason for the lot- completely in control of situations, infact he displays no signs associated with either of the syndromes…well, maybe none that I can pick up on. Then there was Adrien, who would suddenly start laughing- at nothing!- you could ask him to pass the salt and he’d start off, a great big jolly sort of laugh- sweet guy though. Then there was Alison- obsessed with putting on makeup and lotions, and would randomly cut her hair- little bits of it. There were about 25 people with us in all, all with some unique obsession or quirk.
The drive was about 1.5 hours. When we got there, we took a drive through the safari first- so all sorts of wonderful animals: baboons (who kept jumping on our bus roof and ripping things up there!), buffalo, tigers, kangaroos, lions, camels, all sorts of deer and antelopes, etc - all free range! It’s a wonder how they kept all these animals from eating one another, guess they all must be really well fed. Anyway, as wonderful as the animals were, it was the company that made it all worth while. The whole time the bus was filled laughter and just SUCH happiness, silliness…for instance, a sample conversation between Richard and John while the camels were all around our bus)
Richard: Sheesh! These are the biggest sheep I'e ever seen!
John: Ahhh, silly- those aren't sheep! Have you ever seen a sheep with two humps??!
(at this point he waited for people to raise their hands ;) )
Richard: No, I can't say I’ve seen a sheep with two humps…I suppose a sheep with even one hump would be curious enough.
John: Then?? You see, they aren’t sheep, they’re camels!
Richard: Camels eh? Well that's good, they make beautiful camels but right ugly sheep.
(approaching the deers…..)
Richard: Oh look! Goats!!!
John: (BIIIIIIIG sigh!)
The rest of the trip was much like this- after the safari, then after the amusement park and shows about parrots and sea lions…it was a bit rainy, but on the whole absolutely wonderful. I was commenting about it later, these patients- all who have difficulties and handicaps that I couldn’t imagine dealing with- put that aside, to take care of myself and vibha. They would keep asking if we were ok, if we needed anything, if we were hungry, thirsty, etc… so warm, so giving. Ahh okie, I’ll probably write again today or sometime soon J till then know that you are all in my thoughts and I miss you guys so much. Take care.
Love,
sadhu
posted by Sound & Sense at 4:51 PM
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