Social Services / “Destination Keesara” — Coolies 2008

Last year’s Coolies group began their adventure on Friday 21st November 2008, leaving Melbourne and flying first to Kuala Lumpur, then on to Chennai for an overnight stay before catching a train for an 8 hour journey to Vijayawada. From there a 45km road trip brought us finally to La Salle BJT College Keesera, Krishna District Andhra Pradesh, our home for the next four weeks. In 48 hours, we had been transferred from Melbourne to Keesera a remote village nestled between two small towns, Nandigama and Kanchikachurla. Immediately, we were struck by the differences between life in Australia and that of the Dalit children who attend the College. Due to the caste system, these children and their families are labeled as “untouchables”, and so in reality their access to education is restricted and their ability to obtain work in other than low-paying jobs, is limited. In 1993, to provide opportunities for these children, Bishop Joseph Thumma, the Bishop of Vijayawada Diocese, began the primary school and the De La Salle Brothers offered to provide the Intermediate level of education. Over the years, the reputation of the College has grown and so more and more Christian, Muslim and Hindu families are now sending their children to the school, hence necessitating the building of many more classrooms. Our task was to provide the Coolie labor for the skilled tradespersons who were working to transform a building shell into four classrooms. “Sounds easy!’ you may well say, “How difficult can it be sifting sand and carrying bricks up three flights of stairs?” The reality was that we had to complete these physical tasks in the heat, six days a week, for four weeks. Our young men including Jeremy Baker, Thomas Williams, James Stevens, Sheldon Oski, Benedict Farrell, David Gonzales, Mitchell Robertson, Aleck McNally, Matthew Warr, Francis Smith and David Loft were amazing in the manner in which they approached the work. Yes they were tired, and yes they probably wanted to stop many times during the three one and half hour shifts we worked each day, but in spite of the repetitive and sometimes mundane nature of the tasks, they encouraged and helped each other to finish the work that needed to be done. We were ably guided in our work by foreman Chas Thompson, who negotiated with the tradesmen each day, varied the tasks and ensured that the boys rotated through the various work stations whilst hotly discussing a number of topical issues. This certainly made time pass quickly and before long, the four classrooms started to take shape. Each day whilst we worked, the beautiful, happy and energetic school children kept us company, sometimes even helping with the delivery of sand bags from the sand pile to the pulley. This year, Br Denis Loft, who developed the program, spent the bulk of the time traveling around Southern India to investigate other De La Salle initiatives that may form possible work projects for the 2009 group. On his return to Keesera, Br Denis joined the gang on the worksite and marveled at the work ethic and work rate of our young men. After work each day, we joined the hostel children for games. Our boys joined in the soccer and volleyball games, whilst the girls in their magnificently coloured saris tried to teach me the finer points of “Kabbadi” which will be a demonstration sport at the Delhi Commonwealth Games next year. Whilst at Keesera, we were looked after so well by the Brothers’ Community who provided delicious food and comfortable accommodation during our stay. They taught and showed us so much, but at the same time our young men reciprocated by involving them