India update #5

Greetings fom Jhanci,

The train ride went well, with less trouble than getting the baggage onto the train than in Delhi - I think they're becoming experts! :-) We also found debarking much easier as Jhanci was a lot less crowded than Agra. We were met at the train station by members of the hospital staff which was a pleasant surprise.
After a short rest and lunch after the train ride, we headed off the hospital to get a tour of the facilities and an introduction to the staff and our proposed projects for the next couple of days. We ended up not doing any work that afternoon, but given the heat, we didn't mind having a shortened day to rest and relax so more. :-)
Today, we went to the hospital to begin our work. We were a litle late due to breakfast taking unusually long (I don't think the hotel is used to having so many guests at once.) so we missed most of the morning prayers but did come in time to be introduced to the rest of the staff that we didn't meet yesterday including all the nusing school students. Unfortunately, the staff didn't realize how eager we were to begin work and they hadn't acquired the materials for the painting projects, so the students went off to tour the nearby fort while I procurred several gallons of paint, brushes, etc. The fort is famous from the 1857 mutiny when the locals fought against the British. Apparently when the local raja (king) died without a son, this allowed the British to take over control of the region due to a loophole in the original agreements between the British and the locals. The locals, however, believed that the son of the rani (queen) was a legitimate heir (even though he wasn't the king's son) and that until he was of proper age (he was only 3 or 4) that the rani was the rightful heir to the throne. But, one of the guards at the fort took a bribe (guess indian society has always been one of bribes) and allowed the British access where they came in and ousted the rani who left the fort on horseback with her son on the back of the fort, apparently jumping the horse over a steep wall to safety. She came back in the uprising dressed as a male soldier to fight to regain control of the fort and died in the battle. She has since been a nationwide symbol of the resistance.
The kids found the fort quite interested and enjoyed watching the monkeys and baboons there, but were still happy to get back to the hospital and start working (many had expressed deep regret that the hospital wasn't prepared for them to work in the morning). So, we were in three groups where one group was repainting the walls in the nursing school, one group was doing inventory for the nursing school and the last group was painting a mural in the waiting room of the hospital. I don't think the kids had been watched with such curiosity before even though they had been stared at much before. At one point a couple of the nurses even came up critiquing the painting and asking them to correct some aspect that seemed wrong (one side of an arch was wider than the other side, etc). The inventory is complete so that group began some pruning after lunch while the other groups almost finished their painting projects. They are all looking forward to going back tomorrow to finish their masterpieces - I think they may even add another smaller mural in the admitting area.
Tomorrow we've been asked to take part in the morning devotion, so the kids are practicing reciting the school chapter and reminding themselves to the words to "this litle light of mine" to sing tomorrow morning.
We have found the heat continues, but we've had two days of thunder/lightning so we are encouraged that the rains will come soon! :-)
We do miss those at home but are having a grand time here. It's hard to believe that is more than 1/2 over at this point!
In peace,
Cindy
PS: For those of you not receiving emails from your kids, know that they are trying but there have been issues associated with the upgrade in the email system and many kids do not yet have access to their email accounts - please be patient but know that they are thinking of you and trying often only to be frustrated by the lack of access.