As a child I like many other rural children listened to the ABC children’s hour – my title was Athens 28. I loved that hour each evening and was glued to the set between five and six each night.A well-known writer had the title of Icarus and was a favourite of mine. One day he hosted a gentleman who told the story Dr Graham’s School in Kalimpong, India. He told of the work there and the desperate need for young people to write to the students there who were being educated in the English language. I begged my mother to allow me to write. Enthusiastically I sent off my name and address.
This small act was to lead to a lifelong friendship and the eventual commitment to St Andrews School Teesta.I was about seven when I commenced writing to Marina Malvern, the daughter of a man who had passed away due to a lung disease. Marina and I corresponded throughout our school years, our young adult years, our early married years and now our middle years. We share secrets one only shares with the closest of friends.
We shared the pain of her breast cancer, the loss of a child, the births of our children the purchase of Dashwood and the 1983 drought in Australia. We have shared our hopes our fears, our troubles and our joys all with the use of a pen. At times there have been long gaps in our correspondence as the mail can be erratic but we continue to be there for each other. In the mid 1990’s a friend of mine visited her and that was a great pleasure to both of us.
He found her living in the poorest circumstances with little or no comforts at all. Food was a day to day issue and he was able to supplement with meat which was greatly appreciated. I had sent her an opal – an opal was a lot of good to a lady who had nothing. John walked throughout India from one of Marina’s contacts to another and was made welcome wherever he went.
In 2000 Kevin and I had a good wool cheque and on the way home from the sale he said to me “you’d better buy a ticket” to where? ‘India you goose.” Well I did and what a joy it was to finally meet this little dynamic lady, her husband and daughter. It was truly the trip of a life time – and that is a story on it’s own. Dr Grahams Homes which I had imagined being a bit like Glastonbury or St Augustine’s’, is a complex catering for 5000 children at a time with a farm, pharmacy and hospital amongst its training facilities – that man had vision. Marina and I caught up on forty years of gossip, love and companionship.
One would start a sentence with the other giving replies before the end. leaving Philip and my friend Caroline completely bamboozled to such an extent that they would happily share a smoke away from those two chattering women.Kevin and I have always sent money as we could afford it to support Marina and her family, as they are very poor by Australian standards but rich in spirit. I have sent her money, books and teaching equipment in small parcels for years.
As we were about to leave I asked her if there was anything I could give her that would make her life easier. She paused for a while and rubbing her chin said wistfully “A fridge would be nice”. I thought of living here without a fridge let alone living there in the heat of an Indian climate. Now silly me gave Marina the $’s for the fridge and now that enterprising lady moved herself swiftly down the mountain to another village and started St Andrews – a tiny school with about ten pupils, English and craft classes for ladies and English and 1st aide classes for men.
My sister and I investigated the possibility of bringing this lovely family to Australia and while it was possible the impediments were such that we decided to support the school there. With small assistance Marina has now purchased land on which to build a proper school which h will serve the district and provide quality education to those who seek it. Some are paying students but places are made available to promising young people with no means of support.
Rotary have kindly provided me with school texts which I send most weeks – a parcel of printed matter 500gms costs $6.00. These texts provide much needed variety to the syllabus. Small bamboo huts are being constructed and from what I can glean these then have a roof of iron and are rendered to keep out the monsoon rains. I think we now have three of these.
The next project is to have the electricity connected, a tank and Marina’s real desire – a proper western sewerage system and toilet. Well that’s about the story of our little school and a friendship which is a bit of an “Australian Story” with a twist. Life takes us in many strange directions and it is nice to think that such a small beginning as a mere talk on a childrens’ radio show almost 45 years ago could lead to a school being established in the mountains of India many miles from a farm in Western Victoria with a few dollars meant for a fridge.
People of all walks of life donate to this unassuming project. A local man quietly appeared in the yard one day with a cheque for $500, another pensioner lady and her friend send $40 each year, the Australian cartridge collectors had a raffle and so on it goes and little by little the school is becoming established. I send generally two transfers a year as to transfer money cost the same amount, no matter the amount being transferred, about $28 per time. People like the personal face and knowing exactly what their $ is achieving.
It seems that those children who are able will probably progress to Dr Grahams to complete their education. I am planning to return this coming year provided our crops yield well enough.My mother, now in her late 80’s, remarked the other day, “you still writing to that child? I never thought you would keep it up!”
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