Tuesday 19 February 2008

At last , a chance to blog

Hi All
just back from painting in the slum - saw internet cafe was empty so dived in ,even though covered in paint from top to toe . No Its not that I'm a messy painter, its just that they dont do non drip or "one coat" here . The guy who mixes the paints is amazing - Radhysham - he's a walking paint chart , just show him a colour, & he mixes it by, literally by hand .
Today was very good, Dennis had done his homework & put us in teams as we had much to do - 3 rooms,hall area + outside - though Asha had some pro's there as well . I was mostly in the green room up a bamboo ladder supported at various times by Val or a bookcase .The ceilings are v. high & I couldnt help wondering what the local A&E looked like - that thought however concentrated my mind enough to stay on .
After the base coat came the jungle scene -Laura , Sue & Tina did some great feehand animal drawings - I got to colour in a lion !
All the while , we had many kids from the slum trying to catch our attention - hello , how are you they cried - Mera Nam Alan Hai , I was able to reply ( my name is Alan ) - Oupa Nam ? what is (your name ) .Thats where the converstion ended in my hindi ,however its amazing how one can communicate without speech.
I tried palying keepy uppy with one of the kids in between painting . Then a quick game of cricket .
The kids helped paint the animals on the walls - it was great.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

No comments: