Support Staff Day

Here we are at the end of my second full week at Hebron. It has been a very interesting week as the initial meeting of classes is over and the students are having to do Prep and hand it in! For some of them this seems to be quite a surprise turn of events.

The bout of Gastro has finally cleared up and after being confined to the compound for 10 days I finally walked down to Modern Stores on Thursday afternoon. (I did take an auto up the hill!)
Today, Saturday, was Support Staff Day. This is the day all the support staff come to school with their families and enjoy a day of entertainment put on by the students and staff (management and teaching).

At the Staff Meeting on Thursday night we were given cue cards with strategic phrases such as ''vannakam'' for ''Hello'' and ''Nalla irukkingala?'' for ''How are you?'' It was interesting to wee their faces light up as I greeted them and they responded with ''Good morning!'' After morning tea there were various activities which were followed by a banana leaf meal served by the staff. following lunch I was involved with the Standard 10's on the clean-up detail.

 This meant the washing of the huge cooking pots as well as any other utensils which were used to prepare lunch. The last task the Standard 10,s had was to prepare afternoon tea for the students and staff. They made quite an artistic arrangement of the cookies!

Each dorm had specific tasks to perform throughout the day.
During the morning I did walk into town for some shopping, fresh oranges and candles, and managed to walk back up the hill. For those of you who know Ooty, this feat is quite an accomplishment for someone who has been on bland diet for 10 days!

The photo is of vendors setting up their wares across from the Government Botanical Gardens in Ooty. As it was before noon on Saturday there were not many people about. Later in the afternoon it would have been impossible to see the stalls.