An ex-student, Ajay's death

"Do you know Ajay died?"
I was asked from Babita madam when we were going to visit a village to have Mothers & Infants Health program.

Ajay was the first phase graduate student (April 2012) from Surya Bharti school. He was living in a village next to a village where Babita madam lives.

"Does God call a person with pure heart very quickly to the heaven? He has a small baby and his wife is pregnant now. What a pity...."
Babita madam told me what she knew so far.
Ajay was killed by an electric shock when he was working at a construction site.

I was so shocked but I tried to keep calm mind during the program pretending as usual. Actually, my mind was filled with Ajay's death.

In that evening, Vikram came to see me. He lives in next state for his study. I was wondering that there wasn't any festival and what brought him here.  He said that he came to say condolences to Ajay's family after taking only one day holiday from his school.  Vikram is also the first phase graduate student as same as Ajay.

We started to talk about Ajay as soon as we found each other.

Vikram told me what he had heard from Ajay's family when he visited his house.
Before Ajay, first, a site foreman got a electric shock then Ajay was next to him and touched him without notice. The site foreman was brought to a hospital soon after the accident, but Ajay was left there untill about 4 hours later.  There was nobody from Ajay's village to call his family. 4 hours later since the accident happened, Ajay was brought to a hospital in Gaya by a car by his villagers, but he had died on the way to the hospital.

"Ajay has a baby girl. She is one and half years old just like your younger daughter" Vikram said.
Some students from the first phase graduate came to say condolences.
Vikram continued to say, "I am regretting. Just one month ago, I met Ajay and I told him that he should change his job as a labor, he studied as least in 2nd grade in college, he can work in more high level job. I recommended him to get a job in your hotel.  Then we promised that we would go to see MD sir and you about his job when I could get a holiday next time...
I am regretting that Ajay may have never died if I brought him here more earlier.  If he got a job here that accident couldn't happen then he is alive now.
Ajay's mother died very early when Ajay was a baby, so he forced to marry very early after matriculation. If he didn't marry still now, then he was a college student like me..."

His word was breaking my heart. It was me who had made a direction of Ajay's fate.  I always say to my students no to marry before becoming legitimate age in order to stop child marriage in villages.  And I didn't put Ajay's name on the list of scholarship for studying in college, because of his early marriage.  Then Ajay became a labor in a construction site.

On the very next day, principle and Rekha madam, Madhu madam and I visited Ajay's house.  It was located at just behind the building which was used as our school for few years since 2001 when we started the school. When we were walking to the house, an old man started to cry with covering his face with both hands.  He was Ajay's father.

He brought us to his house.  It was very small simple house made of bricks.  Father pointed inside of the house, I found a woman holding her knees there.  She was Ajay's wife.

I went close to her then she burst into tears.  I was only able to pat her back with no word to say.

An old lady came to us holding a baby. The baby is as same old as my younger daughter.
"Is she Ajay's daughter? Are you Ajay's mother?" I asked her.
She said " I'm a mother of her(Ajay's wife). Ajay's mother died very early when Ajay was a baby.

I asked her about the baby's name, then she replied "Her name is Alka".
I said "What a coincidence! My sister in law's name is also Alka."
Then she said "It was not a coincidence. Ajay named her hoping her to become like your sister in law. He was always telling about the school and you."
I tried to hold back tears.
Ajay might have thought about me like his mother because he lost his real mother early.  Though I have thought him as one of many students.

Rekha madam asked Ajay's wife, "Do you eat food these days? You are pregnant, aren't you? Not only for yourself but also for a new baby, you have to eat."

Ajay's mother in law said, "After that, she has never eaten. Even when this baby had a fever, her mother couldn't stand up, so I brought her to see a doctor."

Rekha madam said, "Maybe, Ajay's soul goes into the new baby's body to reborn. Please take care of the new one." Ajay's father cried again. He didn't know about the pregnant.

"I raised Ajay and his elder brother by myself alone since their mother died when Ajay was 4 months old.

I told Ajay's wife who was crying still then.
"I will give a permission to your children to be admitted in my school when they will become older. I will give you a job."

Then Ajay's mother in law said "My daughter went to 2nd grade of college."
Ajay and his wife married when he was studying in Surya bharti school.  By a custom in rural area, their parents made them married early.  They continued to live in their houses and study.  Ajay was always telling his mother in law on the phone that let his wife study more as long as she wants.

Ajay supported his wife financially by working as a labor after graduated from Surya bharti school, while he also continued to study till being 2nd grad of a college.

"I heard that Ajay became a victim in the accident caused by site foreman. Is the top of the company going to give you any compensation?" I asked, and Ajay's father replied, "They said that  they would give us money before Ajay's funeral, but the next day, they said if I require any money from them then they will start a lawsuit against me."
To keep fighting on court is very expensive and they know Ajay's father can not afford it.

When we left Ajay's house, Ajay's friend told us a lot of things about Ajay. Since Ajay didn't have his mother, he always cooked breakfast for his family every morning, then he went to the school.  After coming back from the school, he helped his father in the field and then cooked dinner for his family every evening.  Whenever someone asked him to help to harvest, he was happy to do for them without money.  Whenever there was someone became sick in his village, he brought him to hospital.

He started to work in construction sites besides agriculture after he had a baby. He might think that he had to earn more for the baby.  He started to work as a labor bringing bricks and cements, then he learned how to plaster by working with some experts and he became a plasterer earning 400Rs. per day. Then, it happened.

Principal remembered Ajay and he introduced us some episodes.
"One day, Ajay was hit by a friend with a stick. But he said nothing happened for his friend so that he wouldn't be scalded. He was such a kind boy."

I looked for Ajay's photos to give them his family.  I found that Ajay was always behind his classmates in every photos. He was always side of them or behind them. It shows his modest and shy character.  In the photo which we took when the first phase students graduated from Surya Bharti school, Ajay was just behind me.

I told Ajay in my heart, "Please wait in heaven. I will take care of your wife and children."

Japanese language Intensive course for ex-students from Surya Bharti School

I've been having a Japanese language class mainly for the ex-students from Surya Bharti School, almost on every Sunday since last year.  I teach Japanese for the students who are aiming to pass N5 level of JLPT from 11am to 1 pm, and for the students who are aiming to pass N4 level from 2pm to 6 pm on every Sunday.

(JLPT is a test of Japanese language for foreigners. There are 5 levels of N5 to N1. N5 is for beginners and N1 is for professional level.)

I held an intensive course for 3 times for them during their spring vacation in March and April.

First term: 8th to 17th March

Second term: 25th to 31st March

Third term: 9th to 22nd April

We had the morning class starting at 9 am to around 2 pm (The students for N5 only study in the morning class), after lunch break, we had afternoon & evening class only for the students for N4.  (The students for N4 had studied in both classes.)  3 students had stayed in our hotel during all the terms.  (2 more students joined with them later.)  3 new students who graduated from our school in this March joined to this intensive class since the second term, after finishing their final test(CBSE Matriculation) of 10th grade. 

We use mainly "GenkiI and GankiII" as the texts for our class. The students for N4 had already studied both books one time last year.  And the students for N5 had also studied Genki I last year, but there were a few new students joined our class, so we revised from the beginning of Genki I again.

The reason why I use "Genki" as a textbook is that it has translations in English on each sentences, and it has also grammar explanations in English, so the students who can understand English can study by themselves through the textbook.  The stories appear in it are very familiar to us that are related with usual life,  and they cover various grammars naturally along with them.  And further more, there are plenty of practice questions in the book, and there are workbooks for extra practices.  I think it is very useful. 

There was a big festival of India, "Holi" between the end of the first term and the beginning of the second term.  Holi is a festival we splash colored water to family members and friends for a few days.  And then you can guess what happened.  All the students were so exhausted that the speed of our class became down than usual speed to learn.  But anyways, we completed revising Genki I during the second term.  It was too easy for the students for N4, but sometimes we found their mistakes or some words they forgot during the lessons, so I think it was good revision form them.

And, in the third term, we went through Genki II with both of the students for N4 and N5.  Although the students for N4 had already learned Genki II and they know its contents, we had vocabulary test and Kanji (Chinese character) test everyday, and it was good for them to gain more knowledge.  In the third term I taught them with Hindi translations directly without English.  The way was efficient to understand Japanese grammar because the position of nouns and verbs, etc. are very similar in Japanese and in Hindi.  And the changing styles of verbs in Hindi also pretty much same as in Japanese.  So, it is more easier to understand with Hindi translation especially for the students who aren't good at English.

Now(In the end of April), it is 40 to 45 degree Celsius here in Bodhgaya.  It was only around 30 degree Celsius in the beginning of March.  After entering April, the temperature became soaring high rapidly.  It is said that the temperature in all India this year is higher than past few years, and it caused that many people died by the hotness till now this year.  In such weather, some of the students got cold by studying in the classroom with Air conditioner.  One of them said that he wants to wear sweater.  For me as a Japanese, it was not so cold in the room because the air conditioners were old and had to be repaired.  They felt so cold in the room with air conditioners, because they have special DNA inherited from their ancestors for thousands years in this hottest area.  A few students came to our class by bicycle in this hotness.  All the students had done very well.

We had sample tests for 5 times for N4 and N5 during the whole terms.  I will write about the results in the next blog.

Restarting of life in India! Research on health of infants in villages

(I wrote this article in Japanese in January 2015)

In the end of December 2014, I came back to India with my second daughter who became 6 months at that time.

After coming back to here, I became very busy with a lot of works remained while I had been in Japan, and I have many events here everyday...!

I visited 2 villages to research about health conditions of children and infants. One of them is 10 Km from Bodhgaya, and other village is 8 Km from Bodhgaya today.(Jan.2015)

The village where I visited first was called Harijan colony which is a village where a kind of lowest caste people live.

Reikha madam also came with me. She helps our Mothers & Infants health project.

When I started to walk after getting off from my car at the entrance of the village, maybe I looked like an foreigner who is very rare to see for them though, many villagers came to see me.

I found a grandmother who was holding a little baby that I thought the baby might be about a month old. And I asked her how old is the baby, then I was so surprised because she said the baby is 6 months old.

My second daughter became just 7 months at that time.  I compared her and the baby.  The body size of my daughter is 1.5 times bigger than the little baby. I thought that my daughter was bigger than the baby when she was born.

I asked how old are the other babies in the village, and I was surprised to find their body sizes are so smaller than they had to be in their age.

I know that most adults who live in these poor villages tend to be smaller and thinner because of malnutrition.  It look like a kind of normal because most people are small, but the health condition of the babies were so bad.

The children around 2 to 6 years old are also malnutrition showed that they were having green running nose, too thinner hands and legs.

I thought they should be supported to improve their condition.

But, there is a big problem. The village is too far from Bodhgaya, and it is in the another local administration office.

We always cooperate with the local administration office in Bodhgaya for our health project. We don't have connection with the local administration office of this area.

State government of Bihar provides various supports for the poor, especially the people who are in lowest caste had been gotten discrimination through several generations since ancient time.

One of them is a work of anganwadi who are female staffs take care of mothers and infants, give  them nutritious foods, help them to take vaccination.

Although the roles are not functioning in some areas. We are helping villagers with anganwadi to get knowledge of what kind of supports are provided by governments and how the supports can reach each poor people.

And, we visited another village where is 8 km away from Bodhgaya.  We found that there are so many children but few infants after went around the village.

We decided to go back after sunset.

We will visit other villages near the village next time.

Surya Bharti School got damages by heavy rain and flood in August

Surya Bharti School got damages by heavy rain and flood in this rainy season since early to middle of August 2014.  There were serious damages by heavy rain caused floods in Bihar and UP in north India this season.  I got a report from our principle Mithilesh sir.

1, The lower parts of 12 peaces of lockers and bookshelves were swamped and they became useless.

2, 150 set of long desk and benches were submerged in dirty water more than a week and got damaged.

3, CPU(10 peaces) of desktop computer became useless by being submerged in water more than a week.

4, 10 chairs for teachers got damaged.

5, The lower parts of 12 peaces of classroom doors became decayed by the flood.

6, 4 peaces of Battery got damaged and became useless.  It is very necessary to pump up water for toilet when power outage.

7, Inverter became out of order by being submerged in water more than a week.

8, 8 boards of carrom board game became rotten by water.

9, 2 peaces of carpets became decayed.

10, All equipment of audio systems became out of order.

11, 10 tables for computer became decayed by water and have warms inside.

12, The surface of walls of school building became dirty by the flood.

13, Water drain was destroyed and blocked up by mud.

14, The school bus was already old and we have used it by repairing many times, it was submerged in flood more than a week, and its wheels and engine got damaged.

15, Roof tiles got cracks by heavy rain.

16, 10 peaces of UPS(battery) for computer became out of order by being submerged in water.

17, Sand of the school ground was swept away by the flood, and the level of the ground became lower.

18, The floor of classrooms got damaged by the flood.

19, Some parts of walls of school building got damaged.

We appeared on ”Japanese Women who married in mysterious land No.6" of Sunday Big Variety program by TV Tokyo

We appeared on ”Japanese Women who married in mysterious land No.6" of Sunday Big Variety program by TV Tokyo

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Japanese Women who married in mysterious land No.6

Japanese women who live in foreign countries after international marriage. This time, we report about Japanese wives in Chanrai ,Thailand, in Bodhgaya, India, in Danieden, Newzealand, and in Uganda, east Africa.

▽Bodhgaya India「Great success with wife's help! A Japanese wife married husband with big family」

【Reporter Osaru】

Bodhgaya is famous place where Buddha got enlightenment. There is a Japanese wife who supports big family of 26 members by running hotels. In addition to the hotel, she is very busy to support her husband who runs a school and cable TV company.

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/sun/backnumber/483.html
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I was introduced third among 4 Japanese women living abroad in this program.

With the reporter "Osarusan"(a Japanese comedian)

TV team visited to shoot Surya Bharti School.  They gave Japanese writing methods for the students.  Osarusan showed his fantastic writing in front of the students. 

We had my elder son's birthday party.  Osarusan also attended it to celebrate together.  He played DS game with my second son when he had time.

made by second son

made by elder daughter

made by elder son

They visited our house in Delhi, house in Bodhgaya, and our hotels too.They filmed the party of opening celebration of Bodhgaya news channel.  Osarusan appeared in the news program as a special guest!

It was very fun shooting.  We appreciate all the TV team and the reporter Osarusan.

Actually the interview by Tokyo TV was second time.  We had been interviewed in January 2002.  The reporter was Ms. Megumi Ohigashi at that time.

I was pregnant(of second daughter) this time, I was also pregnant(of elder daughter) last time.  It is amazing that it was my pregnant time whenever I had gotten offer to interview.

The program was broadcast not only Tokyo TV but also many local channel all over Japan.  Thank you very much to everyone who watched it!