This post is by Rich



Historic!  The first-ever Family Literacy Night in India took place on Wednesday evening, 8th August, from 4:30-6:30pm, in the spacious auditorium of the Diamond Jubilee High School in Mazagon, hosted by AKES, Principal Nutan Iyer, and the indomitable Lee Krishnan. Longtime ABLer Brendan McGrath served as host. The room was decorated with peace-themed art produced by our own Ingrid Hess. The staff of DJHS did a great job recruiting, encouraging, cajoling. People began to arrive about 4, and by 4:45 I counted 113 in the room. More kept coming - final total was over 120. Participants sat at 15 round tables arranged around the room. Teacher, parents, and students were present in abundance.



Nutan began the event by welcoming everyone, then Lee explained what ABL is and spoke briefly about the conference, before handing the microphone over to Brendan, who got things rolling. For a warm-up prompt, he used a model we learned from Rex Lee Jim. He asked people to pull out their mobile phone, and find the fifth photograph in its storage, then write about that photograph. After 10 minutes or so, he invited participants to share at their tables. Then Lee said the first three students and first parent who came forward to the stage was invited to share. Perhaps 20 students and 10 parents ran forward, hoping to share!



We head from one parent and 8 students, then moved on to the main prompt of the evening.

Lee had developed the prompt, and it was spectacular. In keeping with the title of the conference, "Writing for Peace," the prompt was five lines, each written in both English and Hindi:

Peace means...
Peace looks like...
I want Peace because...
Our world needs Peace because...
Draw a picture of what Peace would look like

We passed out handouts to everyone, and invited them to write. Parents and children wrote and talked about peace together.



Then we began the main sharing session. A huge group of students lined up to share.



There were so many parents who wanted to share that we decided to set up two sharing lines - students on one side of the stage and parents on the other side. We alternated readers - a student, then a parent, then a student, then a parent. About 20 parents shared, including 3 fathers, and about 40 students, all sharing about Peace. It was a remarkable event.

When it ended, there was much hugging and photo-taking. Us folks from the US were treated like celebrities, signing autographs, taking selfies, posing for picture after picture. It was a little embarrassing. Brendan did a good job on the microphone explaining that we hadn't done much, just shown the model, and that the parents, teachers, and students of DJHS really made it happen. A couple of teachers asked when we were coming back to do this again, and I told them they don't need us to do it. They can see the model. They can do it again without us.

After the event, several DJHS teachers served a special meal. I don't remember the name exactly, but it involves a small piece of Puri bread (think of a little cup made of bread) that you fill with a corn meal, then a spicy sauce. It was delicious!  I ate far too many.

Many thanks to Lee Krishnan, who conceptualized the event, and did the work to make it happen. The DJHS community was thrilled. I've seen a lot of Family Literacy Nights, but I've never seen so many parents share. It was a special night we shall remember.

I write this entry on Thursday, 10th August. The school is closed today and the city is in partial shutdown because of a political protest by a Maratha group taking place all across the state of Maharashtra, and particularly in the city of Mumbai. A similar protest took place last Wednesday. At issue is benefits and guaranteed government jobs (called "reservations") for the Maratha community. Negotiations have been ongoing but are incomplete. The protesters have pledged a peaceful event, but many schools, business, and organizations have chosen to close out of fears of violence. And so we Americans are spending the day at the YMCA Guest House, relaxing and writing and thinking. I certainly hope there is no violence today, and that all is clear for the Teacher Workshop scheduled for tomorrow.  If you want to know more, check out the Times of India https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/protesters-disrupt-road-traffic-in-maharasthra-over-maratha-quota/articleshow/65332496.cms

Our dear friend Brendan has headed home - family and work obligations require him, and so he took a cab to the airport late last night, and a 4:30am flight today heading back to the States. We shall miss him, but he certainly made a big impact!

Thanks for reading,
Rich