Four Vanasthali teachers in St Michel

Charles de Gaulle Airport, terminal 2A : landing at 8h (in time ) of the plane from Mumbaï.

Anne-Marie and Marie-Noël are then waiting interminably behind these wretched doors...

At last, there is Kalpana ! but without her luggage and... with a policeman !

Yes they are really our guests, you can believe it !

45 minutes later, here is Kalpana again, with her luggage at last

Then Manisha, smiling though not so well...

Then Sunanda and Aparna

We miss noone !

After a lot of traffic jams on the road, St Michel at last, confortably at Anne-Marie’s and Patricia’s :

Our four guests have a first contact with the three schools implied in the project.

To Paris in the suburb train

The Trocadéro and ... the cold

A cruise on the river Seine ; outside, the cold is still there !

In the evening, at Sophie and Christian’s, a meeting cum dinner ... warm, at last !

“Fair Trade” stands in the Commercial Gallery with “Artisans du Monde” and “Entr’Inde”

The beautiful drawings from the schools of Vanasthali

Excellent, these Indian dishes !

Not bad, the films and the music !

Meeting the French teachers again

Orsay museum with Anne-Marie

In Nelson Mandela social centre, with the association “Echange de savoirs” (Exchange of knowledge)

Chaï is good for you !

One speaks Marathi in the Bretigny “cine 220” (cinema) !

The snow was expecting us on the car park ... no photo, unfortunately...

The snow is not melt, it’s even thicker this morning. Quick, some photos !

In the leisure centre of Morsang :

At Massy Opera :

and alsoArtisans du Monde Fécamp...

and to Sophie and Christian Lefaure for their excellent dinner that evening !

Florence Laffeta, teacher in Blaise Pascal school, writes : “Manisha and Sunanda are very much appreciated by the children and the adults. Exchanges are really interesting and having them in our classes is a pleasure.” Florence joined some pictures and comments for this diary : thank you, Florence !

To read the comments, move the mouse on the picture

Nota : for technical reasons, Florence’s comments are made shorter

In Morsang sur Orge, at the Leisure Centre

Lyon, with Marie-Françoise and her husband

In the Loire department with Louise and her friends of “Partage sans Frontieres” (share without borders)

Vanasthali and Entr’Inde are presented, before a gorgious collation. Among the guests, The mayor of Saint Martin la Plaine (left) and the president of “Partage sans Frontières” Partage Sans Frontières (on the right)

Many thanks to those who have contributed to this excellent week-end’s organisation !

Thanks to Marcelle and Laurent for their pictures.

Georges Fournier, Saint-Michel-sur-Orge mayor, invited us for a cocktail in honour of our four guests. He was accompanied by several elected deputies of our town.

Indian and French teachers have presented some of the works made together with the children of Blaise Pascal school.

The mayor’s speech

Flowers and the medal of the town are offered

The medal of the town, a work of Jacki MAUVIEL, a Saint-Michel artist (1974)

Thanks to the municipal cooking staff who could manage to make a beautiful and vegetarian treat.

We have always well known that phoning while driving is dangerous. It must be known now that it is just as dangerous while going down stairs. Sunanda experienced this today : the result is a fractured foot. Don’t worry : she got proper care , including medical. You can see on the following pictures that this misfortune is without consequence on Sunanda’s mood, and did not reduce her activities either.

The inhabitants of Saint Michel were invited to share a dinner with our Indian guests and the partners of the project.

Parents, children, teachers, the director of Lormoy school (where were Kalpana and Aparna), the mayor and even a general Essonne counsellor... and also many friends. Cooking specialities, Indian or not, have been brought by everybody and appreciated... as well as the films about Vanasthali.

Nursery rhymes and songs followed the meal,

Then came the dance

for an admirative public

Children started at it ...

... so did the adults

The Indian teachers answered the questions of the public (Marie-Noël translating into English)

And of course, the evening ended with a song !

In order to celebrate our Indian teachers, Artisans du Monde Val d’Orge (local Fair Trade Association) have organised an Indian evening in Morsang sur Orge, the main idea being both cultural exchange and solidarity ; it was open to all and it the first such opening towards India initiated here by their association.

The evening started with an Indian story.

A film about a fair Trade organisation in India was shown. Then the teachers explained their own work in India :

Namrata offered some Katak dances

... and Nisha some Bharatanatyam

with an Indian meal

...And both Artisans du Monde and Entr’Inde sold some pieces of handicrafts

All profits will contribute to Vanasthali work of education and rural developpment.

Today is Manisha’s birthday !

From today on, we have a wheel chair for Sunanda, lent by Joëlle. It’s going to Help Sunanda in everydays activities.

Carole led us through Grigny and its diverse social organisations :

• The “Minotaure” pre-primary school
• Farandole association, which she belongs to
• association “Décider” (help to persons in difficult situation)
• The “mini laundry” where washing is not the main activity : meetings, sewing.

... in order to discover the actions towards solving the difficulties met by the underprivileged inhabitants.

Our guests learnt a new technic with the association “Echange de Savoirs” in the Nelson Mandele Social Centre in Saint Michel.

Versailles Palace

During the running competition for the school-children ...

... they congratulated some of the winners :

Making ladoos need some manual hability and experience !

Aparna et Kalpana gave us a pretty demonstration of “mehndi”, a provisional tatoo with henna

Invited by Carole and her Qi-Gong and Taï-Chi-Chuan course students, our guests have shared their capacities with the students (in Longpont)

Ciné 220, Brétigny : projection of Hathi, a film about elephants and “mahouts”, followed by a debate and an Indian collation (masala tea, ladoos, halva...)

Sophie introduced us to the workshop of Bernard BASCHET, an artist of Saint Michel who invented “sound structures” and Francesco Russo, a musician, offered a demonstration and a try. Mrs Baschet joined us for some Indian tea and sweets.

Our guest seemed to have been inspired by the date...

• rangolis ...

• paper flowers ...

• Indian food ...

• and modelling with Françoise Pernot.

Then, our four Indian guests have been to a show at the local theatre (East Siberian songs in “Espace Marcel Carné)

A visit to the art glassware workshop in Soisy sur Ecole, followed by a visit of Milly la Forêt

In the morning, invited by Joëlle, visit of the Palace of Fontainebleau and meeting with the Bretigny students implied in the Timbaud/Fergusson exchange

In the afternoon, visit of the “lycée” J.P.Timbaud and its main workshop. Among the devices contructed there by the students, a special oven for the treatment of the karite in Mali.

The afternoon ended with a visit of Arpajon (a neighbouring town)

“An evening in Paris” ...

An ice-cold wind but a warm atmosphere, with Anne-Marie, Françoise, Bernard and Marie-Noël

A feast at Anne-Marie and Henri’s place with all the people implied in the project.

A good ocasion four our guests to wear their best sarees.

After having tasted delicious special dishes ...

... the evening ended with an informal but fruitful exchange of vews about the experience.

Guy, director of the school of Lormoy sent beautiful pictures showing Kalpana and Aparna’s excellent work with the French teachers and the good atmosphere that prevailed during this exchange.

Some of them :

In the evening, a dinner in an Indian restaurant organised by the school of Lormoy.

School children and teachers wanted to say good bye :

A message from Florence (teacher in Blaise Pascal school) :

A very moving moment for all, when Manisha and Sunanda came to take leave... ...

The children gave souvenirs to Manisha and Sunanda : photos, songs, CDs that should allow them to remember and sing with their pupils in India ... as they taught their Indian songs here. The exchange must go on in spite of the distance.

Then the children accompanied Manisha and Sunanda (their “Indian schoolmistress”) up to the main door, forming a guard of honour.

Thanks to the members of the Indian and French associations that gave the occasion for this project which is a success for everyone’s pleasure !

No traffic jams while going to Roissy Airport this morning.

After checking, a last hot chocolate together :

Emotion and tears at parting time ...

but it’s only good bye ! St Michel is the suburb of Puné !

The flight AF 134 started 1h30 late and arrive in Mumbai at 11h50 in the night. Courage, the school for you in India starts as soon as next Monday !

Read Marie-Noël’s word about it : remerciements.pdf