hello all..christmas?

hello all. It is christmas eve and by christmas day around 1000 kids will be residing in our RTU village of G.Kalliputti. To us coolies this may mean the same question over again i.e what is your name? But the children it is one the most precious days of the year. It is easy to remember how we acted on christmas day when we young and the excitement of waking up with your family and sharing gifts. All the children coming to our village are orphans, true, but the fellowship between sister, brother and mother seems as strong and as joyous as any family.

Bottom line is have a merry christmas and enjoy the company of your family and friends. After all they are the ones who make christmas so special.

Love always Will

Hey guys.
Most of the houses have been built now, most of us painted this morning. Tomorrow morning we shall be going to various open ceremonys for each of the families houses we have constructed. Alex arrives on Wednesday i do believe and the first group will be leaving for our travels before returning home for christmas. It's great to have gotten so much done so quickly and to see the money and time we spent this year, first hand be so productive. Until next time...
Callum Vass

Will’s Birthday A night to remember!

Hot meat, cold beer, waiters rated E- to start, steadily progressing to A+ as the night wore on. Tim as the restaurant DJ. Will as the guest of honour.

Everyone thought a huge error was obvious and halted at a door that announced, “Vegetarian Restaurant”. This was not what anyone had in mind.

Having to bring our own cold beer, purchased two days earlier, just to ensure supply, we thought we would have been served immediately, but after a 30 minute wait, someone had clearly managed to find an outlet in Batalagundu for tankards, and the beer finally began to flow. Mitch naturally managed two tankards and devised a means to have both filled regularly.

Chicken 65 was the predilection of the repast, closely followed by chicken noodle, chicken lollypop, chicken fried rice, chicken tandoori, and of course chicken tikka. The other courses mutton balls, and fish fried were down the list. The only veggie to be seen was french fries and of course chillied peanuts.

Once the ice-cream came, Herks had to admit his new daks were a size too small, and the multi-coloured tutti-frutti was just asking for trouble. He succumbed.

Quote of the night went to Charles, “The trouble with vegetarians is they don’t eat meat.”

Callum’s head hanging well clear of the bus window on the return journey provoked consoling comments from the more compassionate.

A great night had by all.

BD

PS. The accompanying photo is definitely digitally enhanced! (....not)

Hey all. ENTER scores out today, some are arranging mass suicide others celebrating, either way i'm pretty sure beer shall be consumed tonight. Went to Kadai Canal yesterday was a amazing place I'm pretty sure it was cloud city, we were up so high and the views were incredible, and always with great views comes winding roads comes vomiting. Four spewers on the way up and i'm pretty sure i was the only one on the way back. More importantly there were monkeys. Its become apparent to me that we should have monkeys in Australia, its just such a satifying sight to see. Sure there are the downsides rabies etc. Anyway enough from me I have a noose with my name written on it waiting for me.
Callum Vass

Update

Dec 8th.
All well and hearty, although some thinking longingly of a meal of 3 meats and a veg! We are now getting eggs regularly for breakfast. Charles had a day in hospital on a drip after getting dehydrated, and I have had a day on the toot after a bad wadeye. Othewise all are in good spirits.
11 houses are started, with two up to the roof tiles today. Most have had eough of carrying, and have decided to upgrade to become masons, and plasterers. Mitch and Michael have added a huge amount of extra manpower. Still unsure though who will be the lucky ones to acrry 50 kg cement bags 100m up hill. I think we will have to get a few women in for that!
All 13 have started taking a few classes in English with mixed results. Our spelling does not always correspond with theirs and we have the disadvantage of not understanding grammar as well as the lower grade high school children. This will only be going till Monday as the students all start their public exams then.
Br James returned from hospital last night. He feels a little weaker but is very cheerful, and quite a charmer.
I will attempt to get the boys to add to this site more frequently, but it is hard to find the time and the opportunity.
All the best,
Br Denis

India is a massive country with over a billion citizens calling it their home. Through keen observance and the national English newspaper (The Hindu), it has become abundantly clear that to progressively govern and police such a state is as far as I’m concerned is nearly impossible. We as a collective come from a nation where rubbish collectives are weekly and recycle fortnightly, the closest bin in public is nearly always within working distance (these are cleaned and maintained regular by councils) and fines in place for infringements. In the starkest of contrast I was reading this morning in the newspaper that the government are struggling to even look after its world recognized and heritage listed monuments. You see in India the ONLY place to dispose of your rubbish is on the ground next to you, leaving streets lined with the stuff, eventually making its way to the water ways and streets where swine and peoples pet chickens feed. When this mess is accumulated some one generally takes action and rakes it into a pile and set fires to a CO2 bonfire. These waterways are used for drinking, laundry, bathrooms and in some cases holy sights.
I’m currently reading Hunter S. Thompson’s account of the 1972 election (Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail ’72) and if its taught me anything it’s the complex and intricate nature of an election process of a first world nation. I cannot even imagine the electoral process in India. The need is so bleedingly obvious here for help from those of us better off. Unfortunately the perception spoon fed to us is that outside of Australia there lie a lesser people, and that without these people we wouldn’t necessarily be able to live our privileged lives to the extent that we do. It takes more than apathetic knowledge/ignorance to make changes to the lives of others, I'm glad that I could first hand take action in this proccess and to everyone who has supported us along the way - thank you.
Callum Vass

Today the other geese returned to the gaggle. In other terms the others arrived relatively safely to join the rest of us. Yarr. This picture is the first group, on the job, note the swans tshirts.
love callum + (ill) will

Denis To Motherland

At last I have found the article purporting to suggest that I have been exploiting child labour. This is all a gross misunderstanding.

I was attempting to ask a widow, whose house we were building, where she was now staying, as we were building a new house on the previous site of her dwelling. Clearly the remains of the previous construction – panels of woven cocoanut fronds, sticks and plastic sheeting - were evident nearby, but no lean-to as on other sites. With no common language I resorted to the universal sign language for sleeping, adding the words “where do you?”

A glimmer of understanding came over the mother, and her eldest boy of 12 was alerted and scurried off. 10 minutes later we saw him labouring up the hill carrying above his head a primitive bed, which was promptly placed at my feet. Embarrassed I tried to explain, but to no avail. Rather than show ingratitude for their gift, I slumped down for a while and enjoyed this bed cum hammock. Mid-morning after carrying rocks for foundations it was certainly appreciated although both unexpected and unsolicited.

It was also rumoured that I had caused her younger son, who the previous day was suffering from a fever, to have been denied his bed for the day!

The result of the incident has been that each day the bed is brought out when I arrive.

Please note that I have no control over the content of our blogsite, and bear absolutely no responsibility for the truth of what is reported. Further I am appalled at the spelling and grammar of the students. It is my intention that further items be appended with the name of the author, and also the name of their English teachers through the years!! Be warned.

coolies (coxy's) big break

hey team!
how you all geing? all is well from RTU in india (unsure of the spelling of the village). completed our final days work for week 1 today. saturdays are fortunatelly only half days of work. clarks complaining about that. we have saturday afternoons and sundays off as you may all be aware. no plans as yet for the saturday afternoons so just kickin back and jiming to punjabi MC.
the houses are coming up faster than the diarhoea is flowing in the south of tamil nadu, india. you would all be surprised but proud on the growing experience of the trade by your loved ones over here.. but please dont rely on us back home.
everyone is fighting fit and healthy at the moment so fingers crossed it stays this way for some time. the other group (group 2) fly out of from down under tomorrow night as your all also most likely aware which is exciting for all. im sure they cant wait to get here and we cant wait to see them. they dont know whats coming there way. but dont tell them that. they should arrive first thing tuesday morning (before sunrise) considering all goes to plan which im sure it was. thai airways are extremelly trustworthy. and they make a good vodka with orange juice too.
hope all is well back home and we all look forward to hearing from you soon.
with love.
jack m(o).
((the coolies team)).
p.s. go poms!!

Hello everbody. Me and Chris are taking this morning off to help fix the RTU website, whilst the others are slaving away in 36 degree heat. Today is Saturday but as far as everyone around here is concerned its just another week day, school and business as usual. We're catching a mini bus into Madurai tomorrow to do some sightseeing of the temples and a little shopping but most importantly try to find some Western food! Chris personally has his eye on Pizza Hut. We're going with several other younger brothers, which benefits us because they are both great company but also means we wont have to pay the tourist price which mysteriously rises 2/3x upon our enquiery. We're pretty much sorted as to where we're travelling for the weeks post-building. Off the top of my head Pondicherry, Goa (for NYE!), Kerala state, Trinchy and Cochin. Anyway hope everyone is well. Until next time, this is callum vass and chris howard (proof reading).

Note to the motherland:

This must be stopped: Child Labour. A few days ago a certain member of the so called ‘coolies’ month members high up in the ranks to say the least, was seen publicly abusing the lower standard of human rights displayed by our host country. Brother Dennis Loft (Terry to friends) cheaply exploited a widowed mother and child into bringing him a bed in which to sleep on site while the other members laboured hard in the trenches.The “situation” arouse during a misunderstanding between English and local language Tamil. We have been informed that Bro. Dennis was in fact attempting to ask the family where they were sleeping while their new house was being constructed. In a chapter which could be directed lifted from the Tower Of Babel, the slightly confused mother gestured to her son, a signal which appeared to usher him to bed. Despite Bro. Dennis’s recognition of the situation and disproval, the damage had been done. It became quite clear that he had sent the poor child to his room to sleep midday Tuesday afternoon. Don’t worry it gets worse. A good 10-15 minutes later the child appears walking up the hill with his bed balanced awkardly on his head. The Tamil enterpretation of Bro. Dennis shambolic charades was a desperate aged plee to seek the comfort of a bed even at the cost of a minors labour. As if to make light heart of the situation at hand he promptly lay on the bed commenting on the comfort etc. The reality is this sort of perception of Eastern society is unacceptable, fortunetly the situation was clarified upon local supervisors arriving. The moral of this story is that all are made equal in the eyes of God and like wise all are judged equally. Case adjourned.
Hon. Callum Vass
(disclaimer any UN advisors who may be reading this the story may or may not have been exhadurated by the writer)

dear children of the everglades

just a quick post to say hello. We've been carrying bricks today really hard work but a good work out none the less. The women who work with us were able to carry 50kg bags of cement on their heads whilst we were battling one between two. More power to you sisters. Anyway I'm gonna go eat now got some more stuff to post later on this evening. Love love love you long time. Callum Vass

Well we made it. Just finished our second days work as "coolies" a title which does not at all fit us in contrast to the overwhelming efforts of the actual coolies. But hopefully our contribution is helping. So far we have helped survey the plots of land, dug trenches for the foundations, filled the trenches with rocks. This is the basic foundation for the 17"x17" concrete houses. Nearly all the building supplies are made in the RTU including the concrete doors (correct concrete doors!), bricks, windows frames, chimneys, roof tiling etc. Even the granet powder (which is used to mix with concrete, alternative to sand) is collected locally. We are living on site at the childrens village, in the guest housing. Which we must admit is very nice indeed. Two to a bedroom with its own toilet and bathroom. Showers may only be a mere bucket but at the end of the day a cold bucket of water does just the trick to refresh you from the humid air. Weather is lovely hot in mornings and cooling off later in afternoon. Our working days are:
7:00am Breakfast
8:30am Start work
12:30am Lunch
1:00-2:00 SIESTA!!
2:30pm Back to work
5:00 Knock off
6:00 Beer O'Clock
7:00 Dinner
Money goes a long way here! Picture this: Pepsi, Coke, 7up 10 rupee=AU33c (3 ruppee discount when you return the bottle!), Beer 55rupee=$1.50 (your choice of Sand Piper or Marco Polo, 3ruppee if you want the box to carry them in)
Well thats pretty much life so far. Feel free to post any questions/or messages if you feel so inclined.
Love from Callum Vass and Chris Howard
Oh yeah curry, every meal and lots of it.

Welcome to the official blog for Coolies. Stay tuned for more updates and photos from India.