Day 1: Arrival in Pithoragarh

The children, some of whom had been traveling for two days, arrived in Pithoragarh on the afternoon and evening of May 20th, in the middle of a blinding dust storm. The roads in these hills are narrow and stomach-churningly windy and travelling even 10km can take half an hour. They were tired after their long journeys, so apart from signing in and collecting their registration packets (consisting of a hand-made-paper bag and folder decorated with pressed flowers, a notepad, pen, pencil, sharpener, eraser, and a poster) their only task for the day was to settle in and get acquainted with each other. Since the storm had knocked out the power, everyone quickly had dinner (in candlelight) and repaired early to bed.

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Day 2: Saturday, May 21

The TRC ran out of water in the morning, so the kids had to fetch buckets of water from downstairs to bathe, but they were all dressed, breakfasted and in the hall by 9 a.m.

Guddu Rawat, who has been a part of the MCF since the very beginning and had come to the workshop as the chaperone for the Tehri children, got the group warmed up with some noisy games that caused them to mill about the room and helped break the ice.

The inauguration of the workshop was graced by the Sub-District Magistrate (SDM) of Pithoragarh and Mr. Jagdish Coloney of an organization called Muskan, and his family. Mr. Coloney and his wife take in and look after abandoned children until they can find a family to adopt them. He arrived with his wife and two of their adopted children at 11 and joined the SDM and MCF members from each of the six districts in lighting the inaugural lamp.

Representatives from the local newspapers, Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala, arrived and spoke with the children about the work they had been doing in their villages. The reporter and photographer from Dainik Jagran were so taken by the kids that they stayed through the morning and even participated in the games.

After the mid-morning tea, Sudhir Bhatt, the MCF's lead facilitator, took the helm and got the children on their feet to play a rowdy game that had them all laughing and breathless. He then talked to them about the significance of May 21st, the anniversary of the founding of the Mountain Children's Forum, and then paired everyone up to play the introduction game. In this game each person received a piece of paper with a word on it and everyone milled about the room looking for the person with the matching word. Then the two partners interviewed each other so they could introduce one another to the entire group.

We had to interrupt the game to break for lunch and because we had to vacate the PWD hall for an official government meeting. Lunch proved to be a chaotic affair, with the TRC staff overwhelmed by the big group, but the facilitators and drivers quickly stepped into the breach and started overseeing the serving of food. The TRC only seemed to have about 35 plates so half the group waited while the first batch finished eating and the plates could be washed and brought back to the table. The dining room was a mess by the end of lunch and when the children reconvened in the TRC hall for the afternoon session, Sudhir and Aditi took the opportunity to talk about the need for cooperation and responsibility to keep things running smoothly. Sudhir pointed out that we were an extraordinarily large group for the TRC to handle and that we could help out by trying not to make a mess while serving ourselves, taking our plates to the kitchen, taking our cups downstairs after morning tea, etc. The participants took the message to heart and subsequent meals went far more smoothly and even after tea breaks, the plastic glasses were carefully collected and stashed in one place.

Having taken care of the housekeeping, Sudhir returned to the introduction game, with each pair of participants standing up to introduce one another.

Following the introductions, a representative from each "bal sangathan" or MCF chapter stood up and talked about their chapter and the work they had done. This was one of the most inspiring segments of the workshop as the children's efforts and accomplishments when taken together are staggeringly impressive. Read more about what the chapters are doing.

The participants were then separated into two groups and asked to discuss the role of bal sangathans, or MCF chapters, and then make a presentation to the entire group. After some 45 minutes of discussion, they returned with a list of things they had done/could do such as planting trees, battling alcohol and gambling, help save people from natural disasters, etc. But this led to a rather rambunctious debate as members from each group challenged the other group's suggestions, asking, for example, if they had ever saved anyone from a natural disaster. Sudhir then intervened to explain that what the groups had written, while laudable goals, were very general and asked them to regroup and discuss those points again to make them into more concrete items that an MCF chapter could really act on. It was 7:15 in the evening and we decided to break for the day, but could hardly tear the children away from their discussions. Finally it was agreed that they would finish the assignment the following morning before breakfast.

Though it had been a long day, by the time evening came around the children were eager to have a "cultural event" so they all gathered in the TRC hall before dinner to sing, dance, and tell jokes. There was again no power, so it took place by candlelight, but the enthusiasm was undimmed.

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