Tom Scovel recently visited the Children’s Home, here, in his words, we share with you what he has written about his time at Children of Faith.
“After a couple of years of anticipation, I returned to Children of Faith, having first visited in 2017 my grandson on a church youth trip. I told church friends that I looked forward to a complete change of place and experience for this visit. Would I come off as a know-it-all foreign expert? Could I relate to all the kids- girls and boys as young as 5 and as old as 20? Would I be a constant imposition on Rosie and Anand Thandu’s hospitality as my small guest room was next to their house and I’d be be eating all my meals with them?
“My visit began on a Sunday, a morning worship service in Telugu with the children led by Rosie and a sermon by Anand, who has seminary training and is an engaging speaker. Rosie and Anand went to a church service in town and I was free all afternoon to unpack, mull over ideas about how to address the students’ and teachers’ needs and to begin one of my goals- meeting each of the kids face-to-face where I learned their names, ages, class level. I asked each child to answer a short question (What is your favorite Indian bread? Who is your favorite Indian cricket star? If you could visit any place in India, where would you go?).
These interviews were all in English, but I was greatly helped by the older girls and boys who translated for me, and by the end of the week, with the help of the older kids in the boy’s and girl’s dorms, I had met 110 children, virtually all the student residents. By the time I left, I could recall a few names and recognize many faces, and this helped personalize my visit in a unique way.
“Surprisingly, even though there was a regular routine dictated by the school schedule and the morning assemblies and evening devotions, there were several special events during my short stay. November 14 was Children’s Day in India! We all loaded on to a bus and drove to a large city park where the teachers organized a series of games for the kids in honor of the occasion. The kids were divided into teams, and there was lusty cheering for tug of war matches, group tag, and several balloon games that ended with loud pops. We broke for snacks, drinks, and I spent time talking with teachers, kids, and occasionally taking groups on short walks among the flower bushes, blooming even this late in autumn.
“Before I arrived, I was concerned that my pedagogical presence would miss the mark. After all, I spent most of my 47-year career teaching university students and graduate courses, and though I had a broad experience teaching in other countries, I had never taught in India. Furthermore, because English is a national language, virtually all educated Indians are fairly fluent, for the former colonial language serves as a lingua franca for the millions of Indians who must communicate in a common language with speakers of other regional languages different from their own. Consider as an example, how would Russians, Swedes, or Hungarians communicate with each other were it not for English? A final and serious concern for me was that the ideas and examples that I prepared for my sessions with the teachers would flop. Who was I to come in as an outsider with “expertise” about their curriculum about which I knew nothing and teaching their different levels of students about whom I was completely ignorant?
“But surprisingly, from all the feedback I got from Rosie and Anand, from the students, and from the magnificently kind, open-minded, and enthusiastic responses from the teachers, I felt a warm and genuine sense that I was helpful helpful. Praise God for that!
“On my next to the last day, Anand drove Rosie and me into Visakhapatnam, and I got a tour of the expansive metropolis whose urban environment and trendy stores reminded me that the COF campus served as a quiet refuge from the secular bustle of modernity. We drove along the well-lit hotels and shops along the ocean beach and got out to see and hear the white swells washing in from the Bay of Bengal. We then stopped at a giant mall and visited an electronics store where Anand and Rosie bought some much needed equipment that I insisted on paying for- a tiny token of my gratitude for their abundant hospitality.
“On my final day, before Anand and Rosie drove me to the airport for my midnight flight home via Singapore, despite the homing instinct that began kicking in even before I flew south, I felt that I was leaving a new home and family. When I first arrived, I was given the venerable title of “Uncle” and this replaced Tom as my name for the week, but at the final evening devotions after I told yet another story about my unusual life, Rosie gave me a new name, Poppa Tom. So, I came as an Uncle and left as a Poppa! Once more it was time to say goodbye, and at the airport I thought of one of the simple children’s songs I had taught the kids. “Make new friends, but keep the old: one is silver and the other gold.” As I hugged Rosie and Anand farewell, I told them that thanks to our years of knowing one another, I came considering their friendship as silver, but as I was about to leave COF and India, in my heart, they were gold. It is of course a joy to be home with family and friends for this is my real life and identity. Yet as I look back on those 20 days, thanks to s bizarre twist and the affection of an entire orphanage, I had an experience of a lifetime!
Tom Scovel, November 20, 2024
EDUCATION TRANSFORM LIVES AT CHILDREN OF FAITH
Education is a key part of our work at Children of Faith. You can help Children of Faith continue transforming lives with this excellent education by contributing to Children of Faith’s Education and Scholarship fund. This fund helps us provide education beyond what our sponsors cover. You can be part of the remarkable education with out traveling to India!
