King of Kings Children's School provides a high standard of English instruction for the 140 students there, which is a unique opportunity for the poor families of such a remote region. Even some of the Hindu priests send their children there, and many of the students' families have become believers, through their children being discipled in the school. During the past few school years we have been blessed with various volunteers from the USA, who have each taken a year out to teach American English in the school in Rameswaram. Their efforts have had a huge impact on the success of the school program.

Here is what we are talking about: Ten months or so of heat, culture shock, tummy troubles, geographic isolation, linguistic loneliness, dress codes, classrooms full of eager Tamil children who cannot understand you, and whom you cannot understand, and, did I mention heat? Other than an orientation booklet that Kris and Steph are working on, you will receive no formal training. You will rise up early, and spend many spare hours helping with English translation of village pastor letters to sponsors. Generally, you will either learn quickly to lose your life for Jesus, with joy, or you will utterly fail.

If anyone is interested in considering this opportunity to be spent for the Gospel in India, please call me ( Stan ) at 541-347-1910, and I can put you in contact with Kris and Stephenie, Abbie, Michael, Moriah, Luke and Hart, so they can warn you of what you may be getting into. Oddly, both of them have been blessed immeasurably, and changed forever by their time there.

 

POTENTIAL TEACHER'S FIELD GUIDE 

As of April, 2005 *Disclaimer: all is subject to change. Pray for guidance. Nothing can fully prepare you for the experience. This is intended as a help.

GETTING STARTED

You will need:

1 Monthly support + spending money 2 A passport 3 A visa (preferably a volunteer visa) 4 A plane ticket

ABOUT THE POSITION*

This is a volunteer teaching position. The school covers pre-kindergarten to 8th grade. You will be expected to assist students and teachers in learning English. Other duties may also be assigned suddenly without warning.

*Indian-British English is taught. Correcting the errors in the curriculum is met with resistance due to the government regulated exam system.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

King of Kings English Matriculation School is a private Christian school that covers pre-kindergarten to 8th grade. The 2005-2006 school year will be the first year in the newly constructed building. Students from Glorious Children's Boys and Girls Home attend as well as local children. School is held Monday - Saturday. The school teaches English, Tamil, Hindi, Math, Science, Social Studies, General Knowledge, Computers, Games, Sewing and Moral Classes.

*A typical school day on paper:

9:30 am - 10:00 am Assembly, Teacher's sign in, etc. 10:00 am - 10:45 am First period 10:45 am - 11:20 am Second period

11:20 am - 11:30 am Interval/Teacher's tea

11:30 am - 12:15 pm Third period

12:15 pm - 12:45 pm Lunch

12:45 pm - 1:15 pm Prayer

1:15 pm - 2:00 pm Fourth period

2:00 pm - 2:40 pm Fifth period

2:40 pm - 2:45 pm Interval/Teacher's tea

2:45 pm - 3:20 pm Sixth period 3:30 pm First van trip takes children home

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm After school tutoring

4:30 pm Second van trip takes children home

*Subject to change. Also, special programs and functions come up which involve more working time.

TEACHER'S DRESS CODE

Teachers are expected to purchase a uniform saree and wear it on Mondays. Women must wear their hair up off of the neck at school. All staff are expected to wear ID cards around their neck. You may be asked to provide your own ID card like a driver's license or state ID. Basically you need a card with your photo and name on it.

DRESS

On Rameswaram, you will be expected to wear a saree to school (gents excepted!) and encouraged to wear a saree to church functions and the like. You may wear a churididha (punjabi) at other times. In private you may wear a nightie.

1 Sarree = A long piece of fabric wrapped over an inskirt and blouse. Safety pins/clips are used to hold it in place. 2 Churididha = A long slitted shirt over drawstring or elastic pant with no pockets and a scarf-like shawl thrown over the chest for modesty. 3 Nightie - A long nightgown worn over an inskirt. Housedress attire worn during the day as well as at night. 4 Shoes = Typically, easy-off sandals are worn as the culture removes shoes before entering places.

ORIENTATION

Finances:

You will need lots of money. 1 You will need money to get started with your new wardrobe. Money to buy sarees, inskirts, blouse pieces and lining clothes, chudidars and nighties. You will need money to pay the tailor for stitching your clothes, it's about 25-50 rupees per blouse. You may also want to have chudidars stiched, or you can buy them ready-made.

2 The family would appreciate monthly support to cover the cost of your food and utilities through the duration of your stay with the ministry.

3 Traveling expenses. Sometimes a group will go out, and everyone will chip in. Plus you would need to purchase your meals. If you travel in the city you may need to pay for the hired transport or bus fare.

4 Personal wants and needs. Fruits, snacks, hygiene, mail, phone calls, cool drinks, health needs, souvenirs, etc.

Places:

1 The Compound = A large area of land walled, gated and guarded that is the site for: King of Kings School The Training Center (under construction) Bible College Church meeting place Glorious Children's Boys and Girls Homes Graveyard Phone booth Information Center Offices Gardens Etc. 2 Bethel House = Where the Paulose's live. 3 Your place = You may live above the Girls Home and go to Bethel on off days OR you may live at Bethel.

Meals, Diet, Etiquette:

The Girl's Home serves breakfast at 7 am, lunch at 12:15 pm, a snack at 5 pm and supper at 7:30 pm. Bethel is more relaxed and usually serves later.

1 Breakfast = Rice or wheat based main dish with well cooked side dishes. 2 Lunch = Rice with well cooked side dishes. 3 Supper = Rice or wheat based main dish with well cooked side dishes.

Fish and mutton are the two main "meats" served. Eggs are precious but available. Nuts and beans are sometimes served in side dishes.

Salad greens are not available on Rameswaram. Indian salad is basically sliced tomatoes and onions in a curd (yoghurt) sauce.

Vegetables are only served well-cooked.

Fresh fruits may be bought.

1 Eating = With your right hand. You use your fingers to mix and ball up a bite. Then you use your thumb to push the ball into your mouth. You should not have any food on your palm. After eating it is customary to rinse the mouth out and wash your hand with water.

Toileting:

You may wish to bring toilet paper, wet wipes, hand sanitizer and so on. Soap is rarely provided in public restrooms and toilet paper is not provided although it can be purchased in some towns. Indians typically wash with water and their left hand in place of toilet paper.

Oh yes, for those of you who are not familiar with a squattie, it is a porcelain toilet at floor level. Thus it is necessary to squat while using it.

It's common to bathe twice a day or more often (bucket bath or shower) as it is hot and humid.

Washing Clothes:

Bethel House has a washing machine. So does the Girls Home. Clothes are usually line dried. Most people hand wash using buckets, water, soap, scrubbers, and a hard surface.

Other programs:

You will be encouraged to attend Church services, prayer meetings and staff meetings.

2 Sunday Church = 9 am - 10 am Bible study. 10 am - 2 pm ish Service 2 pm ish + common meal served Ladies cover their right shoulder in church and they cover their head during prayer. 3 Once a month an "all-night" prayer meeting is held. Feet washing and communion are included. 4 A 5 am prayer meeting is offered daily. 5 8:30 am - 9 am compound staff meetings are held Monday - Saturday. They are usually worship, prayer and Bible study. 6 First Monday of each month an all-staff meeting is held at 8 am.

Garbage disposal:

There are designated dumping areas in the compound. Garbage is burned. It is common to litter in the villages. Bigger cities provide public trash bins. Good to know:

Other:

1 Things change a lot.

2 Men and women don't mix much.

3 Your personal rights and freedoms may be challenged.

4 Indian culture and American culture are different.

5 You may spend most of your time inside the Compound or Bethel House walls.

6 Your diet may be challenged nutritionally or otherwise.

7 You may have loose motion or constipation frequently.

8 You may want to bring protein, energy and immune boosting supplements.

STILL INTERESTED?

Super. Here are some Good Things to bring. *Some things you can get here, but they aren't the same.

1 Clothes. Socks to ward off the mosquitoes at night. A jacket or sweater as it does cool down at night during their winter. Your favorite comfy clothes as you will want to wear them sometimes. 2 Accessories. A sunhat & sunglasses. A purse/small backpack. Hair clips. Good safety pins. Earplugs. An audio player and music. A camera. Tennis shoes (exercise). Flip-flops (house shoes). A water bottle. Handkerchiefs/washcloths (sweat rags). 3 Hygiene. A foot brush. Lice shampoo & comb (in case). Your fav feminine hygiene products. Hand sanitizer. Baby wipes. Hot water bottle. Hydrogen peroxide. Nail clippers. Tweezers. Aloe Vera gel. Sun block. Plenty of deodorant (roll-on is convenient for the climate - sticks may melt). Your fav toothpaste and toothbrushes. Lotion or dry skin rub. A good hair conditioner for your hair may become fried by the elements. 4 Helps. Ziploc bags. Matches. Candles & holders (they don't have holders here). Bug spray. A flashlight. Batteries. An alarm clock. A thermometer. An eye mask for sleeping. Chalk to ward off the red ants. 5 School supplies. Pens. Pencils. Erasers. Markers. Glue. Tape. Scissors. Ruler. White out. Paper. Craft stuff. A good dictionary. 6 Bedding. A thermarest or equivalent. Your pillow. A mosquito net tent. You can purchase a bed sheet here or bring your own. It serves as a blanket. 7 Nutrition. EmergenC's. We recommend enough for your entire stay. A protein supplement. An immune booster. An anti/nutria biotic. We like GSE. A pain reliever. Acidophilus. Activated Charcoal. Chocolate (very difficult to find the dark kind here). Snacks. Peanut butter (they have peanuts but not peanut butter)… 8 Spirit. Bible of course. Concordance. Daily devotional. Audio teachings. 9 Other. A book about your native place. Any of your favorite story books from childhood to share with the children.

ABOUT THE AREA It's loud here. People rise early like 4:30 am and blare noise anytime. It's usually hot and humid. On very hot days you sweat if you're sitting. You sweat if you're standing. You sweat if you're lying down. You get the idea. You sweat a lot. Handkerchiefs are very helpful accessories. The power is unreliable. Sometimes it just goes off. It may come back on soon. Or it might just stay off awhile or all day. Things break down. Occasionally the water might stop coming. They'll fix it in time. Indian time is very relaxed. Living is simple. People commonly sleep on the floor on woven mats. Some people have cots and mattresses. It's dirty here. It's smelly here, especially in the city. You must watch where you step because you could be stepping in excrement. Ox carts, goats, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, people and vehicles of all shapes and sizes share the road. People stuff themselves into cars and travel without seatbelts. No problem. Driving is normally intense and life threatening; watch out for the lories and the huge Indian buses. You'll see fancy concrete houses and tiny grass huts. Concrete floors or dirt floors and marble or granite floors. Mostly poverty. And beautiful sweet children afraid of you or full of smiles. Pilgrims. Hindu pilgrims traveling to the temple on Rameswaram. Sand, palm trees, and beautiful blazing sunsets. There are too many ants. They have these very small seemingly harmless red ants that bite really hard and will eat anything that is yours. They nested in my digital camera (Kris). They are in our clothes; if you have any food they will find it. They will bite holes through the bags and get to it. Be warned.

COOL THINGS I'VE LEARNED Wash dishes with the cooled ashes made from the cooking fire and/or old coconut shells. Hold a pen cap between your first two toes if your foot/leg is asleep. How to tie my long hair up in an Indian knot (no hair ties needed). Put a honey bottle in a dish of water to keep the ants away. Wash a grimy sink with laundry powder and my hand.

MEET THE FAMILY Pastor Moses Paulose is the dad. He travels a lot. He is over the whole ministry. He is a self proclaimed extremist and a blessed servant of God.

Sarojam Paulose, or "Pastor amah" is the mom. She has lots of responsibilities and is very busy. She is a good cook on the rare occasions that she has time to.

Billy Graham Paulose is their oldest son. He is married and has two little boys. They live right outside of the compound. He and his wife, Shalini, have been to the states. Billy oversees the training center construction. He is very busy.

Israel Paulose is the next oldest. He pastor's the church. He went to Bible school in America. He lives at Bethel.

Then comes Susanna. She is married to Rakesh and has a baby girl. She has been to America also. She lives next door to Billy, right outside of the compound. They run the Bible College.

Mary Christinal lives at Bethel. She studies and helps Sarojam. Mary helps with KOK school.

Persus Jasmine lives at Bethel too. She wants to study abroad.

Sarah is going to school on the mainland to be a doctor. She comes home on holidays.

Grace is the littlest Paulose. She is going into Upper Kindergarten.

Then there are the aunties and uncles and cousins and helpers…

Suggested reading: Missionary Challenge.