1/22 The Future

Siddarth talked with us about the future of the school today.  We talked about what it would take for it to survive and succeed with out his daily presence.  The girls and I agree that he needs a successor.  Someone idealistic but practical.  Someone committed with vision and guts.  The kids also need consistency as I have mentioned before.  Even though I believe whole heartedly that having an international presence here is invaluable for the students and teachers, I believe it needs to be restructured.  This, of course, is nothing new to Siddarth but I think it is a good exercise for him to talk through it with people who deeply care about the project.  At break the carpenters, Lata's father and uncle, arrived.  Because my camera's battery was dead, I sat and sketched them as they cut wood for three new windows.  The saw they used was enormous.  Again, I felt like a foolish tourist - so amazed by every thing they did.  Every little tool they used.  They were kind enough to let me gawk and sketch.  In just a half a day, they had produced by hand about 12 immaculate 2x4's using wood left over from another project site.   At night, I sat down to work through different strategic plans for the next phase of my life.  Even though I didn't come to any conclusions, it was a good process especially after having talked about the schools future.