Madurai is buzzing these days, despite the oppressive heat - it's 95 
degrees as I write (at midnight) after a day of 107.  The marriage of 
Meenakshi, the city's patron goddess, is being celebrated in a 
massive 10-day festival, the sounds of which reverberate outside my 
windows night and day.  And state-wide elections will take place in a 
few days, so political sloganeering and speeches compete with 
festival noises in their assault on the ears.

SEED students took a bus into town to see the goddess in procession 
one night last week, but most of their time is spent on other 
pastimes.  It's such fun to see their daily excitement as 15 of them 
come back from introductory computer classes to talk about what 
they've learned; others spend 3 hrs each day in various arts classes 
at the Gandhi museum near our Karumbalai SEED Study Centre.  After 
these outside classes, they return to the Centre for late afternoon & 
evening sessions in spoken English, Hindi, handicrafts, educational 
games and readings on issues of social integration and the 
environment.  Their greedy quest for knowledge of the world around 
them is insatiable!

Poverty and lack of opportunity aside, one of the most discouraging 
aspects of these kids' lives is the inherent cynicism in the 
educational system in which they must spend so many hours during the 
school year.  Their heads are crammed with meaningless (to them) 
mathematical and chemical formulae, which they must memorize and 
regurgitate with English labels - though they have no idea what they 
stand for, much less what functions they might perform in life. 
History and geography consist for them of memorized names of people, 
places and dates; they are neither taught nor given the opportunity 
to learn about the individual significance and/or interrelatedness of 
important people and events.

One of SEED's primary goals is to give these kids a chance to 
exercise their minds, and broaden their mental (and experiential) 
horizons.  I began our spoken English classes with the assumption 
that 8th-12th graders would have some basic knowledge of their 
country, local history, and the natural environment on which we could 
base conversations.  To my consternation, even the brightest, most 
advanced students had virtually no knowledge even of our own state of 
Tamil Nadu and its immediate neighbors, much less of the rest of 
India or other parts of the world.  They know that "O" stands for 
"oxygen," and can list the chemical names of many oxygen compounds, 
but lack the basic understanding, for instance, that fire requires 
oxygen to burn.  The most elementary science concepts - of light, 
heat, sound, etc. - are obscured from their world of understanding by 
forced memorization of "Boyle's law," etc.

The last ones to blame for their paucity of basic knowledge and 
skills are the students themselves.  For example, they are excellent 
"readers" of English, but have never been taught the meanings of the 
words they so fluidly read; all the teachers demand of them is 
correct spelling and pronunciation!  They know all the terms used in 
English "grammar" - tense, participle, gerund, etc. - but haven't the 
vaguest idea how to construct a meaningful sentence.  At SEED, our 
English lessons utilize maps and atlases, dictionaries and a colorful 
children's encyclopedia, and whatever minimal "science" tools we can 
come up with.  The kids scramble to be the ones allowed to read in 
class; their reading doesn't stop when the class is over.  It's 
abundantly clear that by simply giving them an opportunity to explore 
for themselves, with a little guidance, they've begun to discover 
exciting worlds of possibilities that draw their interest ever 
further.

This morning (Sunday) when I went to the Karumbalai Centre, 40+ 
students were involved in all kinds of learning activities.  Some 
were playing a "video game" that teaches typing skills with keyboard, 
mouse and TV; a few students who are in the computer class were 
showing others how the keyboard works and how to play the game. 
Others were putting together a jigsaw puzzle with pictures of many 
different Indian birds, and reading a field guide that tells about 
the birds.  Games of Scrabble, chess and chinese checkers were also 
in progress, spread on the floor and surrounded by players and 
observers.  These latter games have been real eye-openers for the 
kids, as they're learning how their status in the game (and in life!) 
is conditioned by the moves of others as well as their own, and how 
planning their next moves is as important as the move they're about 
to make.

In the next few days, I'll send you a "special report" on the 1st 
anniversary celebrations for our SEED Study Centres.  For now, let me 
conclude this update with mention of our journalism club.  Last week, 
some of the students submitted articles for a children's magazine 
published in North India by our friends from Asha for Education.  In 
her article about the various activities that go on in the SEED 
Centre, Anees Fatima makes the telling comment that the students love 
their chance to learn here, but it is the parents who often refuse to 
let their kids come to the Centre.  (One of the smartest students 
we've got, Anees knows this struggle from personal experience!)  Yes, 
our task is not only to excite the minds of students, but to convince 
parents that learning is a valuable asset without which their 
children's lives will be as devoid of opportunity as their own.  In a 
world where securing food for the body is a daily struggle, food for 
the mind holds little apparent relevance.

As always, from all of us, thanks so much for caring - Ted

PS - If you'd like to donate educational games, basic science 
materials, art or other supplies to SEED, these can be sent to my 
sister's home where I can pack them up to bring back here.  (I expect 
to visit the States sometime in June.)
	Ted Adams, c/o Kay Fagan
	1918 E. Greenlee Rd.
	Tucson, AZ  85719
	520-795-4858

Also, a reminder that contributions for purchase of such materials in 
India, for computer class fees ($13.50/student), or for other 
educational purposes will be matched $ for $ with SEED matching 
funds; constributions can be made as follows:
	- check made payable to:  "Asha for Education"
	- check "memo" indicating:  "for SEED, Madurai"
	- cover note indicating how you want the funds used