Victory!
Leaving Delhi airport to catch the connecting flight to Guwahati was like trying to exit one of those escape rooms: it’s possible but it also feels highly unlikely.
“Get in line here!”
“I’m not sure we are in this terminal thou…”
“Get in line!” (He is holding a rifle)
(A few minutes later)
“Wrong line!”
“Yeah, I know.”
And it was this scenario repeatedly, repeated. We eventually found that we needed to be in terminal building 1 which was a bus journey away. The bus was like boarding the knight bus from Harry Potter. The driver was living in his own world of GTA trying to get as much g force out of his TATA bus and us passengers were simply cattle, packed in like a skilfully played game of Tetris. The relief of reaching Guwahati and seeing our bags swing into sight was … palpable. Wanlang was there waiting for us outside and with our bags precariously strapped to the top of his new wheels, we set off on the five hour uphill journey to Nongkrem.
Our first night’s sleep was well needed after the 33 hour journey. We awoke, semi-refreshed and welcomed Wanlang, Jop and Khraw for our first face-to-face meeting. Somewhat accustomed to the meeting etiquette here, we were not surprised when three separate conversations took place and Jop and Khraw up and left for some Kwai (a nut that they chew) without warning. However - what is very clear is that there has been significant progress made here in the last year. LBQ is being independently used by schools over here in Meghalaya- teachers are liaising with Jop and Khraw and planning sessions to match up to their existing curriculum. Children are confident AND competent using the technology and there is a desire from other schools to become involved. It is the exact same journey my school in Derby have been on.
In the afternoon we headed off to our ‘flagship’ school: Pahsyndiew. They have created an LBQ room where all the tablets stay and the children move to the room rather than the equipment being transported around. This strategic thinking is a far cry from where they were last year. They are also in receipt of a smart projector with an inbuilt computer and speaker which Victory obtained from a government scheme. This is such an asset for this school and it goes back to the drive from the principal and Victory - the lady who pulls all the strings, to get such equipment from relentless letter writing and bids to government. She invited Tom and I into her office. As we hunched our backs through the miniature doorways and crowded classrooms we entered what may as well been a different universe. A spacious high ceiling room, golden chairs, and a stately desk at the end of the elongated room. Victory’s office. As she sat there she looked very proud and in control - this is always a worry when it comes to meeting Victory.
“Boys! From England… Sit! We are blessed, very blessed. You come and you bring us LBQ - but…”
Here we go…
“But you do not understand, we need chairs and tables, new ones!”
“You have chairs and tables though Victory.”
“Yes but… anyway, I have pre-ordered thirty of them. They are made by hand in the next village and I have pre-ordered them for you to buy.”
After we diplomatically explained that chairs and tables were not our priority for this trip, Victory passed us a pre-written note with comments on the recent delivery of 32 tablets, one laptop, four Wi-Fi hotspots and a charging unit.
“You see, only four hotspots! Four! Why? We have 32 tablets . . .”
I interject to tell Victory that each hotspot will serve 10 tablet devices.
“Okay but only one charging block? And we need your help with something”
“Yes, okay?”
“We need fibre WI-FI!”
Now, let’s take a step back. We are in the middle of the poorest education state in India. The government schools like Pahsyndiew are running on a shoestring budget. One year ago most of these children had never held a tablet device and had certainly never been on the internet. This latest request took us by surprise. Sometimes being rational, objective and realistic is not a bad thing…
Fast forward two days: Pahsyndiew school, in the middle of the poorest education state in India with a non-existent budget has the quickest fibre WI-FI network that I have ever come across.
It made me think: sometimes being irrational, unrealistic and highly demanding is exactly what’s needed!