Fiction & Nonfiction

Katie, the wonder girl

Katie, the wonder girl


Katie was different even as a kid. Now at twenty-five she is still the wonder girl.

As I gazed at her photograph she had mailed from Taranaki, New Zealand, memories of our times together, washed over me like a refreshing shower of summer rain. 

The pretty girl I knew as a dear friend of childhood and girlhood, blossomed into a lovely young woman. Widely spaced hazel eyes are her best features in a fair and beautiful face. A no-nonsense type of a person, Katie is a splendid combination of sense and sensibility. Her smile is her winning virtue.
The Maori village where she went to work had come a long way since the time she and few other similarly qualified students from developed countries were employed by the department of Human Resources, New Zealand.

I remember the day on which she flew to the far off shores of New Zealand. This was her second trip to that country and it was going to be long before we would see her again in our midst.  Her dad and mom, her grandparents and cousins and friends had gathered at the airport to see their dear Katie off.

When the announcement was made for the passengers to go in for security check, I hugged Katie and our eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

‘Well Sofie, don’t start the tragedienne act. This is only an adieu and not a good-bye, ducky. Come on cheer up.’
‘Hope everything goes well for you Kat. You worked so hard on the project.’ I said feelingly. ‘I wish you the best of luck’
‘Thank you, dear Sofie, I certainly want to see the plans realized. Then I can come back home contented.’ She said, with that winning smile.
After taking leave of others, she disappeared behind the doors and within minutes her plane took off.

A little later, we spotted her flight taking off in the westerly direction. Lingering to chat for few minutes, we made our way back to the parking lot.

Katie and I grew up together having lived in the same neighborhood. Our parents were good friends and we celebrated holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving together. Katie and I were very close.

I remember Katie was never interested in the usual toys like the teddy bear or dolls or the games that children engaged in.
She preferred toys with a mechanical touch. Cars that slid smoothly on the tracks, the gorilla that shuffled and the bear that drummed, interested her more. She liked the jigsaw puzzle and wanted to know how the magic slate worked.

She was the head girl in our last year at school. Our pet subjects were science and social studies. I was almost always with her. We had many things in common and liked each other’s company.

Very few people have the kind of talent and drive that Katie had. She was an allrounder. Besides winning individual prizes in events like essay writing, debate competitions and sports events, she was a great motivator for the rest of our schoolmates and helped many come out of painful shyness and reserve. Some of us used to refer to her as the cheerleader.

On a fine morning in March at school, the principal called us to his office.
‘Good Morning Sir!’ we chorused.
The amicable-looking man behind the big mahogany table looked at us through steel-rimmed spectacles and bid us to come in.
‘Let me come to the point without wasting time girls. The state school authorities have granted us funds to put up an exhibition in two months time. I have organized a committee to chalk out the events we will put up in different disciplines. I want you two to assist them in organizing and getting started.
Sofie, you can meet Miss Jennifer who is in charge of Sciences and Katie, you can go to Miss Irene who looks after Humanities.’

Soon the students of high school became busy in preparing various charts, paintings, models, posters and apparatus to put up at the exhibition. We were more excited because the exhibition was open to public.
We could work on the projects, only after school hours, as we couldn’t get away from classes. Our academic year too was coming to an end in three months. Final exams were too close to ignore.

The departments of science put up shows and experiments in chemistry, electronics and physics luring the public to their section.

Languages and humanities were equally smart with their attractive diagrams, colorful charts regarding History and Geography.  Puzzles and questionnaires and patient explanation of various societies in different countries, their imminent problems were explained by the students with great enthusiasm and zest. There were slide shows about art, culture and literature of various countries that drew large gatherings.

The exhibition, which ran for ten days, was a huge success thanks to the combined efforts of the team of teachers and students under the able guidance of our principal. The arrangements with regard to food and amenities, won public praise. There was newspaper coverage of the event, which increased the number of visitors to the exhibition.

Within the next two months we had our final board exams. The results were announced in a month. We both got good grades. Our families agreed to let us go on a vacation to Katie’s grand parents’ village. We enjoyed ourselves indulging in playing in the fields, watching the windmills, going fishing on the rafts with the village folk. We even tried to teach at the adult education centre in the village. Those days were unforgettable.

The next year, I joined in B.Sc (Bachelor of science), with Physics as my main subject. Katie had opted for B.A (Bachelor of Arts) with social studies as her main subject. Classes commenced and we got busy with seminars and projects necessary to meet the tight schedule.

Although we went to different classes, we met at the canteen almost everyday and exchanged news.
One day, in the college canteen,

‘Hey Sofie I have some news for you.’ 

‘What is it Katie?’

‘You remember that lady from New Zealand we met during the exhibition in school?’
I recalled the petite New Zealander who was on a study tour at that time.

‘Yes of course. Wasn’t she from the ministry of Human Resources?’

I remember how keen she was to know how we got together to set up an exhibition. Most of all she was interested in how we worked in groups.

‘That lady my dear Sofie, gave an email asking me if I would be interested in taking up a job in Taranaki, a province in New Zealand.’

‘Why in Taranaki particularly?’ I asked.

‘Because it is one of the provinces under her purview. It has a large Maori population. They, I believe need a lot of development in the areas of classroom education, health care and hygiene among other things. I will be qualified to work there as a supervisor’.

‘But you still have an year to go before you earn a degree.’

‘She wanted me go there and have general impression before I take up a job in earnest, after getting my Bachelor’s.’

‘Have you talked to the Principal, dad and mom?’

‘Yes Sofie, I told them about it. Only after their approval, I wanted to make other arrangements like getting a visa and ticket. The ministry takes care of travel expenses, lodging and board.’ Said Katie, her eyes shining.

During summer vacation she flew to Christ’s Church, New Zealand as planned. Miss Sara Walters of the Welfare Association of Taranaki, a subsidiary branch of Human Resources Department received her. This body sponsored Katie and a few other young students in the group she was attached to.

Katie stayed about a week in the province of Taranaki. The village they were to work on is Tipu Ake Ki Ti Ora, which has a large Maori population. The Maoris are a native tribe of New Zealand. They excel in artistic skills like woodcarving, mask making, weaving baskets and mud wall painting. Nature is their teacher. They know how to take care in the rain forests and thick jungles. Katie and the six others of her group visited the village community, with whom they were to work.

During the course of the week Katie’s group were able to identify some of the needs of the community. They listed school, health and hygiene and recreational activities in their memorandum. They conferred with the personnel from the government, before translating those needs into clear positions and programs, which support the objectives.

Katie returned home within ten days. We plied her with questions about Taranaki an attractively named place.
A group of friends met at her place to know more about her mission and about the place in general.
‘ Taranaki is on the west coast of New Zealand. It juts out into the sea. They have native names for all places of sight seeing interest.

‘Could you get a chance to sight see?’ asked Vicky who has plans of joining Katie someday.
‘Yes of course. Our Miss Walters arranged for the six of us to see some lovely spots. We went to the famous illuminated waterfalls at a place called Pukekura. We stayed a night in a native village just for the experience of looking at the colorful scene at night. It was awesome!’ said Katie reliving the dream like sight.

‘How about Mt. Egmont?’ I quipped.

‘No Sofie we couldn’t see it for want of time. May be next time. However, our very work spot is a feast to the eye with nature’s plenty spread everywhere. There are running brooks with sparkling crystal clear water, silver by moon light and golden by the bright day. The rural scene where we stay is spectacular with green pasture, cows and buffaloes moving about at their own leisurely pace

‘Tell us about your project’ we asked.

‘The name of the village is Tipu Ake (growing from within). They have a native name for all things old and new.
Right now, they have the problem of getting enough schools and awareness of modern medicine and health care. Our group’s main objective for this project is getting the parents interested in their children’s education.’
‘Wow! That is quite a job. Everything starts at home, it is rightly said.’ Added Helen.

‘Exactly! Once we get the elders involved in taking interest in their children’s education, things have an easy way to work out from there.’
We chatted for a while and dispersed, as the exam schedule loomed larger day by day.

As soon as we were through with the last of the final exams, Katie started laying plans for her Tipu Ake project, working out small details and programs.

On a fine day in August, we had our Convocation, the big event in our lives. In the grand function held in the evening, we were conferred our degrees, Katie a B.A and I, a B.Sc.

‘Hey Sofie! Good news! Now that I have a qualification, the authorities in New Zealand appointed me as a Social welfare officer in the province of Taranaki.’

‘Congratulations! Katie! My God! I cannot believe all these events happening so fast!’

‘Yes isn’t it a great thing for me?’ said a joyous Katie.

‘Of course dear! It is wonderful thing for you to get to work in such a lovely place’

In a week’s time we gathered to see her off.

During the next three months, Katie and her teammates were able to achieve most of their objectives. The local youth, volunteered to arrange meetings with the elders of the village and acted as translators for Katie’s group. They spent a lot of time telling them about how important it was for their children to go to school and learn things of the world.

They gave examples and slide shows and presentations with the help of video to show how villages in other parts of the world like Africa and Asia gained by exposure through education.

It was on one such occasion when Katie was addressing the village population at a community centre, this photo was taken. She wore the uniform common to all the volunteers. She was trying to adjust the microphone’s volume and height to speak into.

Jacob, a nice young man of her team clicked this snap. I just got it in the afternoon mail.

A lovely natural photograph! It speaks for  the girl in it.

Like I said before, Katie was different.
 

Word count: 2089.