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TO ARPA-CHAI AND LENINAKAN 173
Indescribable jubilation ! All the boys set to work at once to
splash the water about with their tin boxes. But one genius
found out that the water could be diverted in other direc
tions by damming it up with earth ; and this discovery was
quickly exploited by everyone else. So the soil was watered,
and before long the seeds would begin to come up in all those
little gardens. And in those boyish souls, which would never
forget that wonderful experience, there would grow up a new
idea of what human labour can accomplish.
Wc also saw the kindergarten for the smallest children,
and for those who were a little older—boys and girls alike—
the workshop schools with many different divisions for
different handicrafts : carpentry and joinery shops, tinsmiths’
and shoemakers’ shops, and so on. There were needlework
rooms for the girls ; and instruction was given in weaving,
embroidery, lace-making, etc. Wc were shown specimens of
their work ; the boys had made beautiful tools ; evidently
these children were very handy, and had been well taught.
The most pathetic spectacle was that of the blind children
who had learnt to work, making brushes and combs and
similar articles in the constmction of which they could utilize
their sense of touch. They gave me two splendid brushes
as a keepsake : a clothes-brush and a hair-brush, both of which
I constantly use. One big lad made excellent fine-tooth
combs with tools which he had made himself. His blind,
immobile face, with an expression of unutterable melancholy,
was almost more than one could bear. Blindness is very
prevalent here, being largely due to a widespread disease of
the eyes. It is highly important, therefore, that these blind
children should learn to do something useful. One school
which must not be forgotten is that in which the elder girls
learn nursing from competent American-trained nurses.
This will help to satisfy a felt want in the country.
In the dormitories the children slept in beds arranged in
two storeys, so that several hundreds were accommodated in
each room. These dormitories were clean, spacious, and
bright, but were not warmed in winter, although the tempera
ture outside was sometimes as low as a couple of degrees
below zero (Fahrenheit). In the dining-hall there was room
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