anneswart

Hello everyone, Sorry, it looks like I'm getting a little behind with this blog. And on a completely unrelated topic, hooray for the election results in the US! Maybe I will come back after all. Depends on if the democrats take the senate too. Back to India. After finishing up with my volunteer program at RUCHI, I took a trip to the state of Kerala in southern India, where I could finally see the ocean, and where the pace is slightly less chaotic and the men are slightly less leering. I first visited a friend for a few days in a place no one, not even the Indians, apparently, has ever heard of. I then recovered from a mysterious illness (well, maybe not so mysterious, but you don't want to hear about it). And no, it ... read more

If you're curious about RUCHI or what I have actually been doing over the past few weeks, here's what I have been up to! RUCHI is an NGO (non-governmental organization) in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, India. It was started by Dharamvir Singh in 1980. The name stands for Rural Center for Human Interests. RUCHI works to improve the lives of Indians living in rural villages in Himachal Pradesh with projects in environmental, social, and health work. RUCHI is partnered with organizations such as the Rotary Club and has recently established a collaboration with Oxfam. Because it is an NGO, RUCHI needs funding for their projects, and one way they are hoping to get funding as well as facilitate cultural exchange is through their international volunteer program (called the TOTEM VIP program). They charge significantly ... read more

After visting Dharamsala, the next day we drove to Kangra Valley so that Neelam could visit her family. While she was visiting, Dharamvir and I visited this really cool fort. It was fairly well preserved, but for some reason it hasn't been made into a prime tourist destination. Which was great for me, because we could wander around and take pictures without being annoyed by pesky foreigners. Inside the fort was a Hindu temple that has some famous, "original" statue of one of the Gods. I didn't quite understand the story, but it's supposed to have some great spiritual significance. I especially liked the stoic priest-type guy who followed us up into the alter area where the state was and gave us blessed food and water. I really appreciated getting a chance to visit this area, ... read more

Hi everyone, I have returned from the mountains and the land of dial up internet connections, so some of these entries may be a little out of order because I have to do them all at once. As RUCHI is an NGO, they kind of have to schmooze around to get funding for their projects. One of their biggest partners is the Rotary Club. They have a lot of connections with the rotary club in New Zealand, and then connections with several India clubs in the surrounding area in Himachal Pradesh. So we took a trip to Kasauli, a town about 20 km (12 miles) away to give a presentation on a water project RUCHI built with rotary club funding (more about the project later). Now, you may think, 12 miles, that's so close by. That's ... read more

Hey everyone, Got a chance to get on the internet. We have arrived at the RUCHI complex in Bandh, India. Bandh is a very small village in an amazingly beautiful (and remote) part of Northern India in the foothills of the himalayas. RUCHI is the ngo that I am volunteerinmg with, and they do work in several sectors in things like providing clean water supply, supporting womens groups, education on health issues, etc. They are a really great organization with a great philosophy. They have some troubles with funding because they don't want to get too mixed up with politicians because then they would have to compromise some of their ideas. theyve got a lot of help from new zealanders, and have had some visitors from the uk, but im their first US volunteer with the ... read more

A NOTE: if you want to receive automatic notifications everytime I update this blog, either send me your email address (by directly emailing me or by sending me a message on this blog) or you can do it yourself by clicking the subscribe button when you enter this blog's main page. After a few nights of drunken ness, I finally left Japan. I was a little nervous because I booked my ticket through a Japanese tourist agent who didn't have the best English skills, and I couldn't pick up the ticket until I got to the airport the day of the flight. So I wasn't completely sure that I was even going to make it out of Japan. But it turned out just fine. I had a layover in the Korean airport (I thought of you ... read more