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Published: July 25th 2014
We're sure you're all wondering how your delightful offspring/relatives/friends/donation-pesterers are doing in India and so the staff have compiled the following report for your delectation.
Collectively they've been superb all trip and been an absolute credit to you all. They've embraced the endless pit-digging with aplomb; have eaten the varied curried dishes with delight; have danced as if they haven't got 2 left feet and have embraced Indian life with open minds. As such, they've been very easy for the staff to look out for and there's a great collective spirit in the group.
Whilst that's all lovely, we're sure you're more interested in how the students are doing individually, so there's a few words below on each of them.
In no particular order, we'll start with
Naomi. Despite injuring her knee, she has been impressing the group with the hard work she's putting in on the site and with her determination to contribute. Her knee has been getting better and the group have been really supportive in making sure she doesn't put it under any strain. Throughout it all, Naomi has been her normal, bubbly and optimistic self.
Cristina has an innate ability to communicate well with all the people we've met. Her gesticulation skills are legendary and she is well known around the Deaf School. If we want to explain something to an Indian, Cristina is our interpreter of choice.
Carensa has had to balance the disappointment of grazing her knee badly with the celebration of becoming a member of the English Korfball squad. As with Naomi, she's on the mend.
Ivor has taken on the role of Official Restaurant Critic and is far from reticent at airing his views on sloppy service. He is also running a monopoly on refridgeration services, as he has an air con unit on the floor of his room, which chills drinks. This has kept both him and Archie in Oreos and Mountain Dew.
Archie is seemingly loving every minute of the trip. He practices Indian dance routines at every opportunity and is revelling in the new opportunities he's finding himself in. His singing is heavenly and he's really been affected by the differing lifestyles of the students we've come into contact with.
Nathaniel has been an upbeat and confident member of the group during the project work that we've been doing. He enjoys singing inspirational musical numbers to the group whilst partaking in a rather modern phenomenon called twerking. The thought of Nathaniel continuing to do this, inspires the groups to work harder.
Hope has had a great time so far and has become more confident and at ease as the trip has continued. She was deeply affected by a recent visit to an old people's home and organised a whip-round amongst the group, which meant that we funded the home's meals for nearly 2 months.
William has emerged as the joker in the pack. So far he has demonstrated the ability to interpret dance routines in his own unique way and has had the locals in tears at his endeavours. He's forgotten Malcolm and Claire's names, coining them Nigel and Saucy Sue, for reasons only known to himself. He is loving wearing the Longhi (Indian man-skirt) a little bit too much and wears it at every possible opportunity.
Molly has been given the title of Princess by the rest of the group and has twice been asked by children if she would marry them! She's always smiley and positive and has worked really well on the project.
Jodie has been unfortunate in coming on the trip with Danielle, who has blabbed about her previous boyfriends. Jodie has given as good as she's got though and is having a great time. She's been working tirelessly, digging a pit that was then named Brad.
Jake is throwing himself whole-heartedly into every activity and has really enjoyed the experience so far. The staff have tried to come up with a single criticism of Jake and he's seemingly faultless. Bearing in mind some of the critical staff present that is some achievement.
Ella has really developed in confidence as the trip has progressed and has become more comfortable with the surroundings and the total change in lifestyle. She's worked well on the activities.
Alberta has giggled throughout much of the trip and really made an impression on the Bishop when we were invited to a celebration dinner at his palatial home. She often has to be marshalled by her younger sister Rebecca.
Ellie has been making large improvements on the project as the weeks continued. At first, she found it difficult but she's now amongst the most improved participant and has developed her digging, shovelling and carrying skills. She's often found with the same group of girls on site who like a good sing-song.
Rebecca proved herself to be a very effective and demanding leader on her day in the role. She was the first leader to introduce punishments for misdemeanours which led to Mr Lill and Miss Eyres having to sing 'If you're happy and you know it' on the coach. She can often be found being responsible for her older sister Alberta.
Sian is ridiculously hard-working and has to be told to have a break at times. She has worked tirelessly and is happy getting stuck in to the more laborious and demanding tasks. She's been positive throughout and is also a regular member of the Tirunelveli Running Club (Formed 2014).
Sam is another grafter. On one day, he worked so hard that he almost worked himself to a sleeping standstill. He seems to have had an absolute ball whilst he's been here and has embraced the work and leisure opportunities fully. Always cheery, his ability to sleep in awkward plastic chairs, small coaches, horrible beds etc is to be marvelled at.
Danielle has bored many with her talk of Ian. She has also been bubbly and charismatic throughout and is happy to talk about Jodie's love-life. She's worked really well and has been positive throughout.
Rosy is the person that all the little children gravitate towards. She is constantly playing and encouraging them and we're all convinced one particular boy is going to smuggled into her rucksack before we leave. Her kind and caring nature is obvious and her consideration for others is fantastic.
Fran has been engaged in the project from that start and proved to be a really driven and direct leader on her day in the role. She was a good negotiater and had many successes on her leadership day. She is also the only person to have fallen in one of our freshly dug pits, thankfully unhurt and giggling away.
Sophie has struggled with the food but news of a supermarket that sells lots of Western products lifted her spirits and gave her lots to choose from. Although, it may not be a wholly balanced diet. She's been great on the project site and has got along with the rest of the group really well.
Matthew has been consistent throughout - dedicated, hard-working, driven and considerate. He's always been one of the students to graft throughout the day and has enjoyed the experience so far.
Izzie has enjoyed getting out and meeting the people of India, through the school visits and other cultural experiences. She's really enjoyed the dance routines we've been taught and is often one of the loudest singers during our 'Lean on Me' and 'Doe a Deer' renditions.
Alisha has developed in confidence as the trip has progressed and has really come out of her shell. Like Izzie, she has really enjoyed the dancing routines and gets into the practice. With Izzie, she was part of an ultra-organised and efficient leadership team.
Beth has been really working hard throughout our time at the site. She's not afraid in getting stuck in, getting grubby and ordering others around, where needed. She was particularly impressive during our football matches against the students from the deaf school.
Bryan is always on site, desperate to work and to learn new things. He's been well respected by the Indian builders for his ability to get stuck in and they often turn to him if they need a hand. He has impressed the group with the huge amount of work he gets through.
Ben is currently revelling in his role of performing monkey; balancing objects on his face at every opportunity. This has included garden chairs, shovels, metal poles, flasks etc. He's always involved in the physical activities on site despite being a fairly terrible morning person.
And finally,
James. Will never miss an opportunity to wear a vest and show off his arms. If he could walk around with his top off all day he would. Works hard on site, almost as hard as he works on his tan. Has learnt some valuable lessons. Such as 'don't boast that the staff can't get you wet.' Then sunbath directly in front of the roof. 1 bucket later, lesson learnt.
There's loads more we could say about all of them, but we'll probably have a powercut soon and we don't want to tempt fate. Needless to say, they are all in good spirits, are fit and healthy (or well on the mend) and have been an absolute pleasure to share this experience with.
Please note: We are going on a trek for 3 days, so internet usage may be lacking. So the blog may be unmanned until Sunday evening.
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Rosie Drury
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We are so proud of you all, keep on going! (Fran beware of logs, cannot believe you fell in a hole!!! But we are not surprised) G says thank you I passed my exams, love you lots and I'm keeping your bed warm!! Stay safe and contact when you can. Love you xxxxxxxx