Successes and a warm welcome

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Two weeks have passed since my last blog and I have spent my time travelling between my two placements - Alangayam in the mountains with a few stalls and a small bus station and Vellore City where I have a choice of restaurants and a supermarket just 5 minutes away! Although the two are very different both areas need our help and support to educate the youths of today on health and livelihoods. The team in Vellore was lucky enough to organise a health rally in Vanjur which attracted two health inspectors as speakers and 30 members of women's self-help groups. The message of Vector Borne diseases and eliminating breeding grounds for mosquitoes by using stagnant water and recycling empty containers which might hold drops of water will hopefully be disseminated amongst the villagers. The team has also been painting a new Youth Resource Centre (YRC) where young people will be able to come for advice, support, job seeking, computer skills, internet use and to use the library. We also hope to run English classes to improve job prospects and are currently trying to organise a grand opening. A new kitchen garden has also been created alongside the YRC as an example to villagers of how to use up stagnant water and provide vegetables for their families.

In Vellore 2 we caused a stir on the street of Nimmiyampattu by holding a Livelihood and health stall. After a slow start with just a few monkeys for company we were soon inundated with school children and cars, carts and bikes were stopping to find out what these crazy foreigners were up to this time. Using some barrels we found we were able to display our posters and offer advice on prevention methods for VBD's, healthy eating and how to create a CV. Children were invited to draw pictures of healthy foods and to share their career ideas. Sadly one young girl came over and was very keen to find out more about CV's and the options open to her but her husband came over, told her off and led her away. In 2014 it is hard to believe that many young women do not have the same choices open to them as in the West and that once married, for some women their whole life is dictated by their husband or their husbands’ family especially in these rural communities.

I have managed to get away for one weekend to meet up with the rest of the volunteers who are working in other parts of Tamil Nadu. We met in Kanchipuram which is famous for its many temples (like many towns in India!). While there we swapped stories of the work we have been doing and shared our frustrations of "Indian Time", how things never go to plan and how little time we actually have left. During our training in the UK we were told that it would be hard to see the development impact we had made in such a short space of time but personally we would notice our own development and I can certainly see this within my teams. Everyone's personal journey is different but hopefully there will be many positives, skills and remaining passion which can be used during the next month in India and to promote action at home when we return.

In Kanchipuram while visiting the oldest temple - Kailasanatha which is dedicated to Shiva I was treated to the warmest welcome I have ever had in my life. I don't think I have ever seen a group of people soooo excited to see me before in my life and I had never even met them! While walking around the temple I was met by a group of Hindu women who came towards me in a wave of colour like a rainbow of happiness! They greeted me and my fellow team leader Charlie with handshakes, kisses, smiles, blessings and one lady even hugged us into her chest. I had no idea what they were saying and they didn't seem to understand us but it didn't matter. At that moment I felt truly blessed and that I was the most important thing in their life for those few minutes. Hard to describe but a very special moment which reminds me just have remarkable human beings are and the power we have towards others just by using a smile, a greeting a glance of encouragement. Later it was wonderful to hear their singing as they walked around the temple and they invited us to share their lunch.

The second remarkable set of people I met that weekend were a couple who founded and run the charity RIDE which aims to eliminate child labour, empower women and generally support the welfare of others. Totally inspiring. Run by Mr. and Mrs. <em style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">S. Jeyaraj who are are both Catholic, they basically give themselves a small amount to live off and then everything else is put back into the charity - time and money. "Sleeping can wait" they told me. How true! I feel re-energised and ready to take on the last 8 weeks of my time in India with renewed vigour.



http://www.rideindia.org/about-ride/

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Comments

[Vicky Lall]

Wow!
Hi Caz! I am so pleased that you are having an amazing experience and that you are enjoying it. It sounds very inspiring and interesting. Your photos look of all the places and people you are visiting look wonderful! Thank you for keeping us all up to date on your whereabouts too! Continue to take good care of yourself though! Vickyx

[trayaari]

Hello i want to travel around tamil nadu,can u mention about Online Bus Ticket Booking

[Caz]

Hi. I have got lots of buses around the area but I'm afraid I haven't booked any. I just take the local state run buses so you just turn up at the bus station, find the one you want, jump on and hope for a seat! I think you can book private buses online but these are obviously much more expensive and if you are on a budget like me then the government buses are sooo much cheaper. happy travelling!