We are almost ready to go

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With only 48 hours to go before we set out on our mission, we are writing this blog for family and friends so that those people who are interested can keep in touch with what we are doing. We are indebted to Guy who set this up for us using his superior understanding of how 21st century technology works. We hope that when we get to our destination we will be able to continue to master the medium. Many friends and colleagues have heard the story of what we are doing and why; but we thought it worthwhile to repeat it here for those of you who haven’t heard us going on about it for weeks now.

We have been thinking about volunteering for some time now. Certainly since I left Scottish Borders Council and began to work independently as a social work management consultant. Eleanor has always said that she would ask for a sabbatical from her work at Mortonward to allow us to work together abroad for up to 6 months. We would not have left, however, as long as my mum was living because, although she was fairly independent and continued to live in her own home in Glasgow, we would not have been happy to leave the country for any length of time. Now that she has gone we felt the time was right to make a move. Last summer we climbed Ben Lomond and Eleanor, with her usual spirit of enterprise, got her colleagues at work to sponsor her as she bagged her first Munro. The money went to Dr Graham's Homes in Kalimpong, West Bengal. The rest was just a matter of process involving us asking if they were interested in us on a professional basis and them saying yes. So in just 2 days we will be flying from Glasgow via Dubai to Kolkata where we will be met and put on a flight to Bagdogra. From there a car will meet us for the drive to Kalimpong on a journey of about 3 hours.

After an exchange of emails with the management committee of the homes, in which they told us about their concerns and what they would like done, we put together a proposal and we think that when we get there we will be doing some staff training looking at children's behaviour; why they behave as they do and what staff can do to respond positively. Also we think we will be working with some of the older students directly as they prepare for life after school. In addition Eleanor will be helping them to redesign their website. This is possible because when she asked her boss, Steve Morton, for sabbatical leave he not only agreed to her having 6 months off, but also offered to contribute financially to the development of the website project!

Dr Graham's is a large prestigious school with about 1200 pupils, many of whom are fee paying day pupils and boarders. But among these are about 400 children from disadvantaged backgrounds and families who are supported financially by donations and sponsorship. These are the children who we hope particularly will benefit from our input during our time at the Homes. It has not always been so prestigious, starting life at the turn of the last century as an orphanage for Anglo-Indian children, founded by Church of Scotland missionaries, Dr and Mrs John Graham.

We have acknowledged Guy’s input in getting this blog up and running but it is also appropriate to acknowledge that we would not be doing this without the support of both Katie and Guy, not least because they have agreed to take responsibility for Oscar, our world-renowned Boxer dog. They will be looking after him in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Kelso. So he too gets a chance to travel a bit for the next few months!

So in just 2 days we will be flying from Glasgow via Dubai to Kolkata where we will be met and put on a flight to Bagdogra. From there a car will meet us for the drive to Kalimpong on a journey of about 3 hours. We will be in touch again just as soon as we get settled in and can find a place from which to correspond as we begin our stint in the foothills of the Himalayas.

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Comments

[IN FIVE MINUTES]

Good luck
Both Denise and Helen at Foster Care Connect are thinking about you both and so very proud of you and what you are going to be doing in India , we will be thinking of you and look forward to hearing how your travels and adventure is going. Safe journey

[Tom McDonald]

Hope you arrived safe and well. We've had 13 raves already at No 22! Takce care.

[Roger & Lorraine]

How are things going?
Hope this finds you both well and you have settled into your new surroundings.

[philipandeleanor]

Thanks Tom
Glad you are having a good time. Did you find the wine cellar okay? Thank you for your kind message. We arrived safely but it has taken rather a long time to get connected to the internet. You will shortly receive a blog update and hope you enjoy reading all our news. With love Eleanor and Philip

[philipandeleanor]

Thanks Denise and Helen
Thank you both for your kind message. Thank you for your kind message. We arrived safely but it has taken rather a long time to get connected to the internet. You will shortly receive a blog update and hope you enjoy reading all our news. With love Eleanor and Philip