Jaipur

We started off our day in Jaipur with an Elephant ride up to the Amber Fort, our leaders had managed to keep this part of the tour a surprise and we only found out the night before! Everyone really enjoyed their ride up, and the Amber Fort itself was very beautiful and contains 3 courts within it, including one built for Winter and decorated with mirror work.

 

On our way around Jaipur we passed the Palace of Winds, before we visited the observatory - here there was lots of giant sun dials, star sign readers and horoscope equipment.

 

In the afternoon we had the chance to do some shopping before heading back to the hotel. Our tour guide for the day was great fun, and we even managed to teach him 'Alice the Camel'!

Swa+ch Community Leadership Project

This is the project Mioni, Amy and Bekky are working on. On Thursday we went to the Swa+ch office at a massive college/university campus the other side of Pune. We learnt how the workers turned wet waste into compost in just 15 minutes + 15 days maturing! There was also a dump site for all the dry waste collected on site by the workers, which they then sort to take out the recyclable items. It was astonishing the amount of plastic that had been thrown away. Seeing the dump really brought home how dire the situation to clean up our planet is, and how important Swa+ch's work is. I know that, as a team we have a huge amount of respect for the waste pickers.

Our group even had a go at sorting the rubbish, though we most likely we slowed the workers down, as they were very quick and efficient.

To help spread the awareness of Swa+ch's work, we went out and talked to the students on the campus. This was mainly about separating their wet and dry waste, and sanitary disposal methods. We even managed to speak to the Principal of the College, and hopefully left a lasting impression!

It was great to give the waste pickers more self confidence and try and make their working conditions better.

On Friday, after a short car journey and long wait, we went to a secure residential complex to talk to the residents about a variety of Swa+ch messages. This was particularly humbling because the residents won't speak to the waste pickers much as they cannot speak English.

Our next stop was a residential complex where all the Swa+ch methods are fully fledged, including it's own composting site. All the people we meet were really pleased to have us there. We have all had some great experiences so far and looking forward to the rest of the trip.

Added late due to Internet problems.

Leaving Sangam and Start of Tour

After finishing on our community projects we had a final few days at Sangam to take part in a more relaxed programme. Monday saw us getting our Saris back and a campfire in the evening.Tuesday we had time to reflect our experiences on Project and in India. We also had a session of laughter yoga, which was very interesting but not something we can see catching on in Cheshire! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to Indian activities including learning how to correctly tie a Sari - much more difficult than it looks!, making rangoli place settings, having professional mehendi done and Indian games. For our last evening meal we had a traditional Maharashtran dinner, which involved no cutlery and sitting on the floor in our saris.Tuesday evening saw everybody attempt to learn Bollywood dancing followed by a lovely closing ceremony, as some groups were leaving early in the morning.

On Wednesday, several members of the group got up at 4.45am to wave their new friends off and wish them a safe flight home. The morning was spent taking part in the Pune Challenge set by Sangam and doing a bit of shopping. In the afternoon we all headed back to the airport in rickshaws to catch our flight up to Delhi.

Once in Delhi we were greeted by the tour company, who gave us all a rose! Our hotel was beautiful and couldn't have done anymore to help us.

Our first full day of the tour kicked off with Delhi. We had the chance to explore New and Old Delhi after a lovely breakfast. Old Delhi was very fun and interesting as we were taken through the streets on man powered rickshaws. The buildings were very close together in the narrow streets and were full of spice and jewellery shops.
New Delhi was designed by the British, making it very different from the Old side of the city with its wide roads and roundabouts! We saw many important buildings and monuments here including India Gate and the Presidential buildings.
We visited the very beautiful Huymayan's Tomb, the Red Fort and many other places. In the evening we went to our first non-Indian restaurant - Pizza Hut! The staff performed a dance for us, something they do when they have large groups in, this was highly entertaining for some members of our group!

Friday was a day of travelling and we arrived late afternoon in Jaipur, we managed a quick swim at the hotel and went for a Indian meal out on the main street near our hotel. 

We have another very busy and exciting day tomorrow and we hope to add another blog entry before we leave.

Project work!

Wednesday 

The more energetic of the group went to yoga before breakfast on Wednesday morning at 7am. After the flag ceremony, this morning led by Amy and Imogen's patrol, and a yummy breakfast, we found out which projects we had been placed on:

Doorstep school - Imogen & Georgia

Maher: Beca, Alex, Molly & Emily

Swatch: Mioni, Bekky & Amy

Deep Griha: Esther & Emily May

Ishwari: Hope & Charlotte

Green Tara: Jess

All the groups took different transport to their project - rickshaw, car and walking. We were given more information and background to the projects and what we would be doing. This made everyone feel very exciting about the upcoming few days. 

After we returned, we had a peaceful Indian lunch at Sangam before the tailors came to measure us for our Saris and Punjabi suits, which we will wear on Tuesday. The Wadi Challenge around the local neighbourhood was next and it was great to get out and see what is around Sangam while completing tasks.

Dinner was slightly different to normal as we were split into 3 groups which represented the various sections of wealth in India. Over 50% ate on the floor with very small portions, this annoyed a lot of the group as they thought they were going to be left hungry all night! However they soon realised it was just a demonstration and had normal food after.

With full bellies we assembled in our project groups and prepared for Thursday's activities.

Thursday 

After flag ceremony and breakfast we headed to our different projects. Maher worked with women or older ladies playing games, singing songs or making bracelets. Doorstep school had a good time making educational jigsaw resources and playing with the children. Ishwari carried out a range of games and activities with the women there, and Swatch got hands on experience of waste sorting!

Green Tata made posters about nutrition and child rights, and Deep Griha spent time in the creche leading activites.

After dinner we had a session learning about empowering women globally and how this relates directly to our projects. Before bed we had another prep session ready for our next day on project. 

Our first few days...

27th / 28th July 2013

 

We last left you at Congleton, Tesco in the blazing sun worrying about how we would cope with the heat in India. After just 3 hours of eating and chatting in the mini bus we arrived at Heathrow in time to welcome Jess from the tube. We all got safety through security (after Jess got frisked and Georgia's bag got searched) and were soon eagerly waiting in duty free. After having a last meal in a mediocre restaurant, we boarded our plane. There was much excitement over the blankets, pillows, tv and games. The flight consisted of 2 meals, a little chatting, a lot of screen watching and not much sleeping. In Delhi airport we all decided that we needed more food and so our first Indian meal was...McDonalds! It was soon time to fly to Pune where the airport was much more basic but we were still able to change some money. The final part of our journey was a rickshaw ride to Sangam! On arrival we had a tasty meal and some of us went for a swim, before crashing into bed for a well needed sleep.

29th July 2013

Our first full day at Sangam was a really busy one! The day started with a delicious breakfast and the daily flag ceremony. We then went into Pune to MG Road, just the 14 of us from Cheshire Border, this was another exciting rickshaw ride.

In Pune, we exchanged our money and did some browsing in the local shops. When we got back to Sangam we started 'Namaste Sangam' activity, and were introduced to all the staff, both international and Indian. The international staff are from Canada, Mayalasia, America, Australia and the UK. The activities continued with games to help learn names and a tour of Sangam, this was followed by a neighbourhood walk. On our walk we visited local temples and inside some of the Indian staff members houses.

In the evening we were offically welcomed to Sangam, we were blessed by 2 of the Indian staff and given a flower garland by the World Centre manager. Again some of us went for a swim before everyone went to bed ready for a busy day tomorrow.
First impressions from the group of India and Sangam are that it is brilliant, very special and magical. 

 30th July 2013

Today started at 7am for some of the group who decided to try out the early morning yoga class. for the rest of us the day started with breakfast at 8.30am. We had English omelette, toast and porridge. After breakfast we all left Sangam in our set patrols for a day out to visit Laxmi Road. Some patrols traveled to Laxmi Road by the public bus while others took the crazy, but fun rickshaws. When we arrived we visited the local temples, markets, a restaurant and bangle alley where we got to buy bangles to wear with our sari's or Punjabi suits. We went to the sari/Punjabi shop where we chose our own material which we bought to be tailored later on in the week.

When we arrived back at Sangam we watched a presentation about the different projects we could choose to work with for the next 5 days. After this we played a big game of 'who wants to be a millionaire'. This included bright colours, crazy dancing and music. 

After a game of volleyball in the pool & some chill time it was time for bed.