Day 14 - the end

Today was my last day in India (and this will be my last blog).

We arrived in Dehli at 7.30am via the overnight train. Not sure i can adequately describe the experience we had on the train. There were  compartments of 6 beds but no doors or separations. There was tonnes of food supplied but the beds were less comfortable than the experience of sleeping on the ground in the tent. All of which is all good except that some of us were unlucky enough to share airspace with a farting, burbing and snoring machine - and i mean constant!  I was close but not enclosed like some (poor Jackie on top bunk in same section enclosed behind a curtain).

Quite a few of us got far more sleep in the tents than we did on the train. We were entertained by a group of students from the design institute in Ahmedabad in the section next door - we amused ourselves paying their word guessing game ourselves  (yes you had to be there). At one point I Googled to find games to play and came across a wiki page entitled "how to enjoy a long train trip in 5 easy steps complete with pictures" wtf it included such great ideas as look out the window at the scenery!! what the heck has this world come to?!

The outskirts of Delhi train station showed me just how different the slums in Ahmedabad we went to are from those I caught a glimpse of the Delhi ones. 

After a quick shower at the hotel Elaine and I headed out with a driver and a guide to have a little taste of Delhi. We only had 4 hours so we could not really do much. Basically we did a little bit of shopping at a jewelry place and pashmina place the guide recommended and then headed straight for old Delhi. As it was Friday and so the mosque was closed to the public and so were most of the roads for cars leading to the mosque, our guide a former long time resident of old Delhi said we should ditch the car and take a rickshaw (which was a bike one unlike the tuk tuk like one in Ahmedabad! And he took us through the back streets of old Delhi to the mosque. It was quite a ride and we certainly saw non tourists anywhere along our route. We rode past the mosque and took a few shots on the run and kept going to the Red Fort. The Red Fort is huge and it along with the mosque (known as the "world reflecting mosque") was built by Mughal emprorer Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal in the 1600s because he could no longer stand to live in Agra and look at his beloved wife's tomb (the Taj) so he moved to Delhi but wanted to live in the same place and worship at the same mosque so he replicated them in Delhi!

The Red Fort took 9 years and 3 months to build which is incredible given its size. Unfortunately as we had so little time we could only go in a short distance so we did not see much of it.

We then headed back to the hotel for final goodbyes - Jenny and especially to our wonderful tour leader Kate and the brilliant Angchuk who I will miss - who will organise my life for me now?!

As i head home to Sydney - very excited to see my family again - i reflect on what an astounding experience I have had and how eternally grateful i should be for my good health and for my beautiful family - and that in the end possessions and wealth mean nothing without love and belonging. I feel we are lacking something important in our western society something we need to get back - not sure i can put words to it or that I really understand it but it could be -  community and compassion.

A postscript to yesterday's blog is that we got to visit an Anganwadi that is not one built and maintained by The Anganwadi Project. The difference was astounding and i got a little taste of what may have driven the founders of the charity  Jodie and Jane to undertake such a wonderful and amazing task in bringing a new approach towards Anganwadis. The other one was a very small and dark space with little ventilation and did not appear inviting - with these Anganwadis they have tonusw spaces they can get a hold of - usually a person's home in the slum.

So basically this organization The Anganwadi Project  (TAP) is doing wondeful and essential work and I have experienced first hand the impact they are having so please feel free to donate to them - i am setting up a donation page for a few weeks and will be hitting up those who did not get a chance to donate to my kids helpline page so standby for a request real soon!!

If you want to read more about TAP go to www.angawadiproject.com

Lastly I would like to thank Jane Rothschild for agreeing to have me along and giving me this amazing opportunity - Jane you are one generous whole-hearted human being.

Day 13 - a final day in Gujarat

This morning we went back to the Ghandi ashram to share prayer time with manav shadna and to be formally welcomed by them. It was lovely. They placed a bindi on each of our foreheads and pinned a "compassion doll" to each of us. The dolls were another project of Manav Shadna - they paid women in the flood effected area of northern india (floods last year) to make them so that they had some income. We then shared our thoughts on our experience with them. 

We then went back to bholu 11 to spend some more time with the kids - interacting more closely with them. It was so lovely to have that time with them. We had them colouring and drawing and they were so excited and proud of their work. They are all so beautiful I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet them.

We caught a Rickshaw back to the ashram - my first rickshaw trip!

We relaxed for the afternoon with a walk through the markets - at one point we went off track and ended up in the meat market!! Just a word of warning don't  do that if you don't have a strong stomach. Goats heads everwhere and the stench was incredible. I stopped and got  ripped off by a lady stamping my arms in what i thought was henna but which is now so faded it has to be ink. A policeman came along and scolded her for charging us so much as we are "their guests".

We then headed to Ahmedabad train station for our overnight train in second class to Delhi. 

Day 12 - rewarding work

Wow what a day! We worked amazingly well and hard as a team at Bholu 6. The bholu has just had a renovation and is up to the interior decorating part and painting. So we spent the day doing a mix of mosiac (putting cute animals and numbers up that a group of architectural students prepared), sanding, dusting and painting and tiling the walls.

Not much to say other than it was a wonderful and rewarding day. The people all around the bholu were so beautiful and generous and inviting - making us chai and helping out with the work. It is so humbling to see people with so little want to give so much and they appear to be happy.

Did not take  many photos as we were working and were also asked not to photograph outside the bholu as the people feel they are exploited. My photos were taken at the end of the day when the  light was gone so are not great I am afraid.

I loved the experience and hope we can do something tomorrow with them in some way before we leave. 

Tonight we are rewarded staying at a great and famous hotel The House of MG -awesome check out our room.

and we had our farewell dinner as it was the last dinner we will all be together. What a great group of people I had the privilege of being able to join on this wonderful adventure we had. 

Here is to you all:

Ian, Jane W, Alice, Jenny, Jane R, Lisa, Gavin, Jackie, Elaine and the amazing Angchuk and of course Kate.

Kate Young & Angchuk

Day 11 - amazing kids, organization and Ghandi

This morning was an early start up at 6.30 so we could start our walking tour of the old city in time to experience the worship of the sun. Along the way we saw an elephant walking along the road in the middle of the city.

So the first place we visited was a Shiva temple which is more than 600 yrs old. We heard the chanting and were given sugar - sweet blessing from the god for a sweet life. We then visited the women's area (nunnery) and were lucky to have an audience with the "queen" of the sect. She is related 8 generations back to the founder of the sect. She was interested to hear where we had been and were going and informed us that there is a temple in Blacktown! She also told us the temple we visited in Bhuj was also the same sect.

We were then lucky enough to see people worshipping the sun - our guide says this is getting less and less common.

We also found our from the guide why we  have seen so many dogs - the belief is that the dog is your guide to heaven!

We saw lots of amazing old wooden buildings  in the old city as well as the home of a famous poet Dalpatram and a grand old mosque. At one point I managed to get lost in the middle of the market and panic set in! Luckily I had the number for trusty Kate (tour leader) however when i called her she had no idea who it was as she had not realised i was missing!

Getting ready for the kite festival 

Poet

600 yr old street gate

Mosque

Chilli and lime to protect you against jealousy 

We then went to visit an Anganwadi in the second largest slum. There are currently 21 Anganwadi for a slum population of more than 20000. Kids up to 6 come at 11am and get breakfast and get lunch at 2.30 when they leave 6 days a week. Each Anganwadi is owned by a community in the slum. The schooling is done by songs and stories. It is supported by the govt and also the food is dictated by the govt ie what they can serve. The program has been in operation since 1970s. They also provide wellbeing and health services to the kids and to women with babies as well in the Anganwadi. 

It is the responsibility of the Anganwadi to enrol the kids into primary school (govt school). They have to maintain a growth chart for all the kids to chart if they are suffering malnutrition. 7 kids at the Anganwadi we visited are suffering severe malnutrition.

The kids were so beautiful and we were treated to wonderful singing and dancing and watched them play a game.

We then went to the Ghandi ashram and had lunch with the wonderful people from Manav Sadhwa.

We then went to visit one of the community centers created by Manav sadhna. We were lucky enough to meet one of its founders who told us all about it. The following will not come close to doing justice to this amazing and mind blowing organization. I wish the world were filled with more people like this. We met a few people who are working for the organization now who were recipients of its services as children in the slums it was humbling and a very moving experience.

Manav sadhna  started 25 yrs go as a concept. It started with 3 people who shared the same drive to make a difference and they started with 4 kids at the ashram - cleaning them up and feeding them. It then grew and grew as more and more kids came to the ashram but they realised some kids could not come as their parents did not want them leaving the slum so they went into the slum to see where kids coming from. Found 220 kids never been to school and 4 or more girls who never left the slum and were aged 14 or so. So they started with informal education - at night teaching value  based education and hygiene. This way kids especially girls could get an education. They then started to notice bad health so started real clinics and within 3 days had 200 or more patients a day. Then grew from there. No founder has got a cent from it and give their money and time themselves. They do not try and get donations they believe if you serve from the heart then the universe will deliver and it has worked. The name means "serving people".

In the time they have been there they have made a difference now all kids go to school and the clinics see only 20 or so patients a day - they have improved the health.

Just recently they have turned their attention to the plight of women. They realised how bad the life of the women in the slum is particularly the "rat pickers" - get up in middle of night and pick through rubbish and collect recycle materials then come home and sort it and then sell it. From that money she will have to buy everything she needs for the day (she ives from day today) she feeds her kids first and if her husband is not drunk or dead she feeds him next then if anything is left she eats. They have huge issues with alcohol and it is so bad quality that if men start drinking at 30 they are dead by 45. Then they found out that the women get paid very little - they get 8 rupees and by end of line it is worth 80 ruppees. They also found  that the guys buying from them have set their scales down by 20-30%! These women also peform an amazing community service collecting over 500000kg of recycle material up each day (20kg each and 26000 women in Ahmedabad) before anyone else gets out of bed - material that would have ended up in land fill instead. So their latest project is to start a cooperative for these women in the slum - they buy the material at 2 ruppees higher from the women and sell direct to the recycling companies and then they keep  a record of the amounts the women have sold to them and then when the profit is made it will  be shared with these women by putting food directly into their houses every 6 months ie rice and oil and butter etc. They have called the coop "helpers of the environment" as that is what these women do and hope to convince the govt the women should be recognised for what they are doing.

There are 140000 people in the slum and they have now got 5 community centers up - the center is owned by the community not by the organization - they did this so that is Manav sadhwa is not around in the future the center will be. The community center is open 24 hours a day so kids can come in and read or even sleep there whenever they they want. Each day the charity through all its servictouches 9000 kids lives directly, 2000 get a glass of milk and 6000 get fed each day.

In 25 years have never had a woman come and ask for anything or say she is sad she just thanks them for educating their kids - has strength integrity - even if house is empty if you pass by she will want to feed you or give you tea.

We then visited the women's centre where they have created a safe environment for women to come together and work.

We then visited the Gandi Ashram. Ghandi created the ashram based on his experience in south Africa living in an ashram in Durban. He lived in it from 1918 to 1930 and it was the epicenter of india's freedom fighters. In 1930 Ghandi started his famous Dandi march and said he would not return until india got its  freedom so he never returned to this ashram.

We got to see the room in which Ghandi spent all his time and his wife's room.

Ghandi's room and desk he wrote at

Ghandi told his wife she was only to have 2 saris both of which she made as she did not need any more. I am sure there are lots of men who wish they could say the same to their wives about shoes and bags etc and have it happen! He also refused to have spices and salt added to his food he believed that if the food was tasty then it would be distracting. Clearly that is no longer the case at the ashram as the food we had at lunch was very yummy.

We then headed back to the hotel before going out to dinner to a restaurant that specialises in street food - but safe! The food  was delicious. We are all excited about the day of work tomorrow.

Day 10 - a scorpion and a chilled day

I could not sleep so although we had a sleep in (7.30 wake up) I was up at 6.30 to watch one last sunrise over Little Rann.  There were so many beautiful birds around it was amazing.

See if you can spot what is strange about this panoramic shot.

I also took a shot of the thorns we had to contend with while trekking - huge and as strong as nails in fact you needed plyers to pull them out of your boots and quite a few times people had them go right through their boots into their feet.

We  bid a very sad and fond farewell to the crew who have been amazing. We will all miss George and of course Ramish (aka massage walla come drummer come dancer extraordinaire) as well as the wonderful chefs who have made the impossible possible - we all managed to out weight on in india even though we were walking everyday!

We also bid farewell to the Troopie.

Our wonderful troopie

When the crew were packing up the tents there was great excitement as they found a baby female scorpion under the tent Elaine and I were in last night! If this was a baby I would hate to meet its parents.

We then headed back to Rann Riders for lunch and a relax and for most of us the ability to use wifi.

We jumped on our trusted bus Krish (yep it has a name) to head to Ahmedabad 90kms away to start the second and most rewarding part of the trip - being able to see first hand the great work of the amazing charity this trip was all about and one of the communities that are benefiting from an Anganwadi. Although I  am excited about this I am also not looking forward to going back to the big smoke - the desert was so beautiful.

we arrived in Ahmedabad in the late afternoon during peak hour. It looks like quite a pretty city and the view from our is great.

Day 9 - one last trek and its a big one!

We set off this morning for our biggest and last day of trekking. 

(Sadly hardly any photos I am afraid as my battery was close to death - I took some with my digital camera so may update the blog with some of those when I get home)

The sunrise was once again spectacular and over the water.

Today we trekked 20kms and luckily it was the coolest day we have had topping 30 degrees. We walked through gorgeous scenery - very different from the other days. Caster oil crops and ponds and lakes. 

We were lucky enough to see flamingos up close along the way.

We stopped for lunch under a huge tree next to a caster oil field and were served absolutely delicious curries and rice YUM.

By 3pm we arrived at our final camp right next to  a fresh water creek. We all had a "frolic" in the creek to cool down.

We were then treated to a wonderful final massage from our resident masseuse. And one last desert camping shower - read throwing buckets of water over yourself in a tent structure balancing on a small wooden plank while washing your hair and body - which was absolute heaven today. I am really going to miss that. 

Jane getting the full t treATM

After watching another glorious sunset (without taking photos this time so I could take it all in) and watching a herd of bluebulls pass by our site i set up a chair overlooking the creek to relax and watch night come in. The troopie (our trusty vehicle) was returning to  camp when it became bogged by George!! while crossing the creek. What followed was a hilarious half an hour or more where we all set up chairs and complete with popcorn we sat back and  watched the  crew try and free the troopie. First they sent the tractor but that then became badly bogged trying to pull the troopie so after quite a while a bigger stronger tractor came and rescued both vehicles. Of course George in his Lee Cooper shoes was completely dry having stayed in the troopie barking orders - it dawned on me that when he decided to walk with us this morning it was probably because he was avoiding having to change the tyre on the troopie which apparently got punctured yesterday because as soon as it was fixed we were  made to wait for it to catch up and George disappeared!

George (Juneed) standing and Aditiyat 

We had guests tonight from the Rann Riders resort (professors who are running a development course for students of a management school on the  roles you take in life and its impact on your wellbeing) and also we had been told food was coming from there - so the guys set up a huge table with china and everything. Elaine had to remind us that we had company and that our now customary toilet humour would not be welcome. When they  turned up they told us they also got bogged on the way here!

They also arranged folk dancers to entertain us.

Day 8 - a different kind of day

We had another noisy night experience this time we all thought the village had decided to keep partying all night with singing and drumming still going at 3am - I wondered how they would get up early to start working but at least they would not have hang overs. However we were wrong once again apparently as it is the festival of the godess they have to chant all night - it was in fact a religious ceremony we were hearing.

The guides decided we needed to have a different day today so we did not trek until the late afternoon. 

We set off early in the morning to the permit office to obtain the permits to stay in the wet lands. The office also has a museum attached with information about the Rann. It is largely submerged under water for 4 months a year during that time the area is home to prawns and 22 species of fish! Incredible to think th at given what it looks like now as we walk through it. When the water is present a number of islands are formed from the higher pieces of land and they become home to complex eco systems. We were supposed to walk to one but unfortunately we were not able to get the necessary permit.

We then headed to a vast lake which was filled with two kinds of flamingos it was amazing and photos can not do it justice but it was a beautiful sight. 

We were then driven to see a local specialty weaving technique which involves creating designs using dots made by hand knots being placed during the weaving.

It was very hot so we drove to a house owned by a relative of one of the guides to have lunch it was a wonderful oasis with a stunning green garden and relaxing day beds.

We visited a salt factory and we were driven out to what appeared to be the middle of nowhere and George (Juneed) - named George due to a remote resemblance to Clooney - personally i think that the girls are affected by the heat - turned around and without sayi by  a word he clearly said "get out and walk bitches"!!!! So we headed off on our 6km walk to camp in the late afternoon. 

We are camped right next to a gorgeous pond in the wetlands of the Rann. As i sit writing this blog on one side of me the last of by the sun's light has the sky a gorgeous pink and on the other side a blood moon is rising! Absolutely awesome.

We are having a break tonight from villagers and a quiet night as we have a big day tomorrow of trekking - 13km to get done for our last day of trekking.