First impressions...

When we first arrived in our office in Malviya Nagar (our local community for the next 11 weeks) we were given our counterpart pairings and told which projects we would be working on. I was paired up with a national volunteer called Eshaan. We were then informed that we would be managing a project by ourselves which was more than a little bit daunting, considering that we were only 18 and 19 and had no previous experience managing such a large project (or any project in my case). Even more daunting was the fact that of the 3 groups, we were the only group with just 2 members; there's a team called Pagdandi (meaning a small alternative pathway which is difficult to cross but you can still reach your goal), a children's team running sessions outside of school in subjects like English, maths, drama etc. The Pagdandi team consists of 10 volunteers, the other team, Influence, consists of 8 volunteers. The Influence team works on a campaign on responsible consumerism within the local area.
Our team, imaginatively named 'the school team', was to manage a project in a local MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) school to create a garden space and a library for the children of the school. MCD schools are extremely basic and have little, if any, resources to aid the children's learning. Many teachers choose to spend their days sitting in the sun drinking chai rather than teaching their classes (obviously there are always exceptions but I found this attitude pretty difficult to deal with at first). We were told that our job was to make the school a comfortable environment that would encourage the children to learn independently. In our school we were to work with 3 Teach For India fellows who have made it their mission to create this safe and enjoyable environment for the children.
On our first trip to the school I realised that the stories I had heard about MCD schools were not exaggerations as I had expected but in fact an unfortunate truth. Though I was shocked by the bare rooms and bleak building, I was informed that as far as MCD schools go, this was a nice exception due to the work put in by the Teach For India fellows and previous volunteers.
The previous cycle of ICS volunteers had started the project and had begun to create the creative environment that would grow to become our vision. Though this work had been started, the garden area was still very basic and within moments of seeing it we became excited by the potential we saw in the project and could already imagine the beautiful space for the children to enjoy. Seeing the school was a stark realisation of the mammoth task given to such young and inexperienced volunteers but we were so grateful to be trusted with such responsibility.
Our basic brief was to create a beautiful garden space with the children responsible for its upkeep, a waste management system including compost and recycling to be sustained by the children and also to create an open library for the children to use as they were not allowed to use the current 'limited access' library. We had a lot of work ahead of us!

Our first experience of the real India.

The majority of the next 4 days in India were spent in a conference room during our ICO (in-country orientation) apart from one morning spent on a tour of old Delhi, which was our first experience of real life in Delhi. We gathered early and headed to the nearest metro station where I first realised that being a female here is very different than in the UK, as the girls were split up from our male teammates and had to queue separately to get through to the platforms. I was also surprised by the level of security as we passed through a metal detector, scanned by security staff and had to put our bags through an X-ray machine. Going through security barely added any time to our journey so I find myself wondering why the underground in London doesn't have such levels of security. Comparing the metro to the London underground was rather surprising. The metro is cleaner, cooler and much more spacious than the underground, plus it's a lot less confusing for a rookie to get from A to B.
In old Delhi we were taken on a tour of the history and architecture of the area. We visited Jama Masjid mosque, one of the largest mosques in India which was stunning, yet pretty hilarious, as the inappropriately dressed western tourists were forced to wear floor length hospital-type gowns with garish childlike patterns printed on them in bright blues, pinks and yellows. They were utterly hideous. It just goes to show that being respectful pays off in many ways and we all felt more than a bit smug with our shawls and full length trousers.
Next was something I'd been looking forward to since I found out that I was going to India. We tried our first street food. We crowded round tables of curry and some fried breads -Poori Aloo. This food was full of flavour and spice and was so much lighter and fiery than our hotel food. We were surprised to hear that the national volunteers found the food very spicy whereas the majority of the international volunteers, myself included, found it amazing! We then headed back to the hotel for the rest of our training.



                         

An urban lullaby in the heart of Delhi

My first experience of life in Delhi, was stepping out of the airport and being greeted with the sight of several police officers with rather large guns. This was more than a little bit unsettling but we had all arrived with open minds so carried on with little fuss. Our next test of nerve came in the form of a bus journey to our training venue. Though one of the most common things said to me about India before I set off was to watch out for the driving, I still wasn't quite prepared for this journey. To sum up Indian driving I'd have to say that the most important part of the vehicle is not the brakes, nor the mirrors, but the horn. The constant sound of honking horns is one that I soon get used in to but is more than a little irritating. As a driver in the UK I would consider the horn as a warning to other drivers if they pull out in front of you or start snoozing as the traffic lights turn green. Here, the horn means everything and nothing all at once. Instead of indicating, people use the horn. Instead of fixing their brake lights, people use the horn. Instead of checking their mirrors, they use the horn. Often honking your horn just means "I'm here" or "you're driving too slow for my liking" or quite often "look at that white person!". Experiencing Indian roads for the first time was definitely an experience. Looking out the back widow of the bus we saw people hanging off the side of buses, people on motorbikes, scooters and bicycles squeezing themselves through the narrowest gaps between vehicles. Lanes were painted onto the road but seen as decoration rather than guidelines and one of the scariest things was seeing that people just don't stop at junctions, they keep on driving and assume everyone else will slow down to let them through. After about 10 minutes of such excitement we all fell asleep to the lullaby of screeching breaks and beeping horns.
After a quick nap and tense game of Harry Potter top trumps, we arrived at our training venue: a rather fancy 4 star hotel. We were quickly informed that this venue was chosen solely on the size, as we were a group of 60 volunteers, and not to get used to the luxury. We were given our room keys and warned that there might already be someone in our room as we were all sharing with national volunteers. Like zombies we all stumbled to our rooms, hoping to find them empty so we could nap and shower before introducing ourselves. On entering my room, I did not find my roommate so treated myself to a nice hot shower. Note to self - make the most of having a nice shower for the next 4 days, it's bucket baths for the rest of the trip! Feeling almost human again, I headed out to meet the other volunteers over lunch and find that, thankfully, they're all pretty normal. After a few slightly awkward introductions, we all start to get on and feel pretty comfortable around each other. We even get taught a basic Punjabi dance move: hold your hands at shoulder height, point your index finder to the sky and shrug your shoulders. Surprisingly this actually comes in useful later as a wedding procession passes our hotel with a huge band and the groom on some sort of regal carriage. It was extremely extravagant, highlighting the feeling that we weren't in the India we expected.

A little info about my trip

You probably already know that I will be travelling to India on January 18^th for 3 months as a volunteer, but as my departure date draws closer I thought I’d give a little more information about what I will be doing when I'm out there.

I will fly to Delhi from Heathrow airport with the other volunteers, making up 3 different teams working in India. When we arrive we will receive some in-country training and a little time to settle in to the ways of life in the area. The three teams will then split up to live in their respective areas.  I will be living with 9 other UK volunteers and 10 national counterparts (local volunteers) in a shared house near to the SWECHHA offices; the partner organisation we will be working with alongside VSO.

“We are a youth-run, youth-focused NGO operating from Delhi, India, engaged in environmental and social development issues. We work with and through young people from all walks of life in order to raise awareness and bring about change. For us, 'change' means a transformation in the attitude of the masses, in their perceptions, and simultaneously in the environment - both social and human. We provide support, guidance and a platform for people to ‘be the change’ themselves. “ – SWECHHA
To find out more about SWECHHA and the work they do, visit http://www.swechha.in/

I  will be working in Jagdamba camp, a slum located in Sheikh Sarai ph-1, Malviya nagar, South Delhi.

The camp has been built around an open drain. It is spread over an estimated area of one square kilometre, which is roughly 248 acres of land. According to the 2001 census, the total population of the camp is 2783 approx., and has 594 registered households. Presently, there are 4000-6000 households within the camp space. Each family has 5 children on average, resulting in 30,000 plus people living in Jagdamba camp. The inhabitants of the community belong to two religions, Hindu and Muslims. The entrance of the community is dominated by Muslims and interiors of the community belong to Hindus. The occupational structure of the camp includes people who own small businesses within the slum such as barbers, painters, grocery shop and cosmetic shop owners. There are also people within the camp working in government bodies.

The literacy level of the community is very low, with the maximum being the higher secondary level. Most of the women are illiterate. The community has a considerable number of school drop outs between the ages of 6-18 years. The literacy ratio is primarily unfavourable to the girl children. Almost all the children go to primary school till the 5th grade. There is a high rate of unemployment amongst the youth of the slum. Some of the issues faced by the community include problems related to water, electricity, sanitation and congestion. 

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 Top-line aims and objectives:

·         To increase participation of children, youth and older community members in projects designed for them

·         To increase awareness level of the community with regards to their rights and responsibilities

·         To increase the overall outreach of the organisation

·         To develop new content for existing school programmes

·         To be able to devise and implement new ideas for future projects

·         To build capacity of youth and children associated with Swechha to become environmental and social leaders for future

“VSO has been working in India since 1958. In 1994, after a 20 year break, we re‐launched our India programme and established an office in Delhi. Since then, we have partnered with over 100 NGOs and placed approximately 200 international volunteers with these partners – volunteers who build capacity to support grassroots participation and good governance, especially in areas of disability and HIV and AIDS.

Over the last few years, our work has evolved to meet the changes and demands of a rapidly developing economy and, capitalising on the skills, experiences and passions in-country, VSO is increasingly utilising Indian volunteers.

Since 2008, VSO India have placed 4,780 Indian volunteers and mobilised over 11,000 active citizens who have played an important role in creating awareness through educating approximately 320,000 poor and marginalised people on their rights. VSO India aims to address the power imbalance and inequality in the distribution of wealth, as well as discrimination on the basis of income, gender and marginalisation from the development dialogue.”

I feel completely honoured to be working on such important issues in such a different culture and will be keeping my blog up to date with information about what I’m doing whenever possible and hopefully a few pictures if I can. 

The end of my fast!

Though I'm a bit late in writing this post, I can happily say my fast is now over! After 3 weeks of eating just basic soups and salads, I surprisingly didn't feel weak or hungry at all, in fact I felt pretty much the same as always. The only times I felt I might cave, were when people had baked little treats for everyone and left them in the staffroom at work, and let’s be honest I'm only human, who wouldn't be tempted by mini chocolate brownie cupcakes! Nevertheless with the help of lots of coffee, I managed to suppress these temptations and succeeded in liquid fasting for 21 days! 

 In total, my fast raised around £120 which will be added to my overall fundraising total, making it £640 (only £160 off my target!). Thanks so much to everyone who donated, especially the girls at Monsoon York and Lindsay Mitchell who donated the majority of the fasting money! Also, just in case any of you were wondering how I celebrated the end of my fast; I went out for a big Chinese of course!