Time to say goodbye…

We’ve all had an amazing and life-changing experience and tonight we had the great pleasure in giving a farewell presentation at the Madras Club. I have made some really good friends from my team, the US team and of course the lovely Indian people, including hosts, organising Rotarians and many others who I’ve met along the way.

This is all I will say at this moment in time as I desperately need my sleep.. I will be up in 5 hours for the flight!

The Hill station was a very welcome break after a pretty full schedule. The setting was absolutely perfect at Yelagiri, with the hotel, owned by a Rotarian, overlooking a small lake(15 mins to circumnavigate on foot).
But prior to reaching there, we spent two nights at Vellore, an important leather factoring area and therefore mostly run by muslims. We visit a shoe factory which produces, for one Finnish firm, the uppers only so that they are sent on to another firm, in the same group, for completion. They employ 1,000 employees, mostly women because ' they can sew' , and pay them reasonably, provide healthcare, creche facilities and even a pension at 55yrs if they complete 10 yrs service. The company also is very communty conscious so that it look after many aspects, like roads, ambulance, of the local 150,000 population(the size of Mansfield/Ashfield!).
We visited two contrasting institutes of tertiary education: a Government college, one of the oldest(1898) in Tamil Nadu, and a privately owned university. They both do a great job when one compares the College, serving 2,400 students from very poor backgrounds at a cost of $8 annually without board, to the University which has 15,000 students paying $2,000 pa including board( foreign students pay $5-7,000 pa for the same). Most of the universities and schools are in the hands of private trusts, which are totally secure, we are assured.
After lunch at the university, Carl, Marianne, Tawny(one of the Californian ladies) and I go for a walk about the town and take an auto-rickshaw back, which is crazy.
In the evening we present to 8 local clubs which goes smoothly, as usual, though we are always changing the content.
En route to the Hills, we take in an emu farm where we see a chick hatch and male birds painted blue(their throats) and a rampant Indian cow and orange farming. n the way out of that farm, we bottom the bus which, we later find out, has caused the fuel line to leak. This leak is fixed, at 8pm, locally whilst we visit the local Rotary Clubs.
On our way from Yelagiri, we spend a night at Tiruvannamalai which has the most amazing temple, with 2 Dravidian towers at each of its 4 gates. This small town beckons visitors and seems to attract 21st century hippies, so we see other whites, for almost the first time in nearly four weeks, but they appear strangely dressed, imitating Indians. In the evening we present to another few clubs; the welcome here is more warm than in the City, if that can be done, because they don't see visiting clubs very often, if at all.
Next day has contrasts in that we experience one of the most amazingly warm welcomes at a school for blind children, run by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their work, teaching music, braille(including the printing of Braille), computer skills, is just wonderful.The Rotary Clubs of Arni region prove to be wonderful hosts and are so eager to show off all of their projects that we have to cut short their guided tour when we fall over 1 hour behind schedule with still 3 1/2 hrs to drive back to Chennai. All in all a wonderful day..
On Sunday three f us go to watch the second day of the World Cup, Kenya playing New Zealand. Unfortunately Kenya get to bat first and are bowled out for 69 runs by 11am. As you probably know by now, it took just 60 mins to exceed that total, leaving us with the afternoon free to take a train ride and so on.
I must say that this GSE month has exceeded all my expectations. The organisation has been impeccable, with hosts who have been so eager to accommodate us and to welcome us into their families. We have not had long, tedious drives. The food has been very acceptable to our naive palettes so that we have only had mild upsets, and few of those. Lastly, I think that I can say that our vocational visits have been appropriate, thorough and keenly accompanied by volunteer Rotarians, to ease our way all the time.
Just one day to go now, so I am beginning to foresee that I shall miss this fantastic country.
I SHALL RETURN, with Dain

Big City Life

We are indeed all still alive and have made it back safe (mostly) and sound (not really with all the horns beeping) into Chennai last night. I really appreciated being out of the City and exploring other parts of the Rotary District and experiencing the differences we had in the Rotary meetings. On one occasion we had our own band to greet us and walk us to the meeting, and also had a line of school children to welcome us - I kept checking behind to see if there was someone famous we hadn't noticed! I have really enjoyed the scenery and landscape we had in the more rural areas and particularly enjoyed the Blind School we went to yesterday and the temple we visited on the Friday evening. The people have been super friendly too and keen to learn about us.

We now only have days until we return to the UK and like Ben, I shall need a period of reflection to take in what I have seen and indeed personally gained from this trip - it has been a myriad of experiences for me and I suspect I won't be in a position to understand them straight away.

I have personally really enjoyed the company of the US team and think it has made the trip as its been a cultural experience anyway being here, but then also been great to learn about them - I hope there are some friends we have made along the way there.

Today is a free day so everyone apart from me in the UK team has gone to the Cricket and I have had a massage and plan to do some shopping - that's how I roll on my days off!!

We have our final presentation on Wednesday evening at our Farewell GSE presentation and dinner, which I am sure we will all be very sad to attend as the Rotary clubs and hosts have been most kind to us and it's always hard to say goodbye.

We’re still alive!

Just to let you all know that we’re still alive and well. We’ve been touring round rural Tamil Nadu, which has contrasted nicely with the city life. I guess you could say we’re seeing the real India.

I’m going to need about a month long debrief on our return to the UK to fully grasp what I have seen, tasted and smelt!

On another topic, I have had a really dodgy stomach for 72 hours now – its not only cramping my belly, its cramping my style so I’m really hoping I wake up in the morning like a new born pup. Its not only me, most of us have had bad heads, bad stomachs etc. at some point but we’re ploughing through. However, after recovering from his illness in the first week, Carl seems to be immune to everything thrown in his direction.

Run to the Hills!!

As James has said, we have been to the district conference for the past 2 days which has been absolutely huge!! Not having been to one before I am now preparing my nerves for the UK one in September. I also think our presentation went well as we had all been so nervous to speak to such a large crowd - even James and Carl who thus far have had nerves of steel had a very, very slight attack of nerves - its amazing how long 2 minutes can feel!! I met up with some of my hosts again at the conference which was lovely as I now probably won't see them again before I head back home. Some of them had their children performing too, which was funny as when I was staying with them they had been going to practices for it. I found the entertainment interesting to watch and we have our very own rising star in Ben - he took to the stage to perform a skit, whereby he played a "confused" Englishman, and we were in awe of how he drew on his reserves deep within to play such a challenging role :)

I have also completed the last of my vocational visits and maybe found it the most rewarding. It was an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS, and the organisation operate on such small resources. The children are not allowed to go to the local school as the local village is fearful the virus may spread - just one of the many challenges they face!! The children though were absolutely adorable and had such a voracious appetite for learning. You know the most urgent thing they need? A well - that simple!! India is like that, makes you realise the contradictory nature of life and the important things to worry about!

This is my last night with my 4th family and I shall miss the kids - they have been like little magnets stuck to me each day and such great fun!! I am now adept however in the art of packing in quick time. We head off tomorrow at 6 out of the City to the Hill Station part of the District, which I am really looking forward to as I would welcome the chance to see a different part of area now, just to see how different life in those communities is.

We are getting along great with the American team and feel that having them along has made the adventure even more special!

Well, we are now past the half-way stage and all is going really well, touch wood etc.
This weekend we have attended the District 3230 conference, named Kurinji after the flower that blooms every 12 years (conf being 12........monthly).There are some notable differences to ours, for instance there were 5,200 registrants, which has interesting when there is only seating capacity for some 1,600 in the auditorium, so a couple of hundred standing, not for our presentation, but for the lifetime award for a Kolleywood film director(!), was not surprising.
It is amazing that the catering facilities do cope with these numbers, for lunch and evening dinner, always seated, with slick service creating very short eating times, all at tressles in a huge hall. Bearing in mind that a lot of the sessions are conducted in tamil, and we have not yet completed our lessons in this ancient Dravidian language, I have thoroughly enjoyed quite a few of the sessions. R.I. vice President Tom Thorfinnson spoke well on 'the Challenges before us', forecasting some of the changes that Rotary MUST make to keep up with the internet/i-phone world that lies ahead, of meetings not face-to-face and therefore not weekly, for example; however, the core values of diversity, leadership, fellowship and service should not change.
There has been delightful dancing by spouses, and separately by their children, which we could emulate. In India they do, however, include their families so much more than we do in the UK
I have been greatly entertained with typical Southern Indian Carnatic music, singing and dancing to a professional level as well as juggling, gymnastics, conjuring and laser dancing at last evening's performance which was exceptionally good.
Our presentation went very well, I believe. Because we felt that quite a number of those present would have seen much of our personal aspects, we had changed the format completely, to show much more of the features of our region. Carl has been the creator of the powerpoint, so he came on last and took up all theallocated time that as left with these slides and it was well received.
Lastw eek was my birthday; I received no less than three cakes, with great cermony ( I can certainly say that India is a first-class country in which to celebtrate one's birthday, as they really know how to do it in style). Ben's is tomorrow, so we must not let that go by without the same treatment.
On Thursday we had a meeting with the Mayor and were able to ask him some questions. He certainly answered each one fully, although we shall probably never know whether his dreams will come to fruition! Certainly it was one of those many things that we have done that would not have been possible if it weren't for this GSE exchange facility. We are truly grateful to our meticulous and attentive hosts.
Tomorrow is a very early rise in order to meet at 6am to drive out to the Hill Station of Vellore. This next few days will be long and full, but will, I am sure, be fabulous owing to the rural nature of this area. Oh dear, now less than two weeks to go, and we've lots more to see and do!

My vocational visits (the serious stuff!)

A vitally important component of the GSE programme is for each team member to study their vocation in the host country. Owing to my educational background in design & manufacturing engineering and my employment in Bombardier Transportation, I requested vocational visits associated with this field.

The vocational visits I have undertook have far exceeded my expectations. So far I have enjoyed visits to the following organisations, which are summarised briefly below:

• Integral Coach Factory (ICF) – Government owned rail coach manufacturer. Permission for this visit had to be sought from New Delhi and I only received clearance the night before my scheduled visit! Thank you to all Rotarians involved for your hard work in getting me this permission. This vocational visit was directly related to my current role as an engineer in a rolling stock company. Here I saw carbody manufacture and assembly and saw the fully assembled vehicles.
• India Pistons – a large manufacturing company, which is part of the huge ‘Amalgamations Limited’ Group. Here I saw the factory set-up for the production of pistons and piston rings.
• Ashok Leyland – a very large manufacturer of trucks, buses and light military vehicles. This impressive site manufactures some key components such as gearboxes and then assembles the platform vehicle. The customer then ordinarily fits out the vehicle with its own steel shell and ancillary components as per their requirements. This usually involves a third party, but I have since learned that a sister company of Ashok Leyland is also in the business of taking the vehicle platform and equipping it to the customers requirements.
• Ford – This impressive facility produces three platform vehicles primarily for the Indian market but is also looking to export these to 38 countries.
• Autotech – a relatively small supplier manufacturing engine components for the big names in diesel engines (for heavy goods vehicles etc.).
• Wavecurrent precision parts – a small supplier producing high-precision engine components
• New Dawn Water Engineering (water treatment consultancy) – consults, designs and implements solutions to handling and treating waste water on site (e.g. manufacturing sites, universities etc.). The use of the treated water for the production process and toilet flushing etc. is then facilitated as per the requirements of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board

I have learned a great deal about the industrial supply chain in India, the manufacturing processes employed and the set up of such companies. I have also learned about  the sustainability issues surrounding the manufacturing industry in the region and the legislation to which the respective companies must comply.

I have many pages of notes which I’m typing up so that I can best learn from these vocational visits.

A sedate day out on the road…

A sedate day out on the road in an industrial area of Chennai

Relatively speaking, not much of note happened in the above video! Can you spot any hazards?

New Hosts, New Experiences

Today I completed my fourth vocational visit and it was to the Tamil Nadu Commission for Women - it's a bit like a Government Department in the UK that focuses entirely on women's issues and policies, so there were some things they do that we don't - like have female only police stations. It was really interesting to compare how we work in the UK to here and also reassuring to hear that some of the issues we struggle with are the same here - whaddaya know eh!! I managed to show them the group work we use with women in the UK for raising confidence and self esteem and they also gave me a book about domestic violence and the law. After my meeting I moved onto my fourth hosts who have never hosted a GSE team member before, so again I need to be best behaviour so as not to put them off having someone else again. My hosts Gupta, Hema, Visakha & Tarun are actually from the North of India and speak Hindi - which is a first for me here so my usual three Tamil words have cut no mustard here, after all that practice too!! Visakha and Tarun are very excited to have a guest and Tarun particularly is keen to hear all about the UK so I have shown him some images of the UK tonight on the internet and he is helping me write this blog. Tomorrow I get to meet the Mayor and also visit Fort St George then Friday have the last of my vocational visits - that will be strange to have no more, but after that we head out of Chennai for a week to see more of the Countryside.

I am pleased to report that I have had no more mosquito bites, but they in turn seem to be turning to Marianne for life supply, and poor Ben seems to be a magnet for all some things that seem to be interested in biting feet!! Marianne have been sharing the last two hosts so it seemed strange to not see her after my visit today as we now have separate hosts again.

Lastly, no change on the weather it's still hot and if anything getting even more so!

Well, this GSE trip is going really well vis uneventful, no serious illness, no significant changes to the itinerery, no losses of luggage, no one falling out etc etc.

Factually, the organisation has been absolutely first class and the hosts and volunteers diligent, most welcoming and truly eager to please us. The itinerery is varied, quite intense at times and meticulously planned. The quality of virtually all of the activities is superb. The only one that overwhelmed me was a morning spent at a Hindu spiritual and service fair; there were 150 stands, none of which I knew, so I could not choose which to miss out, so that I was quickly 'outstanding'!!

The team's presentation started very well, but is a changing scene, as Hannah and Andy, of the 2007 1220 team to India, warned it would be. Owing to the presence of the Californian team at all the Rotary presentations, we are limited to 20 mins max (sometimes we are linited to only 12 minutes). As we cannot cover all the personal aspects and the regional ones, we have to compromise. So, as we cannot please all the audience members all of the time, we are now tending to split the team into two, with one couple covering their personal side and the other two looking at some of the regional features. This, I think, is presenting a fairly well balanced picture.

The teamwork is great, with lovely support for anyone who is suffering( only slight to date, thank goodness). So, thankfully, we have not really had to call on our resident medical officer, Carl. Good job, as I have kept Carl quite busy adapting our presentation as we have gone forward.

I am well aware that we are only half way through the month, so the bottom may yet fall out of the boat but that won't happen with Vittal at the helm (and if I have any say in it!).

As I write this there is the sound of a large firework diplay which Narasimha, my host, tells me is accompanying a wedding. It is 18.53pm, which if one upturns the watch, will tell one that it is 13.23 pm UK time!

Highlights for me, so far, have been my five visits to eyecare unts and a diabetes centre, a visit to the wonderful Hindu Kapali temple and one to the Dakshine Chitra which is a superbly and faithfully reconstructed collection of period buildings from the region. This is not to speak of a morning at a bird reserve yesterday and today's visit to the Cholamandal Artists' village, a group of extremely tallented artists from a variety of fields, many of the works of which I could most happily live with.

Why do I keep crying?

This week I've had a twist in my passion for India, but not in a bad way, in a way that I'm going to find it very difficult to leave.

First came the boys town - It amazed me how a nation can really go out of it's was to provide an amazing service for young boys that have next to nothing, a bed, 3 meals a day, educational support and schooling - all this is managed by the fantastic work Rotary do here and St John Ambulance provide first aid training to these young people. You'll see from Hollie's post the whole experience made me cry and I was even more moved when I was presented with a card and picture from one of the boys.

Wednesday was to date my most moving experience, I spent the day at the government hospital - its massive, with 5000 beds, but the day I was there it was hosting 7500+ patients, so for every 2 beds there was a patient on a mat on the floor. My first exposure was to a body being wheeled freely across the car park to the chapel of rest. Then came the real side of India, a young boy in agony after being bit by a snake while working on the paddy fields two days earlier - he was very distressed and in a lot of pain, this hospital does an amazing job, but does not have even half the equipment it needs. I then sat with a family who's mum was being kept alive by her children squeezing a resuscitation bag every few seconds as the life support machine was in use on a guy who had a received a snake bite - but putting everything aside, this hospital does an amazing job in providing a service to the poorest of people in India, which without it would not receive any treatment.

Today - well, it's been amazing. This morning I left my last family and I'm now with Sam and his wife Meera in their fantastic traditional Indian home on the busiest and loudest street in Chennai, and I love it.

I've spent the day with the St John Ambulance and Indian Red Cross combined project, looking at the Youth elements provided and the work in the communities they undertake. Followed by a visit to the artificial limb and department that provides training courses for those with severe limb diasabiltites.

With my vocational visits this week I have learnt so much and really have lots of things I want to take back to my work in the UK and also to find ways to support some of the projects here in India.

This evening I went to Sam's work, which was an amazing experience, Sam and Meera don't have any children (that was until I arrived!) so they give all their time to others, Sam employs 5 young men who when joining him were unable to read, write and perform basic tasks, he's trained them up to be engineers and they work for him - then when I got back I found Meera supporting 10 local children with their homework at the house.

I came on GSE to learn, share and develop, and this week, I find myself really doing that, the team are wonderful and I know I'll stay friends with all of them for the rest of my life - someone told me I would return from India a different person, and that's very true.

So you think you can dance....

...but you would indeed realise that you cannot after visiting the Kalakshetra Foundation where they study Indian classical dance and music, for, wait for it, between 4-6 years - not a leg warmer in sight though. We all really enjoyed this visit as it was set in such a peaceful setting, and we all had a bit of a zen moment. The classes were small and the dancers outstanding. We managed to "crash" a couple of the classes and I could see why Yoga was studied as some of the postures required a real mind over matter endurance!! Despite being bitten, again, I really enjoyed being somewhere so peaceful in what is a "busy" city to say the least.

Next stop was the Ragas Dental college, and we met Medan who was a GSE team member over in the UK last year, so that was lovely to see him again. I had my first sandwich of the whole trip and it tasted good!!

To round off our trip we visited Dakshina Chitra which is basically a model of villages whereby different parts of Indian houses are replicated - we got to go in all the different styles of houses (the Keralan ones were my personal favourite) and walk up different streets. I really enjoyed looking in the textiles area and was longing to "borrow" some of door hangings and a lovely Gujarati women's outfit! Ben and I learned how to draw the symbols that go outside houses to ward off evil made from rice flour, and oh, I got bitten again!!

I finally managed to make a small amount of purchases and felt my bartering has gone a little rusty so I shall prep up ready for the end of my trip when I have a whole day shopping!

Thanks to folk that have posted me messages - I do enjoy reading them very much as I do think about home and what people are up to.

Couldn't have been better!

Yes, tis true that our comrade Rose, was quite poorly yesterday and he did indeed look peaky - I was pleased to hear though today he was feeling much better as he had got some much needed kip - the late nights and early starts are indeed finding all of us struggling to accommodate it at times, so its not just Ben who is finding them a challenge it has to be said.

Yesterday we went to a Boys Town project sponsored by Madras Club and I think it was fair to say it was a tear jerker for us all. The boys go to school locally and learn trades so that they can support their family, and then their neighbour and then the community - the Rotary Club believe you start with the education of the child. The little curious sea of faces was a pleasure to see when we first got there and I maybe felt my ovaries popping around for a while there! Carl like myself found our floodgates opening once we watched the DVD and the whining of Mariah Carey came on - make from that what you will!! On the way back from there we stopped at a creche and as usual Carl's world recognised charm worked for him when he made a small child cry simply by being near them and looking at them - I think we may need to pass on some counselling services for the little girl as I fear she may be scarred for life....

Today, after being stuck in a traffic jam for over an hour (never a good idea when you are feeling somewhat "unsettled" shall we say) we headed off to our second vocational visits. Mine was am-a-zing!! Not only did they welcome me with a big board to say I was their honoured guest - hopefully work are taking note here for every time I go to one of my services in the future, they also asked, as their guest I give out all the women's certificates for their achievements over the past 3 months.

ANEW is a centre for women 18 upwards that come from poorer backgrounds to learn a trade in optometry, English, Rickshaw driving, Nursing, etc which they study for 3-6 months. At the certificate giving ceremony they also had 3 young women come back and talk about the difference it had made to their lives going to ANEW and to use this time well - for some women they are the only support for their family. It was great to also see that ANEW have employed previous users of the service.

Afterwards I was asked to talk about my job and take questions - there is a myth we don't have domestic violence in the UK so they were surprised to learn the statistics and a lot of the women then came up to ask me questions. I was seriously impressed by the work ANEW does and you can see the women really benefit from it. I shall be keeping in touch with them on my return to the UK without a doubt.

Later tonight we give our 3rd presentation in a row but we are still not any less nervous about them I have to say. Tomorrow we have a long day but at least we have our evenings free to spend the last night with our second hosts.

Over and out y'all!!

Urrr

Oh no! After having an upset stomach last night, I woke up at 3am this morning with pounding pains in my stomach. I won’t mention the details but the comments made by the Derby Daybreakers before my departure were pretty much spot on. Feel absolutely shattered today and will soon be hitting the lights.

Despite taking particular care to wash hands and use hand gel I have fell victim to the Delhi Belly. Not sure what the offending dish or drink was – I have been fed so much its difficult to keep track of the possible candidates.

On the previous evening, I did some press-ups and sit-ups with the aim of stemming the expansion of my waistline. This predictably didn’t do much but now it looks like nature has identified an alternative weight correcting mechanism. I have tried to moderate the amount of food I am eating in recent days. However, saying that you’re full in India is a bit like saying to Mrs. Doyle off Father Ted that you don’t want anymore tea!!

The late nights and early mornings are taking their toll and could do with crashing out. Feeling quite sick and my neck is sore. Please feel free to dust off your miniature violin and play a sombre piece accordingly. I am keeping my morale up in these early hours by listening to some classic 80s cheese

In many ways I’m glad I have experienced the Delhi Belly – I didn’t want to cheat the system. Now that I have paid my dues I hope that it quickly subsides and that I am immune to any further upsets.

On a serious note, the team members are looking after each other well. Carl’s knowledge on health matters has helped us steer clear of a lot of potential pitfalls and Hollie and Marianne have provided all the boys with some much needed motherly support! James has also made a little girl’s day through blowing up a balloon despite apparent health risks.

Saying bye for now to my first hosts and some experiences (I’m slow to blog the news!)

I am very sad to head off from my first hosts, Ram and Sivagami, who have been so lovely and caring for me. I will also miss their two daughters, Kastori and Lachsmi, who always had a smile on their face and were keen to talk! If putting up with me for a whole week wasn’t enough, they kindly gave me a lovely silk dress shirt for the wedding and an intricately painted bookmark. They also gave me a lovely Rudraksha chain which will protect me from bad ailments and relieve me from stress.

I have been completely overcome with happiness over how kind my host family have been and the effort they have gone to in order to give me an authentic Indian experience. I wish the family all the best for the future and will definitely be keeping in touch! Many thanks for everything that you have done for me.

I have struggled to blog much this week but other things I have done are jumping into a moving metro train (after Sivagami’s encouragement!), eating vast quantities of Indian food as well as ash (no one other than the priest who gave this to me could understand why I did this!), visiting temples and also sampling the merchandise of small market stalls.

I also completed my first vocational visit of the GSE trip. Here I had a tour of a large truck manufacturing plant, which enjoyed 35% market share (India). I was taken aback by the mammoth investment in this plant and the amount of automation of the manufacturing process. To give you an idea, one shop contained approximately 150 CNC milling machines, another had Fanuc controlled robots for operations as simple as chamfering. Similarly accreditation to ISO 14001 and well developed management of materials, inventory and the workforce were impressive. The development of the mantra preached by the senior management were also little different to what I have experienced in Europe!