Work Hard, Play Hard- Life in Chennai

We are over half way through the programme and life here is already becoming a blur. The days seem to be merging as we travel across the city making appointments with other organisations, schools, government institutions and the endless search for a venue for the Big Event. Skills4Life, the workshop part of the programme is in full swing in all Districts and I've been able to undertake some teaching when other volunteers have fallen sick. My favourite lesson to teach is on Gender Inclusion and Exclusion and I have a new appreciation for teachers who are trying to convey difficult, sensitive and often vague concepts to young children. In the first school I taught in I was stood in front of 60-70 standard 9 boys and girls (14yrs old) asking them the qualities of a 'good woman'- " she should be a good cook, love her children, be respectful, be kind" and those of a 'good man'- "brave, bring money home, not smoke or drink alcohol" were the answers that came up time and time again. It was mine and Maddy's task to try and get them to then list the qualities of a 'good human' in the hope that they would list the same qualities and realise that our biological makeup shouldn't give us separate roles which have a negative impact. I asked the boys if they thought a 'good man' should also be able to cook family meals, to which they replied a straight out 'No' telling me that the men are working, so how can they cook the food? Maddy followed this up with stories of his childhood, telling the boys that he knew what it was like to be someone's brother- you come home from school, eat, play some football, watch TV and go to bed whilst your sister cooks, cleans, does her homework before going to sleep. By the end of the lesson they had all grasped the meaning of equal rights and indeed seemed determined that equality was just but discussing it in the classroom is a very different reality to stepping out onto the streets or into the home.

The next lesson was on Critical Thinking. The exercise was designed to encourage the students to consider other people's points of view, be non-judgemental and form opinions based on fact. They were given a case study- a young girl walks down the street wearing a short skirt and makeup and is teased by an adolescent boy (known as 'Eve teasing.') They were then read the opinions of four different people- the adolescent boy who felt the girl deserved to be teased because of the dress code she had chosen, another young girl who thought that the girl shouldn't have been teased but was wearing the wrong clothes, an old lady who thought the girl deserved to be teased as she was displaying a complete disrespect for her culture and community and finally a woman in her 20's who thought the behavior of the adolescent boy was far worse, as it is a human right to wear whatever you like and not be judged accordingly. We asked the boys and girls whose opinion they thought was correct and the overwhelming response was that the old lady was right, the girl should have been dressed in a sari and therefore deserved to be teased. Maddy then corrected them and drew their attention to the women in her 20's and explained about human rights and once again, equality, but for me I was shocked to see these young girls so eagerly showing their disregards for women wearing anything that doesn't cover them fully.

The rest of the time we were clearing up myths on HIV/AIDS and the modes of transmisson, I can't say I ever thought I would be stood shouting down a microphone 'No, you can't catch HIV from cooking utensils' but that day I did, and I hope it had some impact! Our spare time has been equally as busy, just a few days ago we took a trip to Mahabalipuram, a beach town just 2 1/2 hours from Chennai. Here the pace of life is 100x slower with cafes selling western food, real coffee, milkshakes, pancakes and even veggie lasagne! We arrived on Saturday afternoon after 4 hours of teaching and sat on cusions on the floor playing scrabble over an early evening dinner. Around us were other travellers all relaxing and reading. That evening we were invited to a party just outside of Mhabs to celebrate Angolian Independence Day with some local petroleum students. Yet another completely different experience in this country as we were picked up by a driver in his jeep taking 7 of us to a rented house with two pools, a garden of palm trees, DJs and a bbq. We stayed here until 7am trying to pick up Angolian dance moves, swimming and having some well deserved down time! The next day was spent on a beach named Tiger Cove- a tiger shaped rock by a secluded beach which was only discovered after the Tsunami. Here local fishermen took us out into the ocean on their boat, powered by a small motor which seemed to be operated by a bit a rope. We then took a walk around the numerous stone carvings that Mhabs in famous for and attempted to watch the sun go down from the top of the rocks, until our stomachs got the better of us!

The next day Steph and I went to our neighbor's primary school to celebrate Children's Day. We turned up about an hour before the school closed expecting to say a quick hello and watch the children in a cultural programme. Upon arrival we were ushered into a classroom of tiny children, and as more and more flooded in the principal entered and asked me which lesson we were going to teach. Our neighbor suggested we sing a Christian song, and so a rather painful rendition of 'Give Me Oil in My Lamp' followed- another moment I am not going to forget. Thinking on our feet we devised a dubbed-down version of lessons usually delivered to older children and spoke to the children about hygiene (how to wash your hands!) and then a quick lesson on identity followed by the Hokie-Cokie in the yard with the locals and parents watching on with what looked like utter shock.

I'm sure there are other actual events to re-tell but it is genuinely difficult to distinguish day from day here as every train journey or visit into a shop is an experience. Frankie and I have attended an elaborate Christian wedding which we were invited to during a walk around the village on a Sunday afternoon. The bride and groom must have been surprised to see us but nevertheless invited us to their reception where we watched them sit in a gold and pink throne on a stage infront of their guests performing various rituals and greeting their elders.


We've had some of the worst bus journeys known to man, with people so crammed in you don't need to hold onto anything, sweat falls from your face and down your back until eventually the driver stops because the door has fallen off- to some of the best train journeys, like today, when we sat on the floor in the doorway watching India fly past us. Yesterday Steph, Maddy and I visited a Chennai based music television channel to get coverage for the Big Event and afterwards sat on the beach eating corn-on-the-cob and discussing our thoughts on developed and developing countries and our perceptions of those from the East and the West.  I'm becoming more and more interested in the Hijra community here, who we often see giving blessings on trains in amongst the beggars singing for money or selling jasmine for your hair. I have also taken an interest in the Hindu prophet, Sai Bubba, and a week or so ago a girl from our village took some of us to a temple dedicated to him. I find the temples really relaxing and it's fascinating to watch the locals carry out their daily rituals inside.

We finally have a date for the Big Event! December 3rd in Chennai with guest speakers from Tamil Nadu Aids Control Society and an HIV + person. As of tomorrow we are on the hunt for a celebrity and then organising the students who have taken action for HIV awareness to attend! It's almost 8pm here and so time for dinner and perhaps a game of Monopoly until it all begins again tomorrow...!

Kerela

In the run up to Diwali we were granted some time off, and so I decided to venture out of Tamil Nadu and take a trip to Kerela, the other southern state in India famous for it's backwaters and coconut trees. My flight left on the Friday evening and so after work two of the guys I am working with kindly escorted me to the airport. With the luxury of air con, and a book shop I enjoyed the first time I had to myself since arriving. The plane I boarded was tiny, but with just an hours flight ahead I got chatting to a man next to me, a teacher from Kerela who was returning home for Diwali. I must have eventually dozed off and awoke to the same man now looking quite worried, staring at the plane's small windows flashing wildly, "thunder storm" he said, followed by "not normal" and "very small plane." The plane had flown straight into the middle of a storm and realising we had already been in the air for almost 2 hours, I was worried for my friend waiting for me at Trivandrum airport. The pilot then announced that due to the weather conditions we were unable to land, and having circled the airport for a while the plane was now running low on fuel. We landed instead at Kochin airport, no where near my destination! Luckily the storm passed and we soon took off once again and made it back to Trivandrum, where Eve was waiting for me.

We jumped in a tuk tuk back to her home where she was staying as an English teacher, with an Indian family in a small fishing town. Their house was lovely and I was given my own room. Outside fishermen slept next to their nets and the sound of the sea could be heard crashing against the sand. No rest for the wicked though as we awoke at 5am to leave for Allepey to spend the night on a houseboat. There was 5 of us in total, Johnson, an Indian guy from the same village, Eve and her friends Amy and Lauren (who had grown up in Rotherfield!) The houseboat was fantastic, a completely different experience of India- sailing on the back waters past rice fields, locals bathing and doing their washing in the water and almost silence! The crew cooked us lunch and dinner along with pineapple, friut juice and Kingfisher beer! We stopped once to take a walk past the paddi fields and then after dinner moored up near a village which was celebrating a Kerelan cultural festival. We decided to take a small canoe out to get deeper into the canals. As dusk drew in we sailed under the coconut trees and looked out for water snakes, eagles and other boats. It was at this moment that I saw the biggest bats I've ever seen, mistaking them for birds at first they flew over head, sometimes swopping down lower. As it grew darker another storm began and the sky filled with thunder and lightening above our tiny boat. To ease our nerves we ended up singing various rounds of songs learned in the Brownies and eventually made it back to play cards on the deck.

After dinner we dismounted and were led through the jungle by one of the crew to watch the festival. Indian's are great at setting up sound systems and you'll often see speakers in the back of tuk-tuks, strapped to trees or mounted on scaffolding for any community events. As a result we could hear the folk music booming before we reached the open space where there was a stage set up with 4 men and 2 young girls singing and dancing, the crowd segregated between women sat quietly and men and boys dancing wildly to songs about rowing races, Gods and Goddesses and Kerelan history. For each song a dancer dressed up as either a God or a traditional dancer and came out into the crowd with a fire-lit torch, scaring the children (and myself!)

We slept well, blocking out the sounds of scuttling coming from outside our window and in the morning left after breakfast. I left the group at this point and headed to Varkela, a well-known tourist spot on the cliffs. After a long bus ride I got a tuk-tuk to my hotel, only to find that it didn't exist. Instead a polite Indian man showed me round what was to be my hotel, come November 1st when it would open as an Ashram. He took delight in showing me the view, which was absolutely stunning overlooking the sea and a private bay where dolphins could be seen, followed by a half-built treatment room (a block of wood on gravel) and some empty bedrooms. Luckily Eve had put me in touch with an Australian woman who had set up a restaurant on North Cliff, I traveled over the her and after a coffee and a bowl of chips she arranged me reduced accommodation in the hotel next door. Having spent a month and a half on a mattress made of coconut hair on the floor, you can imagine how good a proper bed felt, complete with a jet power shower and a white fluffy towel- bliss!

So I spent two days in Varkela, walking along the cliffs, taking in the beautiful view of the sea which seemed to never end. There were two small beaches where I was able to wear a bikini and along the top of the cliffs there were restaurants selling Israeli, Italian and Indian food mingled in amongst book shops and stalls selling clothes, wall hangings and postcards. After wandering around a bit I got chatting to an Australian guy who had been traveling around Indian, over a coffee. I asked him what there was to do here, "your doing it" was his reply.

After two nights I journeyed back to Trivandrum to stay with Eve for one more night and celebrate Diwali. After waiting for over an hour for a train one arrived which was packed even by Indian standards. Unable to board the standard cart I leaped into the AC sleeper class as the train began to move. Here I was told I needed to pay another 240 Rupees but after some haggling I managed to stay here for no extra cost, sitting in my own compartment complete the curtains and a bed for longer journeys. Here sat married couples lunching and enjoying what can be some fantastic views from the train, when not pushed up against someone else's armpit. It seemed absurd that just a doorway away people were crammed in like cattle, some hanging out of the door clinging to the side of the train when there were so many seats in here, unoccupied. This is the nature of India though, slums next to shopping malls, families living under bypasses built to ease the journey of business men.

My last night in Trivandrum was extremely memorable- a walk along the beach, watching the crabs scuttle back into the sea as the sun went down, a turtle caught and killed in a fishing line and children of fishermen walking with us, trying to catch the crabs. That evening we went to Johnson's house and lit 101 oil lamps in the shape of 'Happy Diwali' followed by a meal of fish curry, samber rice, beetroot, carrot and pineapple. As tradition goes the Indians with us then set off firecrackers, no health and safety considerations as rockets shot into the sky (and the house), Catherine wheels flew about the floor and fountains of fireworks were set off in front of us. The next morning, before my flight, we had an Indian breakfast of Idli and vegetable sauce and I boarded my plane back to Chennai, an uneventful journey where I was met by Maddy the other side and returned to a flooded city- where our rescue attempt of 2 stray puppies began...

Pondicherry

After a couple of weeks in Chennai we decided to venture out to another area of Tamil Nadu called Pondicherry or Puducherry. It's an old French colonised area and known for it's lower taxes, beaches and slower pace of life. With elections drawing near and a police crackdown on bars and music venues to prevent violence, we had perhaps chosen the wrong weekend to visit, nevertheless we enjoyed walking along streets with no traffic (!!!) There was music on the beach and we spent the afternoon walking along the streets full of boutiques, French cafes and watching the strange mix of French families and Indians who reside there.

Our second day there was spent on the beach in Oriville, the next town along and known best for its community of 45 different nationalities. In Oriville the community worship 'The Mother'. To gain access, even as a tourist, you need to contribute to some way to the community- although we plan to return to suss this community out- that's as much as I can tell you right now as we spent the afternoon in the sea, followed by dinner under a gorgeous coconut tree. After such a relaxing day, we unfortunately had a nightmare journey back with four of us walking down a windy, pitch black road in Oriville, unable to find a tuk-tuk. A feeling I get often in India is that I'm a character in a video-game, waiting for obstacles to jump out at me. This was one of those moments.

Feeling a little concerned about being alone in this community, and in the dark, we latched ourselves on to a passer-by who walked with us a few yards, flailed her arms in the direction we should be taking to reach the main road and then vanished into her home. By this time a dog, which looked suspiciously of rabies had joined us- running in and out of the bushes and having fits in front of us. Spooked out we crossed the road and ran straight into a man who shouted something in Tamil with his arms in the air, not letting us past. About 10 seconds later, the main road came into sight, along with a tuk-tuk and eventually we reached the bus station ready for the 4 hour journey home. At the bus station a new ticket system had developed which meant you had to que up outside the bus before being able to board. Steph took one for the team and got in line amongst the other Indian women pushing and shoving, just as she reached the front the person handing out tickets took a two hour break. Chloe and I ran off trying to find another place to buy the tickets only to find staff sitting behind the counter reading the newspaper. Welcome to India!

Next up 3 boys who had sat behind us on our journey down appeared, they had their tickets already but kindly waited for us to get ours before boarding, by this time we had no idea if we could catch a bus home once reaching Chennai. Once it became evident that the ticket seller wasn't coming back it turned into a free for all with everyone boarding the buses with and without tickets. After being chucked off one bus the now 7 of us managed to find a place standing on another bus. As it began to move out of the terminal it dawned on us that we would be standing, drenched in sweat for the the next 4 hours. Cleverly we decided that now was the time to jump off, so whilst moving we grabbed our luggage and took the leap! After a scary few moments in which my scarf was on the bus, whilst attached to my neck that was off the bus-we all made it safely and found another bus in which we all had seats- reached Chennai and got a tuk-tuk home!

Work has kicked off nicely here with the volunteers going into schools conducting the first part of the programme, it's great to see it in action, interact with the students and watch them engage with the difficult topics of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health. Yesterday was Diwali, the festival of light, which was spectacular to watch from our roof where we also set off some fire crackers but it's made the place look and sound like a war zone. Tiny children are letting bangers off in the street and the whole place is in a cloud of smoke, adding to the pollution. The rains have also come and last night Chloe and I rescued two stray puppies from the swamp that is now outside our house- we wrapped them in blankets, fed them warm milk and then went on a mission to get them back to the mother, who we found extremely skinny with what looks like a broken leg. They are now curled up in a derelict building opposite ours and we have been feeding her rice!

Chennai (Madras)

We've been in Chennai for just over two weeks- the first finding our bairings, waiting for the office to be up and running and planning our pitches, lessons and workshops and the second week working full-throtel, pitching to schools all over the city, supporting the volunteers (and often participating) in their intro workshops and visiting an AIDS orphanage.

Chennai, formerly known under British rule as Madras, is the capital of Tamil Nadu. It is made up of a number of suburbs of which we are in Ambattur. Strangely our area seems more rural than Vellore- our flat is at the end of a dirt track, lined with small houses each owning a number of goats, street dogs and cows. Our neighbours are lovely, mostly relatives of each other they have made us feel very welcome. Pavindra, a teacher who lives in our street often comes out to chat and has taken me, Steph, Frankie and Chloe to the local temple with her, where we join in the rituals and learn about the Hindu Gods. Some evenings we sit in her yard, amongst the goats and talk about Indian culture, try to learn some Tamil and always attract a crowd of the local children. Other neighbours ask us in to show us round their homes, offer us this sugary orange snack and sit us down as they reel out the family photos!

The rest of Chennai is busy, bustling, full of markets, temples and shopping centres. There are two beaches, one we have visited and I will try to upload photos- it's far from what we expected..! In Chennai Keisha and I have been travelling across the city visiting schools to pitch the HIV awareness programme to. It's a precarious task as our pitch has to be tailored on the spot depending on the type of schools it is (Christian/Hindu/Muslim) and the preferances of the Principal. I've been struck by nervous laughter on a number of occasions- one memorable one was during my part of the pitch, whilst holding our flip chart I was describing the programme step-by-step when the Principal took the flip-chart off me, proceeded to page 7 whilst I was desperately trying to remember what was on page two, and looked up at us simply saying 'What do you want with my children?' our silence and then giggles covered with coughs was luckily masked by Danesh, our national volunteer who took the lead. All was not lost and on Friday the volunteers attended the school and got a great reception from both the students and the teachers who said it was something they would remember for the rest of their lives.

Our house is pretty crowded but never dull- there are 9 international volunteers and 3 Israeli interns. We often have visitors and have a beautiful flat roof (which reminds us all of Aladdin) where we can sit and read, sunbathe (if you're brave enough) and look at the view. Tonight the leaders head out to the other districts for a few days before some time off for Diwali which I hope to spend in Kerala to visit the backwaters.

The tomato dance

This last week has been our last of training- a mixture of long talks on our roles, energisers and the arrival of our national and local volunteers within India. Yesterday (Tuesday) the nationals arrived and we had a whole day of team building. No time for formal introductions, we were immediately thrown into tasks which required us to direct each other round the yard blindfolded in search of a balloon, introduce ourselves back to back, or with our legs intertwined and finally- to dance on a piece of A5 paper with a tomato balanced between our foreheads. Needless to say there's now no room for shyness and we had a fantastic day which ended with a trip to Vellore Fort.

The Fort is in the centre of town, a sweaty bus ride away and across two busy roads, which are never enjoyable to cross! Inside we walked around the moat and down into a temple where we were lucky enough to watch a dance show taking place, mostly children doing classical dancing. As we wandered round the Fort barefooted we walked past each of the Hindu Gods, watching as visitors said their prayers, lit candles and chanted- very peaceful and relaxing.

In the evenings we've been playing card games and more recently competitive rounds of 'the hat game'- any of you from Leiden will appreciate this- whilst swapping English and Indian music and talking about the work we will be doing. Steph and I have two Indian girls, Shemila and Divia, staying with us which has been really fun. The security guard who sleeps outside our office each night has now become one of the team, and despite him only speaking Hindi he has been joining in with our amateur yoga sessions, meal times and yesterday brought his family round to say hello- the boys find him hilarious and although they can't exchange a word to each other, he seems the enjoy their company showing them various karate moves?!

This evening the volunteers found out which districts they will be going to, so tomorrow we all pack and move around. As leaders we have been in pretty intensive training about our roles- it seems we have a busy 3 months ahead planning an event (venue, celebrities, lighting, music, catering, acts, outfits) for around 1,500 people, pitching to schools to allow HIV workshops to take place, mentoring the volunteers, supporting community and district level awareness events, sourcing and pitching to potential sponsors and partners and conducting the publicity and media attention for the event and any awareness raising the students do within their schools and communities. We've been conducting role plays with a new staff member, Ravi, who has shown us the kind of obstacles we will come up against: private schools only concerned with profit-making programmes, faith-based schools who don't condone the use of contraception, schools who are only concerned in publicity, etc, etc.

As the government of India are already running HIV awareness programmes in schools, we will expect to be told that the students are already fully aware of the risks of HIV/AIDS. In Tamil Nadu NGO studies reveal that this isn't a true depiction and although the government programmes exist, it is left to principals and teachers to implement the programmes - being a taboo and sensitive subject, this is where the understanding falls short. As such, an aspect of the programme Restless Development are delivering is to hold training sessions with teachers to cope with and be prepared for students to ask them questions about their sexual and reproductive health, as well as life skills- which they currently feel they cannot talk with amongst young people.

Another interesting area we have been discussing outside of our training is the Hijra, 'the third gender' which exists in India. These are men who live as women, with or without a sex change and are predominately sex workers. There is also a large community aspect to the Hijras, who live together and view each other as family, often rejected from their own. Their customers are other men, who don't see themselves as homosexual, as Hijras are seen as feminine. Reading accounts from Hijars it's apparent that they are individuals who have grown up lacking affection and belonging, and so not only turn to close knit community, but feel they have to act as women in order to sell their bodies to feel desired. They are also denied relationships with their customers, 'pathis' who they may form strong bonds to, but are forced to stay in marriages in order to produce children and avoid bring shame on their families. The inability for males and females to show physical interaction in public means that we see a lot of same sex physical contact-  young men holding hands, for example which would be misconstrued by a westerner as homosexual.

As leaders, we've now devised a 4 week schedule and been divided into two teams of 2 and 3. I am in the first team, working with Keisha, whilst Steph, Tomi and Vanessa will form group 2. The first 2 weeks will be extremely busy as we identify our schools, sponsors and confirm a venue- after that we will be spending more time in the districts supporting the volunteers, conducting field visits and meeting wealthy business men in search of funding! We've been given a good budget and are all up for the challenge ahead. I'm also hoping to become more involved in community events as well as trying out a gender lesson or two within the schools.

We have a big move ahead tomorrow- the whole office is moving so we've been living and working in complete chaos, which has been pretty funny. Today the desks, clocks, cupboards and furniture were removed so we've taken to card games on the floor and cricket in the yard. We also had the last of our Tamil lessons today, with our teacher (also named Tamil) which have been pretty hilarious with all sorts of language barriers and confusion. We have the basics though and with our Indian counterparts can get buy with the basics, i.e 'how much is this mosquito net?' The class and teacher have also taken great amusement in my name meaning Rat in Tamil- I will now been known as Eleanor only!

Treated ourselves to a meal out this evening and had delicious noddles and vegetables! Despite the chaotic move to our apartments tomorrow we hope to make a trip to Chennai beach over the weekend- apparently we can ride Elephants nearby too!

The Golden Temple

The beginning of our second week of training and 4 days until we move onto our placement locations. Last week was dominated by learning the Dance 4 Life drill- 2 days of dancing in 36 degree heat..! The music is really upbeat and the guys teaching us have made it good fun- I've posted the video below so you can take a look at the kind of thing we will be facilitating come December.

We've also had a great deal of cultural training, and risk assessment- which has been really informative and highlighted the differences between our two cultures. The main differences are concerning the patriarchal nature of Indian society, which results in the education of boys over girls, polygymy in certain Islamic cultures and a variety of marriage and divorce laws. Although Dowry (the payment for marriage) is illegal, in India it is still practiced widely, in all castes and religions. Unlike in continents such as Africa, here it is the women's family who pay for a man to take their daughter as his wife. Men also inherit wealth in property terms and have the rights to conduct funerals, as a result they bring more wealth into a family. It is a number of these factors which result in the disparity in numbers between men and women in the country, whilst male babies and preferred and females may fall victim to infanticide.

Today we began our training on HIV/AIDS, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Life Skills. As leaders we sat in on the training to gain an understanding of what we will be evaluating the volunteers on during their workshops- although we were learning too. It was really interesting to hear about the various marriage acts in the country- Hindu, Islamic and 'Special' marriage act- which allows marriage between caste and religion. Divorce is another interesting topic- in some Islamic communities a divorce can be obtained just by chanting a particular phrase 3 times whilst inside a mosque.

We also had an eventful afternoon when after training we are about to head downstairs only to see the cooking staff sitting high up in the trees in our back yard. Below them the office dog had escaped, known for biting people. Having been tied up for 5 years he looked in his element, tail wagging and running around exploring the yard. It took a number of men to get him back on his lead and he was then bundled into van and taken to a pound, so we were told!

On Sunday we had our first day off and whilst some of us visited a swimming pool, others took a trip to a Golden Temple. It took us two bus journeys to the temple, in incredible heat. Although it is known as a tourist destination, we were the only visible foreigners and attracted a lot of attention- this was relieved a little by covering our shoulders and wearing clothes down to our ankles. We had to remove our shoes and walk across hot ground until we reached a waiting room- a caged seating area where you could buy coffee and ice cream. Whilst waiting and chatting to the locals (in pigeon Tamil) a pack of monkeys began to walk across to top of the enclosures, swinging down inside to drink water from the fountains and pick up rubbish off the floor. After being briefed on rabies and monkey attacks just a day before- this was a hairy experience, particularly when mating time took place right in front of us!

Once in the temple we walked around a pathway in the shape of the Star of David, with green grass and crystal clear water around us. Music played as we walked through, reading Hindu scriptures. We then reached the temple- a floating gold structure with a walk way for prayers and a place for lighting candles. We stopped here for a little while, listening to the sounds of the guru chanting and watching people on their knees praying and kissing the ground. It was a compete contrast to the chaos in the stifling heat outside.

Our bus ride back to Vellore took us past rural shacks, street sellers living in roadside tents and marriages taking place under shelters. The bus conductor chatted to us about places of interest we might like to visit and as we got off he gave me a picture of the guru from the temple- I made the mistake of accepting it with my left hand and couldn't dismount until I took it with my right hand.

Tomorrow we have 7 national volunteers arriving from Chennai, Tiruvallor and Vellore- I think two of the girls are staying with Steph and I, whilst the rest are boys. It's interesting that international volunteers are predominately made up of females, whilst nationals are almost always male.

I'm taking the opportunity to write some letter this evening whilst the others are upstairs watching a film. We've managed to create a mini cinema in our training room with a projector and a rather ancient computer- but it works!

D4L

Here's the video of the Dance4Life 2010 in Vellore, we will be organising something similar (hopefully bigger and better) in Chennai :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1_o5E0tcqw