Saturday 5th November

After many hours of travelling, we are finally home! We arrived back in Belfast at 9.15 pm on Friday evening, almost 13 hours after leaving Delhi.

It was a tiring day and there were many times when we had to squeeze in a little rest...

I can speak on behalf of the entire team when I say that we had an unforgettable experience, and will treasure the memories of our trip for the rest of our lives.

Thank you to all the friends and relatives who have read our blog each day; your support was incredible and it was wonderful to know that so many were interested in following our progress.

Most  importantly, a massive thank you must go to Miss Bassett, Mr Donnelly and Dr Donnelly as without them, the trip would not have been possible. The build up in the months before the trip and the time spent in Delhi required a huge amount of organisation and responsibility, but each member of the team was so impressed and thankful for their determination and the calm and caring nature with which they approached any challenge or difficulty that we faced when in Delhi.

Now that we are home, we cannot wait to share our experiences with everyone. It will be hard to describe and there will be times when we cannot begin to explain some aspects of the trip, but we want to express just how wonderful the city of Delhi is and the joy and love that the people in the slums, who have so much less materialistic possessions than we have, showed to us over the time that we spent working with them.

Again, a big thank you to all who have supported us, and we hope you can see how vital the trip was to be able to give hope to those in need. Your financial support will make such a difference in the slums of Delhi, and please continue to read about Asha's work from the website or from the Asha newletters, as their work really is changing lives and giving hope to those in the slums of Delhi.

Naomi

Day 10

Hi everyone.


We cannot describe how sad we are to think that this will be our last blog from India, but instead of being a day of tears, today has been a day of joy and celebration as we say goodbye to the amazing people we've met.

This morning we headed out to the resource centre for the last time, and were greeted by a huge crowd of children. Dr Donnelly began the celebration with a ceremonial 'cutting of the ribbon' to officially open the renewed resource centre. Music was blasting and children were pulling on our hands to dance from all sides. After some time hugging and taking what seemed like hundreds of photos, Dr Kiran arrived.

She spent time admiring the murals, and spoke to many of the children, taking particular interest in their studies and progression to university.


Though the celebrations continued, some of the team still hadn't arrived, as with Miss Bassett they battled to find and deliver the girls' sarees. Just as it seemed Dr Kiran would have to leave before seeing them, the last few arrived and we said goodbye to her, promising to see her when she travels to Ireland in three weeks' time.


The girls went to change into their sarees and there was more dancing with the children and teenagers. Then we all sat down together for a presentation of gifts, and speeches from some of the children.

After this, we sadly said goodbye to the children for the last time, and drove away from Tigri.

We then drove to the luxurious Imperial Hotel where we indulged a few (or in some cases many) pastries and buns with a cup of tea. This was a lovely treat after a busy and emotional morning.

Just across the road we visited the Cottage Emporium department store, filled with crafts from all across India. Here we bought the last of our mementos and presents, and headed for a relaxed fine dining experience in Macdonalds. Although we were slightly overdressed, we enjoyed our last supper of chips and chicken burgers.












We are now back at the hotel packing, relaxing and sharing our thoughts about the last incredible week and a half. It could be a late one!


We will be posting a final blog after we return home. Thank you again for all your support.



Here's Rachel Nelson's blogspot on Famous Indians throughout history.


Shah Jahan – Mughal Emperor and Builder
~Shah Jahan ‘The Magnificent’ was the 5th Mughal Emperor and the most prolific builder in Indian history. His name comes from the Persian meaning ‘King of the world’, and he ascended the throne at the peak of the Mughal Empire in 1627 at the age of 35, his reign sometimes being referred to as ‘The Golden Age of the Mughals’ and the golden age of architecture, as it was one of the most prosperous ages of the Indian civilisation. In the early years of his reign Shah Jahan preferred Agra to Delhi as a place of residence reflecting his selection of this place as a site for his famous building ventures such as the Pearl Mosque (Moti Masjid) and most famously the Taj Mahal which was built as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died during the birth of their 14th child and was Shah Jahan’s third and favourite wife. The name ‘Taj Mahal’ comes from the Persian meaning ‘Crown of Palaces.” Shah Jahan died in January 1666 after spending the last 8 years of his life under house arrest in Agra Fort under the care of his daughter, after rivalry among his sons over who would ascend the throne. He was buried in the Taj Mahal next to his beloved wife.



Mother Teresa – Missionary to India
~Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship and was born on the 26th August 1910 and died on the 5th September 1997. She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu but chose to be named after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries, and was later beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title ‘Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.’ Mother Teresa founded the ‘Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India’ organisation in 1950, which is still active today in more than 133 countries. For over 45 years, she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, in Calcutta, East India, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries. At 18 she left home to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary, and never saw her mother or sister again. She initially went to Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland to learn English which was taught to Indian school children, and arrived in India in 1929. She began her missionary work with the poor in 1948 and the beginning of 1949 she was joined in her effort by a group of young women and laid the foundations to create a new religious community helping the "poorest among the poor".

In 1952 Mother Teresa opened the first Home for the Dying in space made available by the city of Calcutta and with the help of Indian officials she converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat Home for the Dying, a free hospice for the poor. She renamed it Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday). Those brought to the home received medical attention and were afforded the opportunity to die with dignity, according to the rituals of their faith; Muslims were read the Quran, Hindus received water from the Ganges, and Catholics received the Last Rites. She said "A beautiful death is for people who lived like animals to die like angels—loved and wanted." Following problems with her heart as well as other health problems, Mother Teresa stepped down from the head of the Missionaries of Charity on the 13th March 1997, and died on the 5th September 1997. Governments, charity organisations and prominent individuals have been inspired by her work and she received numerous awards, including the Indian government's Bharat Ratna (1980) and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and she remains one of the most admired missionary figures in recent history.


Aishwarya Rai – Bollywood Actress and former Miss World
~Aishwarya Rai was born on the 1st November 1973 into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family in Mangalore, Karnataka in South-West India and is a famous Indian film actress. She is married to fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan. Before beginning her acting career, Aishwarya won the Miss World pageant in 1994. In 1997 she made her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film Iruvar and gained the gained the attention of Bollywood through the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, where her performance won her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In 2002 she appeared in Bhansali's Devdas, for which she won her second Filmfare Best Actress Award.
As well as winning the Miss World Award in 1994 and the Miss Photogenic Award, appearing on the cover of Vogue Magazine three times as well as in many magazine’s ‘Hot Lists’, winning the Filmfare Best Actress twice and being nominated 11 times, Rai’s off-screen roles include duties as brand ambassador for various charity organisations and campaigns and in 2009 she was honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Government of India. She has also been named as one of the world’s most influential people according to TIME Magazine in 2004. Rai has acted in over 40 films in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali. She is currently expecting a baby and is due in November.



Sara, Jacob and Georgina.

Day 9

Last night’s ASHA celebration meal went very well. There are currently 4 teams working in Delhi, and the leaders of each team gave a short speech on what they have been doing and how they are getting on. Miss Bassett spoke on our behalf and gave what we thought was the best speech! 

 Dr Kiran Martin concluded the speeches with a word of thanks to the teams. Her passion for the work of ASHA is evident, even after 24 years - she is indeed a very inspirational lady. Dinner was then served which consisted of many Indian dishes plus chicken stroganoff and a potato and leek bake, which we all appreciated!  We benefited from the opportunity to speak with others from the Ballymena builders team, the Doctors group and the team from Dublin. All in all, the evening was a great success and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

We spent the morning and afternoon at Tigri finishing off the painting and doing crafts with the kids. We were asked to complete painting in an additional room, and Jessica did a super job, producing images from India and Northern Ireland - Slemish and the Giant's Causeway sitting alongside the Himalayas!

The kids were eager for us to sign our names on their photo frames shouting, “autograph, autograph!” It was like being a celebrity for the day!

Much of the day was also spent playing games outside, mainly cricket and football.

The journey home provided some entertainment - we passed a goat market, and wondered how buyers of the goats would transport them home.  The picture below shows the solution!

We came back to the hotel where we had some much needed chicken sandwiches and cuppa soups.  Shortly we’ll be leaving for Dilli Haat market which is apparently always good for a bargain! (Sounds great for us Ballymena folk!) For tea we plan to revisit the China Garden restaurant, which has provided us with our favourite meal so far!

It’s hard to believe there is only one full day left! But we’re so excited for tomorrow’s celebrations with the ASHA workers and kids…

By Adam, Suzanne, Hannah and Rachel K. 

Today's first blogspot is on Gandhi by Jessica;

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. A pioneer of satyagraha, or resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience — a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total nonviolence — Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma or "Great Soul," an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore). In India, he is officially honoured as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers in protesting excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, but above all for achieving Swaraj — the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led Indians in protesting the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, on many occasions, in both South Africa and India.


Here is Peter's blogspot about the Indian economy;


The Indian economy is worth US$1.632 trillion; it is the world's ninth-largest economy.  Reaching 10.4% growth during 2010, India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise its economy, since then it has been slowly moving towards a free-market system.

The 467-million worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest.  The service sector makes up 54% of GDP, the agricultural sector 28%, and the industrial sector 18%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% during the last few years, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the last decade. Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985. Its telecommunication industry, the world's fastest growing, added 227 million subscribers during 2010–11. 

India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of US$1.25 per day, the proportion having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.  Half of the children in India are underweight, and 46% of children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition. Corruption in India is perceived to have increased significantly, with one report estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion. 

Day 8

Hello everyone! 

Today we spent another incredible day in the resource centre with the kids.

This morning was the weekly baby clinic, where children under five from the slum have a health check up and are immunised. The babies were being weighed and vaccinated against polio, hepatitis B and DPT. As Rachel Keys, Shannen, Adam and Suzanne are interested in medicine and social work, they were able to sit in and take part. Adam and Rachel even had the new experience of giving two babies their injections. Since the introduction of these inoculations the infant mortality rate has dropped dramatically. In the past few years there have been no deaths at all in children under five.

The video also shows the children enjoying this afternoon's craft activity; we made paper hats decorated with foam shapes. The children were thrilled to take these home and were so proud of what they'd made.

Meanwhile the others continued with the painting, and after another day of hard work the main corridor and ICT room are almost completed, as you can see in the video below. We were asked to paint another room, the English classroom, in which we've decided to contrast Northern Irish and Indian culture- pictures include Slemish and Himalayas, Harland and Wolff and the Taj Mahal.                    
Dr Donnelly has discovered a new passion to replace physics- outlining trees with black paint! (Pictured above with her most beloved creation.)

Mr Donnelly, on the other hand, has only reinforced his love of maths, as he imposes it upon the children through his painting.

Others had the opportunity to talk to the college students...

We can't believe we only have one more day of working left. Over the past days we have really gotten to know and appreciate the Asha staff, who work in this amazing centre every day. Even those who can't speak a word of English have made us feel so very welcome. Here you can see Miss Bassett with Sweeta, an Asha worker who is the supervisor of five slums, including Tigri.

This evening we will be attending a celebration dinner organised by Dr Kiran for five different UK teams currently working in Delhi, including our own. We'll let you know all about it tomorrow.

This is Suzanne's blogspot on Indian food...

Food in the north of India is mostly based around rice and vegetables because they are both widely available there. 'Saag' is a very popular dish which is prepared with a green leafy vegetable known as the 'Hak'. West Indian food uses lots of pickled vegetables also known as ‘dals’ because it is a desert area as fresh vegetables are not so available. In South India, spices, fishes and coconuts are the most popular ingredients and they use a lot of the tamarind spice. In East India, the staple food is a combination of rice and fish. Hilsa is the national fish of Bangladesh. A popular way of preparing it is to wrap it in pumpkin leaf and then cook it.

‘Lassi’, is a popular drink in India. It is a yoghurt or buttermilk drink that is sweetened and flavoured with rose, mango, or served plain. Many Indian restaurants offer lassi on their menus, since it is a popular accompaniment to spicy Indian food. Yogurt and other dairy products make it easier to digest spicy foods.

There are three main types of bread in India, Roti, which doesn’t contain yeast, chapati which is a thinner version of roti and naan bread which does have yeast in it. The breads are normally eaten with curries or cooked vegetables.

Almost 25 spices are used in making Indian curries. Popular spices include turmeric, chilly, saffron, cloves, peppercorns, cardamom and cumin seeds. The mixture of onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes is used as a base to these spices for cooking. To make the curry rich coconut milk, cream and dry fruits are added.

Nuts are another common choice, but they are roasted with a hot spice blend of turmeric, paprika, and cumin powder. Often a little lemon juice is squeezed on top.

Georgina, Shannen, Adam and Naomi.

P.S. We (Naomi and Georgina) would like to add that we're especially enjoying the privileged status our ginger hair has afforded us. Whenever we step onto the street it seems like every other family wants a photo with us! Naturally, we will expect the same attention whenever we return home...

Day 7

Hello everyone.

This morning we were back to an early start as we headed off to the resource centre for another busy day of painting, teaching and slum visits. The walls are really starting to come alive and walking down the hall feels somewhat like swimming through an aquarium. The children are very enthusiastic and willing to help with the painting as they see the transformation of the resource centre.

Some of the team held conversation classes with the college students in the morning helping to improve their English. 

This was extremely interesting as both the team and students learnt more about each other’s culture. However, this soon turned into a dance off…we’ll let you decide who wins…..

In both the morning and afternoon 2 groups visited the slums where we were invited into many homes. 

Today the children learnt the English names for different parts of the body. This activity worked really well as a lot of the words were new to the children and they enjoyed using models to point out different features.

Here's Adam's blogspot on the geography of India.


- India is the seventh largest country in the world.
- The Himalayas border the North of India, the biggest mountain in that range being Mount Everest.
- Rivers flow from the Himalayas which are snow fed and so can occasionally cause floods.
- The population of India crossed the billion mark at the turn of the millenium.
- India, according to a recent census has 1,652 dialects. The main ones are; Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, 
Tamil, Telugu and Urd.






Now we'll hear a little from Rebecca on education in India.




- There are 268 million illiterate people in India, unable to read, write or make a reasoned decision. This is almost a third of the world's total number.
- Girls receive on average only 1.8 years of schooling in India, whereas we receive on average 11 years of schooling.
- In the UK, the average class has 30 students, but in India the average is 83!
- According to statistics 2/3 of children in India are enrolled in school, but this is deceptive as many don't attend. At least half of all students from rural areas drop out before completing school.
- While more than 95% of children attend primary schools, just 40% of Indian adolescents attend secondary school.
- The number of out of school children decreased from 25 million in 2003 to an estimated 8.1 million in 2010, so things are improving rapidly.




By Rebecca, Rachel N, Rachel K and Sara.

Day 6

Today we had a wonderful lie in after such a busy day yesterday.  Four team members (Sara, Suzanne, Peter and Rachel) did their thought for the day and Mr Donnelly finished with an extended thought on contentment.  


For lunch we went to the pizza hut at M block market which of course went down a treat.  From here we travelled to the Bahá'í House of Worship, popularly known as the Lotus Temple due to its flower-like shape.  This pure white marble temple is also known as the Taj of Modern India.  We had to take our shoes off to go inside and a perfect silence is maintained in the main hall to allow for peaceful prayer.  The Bahá'í faith believes in oneness of all religions and man-kind.  

Next we went to the Swaminarayan Akshardham, a spectacular 100-acre cultural complex, which "showcases India's glorious traditions of art, architecture, wisdom and spirituality." The main feature of the complex was the temple. The intricacies of the building were absolutely amazing. It was filled with various Hindu gods and the central golden god was enormous.

We are now back at the hotel and looking forward to a lovely meal out.


We're all well rested and ready for another busy day at the centre tomorrow!




Here's Georgina's blogspot on the religion of India.

- India is the birth place of four of the world’s major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. According to the 2001 census, 80.5% of the population is Hindu, 13.4% were Muslim, 2.3% were Christian and 1.9% Sikh.

- In general, India is extremely diverse and tolerant as regards religion. According to its constitution, India is a secular republic, and it upholds the right of citizens to freely worship and propagate any religion or faith. The Constitution of India also declares the right to freedom of religion as a fundamental right.

- Hinduism, the main religion, is often regarded as the oldest remaining in the world, dating back to prehistoric times; 5000 years ago.

- Like Christianity, it is an extremely diverse religion, with many denominations, sects, and a variety of personal beliefs. However, it has formed from many different sources, and has no single founder. Hinduism also grants a great degree of freedom of belief and worship.

- Given its diversity and complexity, Hinduism can span many beliefs including  monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, atheism, agnosticism, and gnosticism. However, most believe that Brahman is  the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Most also believe in reincarnation, and that the goal of life is to do good works, or karma, so that they may be reincarnated into a better life, and eventually, become free and unite with God.




Are delighted to say that after wrangling with the computer this morning, we have managed to get the video which should have been posted on Day Four, Friday, up. We hope you enjoy this overview of a day spent in the slum.

Shannen, Adam and Hannah.