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.

Day 5

Well, today was the day that we got to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World, and it didn't disappoint!  Today was also the day that we got to experience a plethora of sights, sounds and smells as we travelled 200km using the Indian railway system - we will never again complain about NIR!  Following a 5.30am breakfast we arrived in Agra at 11.00am in time for welcome refreshments at the Trident Hilton.

The highlight of the day was seeing the Taj Mahal firsthand, along with many thousands of others who were celebrating the Diwali holiday. It's hard to believe that such a small group of pupils can take so many photos of one building!

During the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit a local rug-making business, and we spent time at the spectacular Agra Fort.

As staff, we just want to take this opportunity to commend each member of our team for their outstanding contribution so far.  Their commitment, enthusiasm and genuine care for each other have exceeded our already high expectations - we are so proud of them all.


As we've now been up for 19 hours and the rest of the team is in bed, it's probably time to sign off......


Toni, Catherine & John








Today's Blogspot is by Shannen


The Taj Mahal is without a doubt the most popular building in India.  Here are a few interesting facts about this beautiful building...

•     The Taj Mahal appears pink in the morning, white in the day and changes its colour to golden in the moonlight.
• 
  

  An identical Taj Mahal was supposed to be built in black marble.  The base of this can still be seen across the river, but it was never constructed.

• The Taj Mahal is perfectly symmetrical except that the male tomb is bigger than the female tomb.
• It took 22 years and 22,000 people to complete the Taj Mahal.
• 
  

  The pillars surrounding the Taj Mahal are slightly tilted outwards so that in the event of an earthquake they will fall away from the tomb.

Day Four

Hello everyone!


We've had another amazing day at the resource centre. We had created an all-time CLASSIC of a video blog, but unfortunately we're having serious issues with the video editing software and it's getting too late. We've managed to add a couple of isolated clips.

Other than mural painting, we've been playing sports with the children.

Other than murals and sports, we've been teaching the children their alphabet and making concertina fish and jewel boxes. The children seemed to really enjoy themselves and we certainly had a good time!


Tomorrow we are visiting the Taj Mahal, which we're really looking forward to. We won't be back until late and because of this, there probably won't be a blog tomorrow. Please expect a bumper edition on Sunday night!


Again, apologies for the lack of blog tonight. Here's Sara's lovely spot on sport in India.

Sport in India

• Sports in India include cricket, chess, badminton, field hockey, tennis, association football and golf. Field Hockey is the official national sport in India, and the country has eight olympic gold medals in field hockey, though cricket is the most popular. Other popular sports include football, tennis, volleyball, and badminton.

• Throughout the country a wide variety of sports are played. India is home to several traditional sports which originated in the country and continue to remain fairly popular. These include kabbadi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda. The British rule brought many popular sports in India including football, rugby union, cricket, golf, tennis, squash, hockey, boxing, snooker, and billiards.

• India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events, such as the 1951 Asian Games and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, the 2010 Hockey World Cup, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Major international sporting events annually held in India include the Chennai Open, Mumbai Marathon, Delhi Half Marathon and the Indian Masters. India is also scheduled to host the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011.

• Cricket has a long history in India and is the most popular sport by a wide margin in India. Recently, it won the 2011 Cricket World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the final match hosted by India. played on local, national and international levels and enjoys consistent support from people in all parts of India. Its development has been closely tied up with the history of the country, mirroring many of the political and cultural developments around issues such as Caste, Religion and Nationality.

• India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning two medals in athletics. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games since 1964.India had won total 20 medals at Olympic Games. India won its first gold medal in Men's Field hockey in 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and India's first gold medal since 1980, when the Men's Field Hockey Team won the gold.


Thanks for your support!
Peter, Jessica and Georgina.

Day 3

Today's blog is in the form of a video diary by Rachel N, Suzanne and Rachel K

The blogspot is by Naomi
Here's a little bit about the traditional Indian dress...

• The traditional clothing for men is the kurta or the sherwani. The sherwani is a long coat-like jacket fastened with buttons. It comes to just below the knees, hitting somewhere high on the calf. The jacket has a Nehru collar, which is a collar that stands up. This jacket is often cream, light ivory, or gold colored for weddings, especially those in the morning. It can be embroidered with gold or silver. While traditionally light in color, the jackets can be worn in dark colors, like reds, blacks, or navy, typically later in the day. A scarf is sometimes added to the jacket over one or both shoulders.
• Women's clothing in India varies widely and is closely related to local culture, religion and climate. Traditional Indian clothing for women are the saris or the salwar kameez and also gaghra cholis (lehengas). Saris are a graceful elegant clothing. A sari is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles.

• A popular attire of women in Indian clothing is the Indian salwar-kameez. This popular Indian dress evolved as a comfortable and respectable garment for women in Kashmir and Punjab region, but is now immensely popular in all regions of India. Salwars are pyjama-like trousers drawn tightly in at the waist and the ankles. Over the salwars, women wear a long and loose tunic known as a kameez. One might occasionally come across women wearing a churidar instead of a salwar. A churidar is similar to the salwar but is tighter fitting at the hips, thighs and ankles. Over this, one might wear a collarless or mandarin-collar tunic called a kurta.
• When it comes to fashion, Bollywood is a huge source of inspiration for all fashion enthusiasts and trend followers. Be it a plain transparent saree or a designer wedding saree, Bollywood films showcase them. What is also seen a lot in Bollywood these days is an explosion of colors. Indian actresses are experimenting with new colors; they are mix-matching and wearing contrasting color sarees that really catch the eye! Bright multi-colored sarees are really something that is totally in vogue. Fine embroideries, zardosi on velvets, blouses with deep cuts, chiffons are all a part of the wardrobe of most Bollywood actresses today.
• Necklaces are very popular fashion accessories across India amongst girls and women of all ages. Necklaces are made of a variety of materials, ranging from glass beads to gold and diamonds. One special necklace is the mangalasutra, worn only by married Indian women. It is the Indian equivalent of the western wedding ring.

Day 2

Day 2 - Wednesday

HAPPY DIWALI EVERYONE!

After an extremely restful sleep, breakfast was at 8:30am which proved to be more eventful than expected with some team members (aka Mr Donnelly, Adam, Shannen and Georgina) deciding that omelettes (mistaking them for pancakes) and honey was a good combination ....we'll maybe try that with the pancakes tomorrow. 

Before heading out for the day, the team met to discuss the crafts, English lessons and murals that are intended for youth in the ASHA centre tomorrow.




We then headed out for a quick (the boys hoped) stop at FabIndia to buy our Indian outfits. Despite the overwhelming number of choices and colours, the trip was relatively quick and painless and everyone was extremely pleased with their purchases. (See below for our outfits.)

After getting our outfits we went to Pizza Hut for a big lunch where we discovered that Diwali wasn't the only festival being celebrated today......

Our next sightseeing spots were India Gate and Humayun's Tomb. Both provided fairly spectacular photo opportunities and were enjoyed by all!

India Gate is a 42m high memorial arch bearing the names of the 85,000 Indian soldiers who died in both WW1 and the 1919 Afghan fiasco

Humayun's Temple was built in the 16th century by Haji Begum. Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor and his wife supervised the construction of his tomb.

Tonight we celebrated the festival of Diwali (for more info on this see Hannah's blogspot). We were able to spend time with the other Ballymena Team and were treated to an exciting fireworks display by the hotel staff. 

The common sight on many street corners today as the people of India prepared for Diwali.

P.S. Members of the 1st XI were keen to show that even while away there was still time to carry out some fitness where possible.

Rebecca, Jacob and Naomi :)


Tonight's blogspot is by Hannah and is about Diwali...


Diwali is probably the most well known festival of the Hindu calender. This year, it takes place on 26th October, which is during the time we are spending in Delhi!

5 Interesting Facts About Diwali:

• The word Diwali means, "rows of lighted lamps". It is often referred to as the festival of light because houses, shops and public areas are decorated with small lamps called diyas for the duration of the festival.



Lakshmi

• For most Indians, Diwali is a time to celebrate the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.   Lamps are lit and windows and doors are left open to help Lakshmi find her way into people's homes.

•   The festival is celebrated for five continuous days, where the third day is celebrated as the main Diwali festival or 'Festival of lights'. On the first day, traditionally people would wash their money. In their homes, people literally wash coins in milk and water and worship Lakshmi. On day three, many businessmen close their account books and do rituals to open their new account books for the next financial year, in order to gain prosperity in the next financial year. On day four gifts of money or clothes are given and on day five, it is tradition for sisters to call their brothers and their families to her home for a meal. 

• Rangoli are often drawn on the floors over the festival period. These are large colourful patterns and the most common subject to be drawn is the lotus flower.
•    The festival is all about sharing. When a brother visits his sister he traditionally leaves a gift of money under his plate after sharing a meal with her and people present diwali gifts to their friends, family and neighbours.

Day One

Hello from India!

We're writing to you from The Legend Inn, Delhi, and at the moment everyone is having a wee rest before dinner after a very busy day.

It's hard to believe that 24 hours ago we were just leaving school to get home and travel to the airport. An incredible amount has happened since then: flights; arrival at The Legend Inn and a trip to the Tigri resource centre.

We met at 3:30pm in Belfast, and from there flew to Heathrow. After a quick turnaround we got on the flight to Delhi for 10:00pm. The eight hours dragged by, with some sleeping better than others!

Finally we arrived at about 10:35am, Delhi time, and got through the huge queues at security to the baggage carousel. Then, tragedy struck. Jacob's bag was nowhere to be found, and he trawled up and down for about half an hour trying to find it.

Just as we were about to lose hope, a man came running in pulling it behind him. Man and suitcase were reunited. Everything was as it should be.

The drive to the Legend Inn was unforgettable in more ways than one, and I think it was only then that the reality that we were in India began to sink in. After getting some lunch and freshening up a little, we headed out to the slum. Again, the drive was incredible. The roads are massively congested; everyone is beeping their horns like mad and there are motorcycles everywhere, darting through the traffic with little regard for speed, traffic laws, or often their own safety. We even saw one man on his moped overtaking at speed, while he texted two-handed! Here's a  quick flavour of some of the things we saw on the way to the slum.

When we arrived at the resource centre we couldn't believe the welcome we received. The entrance was lined with children, throwing petals and cheering. When we got inside, the room was packed with children of all ages. We were utterly humbled as the children introduced themselves to us and told us about their ambitions and their progress at college. It was amazing to see how much college education means to the teenagers. After introducing ourselves, there was plenty of time for informal chat.

 The kids taught us a brilliant handshake, while we played clapping games with them.

After a chorus of goodbyes we headed back to the hotel, and now we're showered and ready for a quiet dinner at the hotel.

Finally, during our team meetings before we left, each member of the team took their turn to provide a short overview of some aspect of Indian culture. Each update will contain one of these 'blogspots'. The first is Rachel Keys' presentation about Asha.

Asha means "hope" in Hindi and Asha gives hope to people living in slum areas by allowing them to realise their potential, regardless of their background or religious beliefs.

In 1988, Dr Kiran Martin who was a young paediatrician became aware of a cholera outbreak in one of Delhi's slums and was determined to help. She set up a borrowed table below a tree and began to treat the patients. She had a deep desire to help the slum dwellers and set up a clinic where over 100 patients came for treatment every day, most of them suffering from preventable diseases.

Dr Kiran Martin with a child who stands a good chance of growing up to be happy, healthy and completing school, thanks to the work of Asha

In Delhi’s slums, people are marginalised and deprived, in poor health and starved of knowledge and opportunities. With Asha’s help slum communities become healthy, and stay that way by providing access to basic necessities like clean water, toilets and electricity. The slum dwellers can gain information and skills that help them to improve their lives. They can unlock their potential and break free from poverty. Young people can overcome the obstacles to get a good education and this year 188 slum children have been admitted to Delhi University and other prestigious private colleges in one of the most competitive years ever for university places.

A few of the first students from the slums who were admitted to Delhi University

After being founded by one person who worked surrounded by dirt, ignorance and despair, Asha is now transforming the lives of 400,000 slum dwellers in 50 slum colonies in Delhi.

Thank you for following our progress. It really means the world to us to have your support.


See you tomorrow, with our next update, during the Hindu festival of lights: Diwali!


Rachel, Naomi and Georgina.