India 2013
DAYS 9 and 10
DAY 9rnWe woke up early at Udayan, ate breakfast and then went to play with the children before their lessons started. The older girls in particular loved practicing their English with us, and asked us lots of questions.rnrnrnrnOnce lessons…
DAY 8
Today we returned to Udayan and all the smiling children! We started the day individually teaching groups of children and helping them with their numeracy. We worked with children from nursery age to class 4. rnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnAfter morning lessons…
DAY 7
We had an early start today for a 6am Mass at The Mother House with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. It was a very calm and peaceful experience that emphasized the impact Mother Teresa has even today. That was followed by a visit to…
DAY 6
We survived the ‘tour of all tours’ today. We had an air conditioned bus which took us around some very interesting famous sites. We first stopped off at the Botanical Gardens, where the Guinness World Record holding Banyan Tree is located.…
DAY 5
Today we met Brother Gaston which was a brilliant experience. He was a very inspirational man with many stories to tell. His interfaith ideology defines his way of life, which he shares with the many members of ICOD community. The women who live in the community with Gaston had all undergone traumatic experiences. The centre provided a safe haven for them, where they receive care 4 hours a day. After visiting some of the residents we walked over to the House of Prayer, where Gaston went on to tell us how he came to be in India. We were amazed to hear that he lived by choice in the slums, and was in fact the inspiration behind Dominique Lapierre’s ‘City Of Joy’. What was most incredible was his commitment to his mission; when he first arrived in India he spoke none of the native languages, and survived by relying mostly on the goodwill of the slum dwellers. It truly was a memorable visit.rnWe look forward to the ‘tour of all tours’ tomorrow led by Mrs Weldon around Kolkata. Hopefully you will hear from us tomorrow evening!
DAY 4
Today we visited the Asha Bhavan centre for handicapped children. It was an inspiring experience where we met lots of really sweet children.rnrnrnrnOur transport for the day was an old ambulance leant to us by the centre! It allowed us to beat…
DAY 3
We woke up early to the numerous sounds of Udayan. The day began with breakfast and playing with the children.rnrnrnrnrnrnrnrnAfter a short while spent chatting and joining in with games, we got on a mini bus to begin the march for the “Leprosy…
DAY 2
We arrived at Udayan for the first time today to the warmest of welcomes from both the children and the staff. It was lovely to see just how important this trip is to them as well as us. We arrived to the children singing Morning Prayer followed…
Udayan
The third day of the Indian pilgrimage was spent at Udayan.rnrnThe group were unable to publish their diary entry today due to technical difficulties at their current accommodation. Please check back tomorrow when hopefully they will have posted the article!rn
DAY 1
After a 6 hour flight to Dubai, a 2 hour stop over and a 4 hour flight to Kolkata, we have arrived. The journey was incredibly long and we are all very tired. The drive from Kolkata to our hotel, in a mini bus we were lucky enough to have used…
Departures
It is with great excitement and anticipation that we leave for India today. I don’t think any of us can actually believe that we are off to visit Udayan – the place that much effort has gone into raising funds for since we joined St Joan of Arc six years ago. It will be great to see James, the staff and children of Udayan in particular the work of the home and how our money has helped the children.
Welcome
It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the St Joan of Arc Udayan Pilgrimage 2013 website, in anticipation of our visit to India in February. We hope to be able to provide all our readers with an insight into Udayan by publishing a daily (where technology allows) diary written by the students along with photographs.