India 2017

Our last night in India

Today is our last day in India before the long journey home tomorrow. We visited the Asha Bhavan Centre which is an excellent home and school for children that have special needs. Here we got taken on a tour which allowed us the opportunity…

Farewells at Udayan

It was an emotional farewell to Udayan today, particularly, with the girls in 12 Class (Pratima and Rosalie) as these girls won’t be around for the next visit of St Joan’s to Udayan. Both these girls will return home to study nursing at college if their higher exams (taken at 18) are good enough.

Fiesta at Udayan

Today was our last full day at Udayan and we had the opportunity to travel by bus with the Wesleyiane School students. On our return we were shown the administrative side of Udayan including the doctors office, dispensary, library, stores and…

Our Return to Udayan

Following an early start (4:30 AM!), we made our way to The Mother House to have mass with Mother Teresa’s sisters (The Missionaries of Charity). Once back at the hotel we relaxed, packed and had breakfast. All gifts – including teddies,…

Touring Kolkata – Part 2

Today we went on Weldon’s tour of Kolkata which started with a visit to the Botanical Gardens. We saw the remarkable Great Banyan Tree which is over 250 years old, has 3,600 ariel roots and covers 1.6 hectare. We took a walk around the garden and lakes which was a nice change from the hustle of Kolkata outside.

Touring Kolkata – Part 1

Today we explored Kolkata as a group. We first walked to the Eden Gardens stadium; one of the largest cricket stadiums in the world. We then walked to the Ganges River where we watched people gather to wash, talk and be blessed. We then took…

Paras Padma

Today we visited Paras Padma - a home for physically and mentally disadvantaged children. rnrnWe were greeted with garlands and warm hugs from the children before Ebadat and Mina – the couple who founded Paras Padma. Ebedat spoke to us about their work over chai before giving us a tour of the amazing place they have built up since 2000. We were then shown around the dispensary and the rooms where they carry out physiotherapy and make prosthetic limbs. We had lunch prepared by Mina which was delicious – one of the best Indian banquets any of us had ever experienced.

Udayan & Titagarh

Today was our last day of our first of two trips to Udayan. rnrnWe taught the children their morning lessons in both English and Bengali. Isabella and Holly taught the children human body parts, Tasha and Sian taught geography, Ethan and James played bingo with the children and Fran and Kate taught animals. This was an extremely rewarding experience for both us and the children.

A Day in the Life

Today was our first full day at Udayan. We awoke to the local Mosque’s call to prayer at 5am to and went to join the children for their morning prayer. We then discovered that we were an hour too early!rnrnrnrnAfter finally beginning the day…

Meet Udayan

Posting our website blog has been difficult this evening at Udayan.rnrnToday was our first day at Udayan.rnrnAs soon as we arrived we were made to feel at home - flowers were placed around our necks and we were fed some delicious local treats.…

Our Arrival in Kokata

After an easy journey – besides a two-hour delay (which resulted in a free McDonald’s) – we arrived in Kolkata safely this morning. After much deliberation, the number one recommended in flight movie is Trolls staring Anna Kendrick and…

Vicky summarises her time at Udayan back in 2015

With 2 days to go until we depart for Kolkata to visit Udayan, Vicky McMillan who visited Udayan back in 2015 shares her experiences of her time in Kolkata and Udayan.rnrn