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.rnrn
rnrnOnce lessons began, we taught Classes 1-4. We particularly focused on their numeracy, teaching counting in English and even practicing times tables with the older children. Sometimes the language barrier made it difficult, but the teachers were happy to translate. After a while, we understood how we could communicate best with them. It was a lot of fun for all of us.rnrn
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rnrnLater in the afternoon we visited a hospital for leprosy sufferers run by Mother Teresa’s Brothers, the Missionaries of Charity, which was a short drive from Udayan. It was quite a shocking experience but one we will not forget. It became clear the horrible things the children at Udayan will have experienced before they joined the school.rnIn the evening, we took part in a show the children at Udayan put on for us. The children performed a traditional Indian dance, sang a song written by the children themselves, and played several instruments. We on the other hand…performed the Cha Cha Slide, sang Do Re Mi and Anna and Kirsten sang “Hallelujah”. We finished off with a short dance to a popular Indian song. Unfortunately, we couldn’t perform two more songs due to a technical hitch! rnrn
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rnrnAfter the show, the staff at Udayan prepared a meal for us on the rooftop of one of the buildings. It was decorated beautifully and we were looked after really well. We were really sad to leave!rnrn
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rnrnDAY 10rnWe have spent our last full day packing and relaxing, as there was a General Strike across India. At lunchtime, we walked up to The Oberoi Hotel to have drinks. The hotel was incredible and we loved taking it all in. rnThis evening will we have a farewell meal and an early night, ready for a 5:30am start tomorrow morning to come home!rnWe are all excited to come home and see you all!rn
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. rnrn
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rnrnAfter morning lessons we went off to the house of the Honorary Treasurer of Udayan, Mr Zaki, for lunch. He is also the headmaster of a school nearby named the Assembly of Angels Secondary School, which we visited after our lovely meal. rnrn
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rnrnOn returning to Udayan the boys joined in with a football match which the boys at Udayan were playing. Later on in the evening we went into groups and took another lesson, this time teaching English to the older children. rnrn
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rnrnWe look forward to another day spent at Udayan tomorrow, along with our performance to the children and staff in the evening.
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 Mother’s tomb, her room and an exhibition of her life. rnrn
rnrnrnDespite the unexpected heavy rainfall today, we ventured out this afternoon to the Jain Temple Garden which was absolutely beautiful. The whole of the exterior of the temple is beautifully decorated with brilliant mosaic which really made it look very majestic.rnrn
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rnrnrnTomorrow we look forward to returning to Udayan for our last few days!rn
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. This is one single tree whose roots have spread to form numerous trees; you have to see it to believe it!! Next was the monument erected in remembrance of those who died in The Black Hole of Kolkata where 123 out of 146 men died. It is placed in St Johns churchyard. Our last part of the tour was at the Queen Victoria Memorial which consisted of a huge marble building that had an exhibition inside. It also had beautiful gardens that we enjoyed walking through. It has become clear to us all that Kolkata was once a beautiful city as evidence of grander times can be seen everywhere. rnThe rest of the day was spent relaxing and visiting the market again. We are looking forward to a nice early 5:30 start tomorrow morning as we are all going to Mass at a very special place.rnrn
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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 provides a safe haven for them, where they receive care 24 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!rnrn
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Today we visited the Asha Bhavan centre for handicapped children. It was an inspiring experience where we met lots of really sweet children.rnrn
rnrnOur transport for the day was an old ambulance leant to us by the centre! It allowed us to beat much of the Kolkata traffic by using the siren…an unconventional way of travelling! rnrnWe spent most of the day visiting their lessons and playing with them. The staff at the centre cooked us a delicious traditional Indian meal, which we all really enjoyed. After our meal, the children put on a cultural show for us which was amazing as many of the children showed off special talents, such as Indian dancing. Anna and Kirsten then performed “Hallelujah” as a display of our group’s talents. All performances were very well received!rnrn
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rnrnrnThe children then began to dance around, and within minutes we were all up dancing with them. It was a very surreal experience taking part in an impromptu Indian disco!rnrn
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rnrnOverall, it was a very special day. Tomorrow we are all looking forward to our visit to Brother Gaston.rnrn
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We woke up early to the numerous sounds of Udayan. The day began with breakfast and playing with the children.rnrn
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rnrnAfter a short while spent chatting and joining in with games, we got on a mini bus to begin the march for the “Leprosy Awareness Programme”. The entire school took part, along with staff, parents of the children and past students. The rally lasted around 2 hours and we battled with cows on the side streets, and cars on the main road! It was all an experience we won’t forget.rnrn
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rnrnrnOnce we reached the end of the march, we began our journey back into the city. We then visited the “Asha Niketan” centre run by Sankar Rakhi for the mentally handicapped. The group of people we met were lovely and friendly; they enjoyed meeting us and we enjoyed meeting them! rnrnAfterwards we visited the house where Gandhi went on his last fast in an attempt to stop the rioting that was taking place between the Muslims and the Hindus at the time of Independence. rnrn
rnrnWe have ended our evening with a VERY spicy meal. rnrn
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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 by refreshments under a big banner saying ‘welcome friends of Udayan’. They presented each of us with handmade floral chains to wear, and soon after James (founder of Udayan) arrived to greet us. After being shown our rooms, we began the tour around the school. Each classroom we entered performed what they had learnt in song form, which they enjoyed performing as much as we enjoyed watching. rnrn
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rnrnLater on in the day, before dinner, we presented them with teddies, football shirts and bibs. Their reaction was one was we will never forget; the younger children loved their teddies and the shirts and bibs were most popular with the older children, who wore them immediately. rnrn
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rnrnWe got the opportunity to teach small groups of 14-16 year olds, in order to help improve their English. The language barrier was challenging but the students were all eager to learn, and we came out with a few words in Bengali, for example ‘Tam anam ki’ meant what is your name.rnrnAfter dinner we were grateful for an early night, after a tiring day. rnrn
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The third day of the Indian pilgrimage was spent at Udayan.
The 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!
Thanks for your continued interest in the group’s progress.
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 sent from Udayan, was bumpy and loud to say the least! The traffic in the city was a hundred times worse than London, if that’s even possible to imagine. We loved seeing all the different sights that the small part of Kolkata we travelled through had to offer. rnrn
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rnrnWe were grateful to have a nice siesta this afternoon, and we woke up to go and visit a Kolkata market. It was definitely an experience we won’t forget; the smells and sights that we witnessed were not for the faint-hearted! At the end of the day, we are here to witness anything and everything that Kolkata has to offer.rnrnAll of us bought Indian style outfits from a small shop in the market and it’s safe to say the girls took the longest, and without surprise, Mrs Weldon was the last one to leave! We were all very pleased with what we bought. rnrnWe are now packing our bags for our first stay at Udayan, which we are very much looking forward to. It is an early start tomorrow so we are all off for an early night now.rnrnGood night, we will update you tomorrow!rnrn