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 to see the fantastic facilities that are on offer and for us to go into lessons and interact with the children, who were extremely happy to spend time with us. We also visited their on-site craft shop where many members of the group purchased beautiful handmade gifts such as photo frames and pen pots. Sukeshi, the founder of the ABC started her life in poverty and was helped by Brother Gaston to build a new life. Sukeshi used her opportunities to build the ABC into something really special.rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

rnrnWe then continued with the rest of our day by visiting Brother Gaston on his Ashram for vulnerable and abused women. Here we heard his inspirational story of how he ended up in India and the work he has contributed to the poor over many years. His life and ministry amongst the poor of Kolkata was the inspiration behind the book ‘City of Joy’. In the book he was changed to a Swiss Priest, partly to save his identity. The Swiss priest became an American doctor for the film and this character was played by Partick Swayze.rnrnDominique Lapierre, the author of City of Joy, wanted to give the royalties back to the poor of Kolkata. This desire led him to bring a suitcase full of money to Mother Teresa. She declined his offer because she knew of a young Englishman who needed some help funding his new home for the children of leprosy sufferers – Udayan.rnrn

rnrn

rnrnAnd so our journey is complete: Dominique Lapierre writes City of Joy and starts City of Joy Aid, and under the instruction of Mother Teresa starts to fund Udayan (which had earlier been founded under the inspiration of Mother Teresa). rnrnWe are now sitting writing the blog before we head over to the Oberoi hotel for drinks as a treat on our final night.rnrn

/1 Comment/by

Farewells at Udayan

rnrn

rnrnIt 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.rnrn

rnrn

rnrnThe same is true for the 10 Class boys. There isn’t the funding or space to accommodate these boys for the equivalent of Sixth Form. All these boys will be returning home and to local schools for their 16+ education or leaving school for employment. The 10 and 12 class students are the ones who we got to spend most time with as they are on study leave before their exams start on 22nd February (10 Class), 15th March (12 Class).rnrnFr Jose (pronounced Joss), celebrated a thanksgiving Mass for us in the Udayan library before the tears started falling as we boarded the bus to leave.rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

rnrnAs we leave Udayan this evening we would like to thank all the staff and children of Udayan for an amazing 6 days with them. The experience has been so special to each an every one of us and we can truly say an experience we’ll never forget.rnrn

rn

/3 Comments/by

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 computer room. We then had the chance to practice our dances for the evening programme of entertainment.rnrn

rnrnThe Fiesta at Udayan started at 6pm with both the students of St Joan and the children of Udayan contributing. It was a fantastic chance to see the students dance and sing as well as sharing our culture with them and them with us including the Cha Cha Slide and Justin Bieber. We also did our best to embrace the Indian Culture as we dancing to a new Indian tunes as well as the return of the infamous Bachchan.rnrn

rnrnThe evening finished with a surprise visit to the rooftop of the admin block we we were treated to a banquet of Indian Cuisine.rnrn

rnrn

rn

/5 Comments/by

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, pens and nail polish – were taken to Udayan today to be distributed before we leave.rnrn

rnrnSunday is a great day to be at Udayan as all the children are off school so there was plenty of recreational activities going on. We interrupted their recreational time to take a school photo for every child in the school. This took almost two hours but will be worth it when we print them for the kids and a copy for their parents. We also took some family pics of those families who were visiting their children at Udayan. Some had travelled 6 hours, leaving at 5am to stay a few hours before making the long journey home.rnrn

rnrnAfter a delicious lunch, we spent time with the children dancing and watching television. Tomorrow we will be having a celebration evening including both us and the children of Udayan performing a show comprised of song, dance and rap. We have just finished our first rehearsals for this and I can confirm they went very well. rn

/2 Comments/by

Touring Kolkata – Part 2

rnrnToday 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. rnrnWe then went to the Victoria Memorial, built between 1906 and 1921 and is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria which is a lasting sign of the British influence on this part of the world. Despite the damage the British exit caused, the locals were still keen to get a selfie or two-hundred with the white-folk. rnrn

rnrn

rnrnThe remains of the group that weren’t laid up with Delhi-belly went to the Rabindranath Tagore’s House dedicated to the life and works of the Nobel Prize winner. The museum had many galleries dedicated to his pictures, paintings and poetry. We then went to the Jain Temple which is made with a mirrored material, a peaceful place. The temple was beautiful, a sparkling sensation. rnrnTo end off the evening we headed for another Pizza and a stroll around the night-spots. We are off to bed now, for a half five start to go to mass at The Mother House in the morning before heading back to Udayan for our second visit.rn

/2 Comments/by

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 taxis to McDonald’s where we had very authentic Indian chicken nuggets. rnrn

rnrnAfter our lunch, we walked back to the hotel for a brief rest before heading back out to the market where all-of the girls had unique henna designs drawn onto their hands. This was followed by browsing many of the stalls that Kolkata’s market had to offer, where we bought gifts for the children at Udayan that they had told us they enjoy using on our previous visit to them. We then headed for dinner at Marco Polos which was extremely delicious. rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

rnrnOn return to the hotel in the evening, we received our sarees, shalwar khameezes (which all looked amazing with their bright colours and flamboyant styles) in preparation for our shared celebration evening with the children of Udayan on Monday night.rn

/3 Comments/by

Paras Padma

Today we visited Paras Padma – a home for physically and mentally disadvantaged children. rnrn

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. rnrn

rnrnWe then spent time with the children, playing with them trying to bridge the language barrier. Our visit concluded with a show which the children put on for us in which we sang and danced with them – our cultural offering was some songs from Disney’s Frozen and a bit of the infamous ‘Bachchan Bachchan’. We then said our goodbyes after a rewarding day full of smiles and laughter.rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

rnrnThank you Ebadat and Mina for a lovely day and sharing with us the great work you are doing at Paras Padma.rnrnIn the evening, we visited a pizza parlour and had a delicious dinner. We are now writing another blog post and ready for bed after all the dancing. Goodnight.rn

/1 Comment/by

Udayan & Titagarh

Today was the last day of our first period of time at Udayan. We return on Sunday for another 3 days.rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

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. rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

rnrn

rnrnAfter lunch, we went to Titagarh, a leper colony near Udayan. It was very humbling as we watched them weave cotton thread and saw where they dyed the thread and grew their crops. As we walked through the buildings the workers and patients greeted us and we had a very interesting talk from an American medical student working and studying at the colony. Titagarh was founded by Mother Teresa and is now run by the Missionaries of Charity Brothers.rnrnThis evening, we went to Gaylords (the restaurant at The Lytton Hotel) for a meal. We are now writing this blog in anticipation of our trip to Paras Padma tomorrow.rnrn

rnrnTa Ta.

/3 Comments/by

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!rnrn

rnrnAfter finally beginning the day with the children and eating breakfast, followed by their private study, we then walked with some of the children to the local Bengali-language schools. Some of us rode on bikes – a very common way of travel in India.rnrnToday we again made more animal friends such as Eddie Lizard – resident reptile in the boys bathroom.rnrnAfter lunch, the older girls who are on study leave before their exams, plaited Holly and Sian’s hair immaculately. They then taught us the rules of kabbadi – a game which is like a combination of rugby, bull dog and WWE wrestling. The other half of the group were walking to collect the Bengali girls from school.rnrn

rnrnLater on we disrupted the evening study session to chat to the older kids. We talked about the foods we both eat and the houses we live in. We also took many selfies which they very much enjoyed. By then it was time for dinner, which was delicious again and that brings us to the writing of this post.rnrnTa Ta.

/by

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. As we were shown to our rooms we took in the beautiful scenery (a world apart from the over-crowded streets of the city). rnrn

rnrnWe were especially impressed at Udayan’s ability to be self-sufficient due to the large vegetable field. The people were even more beautiful and vibrant than our surroundings and we quickly found common ground with subjects we studied and pass-times we have. We also met Craig David (the resident goose).rnrnBoth lunch and dinner were delicious and we felt very spoilt!rnrn

rnrnDuring the evening we spent time with the children as they studied and helped us ‘master’ Bengali. They also told us about their love for Justin Bieber music!rnrn(More photos to follow with better internet connection)

/2 Comments/by