Amida Volunteers Blog

Oh yeh..about that watch!

2007-02-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

I actually have a very nice watch thank you very much so Im really not interested in buying another unless you're giving them away free?

Back to Blighty

2007-02-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

Doesn't time fly. Here I am back where I started, sitting in my flat in Croydon at my Mac.

My last 2 weeks in India flew by. From the Vipassina retreat to the streets of Jaipur for a whistle-stop tour of the pink city, then back to Delhi for outreach, Mansha's wedding and home! Unfortunately I came down with a nasty cold and bug during my last week, probably as I was trying to keep up the one meal a day regime inherited from the Vipassina course. My body's not used to not being fed at least once an hour!

It was almost touch and go whether I would be able to attend Mansha's wedding and I considered delaying my flight home when I developed an ear infection. Thankfully I made it to the wedding - what an experience. It all started in the beauty salon where we went to be tarted up Indian style and have our Sari's put on. My Sari was bright pink, and my eye-lids were made to match my outfit. I must say we felt er, slightly overdone....thats a bit of an understatement! I felt like a Bangle's reject from the 80's and I think Vix felt pretty similar!

The wedding itself was amazing. Strangely for the second time since arriving in Delhi, the heavens opened and the rains fell. We were taken to the wedding by bus. The wedding reception was huge, with a capacity for about 1000 people, although unfortunately no ceiling so we got quite wet! Trees were covered in fairy lights, music blared out from the speakers, women dressed in beautiful Sari's and copious amounts of food was served. There was a fruit salad bar, food hawkers offering all things Indian, loads of fried nibbles and all that followed by a full-on sit-down Indian meal - Grrrrrrrrrreat!!

The wedding was very different to what I have been acustamed to. The Groom arrived on a white horse being led in by his family who were dancing wildley in front. Mansha arrived 10 mins later in full regalia and looked like she was straining to walk under the weight of her outfit. Within minutes she greeted her finace on a podeum with both of their families, there were lots of singing and shouting, a firework of coloured paper went off and that was it. The weird thing was that the rest of the wedding guests were more interested in the food than in the wedding. But, it was good food I suppose!!

Saying goodbye to the kids at outreach was sad. At Ashok Nigar some of the children spontaneously broke into song and dance and our very own variety performance unfolded . It was so special and Im glad I had my camera with me.

It was so sad saying goodbye to the Indian Volunteers who have been assisting us with translation at the outreaches, especially Vikram who's a star. Im really going to miss him. He's one of those people who brighten up a room the minute he steps into it. Always a smile on his face and a nack of making you laugh. If I could have put him in my pocket and taken him home I would have.

So, my adventure has come to an end. Im sad but happy to be home to see my partner and friends. It was soooooo nice having a hot shower, a glass of red wine and a goats cheese, sun-dried tom and basil baguette - heaven!

India will always be a part of my life now and I'll never forget the wonderful experience. The mangey dogs in the streets, the Buffalows pulling heavy loads, bumpy rickshaw rides, crazy auto rides on the other side of the motorway, the children at the outreaches, beautiful sari's, vibrant markets, wandering cows, numerous weird and wonderful Gods and temples, wild noisey wedding processions, Superstitions, funny Hinglish saying's and names like 'On Government Duty.... Supersucker cum jetter', being called 'Mam' all the time, cold bucket baths, crazy shopping trips, Bollywood films, and of course Vicki Mam.

One of the hardest things about leaving India was leaving my mate Vicki behind. Having spent 5 months in each other's pockets we've slept together in a range of hotels, mud huts, and rooms, taught together, eaten together, showered together, been sick together and even poo'ed together! When you spend so much time with someone and then suddenly they're not there anymore its like loosing your right arm. It feels really weird without her, but I can't wait to catch up when she gets back to the UK in April. Vicki Mam- come home soon! xx

In the meantime, Vicki is leaving for Rajisthan tomorrow to do some travelling before coming home and Bob has taken over. Another lady called Judy is due to arrive and so the project goes on. Sudanna one of the Chakma Monks has had some great news that his visa application for the UK has been accepted. I look forward to seeing him in Narborough.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my Blog, Ive certainly enjoyed writing it and sharing my wonderful experiences with you. I hope it provides a taste of what its like volunteering in Delhi, but if you would like more info, please contact Sister Modgala at The Buddhist House in Narborough or check out the Amida Trust website - www.amidatrust.com. The Buddhist House, 12 Coventry Rd, Narborough, Leicestershire, LE19 2GR. +44 0116 2867476.

Namo Amida Bu xx

Vipassina

2007-01-18T22:17:00.000-08:00

Hey People of the world....Peace and Goodwill to each and everyone of you man!

I arrived back to Delhi last night from Jaipur having finished the Vipassina course 2 days ago so Im feeling a bit blissed out. Vipassina was uncomfortable, painful, hard-work, mentally disturbing at times and boring at times too. It was also insightful, inspirational, challenging, interesting and very worthwhile.

Vipassina is the meditation technique taught by Buddha and the translation means 'seeing things as they really are'. Its a personal journey into understanding the nature of reality; that things are in a constant state of flux and change and that we fill our lives with an endless cycle of Craving and Aversion. Life is full of suffering. We crave for things we cannot always have which leads to suffering (I want a higher salary/a better car/an exotic holiday/more friends); when we get the things we crave for, we either want more and/or are anxious not to loose them which leads to more suffering and we put a lot of effort and worry into avoiding things we do not like.

The process of Vipassina teaches us to observe things as they are and not to attach likes and dislikes to them, therefore trying to irradicate craving and aversion which lead to suffering. The process invloves 10 days of meditaion focussing on sensations cropping up natrually within the body and really being aware of the body. When sensations such as itching, tingling, pain, numbness etc do crop up, it teaches us to simply observe the phenomina with an equanimous mind, not liking some sensations and disliking others. With practice and a calm mind, the aim is to be able to sit in one position without moving for up to 2 hours maintining an alert and attentive mind observing these sensations with an objective eye. It really surprised me how much one can control the mind and ones reaction towards pain. As time went on, I began to witness for myself how much my mind exagerates responses to stimuli, automatically judging stimuli and adopting preferences and aversions. After about 5 days I was actually able to sit cross legged in a meditation position for 1.5 hours without moving a muscle despite experiencing intense pain, cramping, itching and dead legs by just observing the sensations. Amazing. Im not for one minute pretending it was easy. On the 5th night I cried myself to sleep because I didnt think I was strong enough to deal with the pain. I couldn't sleep due to the intense acheing of my knees and I began to worry about any permanent damage I may be causing my body. But the pain and long hours - 10.5 hours a day of mediating starting at 4.30am was forgotten when I experienced periods of true awareness and concentration during meditaion.

On the 10th day, you are allwed to speak with others on the course, although males and females are always segregated. It was great to talk to others about their experiences and compare notes after 9 days of silence.

I think the experience has made me realise how much anger I have inside, and how often I can react to situations from a position of anger rather than compassion. I want to make a commitment to myself to try to deal with this anger and intend to use the Vipassina technique in my mediation practice. Since leaving the center, I have been able to maintain a level of awareness over my reactions and feel better able to choose how to react to stimuli. This feels good and I really want to maintain this state.

If anybody is intersted in Vipassina, there are centers all over the world. To find out about one nearest to you, visit www.dhamma.org. As long as you are willing to put a lot of time and effort in and have an understanding of what it invloves, I would definately reccommend it.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-05T05:29:00.000-08:00

A Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

We arrived in Delhi from a 2 week break in Southern India last night. We spent 3 days travelling by train, bus, taxi and boat to Gokarna in Karnataka from Delhi on the 20th Dec. There we spent Christmas on a beach soaking up the sun and meeting lots of Western travellers who had the same idea. My partner had planned on coming out to meet us, but he couldnt get any cheap deals so it was just me and Vicki. Although I was gutted not to see him, we made the most of it and got into the spirit.

After spending Christmas on a beach, we headed for Mumbai which in my opinion is a horrible, stinking cest pit full of rich middle class, loutish perverts and I never want to step foot there again! Our experience here was a stark contrast to Delhi and we culdnt wait to get out of it. The men are vile, constantly making comments and staring. I duely publically humiliated one who pinched Vicki's bum, by screaming 'Eve Teaser' while skipping round him and pointing at him and making sure everyone on the busy highstreet knew exactly what we thought of him and that it certainly was NOT ok to act in such a manner. I think thats what I hated the most about being there, I didnt feel good about myself. I felt continuously aggressive and defensive most of the time, ready to pounce on the next creepy sorry excuse for a man and actaully felt like physically assaulting some of them. Its far from being the helpful Buddhist English Teaching Volunteer persona that Ive enjoyed for the last 3 months; rather a Psychopathic, Feminist Warrior ready to take on any unsuspecting male who even bats an eyelid in my direction! It put it all into perspective when we read that a Western foreigner was mobbed by a gang of Indian drunken youths on New Years Eve in the heart of the city and had her skirt ripped off. The police were not able to do anything at the time but are now appealing for help with the matter. Disgusting. If Mumbai is a sign of things to come in India I am truely very, very sorry.

Anyway, tomorrow I embark on a train journey to Jaipur to start a 10 day Vipassina retreat. Boy do I need it! Im crapping my pants a bit as the thought of getting up at 4am every morning, not eating after midday and doing 10 hours of meditation a day doeant sound like fun, and not being able to talk for 10days might just kill me. But Im told its a worth while experience and truthfully, Im looking forward to it.

Shopping, teaching, eating, shopping, teaching............

2006-12-14T23:13:00.000-08:00

The last month has been a blur of teaching, shopping, eating and sleeping! Classes are going well and its strange to think that for me, my teaching career in india is almost over. The time spent so far has enabled me to build up good relationships with my students and I will genuinely miss them on my return to the UK. Its been great to see the change in their English speaking and they have so much more confidence compared to when we first met them.

In the lead up to Christmas, we've been on a Christmas shopping mission and have probably single handedly kept India's economy afloat! Going Sari shopping in Delhi's Old Quarter, Chandni Chowk was a fab experience. The streets are so crammed with merchants, beggars, hawkers, cows, rickshaws and people throwing buckets of water out of their houses. It can be a bit of an artform dodging the frequent showers of dirty water thats cleaned floors, motorbikes and bodies! Yuk! Choosing a Sari is a delightful experience, one for the ladies. You sit on a white blanket on the floor while being presented with an array of beautiful and not so beautiful and then downright gaudy Saris while sipping on freshly brewed Chai. It was hard to leave the shop without buying up the whole place and I wish we in the Uk wore them more often. In the end we left with 2 each! One for Mansha's wedding in January and one for my cousin Alison's wedding in July.

Yesterday we had a school excursion taking some students to Delhi's attractions in a mini-van we hired. It was a lot of fun and it was nice that some of them don't always have the opportunity to see some of these sites. When nwe got home, a huge wedding procession was going on with 2 massive elephants leading it. We ran ahead to the market to buy some fruit for them and were invited to sit on them. Who would have thought our day would have ended with us on top of 2 huge elephants leading a wedding procession through the streets of Yamuna Vihar - crazy!

Our outreaches have been going well. The children have mastered numbers, colours, verbs and nouns and we have been introducing pronouns. As Vicki mentioned, the numbers have been increasing more and more each week, and 2 weeks ago we hit the 120 mark! Since then we have had to manage the numners more carefully as it can be a bit difficult to manage with the 3 of us and one Indian volunteer! Its all good though and the children are loving it!

28th November 2006

2006-11-28T00:20:00.000-08:00

Well finally i have got around to adding to the blog site. For any of you that know me well you will know that keeping in touch is not particularly one of my strong points, apart from the odd e mail here and there...but here i am!

Well where to start! Charlotte has done a fantastic job in her regular up dates of our adventures so far and the enthusiasm and passion that shines through in Charlottes writing represnts both of our love for being in India, it's great!

Living with the Chakmas has been fantastic, from the start we have been made to feel very welcome and as time goes on we can see, by the occasional verse of chakma song, that some are not as shy as they originally seemed. We were lucky enough to have some time at the start of the projct to visit the temples that we would be teaching in and meet other members of the Chakma community, and we were met with such genuine kindness and hospitality that we have been very thankful of.

We are now well into our classes and they are going really well (although at times i might not say that, when my advanced grammar classes are firing extremely difficult questions at me, followed up with the dreaded question within the grammar classroom...why?!). It seems that quite quickly the rapport and trust has formed enabling us all to share experiences, knowledge and jokes and as the weeks go on the relatiosnships continue to grow. Its such a priviledge to be in a position where we can discuss 'real life' issues with Indian people and create an environment of continuous learning from each other. An experience that will have an ever lasting impact on me.

The outreaches are amazing. When it was said during our volunteer training that in the past there have been groups of 100 children being taught, I could not even imagine us doing such a thing....well last Sunday at Ashok Negar Joy, Charlotte and I did just that. The numbers have been rising over the weeks and this week Joys head count revealed that they had reached the 100 mark! Doing the outreaches is so uch fun and if the children enjoy them as much as we do then it can only be a good thing! Last Saturday Charlotte and I accompanied by Vikram one of the Indian volunteers did the outreach in Seelampur, this allowed Joy some time as she has been doing 2 outreaches in a day. It is our smallest outreach which is actually quite nice as it can be more personal allowing you to get to know the children and do some the activities which are more of a challenge to control with larger numbers. So we are keen to take on this outreach allowing Joy to focus on the afternoon one in Shanti Negar where we have been unable to attend due to an outbreak in Dengue fever.

On top of all the teaching we have found plenty of time the cram in many shopping trips, trips away (which Charlotte has mentioned)relaxation time and even time to do our new found hobby...sudoku (thanks mum for introducing that!) it has resulted in many an hour of entertainment, with the only words muttered between me and Charlotte... "can you pass the rubber please".

Well i have to return to class now lesson number 3 of the day is due to start.

Bye for now!

...and if i have made any grammatical mistakes, keep them to yourself, i dont want to know!!!

A wonder of the world......

2006-11-25T01:25:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I wrote last. This has not been for a lack of trying as last week I spent 40mins writing a post only to have the connestion interuupted and my work lost - eeeeek!

I have had my great mate Eirk over from Norway. He left this morning and we miss him already. Despite being here for only 2 weeks, he felt like a part of the team contributing to the discussions and grammar classes. He has been impressed by the friendliness and openness of Indians, but like us has noticed how conctrete their thinking can be at times. They seem to struggle with abstract ideas and view the world in black and white. We had an intersting discussion about sterotypes and I was highly amused to find out Indians seem to think people from the West are all beautiful, confident, intelligent, free-minded, happy and apparently we all look the same! They also think we are socially immoral and selfish.

Inevitably the conversations turned to Marriage and Divorce. I was horrified to find out that the students reckon up to 90%of people commit adultery in Delhi! I have also been disgusted to find out that domestic abuse is tolerated and accepted although not condoned. When I told one highly educated middle class male that I would leave my partner if he ever hit me, his response was shock and....'what, even if it was once'! We also discussed the problems with the Dowry system. When women are 'married off' their parents are expected to provide a Dowry. Unfortunately many women are tortured by their husband so that the parents will provide a higher dowry and many women are killed or commit suicide. Someone quoted a figure of 5% of women in India comitting suicide every year, a staggering amount of women considering the population of India is over a billion.

I have taken a real shining to one of our female volunteers called Mansha. Mansha is a 25 year old woman who lives across the road from us. She has great confidence and a real individual streak, a strong woman with a good sense of humour. She will be getting married to an Indian man who lives in Hounslow, London. She has met him once and likes him but once they are married in January she will be expected to move to London to live with him forever. She has no friends or family over there and bearly knows her fiance yet she is optomistic about the future and as a woman has been brought up to expect to make great sacrifices in her life. I wish I could share her optimism but I cant help but worry for her. Im glad that at least I can be a friend to her in London and I cant wait to go to her wedding in January. She is taking myself and Viki Sari shopping next week - I CAN'T WAIT!

I turned 28 last Monday. I had a fantastic day and everyone made a fuss and made me feel really special. Cards arrived on the doorstep and I even had a birthday cake! The highlight of the day however had to be seeing the Indian volunteers show off their Bollywood dance moves - I cant remember when I laughed so hard.

Two days ago we went to Agra to see one of the wonders of the world...yes...THE TAJ MAHAL! WOW! All I can say is that its amazing to see in the flesh. Sometimes you see these sights on postcards and on tellie and then when you see them for yourself they dissapoint. Not this one! Its spectacular and eveyone must see it! Check out Jet Airays or Air India and book your flights now!

EIRK WE MISS YOU XX

One month on...

2006-11-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

I cant believe we have been here for a month already. Time is flying by and Im starting to get anxious about the amount of time I have left.

We are now in full swing and the classes are going well. Our students are generally a really lovely lot and I've been surprised at the discussions we have had already. Before coming, topics like 'Arranged versus Love marriages', 'Relationships' and Religion' were things that seemed a long way off, but on the 4th session, my evening discussion group launched us straight into them!

Most of the people who attend the classes are the better off, modern Indians who aspire to work in Indian call centers, for the Government or private companies in management. They range from 15-25 years old. These people have access to the programme in order to help them pass demanding exams. India is known for its high rate of suicide in teenagers due to the pressures of exams and the numbers are rising. Employment is high here and the competition for jobs is immense. By interacting with people who are the future of India, it allows us to bridge some of the gaps between the East and the West. A lot of the advertsing here showing white people usually involve a man and a woman scantily dressed carressing an ice cream in a rather suggestive manner. This kind of advertsing gives Indians the impression we are all sex mad (this may of course be somewhat true) and they think we get divorced every other day. The quote they seem to love the most is "India has such a high rate of successful marriages and in the West 1/3 of marriages end in divorce". Can anyone tell me - is this true? Shocking really, but then I question the quality of the marriages over here, and typically its the Women who seem to loose out the most. Husbands over here are supposed to be treated like Gods according to tradition, but its a relief to hear the younger men saying that they look for a more equal partnership based on mutual respect.

On speaking on topics like these it feels like a huge responsibility representing my country, in fact representing 3 continents ('The West')as I worry sometimes that my opinions will be taken as gospel. I have tried to make clear that I am one person who can only offer my experience and opinions of the world and explain what I find important in life. Through our discussions I think we are realising that we are not all that different after all, and in fact all we want is to be happy and wish happiness for our fellow human beings.

India is changing and changing fast. The divide between the rich and poor increases, fashion is slowly changing in the wealthier circles, coffee shops are springing up and the Government is trying to encourage people to shop in big malls. But every now and then we see things that remind us that we are in India. Today we saw a dog walk by with his tail hanging off having been savaged by another dog and on street a ting puppy lays dead on the road having been run over. Buffalows struggle past us on the congested roads with heavy loads and rope pierced through their snout and we see goats being led off for sacrificial slaughter. These are the things that leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

But it's all made worth while by the children that we meet. Their eagerness to learn, a new word learned, a smile.

Namo Amida Bu

In the thick of it!

2006-11-05T05:44:00.000-08:00

The semester has started at last. 108 students have been admitted on the course which will be held on Mondays and Tuesdays. Its a tireing day with 5 different classes of people with mixed abilities but it keeps us on our toes and the characters in class keep us highly entertained. Im really quite surprised at the level of English Grammar students posses and it puts me to shame. I have frequent flashes of 'what the hell am I doing teaching English' - my partner will agree thatI am probably the worst speller in the UK and sometimes have difficulty with stringing sentences together. But so far so good and Ive managed to wing it somehow.

The outreach work is really good fun. I didnt realise how much I love children although they do tire me out. The children are sooooooooooo cute and I love the black khnol under their eyes to protect them from the sun. It makes them look really holy somehow and very Indian! We ahve only done 2 outreaches this week as one of the sites is afected with an outbreak of Dengue fever as I mentioned before and the other area has been closed down by police as riots have been breaking out. The Government are trying to push a bill to close most local shops in a bid to drive people to shop at big shopping malls. This has created a mager uproar and the whole of Delhi went on strike for 3 days. I was so impressed with the organisation and coordination of the people and its great to see democracy in action. However unfortunately on the 3rd day, people took to the streets and in some areas violence broke out. One of those areas is where we hope to teach on Friday mornings - Seelampur. Riots broke out and 2 people have been shot by police. Rocks were thrown and buses set on fire! Things seem to have been restored to order now hopefully.

It amazes me just how well me and Vicki get on. We sleep, eat, teach, travel and pretty much spend every minute of the day together yet always have something to laugh or talk about. I hadnt expected to make such a good friend along the way and it makes the whole experience so much richer.

Its wedding season here. This means throngs of wedding processions singing, dancing and generally having fun passing our street. They are usually followed by 2 white horses with the groom in tow and a huge brass band. The Bhangra beats are brillaint and its so refreshing to see mena dn women really leting go and dancing their hearts out.

The other day we were teaching in a temple and a wedding procession came in to be blessed. The procesion including the brass band cornered us and pulled us into the circle to dance for the crowd. My polite refusals were met with smiles and a strong arm pulling me into the crowd! So like a performing bear I started twirling, clapping, and doing my best to dance to the Indian beats and give the crowd what they wanted. Viki joined in and the two of us let our inibitions go and gained a lot of street cred from the locals who were stragely impressed at our wild moves! A fantastic experience.

I think Ive said enough for now although I could go on and on.

Needles to say, I am loving it. India is fantastic!

2006-10-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

2 weeks on.....

Here we are in Pushkar, a lovely little chilled out town in Rajistan. We are here for 3 days on a mini break before starting classes on Monday.

Its amazing here. Pushkar is a very holy place with numerous Sadhus and cows in every nook and cranny! No meat or eggs are sold here nor is any alcohol, but Im told you can have Bhang Lassi's if requested involving 'special' ingrediants! Ironic really!

There are many tourists here, but it makes quite a nice change for us even after 2 weeks. At least we arent the only ones being stared at! Because people here are used to seeing foreingers it is that bit more chilled out and people have been exceptionally friendly and lovely.

Its the time for the annual camel fair where over 200,000 people gather from all arounhd with over 50,000 camels, cows and horses to sell. The atmosphere has almost reached fever pitch and in a way we are glad to be leaving tonight on the overnight train as its getting so busy. We had a camel ride last night which was fab - a bit crazy given we were about 12 feet off the ground. The camels here are so huge, but so so gorgeous.

Before we departed for Pushkar, we had admissions day for students. Over 100 applicants attended and we will be starting classes on Monday. The reality is starting to dawn on us, and its a bit scary, but we will do our best.

Its been great living with the Monks. We get a real feeling for how they live and for who they are now. They are a lot more comfortable with us around now, and the other day we enjoyed a game of badminton, a walk around Ghandi's Park where his ashes are kept, and watched the monks play cricket. I think that was the highlight - quite a sight seeing them run around, their robes flyign all over the place!

So it all begins in 2 days time - 30th Oct is oor first day on the job!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

One Week On.........Jai Bhim!

2006-10-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

The festival commermorating Dr Ambedkar was very special. A beautiful marque was errected outside a temple and families arrived in their best suits in order to pay their respects to the Chakma Monks who sat on the stage reciting the Refuges and Precepts. The children were gorgeous, all wanting to shake our hands rigerously repeating 'hallo Mam' 'hallo Mam'. There were a few speakers, all shouting 'Jia Bhim' to declare their respect for Dr Ambedkar, the Buddhist ex-untouchable who helped to liberate hundreds of thousands of his compatriots in India.

The warm reception and interest we recieve from the locals melts the heart, and over and over again I think on how lucky I am to be here. I love it!

I love the fact that there are random cows meandering in the roads; I love the traffic with huge lorries and buses hurtleing towards your rickshaw, the way your rickshaw driver handles pot holes inevitably rocking you fratically from side to side holding on for dear life, the smiles we get from people trying to practice their English, the monkeys on the rooftops, the way the electrcity cuts out frequently - its all just so random and exciting!

I am beginning to see just what a difference we can make to people's lives, by the impact on us just being here seems to make. I cant wait to start the classes.

Namo Amida Bu.

Charlotte xxxx

Nameste - we've arrived!

2006-10-14T09:12:00.002-07:00

We arrived to a relatively tranqil Delhi airport and I was slightly dissapointed having been promised chaos and calamity which I was kind of looking forward to.

We arrived at our new home at about 1.30am having survived the unusual drive to Yumana Vihar - our new hang out!

We are trying to adjust to the weather which is about 30-35 degrees and very very hot. Our room is nice but with no windows, it gets very sticky and muggy. My first nights sleep was very broken due to fighting with the mozzie net which kept tickling my feet and brushing my face!

Oh yes, me and Vicki know how to travel - we are well seasoned tavellers, and in true well seasoned traveller mode decided to go out for a 'short' walk. The 'short' walk without water, money, a phone number or address turned into a mission and about a 2hour adventure. We eventually got an auto-rickshaw to take us to an ATM and somehow managed to get home, then we realised we had been one street away! It was actually a good introduction as now we know our way around, we wont leave without water and money and we now know the address!

People have been very friendly. Not the cunning, deceptive rip-off merchants that some people (Not Amida!) have warned me about. They look on in interest but there is no mass crowding round or touching etc which I have experienced in South East Asia before. Thats a relief.

We have visited a few Buddhist temples and have sussed out our teaching spaces and today we visited a small community where we had planned to do some classes. The people there were lovely - smiles and chai. Unfortunately there has been a break out of Dengue Fever and 4 people have died this month. Many people in the community have been afflicted yet the Government refuse to spray the areas. We asked them what would help and they asked for Mozie nets which Amida duly provided. A small token in order to relieve the burden of such a horrible illness. Prassada has advised we tell them to put oil in the water where the Mozzies breed to stop them from laying eggs - a brilliant suggestion and we cant wait to inform the families. Thanks Prassada.

Today is 15th Oct which is the 50th Anniversary of Dr Ambedkar. Namo Amida Bu. Tomorrow we are going to join in celebrations to remember him. Im looking forward to it.

Namo Amida Bu.

Charlotte xx

The journey begins.... (well, just about!).........

2006-10-10T02:25:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am waiting for Vicki to arrive from Devon to join me in Croydon. We have an early start tomorrow morning in order to get to Heathrow in plenty of time.....

We've had a week off to spend with friends and family before the big off so Ive been indulging in all my favourite food! Ive been justifying my indulgences as I know I'll be victim to the infamous 'Delhi -belly' and for those that know me, know that I have rather senstive bowels as it is. I think the reality of the situation dawned on me when my cousin suggested I invest in plastic pants! Today I found myself browsing in Boots trying to decide between the Tenna Lady continence pads or the Tenna Lady continence nickers with detachable pads hmmmm........has my life really come to this?!

Who knows what to expect when we get out there (apart from a bad case of the runs). The volunteer training was very helpful and has given us a flavour of what awaits us, but the real learning happens when you actually get out there and give it a go I guess. I swing from feeling quite self assured and confident to finding myself wondering what the hell Im doing. Only last week did I find out what a past participle is! I am told however that what we are doing is more than just teaching English, its trying to learn from the young people we meet, empowering both them and ourselves as we try to make sense of each other and the world that surrounds us.

Well, here goes....

NAMO AMIDA BU

Charlotte
xx

PS Thank you to everyone at The Buddhist House for making our training special for lots of different reasons x

2006-09-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hello to all our volunteers and friends old and new.
At last i am trying to get to grips with this technology now our current group of volunteers are safely delivered to Joy for the latest part of this years training. When they return they should have a good idea about life as a volunteer in Delhi! though by all accounts two of our last years volunteers - Alison and Drew have just held a stunning weekend workshop introducing them to the politics, challenges and fun of India.
Here at the Buddhist house I am catching up on emails, post, writing and the admin in between having some fascinating visitors.
Time passes so swiftly - Joy goes out to India Thursday next week for her third six months stint, this time as project leader. she will prepare things for the volunteers arrival on the 12th October and in between interview hopeful Indian volunteers.
However you are not too late to join us - I will also be holding training for any late arrivals on the Amida volunteer scheme in our French retreat centre at the beginning of January. In April there will be a short training for volunteers wishing to help at the summer camps for young people in Tamil Nadu which take place in May. Do get in touch if you are interested.
But before all this, once training is finished, I get the chance to see my son in scotland before I dissapear to the wilds of France on 15th October. Anyone wanting to visit or volunteer for a wild retreat do get in touch - modgala@amidatrust.com
Hot news - One of our old community members - Patrick, has become a proud dad so much joy all round - welcome Rosa May Kelly Browne!
Namo amida Bu
Modgala

Radio interview with volunteers

2006-04-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Last year, before the volunteers went to India, two student journalists interviewed them about the volunteering program at Amida Trust. To follow the story please go to
Radio Interview

Packing to go to Zambia

2006-02-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken the day before Willemien set off for Zambia. Off to help out at Tithandizane - We Help Each Other. A Buddhist temple, a primary health care centre and much more.

Around the table

2006-02-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Chin-chin, side-side

2006-02-02T23:26:00.000-08:00

Hiya,

I've got some new "I am wobbling my head" definitions for you. Often there are just two wobbles, chin-chin, side-side. This means either "thanks" or "nice one", or "no thanks, not interested". I think this is possibly the most important piece of Indian communication I've learnt so far. If a bunch of people are touting you - trying to get you into their auto-rickshaw or into their shop - you can acknowledge their persuasions without having to stop, talk or even look, and keep walking without appearing to be a rude stuck-up tourist. "Head-head", or more accurately "chin-chin" means "yup, I heard you, no I don't want to do business with you or talk to you, I am going this way and I'm not interested in stopping but I mean you no harm". What happens when they see you do this is extraordinary. They sometimes laugh - not maliciously but joyously that a weird whitey has worked out the intricacies of the head wobble. And more often they just stop trying to persuade you to do whatever it is they were hoping you're do - they see a "local" not a tourist. Amazing! I'm thinking of running workshops for all those thinking of travelling to India.... ;}

There's some new photos uploaded here if you're bored of reading my waffle. http://photobucket.com/albums/f12/bigtamphotos/ Lots of pictures of those mountains 'cause I want to show why I started imagining they were talking to me. And why, when I go back, I expect to have a few more in depth chats....

Bought some new toothpaste recently. Didn't want to buy the boring Colgate or similar, so took a gamble and went for the one where I couldn't read the language on the side. Turned out to be mint, and in all but one way, perfectly ordinary. But the colour was.... brick-red. And when you spit, a sort of pastel orange. Bizarre. I mean, can you imagine in the West, having your toothpaste coming out a dirty orange colour? We'd tolerate a greenish or bluish colour at best. The national colour of India is orange (sensible people - it is in Tam-world easily the most beautiful hue in existence.) But I don't think that is the reason it exists as a minty spittle colour at all. I have two theories, please let me know if any more that come to mind. One is gum disease - the orange hiding any blood that comes out in the spit (sorry). The other of course is betel stains - a 12 year-old boy even offered me some the other day, bleurgh, and older folks regularly have there whole mouths and teeth stained with it. Revolting.

I went to Mamallapuram last week on my day off. About two hours bus ride from Chennai Central Bus Station, it is a tourist Mecca due to lots of awesome sixth to ninth century carved temples and shrines carved out of caves and rocks, and the stone carving industries that have sprung up around the area. My first UNESCO World Heritage site of the year, and very impressive it was too - I particularly liked the life-size carved elephant. I did my usual and went "off-piste" - careering up and down rocks and through jungle is much more fun, you get to see more monkeys and parrots, and you might as well - like the rest of Asia India has very little concept of health and safety which is refreshing. I hung out on the beach a little, and enjoyed the herds of cows enjoying the warm sand beneath their bellies, and the fact that instead of seagulls they have great flocks of crows.

There was a dance festival on, the backdrop of which was one of the huge carved sculptural rock-faces. I saw two hour long solos by two female classical Indian dancers who both wore more twinkly bits than ought to be possible on one woman. There were men in the audience who are obviously the type of fans who travel wherever the dancers go - in one case actually drooling (no really). The poise, grace, stamina and balance of the dancers was quite extraordinary, although I got a bit tired of hearing in the introductions the Hindu stories - they all seemed to be about "looking for my lord Krishna" and "dancing for my lord Shiva". Male-gaze-centric basically. Oh well then exactly the same as MTV.....

Had some lovely chats with the stone carvers - I want to go back and do a day carving if I get the chance. It's amazing what happens when you people ask you what you do and you say "social work" which is the Indian way of saying volunteering - the attitudes change dramatically and you suddenly start getting some real communication (and even some real non-tourist prices). One chap was fascinating - higher IQ it seemed than any one I've met in a long time, knew something about everything yet has barely ever left his village. It was interesting talking to him about the tsunami. Mamallupuram was hardly affected as a result of its geographical placement. Yet there are all these projects around the place - new fisherman's' social clubs and that type of thing. My carver told me that no-one in Mamallapuram is poor - too much of the tourist dollar about for that. Yet they got the lions share of the local injection of foreign aid on account of the large numbers of Westerners who had either passed through before, or after, the disaster. Shanty fishing villages a couple of kilometres down the coast, who suffered much more and needed much more, got little, whilst wealthy beachfront restaurateurs in Mamallupuram had their businesses rebuilt. *Sigh*.

We live a pretty long bus journey north of Chennai, and I've done the journey into the city a couple of times now. The other day I did it at 8.30am - crazy rush hour sardine-tin time. I've never been to China but you know those pictures where they have blokes who are paid to PUSH people onto the trains in the morning? This was like that. Hilarious. I managed to squeeze myself in somehow, don't ask me how, there are always about eight boys hanging outside the bus, mad when you remember that this is a country where no-one has wing mirrors because they would be snapped off in an instant. I monkeyed my way onto a handrail overlooking the steps and perched as more people shoved their way on in ridiculous numbers. People held on for dear life - which had the refreshing effect of guaranteeing that and apparently wandering hands were actually simply attempting to locate a spare inch of rail to grab onto to prevent unwanted forced exit from the speeding bus....

When I was able to move up the bus, an opportunity for a seat came up. I offered it to an elderly women who needed far more than me. In India, if you have a white skin you automatically granted Bramin status (high-caste status). So a Bramin who gave up her seat was strange and refreshing to the buses' occupants. The old woman beamed, and something interesting happened. In buses which are packed (almost all of them) the ticket seller sits at the back in a special seat behind the women's' seats (oh yes there are women's seats, although this is a little flexible and as a stupid Westerner I can sit on the men's' side if I choose to). People can't move to the conductor to buy a ticket, it's too full, so people pass down their fares from passenger to passenger, indicating how much they want to pay. Well after giving up my seat, I became one of the people, and was handed money and instructions to pass down the line along with everyone else. Didn't understand the Tamil instructions, but was quite happy to play courier. Quite an honour, if that makes sense...

The teaching has been going well. I guided a "Drawing the Buddha" class I learned about in New Zealand last year, and the children just loved it. We've taught them lots of songs, the one they like best is to the tune of "Frera Jacqua" with new lyrics; "We are students, we are students, in Group One, in Group One, We are learning English, We are learning English, in Chennai, in Chennai". Next stop getting them to sing in in a round - they're just adorable. I played cricket the other day with the boys, most of them don't have shoes which means their feet must be like shoe leather since they run around on rocks and through rubbish like it's nothing. I was fairly awful but scored extra kudos by virtue of being a female cricket player. The girls don't seem much interested in sports but they are interested in dance - looks like I will be teaching them some moves this weekend. Scary. Their main break-time entertainment seems to be picking nits out of each others' hair - also scary. Glad I'm shorn. The wonderful earth-mother matron-in-charge, Sister Geetha (everyone is Sister or Brother in the hostel - I love it, it's so friendly sounding), asked Alison about why I have no hair. I expect she was trying to equate my "nun" appearance with my earrings and bindis. Alison explained about the hassle we get from men and said I was trying to avert eve-teasing. Apparently Sister Geetha looked confused, interested and a bit scared. But who knows, maybe she'll be inspired herself to crop her locks. I had a great chat with her about why I'm not married (because I'm an independent women who has no need for a man). She looked dead chuffed and told me it is exactly the same for her. Go Sister Geetha....

I also do reading and comprehension classes. It's going okay - I manage through virtue of being prepared and having a modicum of common sense. But I wish I had more knowledge - there's nothing like learning a job through doing it and for this reason this experience has been invaluable. But I care about the children - both these ones and those in Delhi - and I want to learn how to do this properly so I can do it better next time. So it's gonna have to be a TEFL when I get home. Have you done one? Was it a good experience? Got any advise for me? Ta muchly - appreciate it.

That's it. Oh yes - I went down to the beach this morning. It's only five minutes from out apartment buildings but it's a different world. Where we live is a bunch of apartment blocks that are very similar in size and construction to the down-market 1960s-built Brixton housing estate I lived in once. The salt water the comes out of the taps is especially exiting - it's that "just been to the beach" feeling after every shower and every clothes wash. The difference to Brixton is that Horizon Apartments are, for round here, terribly posh. High walls with glass concreted around the top, and armed guards on the gate keep the local Dalit community firmly out. Five minutes away are shanty towns and palm leaf roofed huts. I walk down there sometimes (nothing is going to stop me from sitting by the sea, and I find that if you walk down imagining that you're carrying a water butt on your head - fluid, straight and strong, eyes forward, smile at the children, it's fine).

So down I go, to clamber over rocks to get near the water. Rih-kee, Asok and Raji something soon join me to hang out. About 12, 14 and 15. One of them has TV-learned English (or rather WWWF American.) We have some good chats, and after a while only Rih-kee is left. School? "Nah, me fisherman". After a while he indicates a bunch of knife marks on his arm. "My name" he boasts proudly. "Oh...." I'm sceptical. Later he tells me that he saw the tsunami, and that both his parents were killed. It was like the Titanic he explains (they must have been in their fishing boat). He's pulling at the knife wounds as he tells me.... I take his hand and tell him that I'm sorry. He gazes into my eyes for a moment, holding so much pain... But boys will be boys, and when I turn away for an instant, he's turned his eyelids inside out to shock me (successfully). He's only about 12 but too close to manhood to dwell on his orphan status for long. But it makes you think....

How fortuneate we are.

With love, Tam x

day 74 in the Dehli house

2006-01-26T05:16:00.000-08:00

Its day 74 in the Dehli house ( for Big Brother fans- that took a bit of working out!)
Hello, well although its Delhi, its bumbling along quite well. There are fewer volunteers here now, but we are all getting along well, and have been enjoying classes. I take the morning conversation classes, which start off with nice topics such as 'what makes a good friend' and then turns into why Pakistan and India are at conflict etc, which I have to steer clear of quite quickly!!! At least they are showing a higher standard of vocabulary and thought process. Its actually the Monk here who enjoys talking about freedom fighters and terrorism, so at a push we can discuss it, as long as I dont tell them what i think of it all, and make sure that they dont say anything too, too damaging.
We went to Paha Gange on Monday for our day off, which was quite nice. This is where all the travellers go, so we saw another world of delhi. So there were the stereotypical white backpackers there, with dreadlocks and hippy tie-dyed clothes. We must looked out of place there all weraing our jeans and jumpers! It was nice to see a little more, and the cloth and shawls they sell are amazing. I had to stop myself buying a trunk there, as although it was beautifully carved ( and cheap), i had to think what would I do with it!
We have a meeting every saturday to discuss our lessons, and we decided to have it on the balcony in the sun(- its a hard life) and one of the volunteers shouted 'monkey!'. I thought he meant there was one there. He said no he was just calling them. AND THIS HE DID. 15 minutes into the meeting we all turned around to see a monkey had joined us on our rooftop, and they certainly are not cute being in close quarters with one. You can see their teeth! It ran past us onto the higher part of the balcony so we ran into Joys sleeping area and frantically locked the door behind us so we could continue our meeting. Another few minutes passed, and we heard a loud bang at the door, and all we saw was the monkeys face peering in at the window. It was quite scary at the time!
WE have started 2 new outreach programmes since Christmas. One at a place called Harsh Vihar, where we teach children from the ages of 2 to 16 years old. We divide them up into groups, Sarah and I teach the very little ones things such as nursey rhymes, basic numbers and the alphabet etc. Last week we did the song about '10 little monkeys jumping on the bed' and we got 10 of the children out at the front. As part of the song they have to pretend to sit on the floor and hold their heads because they had bumped their heads in the song. Unfortunateely, we didn't think this one through, because when a child is punished in India, they are made to crouch on the floor and sit with their hands on their heads or their ears. After the 2nd child was in this position, and looking really upset and confused, we realised and had to find an interpreter quick to tell them it was only pretend! ah well you live and learn! Next week I think Old MacDonald willl be safer.
Our second outreach is actually working with street children. They live by the side of a busy road and their parents make the plaster and stone statues for shrines. So the childrehn are covered in chalk dust and wear rags. They are amazing children, and are alot more willing to learn than any of the children we have taught so far. they are aged between 1 and about 12, although their parents join in in the background, which is excellent. Even the little baby was doing all the actions to 1,2,3,4,5 (the one about the fish). it was really worthwhile doing. I think next year the project wants to do more of this stuff, which I think is a good move.
Last week was a really good teaching week, except for one of the classes I teach getting out of control (well actually only 1 boy). He has been Eve teasing ( teasing girls) the girls in the lesson, and being lude towards me, so I had had enough of this, and Joy had to step in to throw him out of the school, as he was also disrespecting other volunteers, and people from lower castes than himself too. The rest of the class also got warnings, as some of them were guilty of the eve teasing, and teasing of the others, and after Joy spoke to them, they all came running up to me, nearly in tears thinking that they were all being accused of what the one boy had done to me. ( as in India, you can be arrested for doing this). So I had to calm down 6, 6 foot tall boys, and made sure they knew it wasnt them that was in trouble. The next class went really well. This is actually my favourite class of students, it was just a shame one let it down for them all.
So its been a quieter week this week, and Joy is taking a much needed break, so we'll be in charge proper of the main grammer groups- eek i've only just got my head around the present perfect tense!
Its my night off, so I think Im going to take a wonder then watch a film- if only we had baths here, but i did discover our big washing bucket is just big enough to sit in, at a push! ( see adapting to life here quite well!)
any way , lots of love to you all,
Jenny xxxxxxxxxx

South of India and feeling the heat...

2006-01-24T05:09:00.000-08:00

So here I am in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. All new to me, never been in South India before. It's an utterly different world, As different to Delhi as London is to the Mediterranian. The heat slows everyone right down, and everyone smiles at you and is friendly. Genuinely friendly, not "I'm smiling at you 'cause I want you to buy my stuff" as happens regularly in the Big Smoke. Or more accurately, the Big Pollution - Delhi is possibly the most polluted city in the world after Mexico City. It's a bit like smoking twenty Marlborough Reds every day there, and the snot that comes out of your nose is black. When you do washing, after hanging things out to dry, they finish off possibly less sweaty, but just as grimey and dusty as when you started (and sometimes more so). And each and every leaf on the trees has a thick layer of dirt...

So, even though it too is a highly polluted city, Chennai feels like a breath of fresh (-ish) air. The saris seem brighter and have more gold thread and twinkley bits, the men wear shorts and dhotis (man skirts. Drew-the-volunteer is going to get one. I can't wait to see this...) and everyone's smiles are wide and bright and real. Everywhere in India the men drape arms over each other and hold hands, and are generally very physically intimate with each other (which is lovely). In Delhi the women don't touch each other at all under any circumstances, but here I've noticed a more relaxed attitude and women walk along arm in arm. That's seaside sunshine living for you...

Our 36 hour train ride was pretty pleasent, I've never travelled posh class on the Indian railway before, it was ever so luxurious compared to what I'm used to. We weren't first class, but had sheets on the beds and were in with the middle class educated/business types of Indians which was interesting. One of our compartment mates, whilst emitting the largest quantity of utterly unself-concious bottom burps I've ever encounted, started reading Drew's copy of Paradise Lost (a little light reading for these Oxford educated folks I'm with). Apparently he (the Indian chap) studied some of it at university or something. They also do Shakespeare (understandable) and Chaucer for Goddess sake what's that all about it's bad enough when you're a native English speaker. But then we do Chaucer at A'level where as they don't study him until university, and a BA in India is not really even A'level standard, which makes it quite complicated when they boast about having MAs or PHDs and you know your own level of education probably supersedes theirs by quite some way despite having less letters after your name....

I'm having the best time learning all about bartering and the Indian body language. The key thing about haggling is that it's not a war (as in "I'm happy to fight down to the last ruppee") but a dance. A playful game, a rhythmic display of mutral respect and artistry. Lot's of Westerners don't get this at all, and I still slip up sometimes. But I'm geting there.... I was just getting to grips with a little Hindi when here we are with a whole new language - no more "namaste" but palms together and "one-a-kum" instead. I never got around to learning the numbers in Hindi but I may try in Tamil - my favorites are nine which is "one-ba-du" and nineteen which is "pah-ten-ba-du". Glorious! But you can have whole conversations with people without knowing a word of each others' languages if you understand the subtle nuances of "I am wobbling my head". It doesn't mean yes and it doesn't mean no, it roughly translates as "okay" but has many variations. For example it can mean "I am unable to help you and you are boring me so now I am just politley waiting for you to go away". And it can mean "you have just offended me and I feel deeply disrespected but there is little I can do about it." Or even "No idea what you're talking about, but if I smile widely enough then there's a strong possibility everything's going to work out just fine" (my favorite). There are more - I'll keep you posted. I've started doing it, it works so well when you get the hang of it. It is also used when people are trying to con you as a kind of reassuring soothing rocking, so I shall have to be careful how and when I appropriate it. My Indian style hand gestures are coming along beautifully too - I'm getting ever so expressive. Still doing the wide legged not-very-feminine walking and sitting though, but no chance of turning all dainty for me ;}.

The teaching in the last week in Dehli went well - started to take little groups of beginners grammer and got some positive feedback from Joy. When we went to do outreach at Harsh Nigar, Alison and Drew and I decided to accept an offer from some of the teenage volunteers that attend our daytime school and had come along to help translate to go back to their house for chai. We had been whary of doing this before, as one of them, Vikas, is a 18 year-old young Elvis look a-like who believes himself to be the answer to the problems of womenkind, bless 'im. Perfectly nice chap, just a misguided ego. He didn't seem to be able to distinguish between school and volunteering, and was boasting and making a nuisance of himself in classes. But this week we felt confident that his older brother Nicoole and cousin Rajneesh had got the message across, so off we went. Wow. To have so little and yet give us so much. We were very much on show (you always are in Indian homes, the entire extended family comes around to have a look at you, and they feed you first as the honoured guests which is weird. And feed you, and feed you....Amounst many things eggy bread with corriander, spices and onions stood out a mile). I had the inspired idea of asking if anyone played the tabla; they didnt actually own any, but off someone went to borrow from a neighbour, and so a musical soiree began. We had drumming, singing, and a haunting folk song from one of the sisters. We contibuted "Lean on Me" and "Three Little Birds", and as usual they asked us to sing the Celine Dion Titanic Bleurgh song which is requested everywhere by every male teenager in India. Scarey. We were all settling down to have an evening of it when an elderly monk attached to the temple where we had been teaching showed up which rather put a dampener on things as he didn't speak English and anyway Theravadan Buddhists aren't allowed to listen to music. Oh well, another time. The monks and pretty much anyone attached to the temples are really hard to deal with, basically because of institutionalised sexism which drives me and all the volunteers crazy. We've been training the male volunteers to deflect the questions back to us where ever possible.

Anyway, now we're in Chennai, and so far no monks to be seen. We visited the hostel today for the second time, and it has the most loving and friendly energy of any buildings I have ever been in. It's super super basic school-cum-accomadation for 49 children and 5 supervising adults, and a long 45 minute bus ride through industrial waste lands, petrolium refineries belching fire and smoke, and rubbish dumps. But when you arrrive - oh! Such friendly, happy, well-loved children, it's got an energy you wouldn't believe. We did games and learning names things yesterday, then started teaching today. I did simple questions like what's your name? and how are you? and "head, shoulders knees and toes" and "Simon Says" and with the youngest group, then reading comprehension with the oldest ones. They asked us lots of questions; when asked about hobbies Drew and Alison said reading and singing so I said sport and cricket which went down well but now they keep asking me which cricket players I like and I'm stumped...They're not orphans - well some of them are but most have parents but their parents lost their livelihoods in the tsunami. The whole thing is beautifully run and the children, though they have nothing and sleep up to 12 to a tiny room on the floor, are smilley and cherished and really happy to be there. You get the feeling that the Tsunami might actually have been good for these chosen few....

They are Ambedkarites. Mean nothing? No, me neither until I did the training in Leiscester in September. These children are Buddhists, but until the 1950s, Buddism had virtually disappeared from India, it's birthplace. Now about one percent of Indians are Buddhist, and that number can almost entirely be credited to one man, Dr Ambedkar. He was born a Dalit - "The Oppressed Ones" otherwise known as Untouchables or those beneath the caste system - the ultimate lowest of the low. Not being allowed to drink from the same wells as everyone else, that type of thing. A combination of an excellent IQ, hard graft and grants and sponsership saw Ambedkar gain the highest Indian degree, then a PHD in New York and then pass the Bar exams in London. Having practised as a barrister in London for five years, he returned to India and became a politician fighting for the rights of his people, the Dalit. He was a contemporary of Gandi's, though they were politically opposed rather than allies, but the interesting thing is that in India Ambedkar is more widely known and revered that Gandi (no really). But the West don't seem to have heard of him.... Ambedkar decided that he would not die a Hindu (and therefore a slave of the caste system) and when he converted to Buddhism, in about 1956, around 40,000 Dalits converted too. More and more followed, so that now, a generation on, the Indian Buddhists, or Ambedkarites as they are known, are still the poorest and some of the least educated, but they have access to opportunities their parents couldn't have dreamt of. These children we're working with here have a very basic understanding of what Buddhism means (because the Dharma teaches they have don't have really pure Dharma understanding themselves.) But they have new dignity, and a fierce determination to reach higher education which is amazing. It's the coolest thing to be hear helping the Tsunami victims, who are also some of th emost needy people in this country....

Hugkiss Tam x

There were ten in the auto and one fell out...

2006-01-24T05:04:00.000-08:00

What an extraordinary week! My learning curve has been pushed so hard and reached such new levels that it's no longer a curve but a bullet straight line reaching up several hundred metres onto the air. Okay, occasionally it has a few wobbles and wiggles, and even crumples up into a little heap on the floor and goes "I don't know what I'm doing, HELP!" But essentially it's keeping straight and true, and being added to every minute. I've even started to learn just a smidgen about the science of the English language. That's the toughest part for me (and for many of the other volunteers with no official teacher training/TEFL as we're from the generation that never had to learn "this is a noun, this is a pronoun, this is the past participial tense".) Fortunately I don't need to worry too much, since in grammar classes I play assistant to the more experienced teachers, and my strengths are more in guiding discussions in conversation classes, and bouncing about doing nursery rhymes with the little 'uns. Also I will be doing movement and song and drama and art stuff when I go down to Thamil Nadu on Wednesday, as those Tsunami orphans need learning through fun and relaxation and gentleness more than anything else by the sound of things (and they will also be having lots of English grammar classes with Drew and Alison, the two other volunteers I'm going down there with). Dance and singing are things I can do! And then perhaps the rules of word orders and verb tenses will stop running through my head all night…. I think I said in my last letter that we do the school four days a week for 15 – 25 year olds, Tuesday through Friday, here in the same buildings we live in (and play in, and eat in, and meditate in, and prepare lessons in…). These young adults come in from the less comfortable areas we travel to at the weekends. On Saturdays and Sundays we can do the work that matters most to me – go to do outreach with the children in some of the poorest areas (and sometimes women only classes for their mothers). We say "poorer areas" but when I saw a doctor for some blood tests and described what we are doing to him, when I mentioned the location he said "slums" (he had perfect English). I corrected him politely, and he smiled, and looked happy to be corrected, obviously caring about His India and how it is perceived. The residents of these areas think of them selves as "middle class" which is interesting in a sad way as it demonstrates just how deprived the lowest castes must be. There is no proper sanitation in the two areas we go to, Harsh Vihar and Ashok Nigar, and a couple of the children have matted hair. The thing is though, I have never before had the privilege of witnessing such community, such family in action. Everyone knows each other. Everyone is related to everyone else! Such humor, such love, such sharing. And we have been shown such kindnesses… This was my day yesterday…. Having spent a large part of the morning making a b c cards (and finding apples, balls and cups to take with us), assembling felt-tip pens and drinking water bottles, and photocopying grammar sheets for the older ones, it's time for the off. It really feels like planning to go into battle, and that has nothing to do with aggression or fear on either side, but more to do with Entering The Unknown. How many children you'll have, what ages and abilities, and how many "helpful" local "English" teachers will turn up and interfere are always mysteries. After lunch one or two of the local lads, Vikas and Rajneesh, that attend our daytime school and live in Harsh Vihar, arrive to collect us. We don't really need their assistance now we know where we're going, but they come out of respect and gratitude, which is wonderful.

Love to you, Tinku-Tam (little boy Tam :})

Teacher Tam

2006-01-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Turning up here on Christmas Eve was certainly one for
Tam's Surreal Hall Of Fame. "Here" is a Buddhist Charity and Buddhist
Monks, the aim being to reach as many Buddhist students as possible… and I
find myself helping to make Christmas cards and singing Christmas carols.
Huh?! Actually it was the students decision not the staff, everyone in
India celebrates every festival they can. Fair do's, why not, it makes for
a jolly celebratory spirit just about all the time, well, just about
always or that's what it feels like. Though not at six every morning when
the Jain Temple opposite does it's celebrating with drums and chanting.
Surreal event number two was singing Celine Dion's dreadful Titanic song
with another volunteer to a group of 15 or so blissed out Indian boys.
They had requested it apparently, so it was kind of a Christmas treat, and
I agreed to play along. Weird… They all tell you though, how "my favorite
movies, Mam, romance movies Mam". Hah! If only teenagers were like that at
home. I have just finished an absolute cracker of a year with the
discovery on the very last day of 2005 that I Love Teaching. I think it's
a bit too soon to have a t-shirt printed with the slogan, but the good
news is that it all seems to be fitting into place and I reckon I'm going
to have an amazing experience. I'm really enjoying it – tiny tots, bolshy
higher caste adults with ego issues – bring 'em on, I'm having a great
time! No clue as to how the English language actually fits together of
course, but seem to be successfully winging it. So far so good…. So
what am I actually doing? For four days during the week we teach 15-25
year olds, a very full on timetable that includes an evening session as
well. As a result of apron strings, arranged marriages and religion, the
average 15 year old is about 12 maturity wise, and the average 25 year old
about 17. At least that's the boys; it's harder to tell with the girls
because they tend to do a lot of giggling and whispering in Hindi, but
roughly similar. Put it this way, I was amazed to see the group get fully
involved in pass-the-parcel during the end of year party but I suppose it
is not a cultural norm and any encouragement of Having Fun is so unlikely
in a school setting for them that they welcome any opportunity to let
their hair down. I refer to them as girls and boys because that is how
they refer to themselves, in fact they get offended if you say men and
women, that only happens after marriage or something. But the whole point
of the project as far as I understand it is not the "product" we're
offering – i.e. English lessons – but the method of teaching them –
encouraging respect, equality and having fun whilst learning – ideas that
are very alien to those brought up in the Indian school system. So my
personal mini project is to get the older ones to start referring to them
selves as the young men and woman they are, not boys and girls. Watch this
space…. They think I'm eighteen so I'm refusing to tell them my age and
just leaving it at that - might as well, it'll be the last time in my life
(yerright Millsie) that a large group of people collectively think I'm a
teenager. The other volunteers have been here for seven weeks so I was
momentarily an object of fascination, but my "shave off your hair and
Indian men won't fancy you and will leave you alone" has worked
beautifully and I have faded back into the background. The other three
younger female volunteers catch their attention and there is a regular
presentation of homemade cards, poems and even a rose. I got one too last
week (a home-made card with a ballerina on it). I am highly amused to
observe my vanity kicking in and I have the odd moments of longing for
long hair and floaty girl clothes to fit in with all the extreme dainty
femininity that goes on around here. Don't worry, it doesn't last long. I
must learn to play street cricket properly than they can just get on with
relating to me as a boy. I have got my self one or two floaty scarves as a
small concession to my inner-girly but it feels like I'm doing it a bit
wrong - I'm wearing them in more of a French style than in the Indian way
where you sort of balance it over your shoulders. Sod that it means poise
and daintiness and anyway it's never going to work quite right without a
long elegant plait halfway down your back. On the fashion front I find
myself in a familiar time warp - the boys wear v-neck jumpers and tank
tops and lurid brightly patterned shirts that remind me of the stuff I
wore in my late teens and early twenties (but I did it with flares). And
everywhere is all that twickly, shiny, embroidered,
little-square-plastic-mirror-adorned hippy stuff that I was so into as a
teenager and scoured Camden Market for. The one bit of Indian Youth
Fashion I long for but can't have is a moustache - I've always fancied
myself in a bit of facial hair and this is the one country where you can
easily get away with it – if you're male. I've been trying to convince the
male volunteers that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to
experiment with facial furniture but they're not having any of it. Wasted
opportunity in my opinion but there you go. As a bald titchy woman I
don't have anything like the kudos (hence the longing for a bit of a face
wig) but my technique is to be super firm at the same time as super smiley
and encouraging, with the occaisional addition of a good dose of make 'em
all laugh and it seems to be working a treat. But I MUST learn something
about cricket… The really bizarre
thing clothes-wise is I have had to buy jumpers what's all that about then
its India. But it's freezing at night and I wear my hiking thermals to bed
and we have loads of blankets and a tiny super-dodgy one bar heater that
emits worrying sparks as it heats up but never mind being frazzled by
dodgy electrics we need HEAT dagnamit.... And the good thing about the
jumper shopping is who knew! - they have thrift stores in Delhi, loads of
them, at least three right outside our apartment so I can get my fix
hurrah and it's VERY exiting because they're just carts piled up with old
clothes but they only come out In The Dark which is a very clever ploy
because you can't actually see what you're buying (colour wise and holes
wise) so it's always a gamble and quite the best way to go clothes
shopping in my opinion.... The other stalls I like are the bangle stalls
(oooo so twinkly) but I have to watch myself because I have an unnaturally
strong urge to grab great handfuls of them and FLING them up in the air
and watch them go rolling and dancing down the street between all the
rickshaws and assorted cows. And the mattress making men right outside our
building – the way you buy a new mattress is brilliant; you buy it by the
pound! You ask for a certain quality of inner fluff, high or medium grade,
then you ask for the weight you want, and they have big scales and they
weigh it out right there for you. Then you choose your cloth, and then
they say "no no Mam, you should have the higher grade fluff and really you
want twice as much weight I think Mam" well I think they say that but I'm
not exactly sure because I don't speak Hindi. Then they do their beautiful
sew-sew embroider-embroider with huge needles and it's all quite amazing.
My other personal mission is to get them to smile at me it's a tough job I
can tell you but don't worry I'll get there. They too only come out
night so goodness knows what they stick in the mattress to make up the
weight when you're not looking…. There's the Indian Hair Sell Loon which I
quite fancy visiting for a hair buzz some time, and the quite delightful
"Bengal Departmental Store: Reliable and Reesonabal Point" which is a two
metre box selling chewing tobacco and shoelaces. Ooo the best of all is
shopping for eggs, it's quite the most exiting shopping experience I've
had in a long time. We are living in a predominantly vegetarian area, but
in India vegetarian means no eggs, which they count as meat. Lots of
people eat them but you have to buy them on the sly in case the neighbors
see. There's a local black market and it's all done clandestinely – if we
want to buy eggs we have to ask an Indian to come with us and we go to the
shop and he whispers "wait wait" with big hand gestures and goes over the
road to the shop to have a "subtle" conference with the man, then he comes
back and mutters out of the corner of his mouth "he has twelve" so we say
yes please 'cause we're a big household of at least 15. And only then can
we go over to pay and the eggs are all wrapped in newspaper but you have
to hand over the money first and pretend your buying toilet paper to
detract attention but quite frankly toilet paper is nearly as scandalous
and every body think we're utterly filthy for using such a technique and
that we should convert to water and proper hand washing. I may shock you
here but if you think about it carefully you'll see they're right. And
then we go home and there's eggs for tea which is always a Good Thing the
Chakmas put them in curries it's yummy. It's a bizarre situation because
it's really two charities combined, the British Buddhists I'm volunteering
for but we're living with and sharing living (and teaching and shrine room
and cooking and eating) space - all the same spaces as it goes - a group
of Chakma Theravadan monks and their assorted Friends and Relations. All
males. All quite charming and they cook fantastic curries and are quite
lovely and who go out of their way to accommodate our strange Western ways
although we do have to keep a strict eye on them when they spice the food
or an extra couple of handfuls of chilies go in "by accident". Another
volunteer who has just arrived like me brought gravy granules from the UK
and watching these poor fellers pretend to enjoy mash potatoes and veggie
stew and gravy was interesting, they
grinned and bared it quite beautifully whilst you see every pore screaming
SALT! CHILLIE! FLAVOUR! Bless 'em. But they have been sharing in the
delights of the biggest Thorntons hamper you can buy sent by a
senior team member’s family for Christmas, and one of them loves mince
pies...
The Chakma Tribe lives in the Chittagong Hills in the South East part of
Bangladesh. They have been Buddhists for thousands of years quietly living
in their mountains and getting on with their business, but now the Muslims
are being mean to them and trying to push them off their mountains (aren't
people horrid to each other?) and lots of them are refugees in India or
England. Hence the Chakmas in Delhi – the British Buddhist Charity I am
volunteering with (the Amida Trust) are funding their home and education
here. And teaching the English to the local Buddhists (well anyone who is
poor actually but aiming for Buddhists). The two little ones, are
adorable but little monkeys, I think they are about ten and 14 though no
one actually knows with the littlest one because he is a rescued peanut
selling street urchin type who will come to England some time soon, it's a
regular Cinderella Story and all very heart warming. But the two boys
won't talk to me 'cause I'm new and female which is another very good
reason why I must learn to play cricket STOP LAUGHING if I can learn to
teach 35 Indian two to ten years olds all on my tod just by wading in the
deep end and getting on with it then cricket is going to be a walk in the
park believe me.... I really
like teaching so far it's great fun though I wish I actually knew how my
language actually works rather than just know it by instinct so I am going
to put in lots of effort and do a self taught TEFL in conjunction with
actually doing it. At the weekends we go to do outreach work in really
poor parts of Delhi, much younger children of between two and 15 (which is
where the "Tam, do you think you can manage that group of little ones on
your own" came in last Saturday). I did and it was fantastic but it's
chaos - if you so much as offer a piece of paper with "'A' is for Apple"
on it to the group there is a stampede I'm not exaggerating Don't even ask
about the felt tip pens. At the end there is always a rush for a hand
shake and sometimes they ask for your autograph (!) but I said no 'cause
I'm being all strict (Hah! Yerright imagine me trying to be strict!) But I
am trying and you have to watch it because if you give any thing to one
child they all want it and an autograph could turn into an hour-long
session and there is precious little free time here and we have to guard
it very carefully indeed. When you mark books (Marking! Woo-Hoo! I love it
it's brilliant I get to tick things - I'm a natural) you can only write
positive things because otherwise their parents might hit them so of
course I'm in my element 'cause I wouldn't dream of writing any thing
else. But it removes the pressure - it's only 'well done' and "excellent"
and that's just how I like it. The ultimate accolade is a gold star they
get so exited and proud and I'm talking about the 20 something's now, not
just the little ones. Bizarre.

Hello from Tamil Nadu

2006-01-24T04:59:00.000-08:00

Dear all
After some frustrating days in Chennai and a visit inland to Palini which was a nightmare on roads destroyed by repeated flooding, we have at last managed to reach the hostel.We hope that we will have another couple of days there before returning to Delhi.

It is a learning experience to see how fragile life is for some of the most impoverished people in the world. 42 died in Chennai the other day when they were crushes queuing for relief aid. Plans not working out helps make us more resilient and in this case led to us unexpectedly going to Palini where future possibilities have become clearer.

It was a great experience teaching the children there and a very challenging one as instead of the expected 50 children over 100 turned up aged from 3 to 18. They are very much in need of both educastion and encouragement to make the most of their lives.

Jenny Sarah and sonna were brilliant in adapting their teaching to them and are all keen to come back. I have a feeling amida could link up very fruitfully there in more enduring way. They will return without my presence and this will be a very good test for the Sakyan organisation. They are much wanted and needed there and are keen and confident to do it. Also the farm at Palini is a very safe place. It is great to see their confidence and abilities develop. They are turning into very good teachers and are very good role models for the children. Their age has been no barrier, in fact Due to their age they connect even better than I do.

Overall, despite floods and the sakya peoples inexperience, Tamil Nadu is much safer than Delhi and I am starting to have thoughts about possibly gradually developing things more there in future years. We will learn much more from our visits in February and March. Drew and alison and Lesley will join me in Chennai and Sirkali for most of february while Sonna Jenny and sarah will go to Palini for a week or 10 days in March.

On this next visit most of the teaching will be in the hands of volunteers as I will focus more on leading retreats and giving talks and trainings. There have been pleas from Chennai, Palini and Madurai. Also I hope to link up with a woman activist in Pondicherry who i met at the INEB conference.

Delhi has been in good hands with Joy, Drew, Alison and Maggie. I look forward to hearing the details when we get back on Boxing Day.

It has been impressive how well the volunteers have taken on responsibilties. however, above all, it is touching to see the childrens and students responses to them. They thrive on learning in very different conditions to those they encounter in their schools. though it is challenging in the first few meeting with new groups building relationships and identifying their needs. Barriers to relationship set in place by the routinised and often violent school conditions have to be dismantled. This is done more than anything by our demonstrating different behaviour and a loving concern for students welfare. We do not preach buddhism - we demonstrate Buddhist ideals.

Hope all are having fun. We went shopping for Christmas decorations the other night to decorate the hostel and our train carriage for the journey back to delhi! Christmas on the train great fun! But I don't know what we will have for christmas dinner.
If I can find a way i will try to put up some photos soon.
love to all.
modgala
Namo Amida Bu

Message to Volunteers

2006-01-24T04:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Amida Volunteer weblog. A blog created for all of you based around the world, particularly the volunteers, for you to write and share some of your experiences with the wider Amida community. To view this blog please go to
http://amidavolunteer.blogspot.com/.
We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Love from all at the Buddhist House.

New blog for volunteers

2006-01-24T04:55:00.000-08:00

hello everyone, amidavolunteers.blogspot.com has moved to amidavolunteer.blogspot.com due to technical difficulties.