Day 11 - India

Submitted by Andrea on November 16, 2005 - 21:18.

The start of another “hot day in downtown Bombay” (quote from Bob) brought us to The Childine India Foundation. This was formed in 1986 by Ms Jeroo Billimoria out of the recognised need to provide a 24 hour service for the street children in India. It carries the motto of “help us to care for the children in distress”.

After a short presentation on the formation and development of Childline, we were all impressed by its resourcefulness and its enormous growth in its 10 year history. The project receives calls from Children on the freephone number 1098 and then offers either telephone help or relays to other organisations details of the location of the child. The child will then either be collected or the issues dealt with on site. One of the many stories recalled to us was of a small child who had been spotted by an adult at a railway station who was obviously very ill and had lain motionless for days. A team was called in to deal with the boy who had a maggot infested infection on his arm but was refused admission to the hospital due his dirty condition. The child was then taken back to the Childline offices to be cleaned and readmitted to the hospital. It appears the child had run away from home following parental disputes and after some time they were traced and reunited with the child.

Small groups of us them hopped into a taxi to go a Childline centre at a local hospital. Our driver was interested in the service provided by CIF and there was a suggestion that stickers should be distributed to them. The Childline centre was situated in foyer of the main entrance to the hospital, but nothing prepared me for the dirt and stench of urine that greeted us.

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Day 10 - India

Submitted by Bob on November 15, 2005 - 22:53.

The day started well as Mumbai is full of good vibes i.e. a real city in the way that I felt Delhi is not and better yet not much in the way of cow dung to step into or hopefully not. The day however, was to end with a minor disaster when I realised I had left my notes including the ones I wanted no one to see at Comet. This is no laughing matter as the whole group may be banned from India for life. Of course, those of you with a psychological bent will say I lost them deliberately.

We arrived at Comet Media Foundation in taxis and were treated to a full introduction to the history and activities of Comet by Chandita Mukherjee and her Number 2. She is one of a number of impressive women, of a particular generation, that have made important contributions to India's development. There is a research project to be done on them. They remind me of a number of women in the All China Women's Federation that I have met over the years, although less attached to a Party.

Comet and The Cosmos New Media Initiative cover a lot of ground and appeal to different interests.They seem to be moving forward all the time although I have an uneasy feeling without consolidating what they establish. Yet no one can doubt the dynamic nature of the project.

We were treated to an excellent lunch and had a great time selecting toys in their shop. I returned to Blighty with a bag full of toys for my, mostly adult, friends. I was also able to buy a copy of Trash which I had read before only to discover that Michael has copies in London. I recommend that you get copies from him.

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Day 7 - India

Submitted by Michael on November 12, 2005 - 18:17.

Quote for the day: “Tough times don’t last; tough people do.” Indu Capoor, founder and CEO, CHETNA, and an Ashoka fellow.

CHETNA stands for Centre for Health Education Training and Nutrition Awareness. But CHETNA also means “Awareness”. If we treated UnLtd as an acronym, what would it stand for? Prizes for the best answers.

CHETNA is one of the best NGOs in India working on child health and women’s empowerment. Starting with an exploration of the issues of malnutrition, understanding the problems, discussing ideas and solutions with the community, and only then after four years developing practical responses to the children’s malnutrition, CHETNA has pioneered a wide range of techniques and taken the lead on many issues.

I visited the publications section, and amongst the manuals and handbooks that some of us purchased, we bought a teaching aid for sex education. Richard had stayed back to look after our two sick participants (Andrea and Rajeeb, who are both recovering), so we decided to give him this as a present. We asked him to close his eyes, and then tied an apron on him. He then was asked to open his eyes and smile. The result was photographed. Richard sporting an erect penis. As Mae West said “A hard man is good to find”. Second quote of the day. We have ordered him to attend the next UnLtd Board Meeting in this garb to report back on the Learning Journey. This will show that he is made of sterner stuff. If he doesn’t attach a photo to this blog, he’s a coward! read more | add new comment

Day 6 - India

Submitted by Rajeeb on November 11, 2005 - 18:07.

7am roadside pit stop on the way to Ahmedabad; time for some traditional sickeningly sweet chai (which I must admit is a favourite of mine). The music shop next to the roadside cafe decided to blast out some music in the hope of enticing us to buy something. Kate and I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to entertain the locals and thus with a little egging on by the rest of the group started performing the Macarena dance to the latest Bollywood hit. The rest of the contingent looked on in amusement, as did the locals. Unfortunately showtime was brief as we were on a mission – to actually reach Ahmedabad.

We returned to the sleeper bus and this time, after spending nine hours or so in a suspect smelling compartment (a suspect smell peculiarly similar to urine) I decided to share the last few hours of the journey in Sue’s compartment. Sue and I decided to play some word games to help the hours pass as well as trying to get some sleep – but I am sure the driver was determined to not let that happen as he was trying to deafen us with his collection of Bollywood tunes (perhaps in the home of an encore by Kate and myself….who knows?! :-) )

Healthwise the group was suffering slightly, Rupert had a dodgy stomach, Andrea was suffering from a severe headache and I had started to get a temperature – but we’re a resilient bunch and didn’t let it slow us down. We arrived in Ahmedabad around 10am – slightly behind schedule and were greeted by our hosts, Chetna, the project we will be visiting tomorrow and the people we will be staying with during our time at Ahmedabad. read more | add new comment

Day 5 - India

Submitted by Sue on November 10, 2005 - 22:27.

Just been told this morning that it’s my blog day. So, we’re all sat in a room that has egg boxes on the walls. There’s a guy that looks like an Indian Billy Connelly telling us about the day ahead, welcoming us. In the background, there’s a guy wailing and playing drums. If I was a fly, I’d head for his space to check out the tunes. It sounds like some good jamming is going on. There are three guys in front of us, but my eyes are drawn to the ‘bearded one’. I can’t tell when he’s smiling, if he’s smiling. His beard is all consuming upon his face, apart from his eyes. A beard and some eyes – that’s him.  His eyes don’t show anything so he’s very difficult to read.

I did yoga this morning and felt wide awake – much needed after the MDF slab we all had the pleasure of sleeping on. The bearded one (actual name, Vasu) is now talking to the other two, translating all that we’ve said. My bottom hurts. I never thought I’d wish for a fatter bum. I’ve crashed now, the yoga buzz has worn off – I wonder if I can write with my eyes shut?

Barefoot College was set up the year after I was born, 1972. It was established by a water-drilling expert called Bunker Roy, who believed that the solution to rural problems lay within communities and not with urban-based professionals. He created an environment where the community gets informal, non-structured, on-the-job training, which it can then use for its own development. From a small campus established in the early 70’s, Barefoot College has grown to 80,000 square feet and consists of residences, a guest house, a library, dining room, meeting halls, an open air theatre, a ten-bed hospital, and numerous other facilities. Drinking water is provided by a 700,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank and most of the campus’s electricity from solar power. read more | add new comment

Day 3 - India

Submitted by James on November 8, 2005 - 22:05.

We started the day with a typically long, hot Delhi bus journey. With our ever reliable driver insisting he knew the way we weaved our way through untold districts, all of which were curiously 5 minutes from our destination. A good hour later we arrived at our destination with a nice touch of motion sickness and a heavy dose of traffic pollution. But moaning aside, all thoroughly enjoyed it as every minute on the roads of Delhi gives you yet another snapshot of the city; a slum, a manicured park, an elephant, a near miss with umpteen auto rickshaws… Time is never really wasted here it’s just spent watching.

When we did arrived we found ourselves in a suburb busy with construction. Our hosts, Pravah had just moved into a new building, fully functioning except for the lack of exterior walls on the four flights of stairs we had to climb. Unperturbed we made our way up to start our second visit. Pravah was set up in the wake of 1992 communal violence and the destruction of a mosque. A group of young professionals came together to ask what they could do to impact upon the problem of inter faith tension. They formed Pravah to engage young people so as to ensure India’s future leaders would be concerned and motivated with the country’s social and environmental issues. They run a number of initiates from a volunteering service called SMILE, which places students in NGOs, to citizenship training and curriculum development for schools, and a fund to support social entrepreneurs called Changing Looms. read more | add new comment

Day 2 - India

Submitted by Salim on November 7, 2005 - 21:15.

If ever Michael Norton offers to take you out for a walk, clarify exactly what this entails! After a much needed first nights sleep in Delhi’s India International Center, I awoke to the 7am early morning wake up call on the telephone. I joined Michael, Bob, Farook, Andrea, Kate and Nickala for our early morning stroll through Lodhi Gardens. These gardens are the backdrop to the IIC Centre and are beautifully landscaped with flowers, shrubs, trees, water, ancient buildings – and a walking track.

This place was unbelievable. We were welcomed by the sight of what seemed like hundreds of people who were out at that time in the morning walking, jogging, running, speed walking, stretching and even practicing yoga! The place was buzzing and full of all types of people, male, female, young, old, fat, thin etc. There were even people who were grouped together practicing what seemed like laughter therapy. It seemed like a scene out of one of my favorite Bollywood films “Munna Bhai mbbs” For those who have seen it you will know exactly what I mean.

Forty minutes later having burned many a calorie trying to keep up with Michael who glided ahead and having had a conversation with Sue about religion, incarnation and the meaning of life, we walked back to the IIC absolutely starving but really looking forward to a big breakfast. I joined Kate and we both had a delicious Indian breakfast of Puri and Chola, orange juice and traditional Indian tea – makes a change from porridge. read more | add new comment

Day 1 - India

Submitted by Rupert on November 6, 2005 - 21:10.

We arrived at the airport to be greeted by a long, slow moving queue with too few passport control officers. Bob observes that he has already found several jobs for India’s considerable numbers of unemployed. I am pleasantly surprised however when I reach the airport control officer: instead of the usual surly bad tempered tyrant I have come to expect, I am greeted by a smiling, joking gentleman who upon looking at my passport photo comments on the changing nature of life and hair growth!

Once outside the airport and having had to wait for Zulfiqar with his Pakistani passport, we are met by smiling faces who direct us aboard a stylish 1960’s ‘medium’ bus. Myna birds and house crows add to the rumble of traffic and the beep of horns, the smell of petro-chemicals pervades the air, dogs are slumped in shady corners, trees and bushes line the roads; leaves coated in a layer of dust, little shacks selling heaven knows what, children and youth playing cricket, mopeds with father and mother, sitting side-saddle in saris, and children jammed in around them, little green and yellow rickshaws like beetles sliding in and out between the buses, cars, bikes and mopeds.

We arrive at the India International Centre – a haven of peace and tranquillity. I sit, enjoying a cup of tea, watching a black kite perched in a tree. Below a ring-necked parakeet feeds on pink flower blossom and below that I have my first view of a white-breasted kingfisher dipping into the lilly pond to catch a fish. I like this place! read more | add new comment

Day 2 - UK

Submitted by Farook on October 8, 2005 - 18:32.

Amazingly at 6am almost everyone is outside the hotel ready to go to Spitalfields Market. On route we pick up Eric, who turns out to be a larger than life character who has started a social empire from humble beginnings five years ago and with £40 of fresh fruit and vegetables. Currently his enterprise stands at:

• Approximately 12 community shops
• Schools training programme
• Community café
• Curriculum development to be rolled out to other Schools throughout England
• Healthy cooking courses
• Community dinners

I am sure there are others in development and each one of these is based on a simple premise of healthy eating by the provision of fresh fruit & vegetables and associated activities. Eric’s ability to extend his basic offering across and up the value chain is impressive as if he had been advised by McKinsey’s Strategists and yet Eric is a down to earth ‘regular’ guy.

We met the various people that play a vital role within the Eric’s venture:

• market traders
• community shop volunteers
• buyer/driver
• Eric’s running mate and venture partner

What is amazing is how Eric manages to enthuse his passion onto others including the people at the restaurant at the market – they respect him, support his venture and get involved in his activities.

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Day 1 - UK

Submitted by Kate on October 6, 2005 - 21:15.

Normally I write ‘Buzzes’ rather than ‘Blogs’. ‘Buzzes’ are those world-altering ideas that hit you just as you get into bed and that aren’t going to leave you in peace until you put fingers to keyboard. This evening, it seems like Blog and Buzz are one and the same – writing about today is basically collating a whole series of other people’s inspiring ideas and stories, any one of which would normally spark off enough excitement to keep me buzzing for about a week. The overstimulation was so much for me yesterday that I couldn’t sleep until 5.30am; writing a blog tonight is also verging on a medical necessity for me!

Buzz one hit me on pushing open the heavy door at the top of a filthy derelict warehouse staircase to reveal a rickety-ikea-cool welcoming light warm space. Industrial converted to industrious, The Hub makes you want to whip out a sleek laptop and create or design or share brilliant ideas in discreet undertones. Or, as the twelve of us meeting there actually did, moan about early mornings and gobble the organic tropical fruit breakfast laid on.

Richard’s first exercise had us clinging to the plates of pineapple as we were polarised across the room by various searching political questions. An individual’s ability to create social change, the timeframe for change, the justification for millionaire social entrepreneurs – realising that all but two of my colleagues completely disagreed with my most deeply held beliefs about right and wrong was challenging for me before nine o’clock this morning. It made me despair a little.

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