Podcast - still in Kolguli - Phoebe and the elder midwife and Nat sings with the tribal children

In this podcast, Phoebe meets an elder midwife in Kolguli and speaks to her about childbirth practices over the years within her tribe.  I also have a sing-song with some of the kids who burst out laughing when I started to sing which I'm sure was a compliment?

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Podcast - Keystone and the honey gatherers

Keystone was really interesting for the group as they work with the tribes in a similar way to ACCORD - but the organisational structure and approach feels very different.  There were heated debates on the bus afterwards about the benefits and drawbacks of both approaches.

In summary, ACCORD's structure is completely flat and tribal-led and Keystone took a much more structured approach, familiar to us westerners.  After being in the bosom of Stan's teaching up until this point (founder of ACCORD), many of us felt the differences quite strongly which led to some really interesting discussions around leadership, top-down, down-up, upside-down etc etc...

In this podcast, hear Sean Coughlan and Matthew Farmer and the group describe the project and eat lots of honey.

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Podcast - Phoebe is attacked by a leech and we visit the tribal village Kolguli

On our last day in Gudalur we finally went to meet the adivasis (indigenous people of India) in one of their villages.  The Unltd group split up and Phoebe, Jo, Laura, Ciara, Siobhan and I visited 'Kolguli' (not sure if I spelt that right) with our guide Murthi. 

This podcast begins with the traumatic attack of the leeches of Gudalur.  Ciara - I'm sorry if this brings back bad memories...

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Podcast - Phoebe, 'Birthrites' and the tribal kids

We're still at the school - Phoebe asked 4 girls to draw pictures about childbirth as part of research for her project - Birthrites. I spoke with her during her workshop to find out more about her work in the UK and what she was learning from the trip.

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Podcast - the singing begins at the adivasi school in Gudalur

The school that ACCORD set up with the adivasis was a very relaxed and happy place with kids from 5 different tribes learning adademic subjects as well as art, crafts and tribal history and culture.  To find out more about Vidyodaya, click here.

They also learn English at the school - they speak 8 languages - and I tried to teach them a ninth, Gaelic, which they picked up with frightening ease... Also, featured in this podcast, is the famous 'Monkeys versus Donkeys', Unltd's lasting contribution to the children of southern India! 

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Podcast - Gudalur - ACCORD and the tribal hospital

We left the Green Hotel in Mysore for bamboo huts in the jungle near Gudalur.

Our first visit the next day was to the tribal hospital set up by Accord.  Apart from the doctors, the hospital is run entirely by members of the tribal community for the tribal community. 

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Podcast - street kids and the slum-dwellers foundation

On our last full day in Mysore, Stan took us to 2 projects run by the Rural Literacy and Health Program (RLHP). 

Firstly, we visited a small village that started out as a slum - we heard from the people who came from rural poverty to look for construction work in the cities and ended up finding even worse conditions like many other slum-dwellers in India.

Then he took us to Asha Kirana, a home and school for street kids.  Stan said it's where he goes when he feels disillusioned...we all saw what he meant when we were swamped by these gorgeous smiling kids, most of whom had come from horrific circumstances and were rebuilding their lives with infectious energy and unbelievable courage.

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Podcast - Caroline and Matt love Ravi's stove

CART and the lovely Ravi Kumar lured Caroline and Matt back to learn how to use the stove-come-charcoal-maker.  I caught up with them after their visit.

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Podcast - Mysore - Parivarthana

Podcast - Mysore - The Centre for Appropriate Rural Technology