The York India Trip

Time to think about next year………

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Greetings all, from the unrecognized MVPs of the trip Moitaiboss (shaved head), Naitai (giraffe) and Dani. We are down to the last couple days of our trip and are moments away from having to say our goodbyes to everybody we’ve met. We have made lots of friends, especially Moitaiboss, and we cannot walk through the orphanage without hearing “DK Brother” or “Dani Aunty” or… “What’s your name?” The past couple of days at FFC have been very busy, as we are all trying to squeeze everything in before we go home.

Although our arrival in India was only three weeks ago, reminiscing on all we have accomplished during our stay makes the memory seem distant.** From our first impressions at Ideal Beach Resort to our more recent experiences at FFC, we have been left with a collection of memories that will last us a lifetime. We jumped right into the numerous projects that awaited us at FFC as soon as we arrived. Some of the first projects included organizing all the donations that the York community generously provided and delivering them to the orphanage’s different locations. We worked with the babies, toddlers, and even sat in FFC’s grade one dance class when the Dance Master came to visit. By the end of the trip, we have all become Dance Masters. Two murals have been painted: one in the Special Care play room and another in the brand new baby room that we have refurbished.*** Shout out to Brigitte, who woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:30 this morning and worked diligently throughout the day to complete the mural before the babies moved in. Unfortunately, we did not manage to remove the turpentine fumes from the room and some of us have felt the effects more than others.**** Meanwhile, the kids at GPS have managed to dig through rocks and assemble a new playground for those living in the settlements.

Here at FFC, we just took a break from the blog to eat dinner and share our final round of Roses and Thorns. For those unfamiliar with Roses and Thorns, it is an opportunity for everyone to share the best and worst moments of that day. However, Roses and Thorns tonight provided more of an opportunity to reflect on the trip as a whole and what each of us has gained. As a group, we have all strived to experience every component of life at FFC and have lived by the motto “no regrets.” Tonight, we were able to appreciate what we have learned through everything we have accomplished. The word “orphanage” took on a new meaning when we took a step back and realized that the kids here, our new friends, are extremely fortunate to be provided for by this extraordinary organization. To see them so happy made us realize the impact FFC has on their lives. We can only imagine where some of these children would be without their home here and we all are extremely proud to be a part of it.

That being said, a bittersweet atmosphere lingers among the group as we prepare for our departure. We have learned to call Podanur our home and, while we are excited to see our families, leaving the community we have become a part of will be tough.

Love,

Dmitri, Aidan and Dani

P.S. Parents, we are arriving Friday afternoon at 1:30, terminal one. Please don’t forget!

** As Dmitri would say, “Despite the fact we arrived only three weeks ago, the memory of it seems to get farther and farther away as more and more memories are instilled upon us as the trip goes on.”

***As Dmitri would say, “We are now leaving FFC with two new murals: one in the Special Care play room and another in the brand new baby room we have refurbished.”

**** Dmitri: “YARP!”

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Hello from GPS!

We are finally bringing you some photos of our activities at the school and the settlement. As stated in the last post, internet is often very slow or unavailable due to bad connections or daily government imposed blackouts, but we’re happy to finally give you a chance to see the GPS side of life. We have been spending time with the students in the mornings teaching letter sounds and number recognition. We are all impressed by how much they know and how well behaved they are! They love reciting all the English songs they know – and they know many! At the settlement, we have begun building the physical playground structure. Doug, Mike, Jack and Mr. D went to the settlement this morning with the playground engineer to put the pieces together. Allie, Anthea, Anina and I spent our day working with the kids at GPS and rode the bus with them to the settlement at the end of the school day. When we turned the corner to their settlement we pointed to the playground and were completely unprepared for the squeals of excitement that erupted from the bus. It moved us close to tears to feel their joy. The playground will be complete tomorrow afternoon. On Thursday, Sunbeam, our GPS contact, is arranging a little celebration. The GPS kids will be dressed in outfits that we purchased with donation money and we will all go to the settlement and gather at the playground for the official ‘opening ceremonies’. It is hard to believe that we are that close to the end of the trip. Enjoy the photos. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon. Hello 3F!!!

Ms. Faba : )

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Greetings from FFC. You will have noticed that our blogging activities have been a bit reduced over the past few days. This is the way of Indian internet connectivity. FFC and GPS have been offline all weekend. (sigh) We have had a successful few days since our return from Kerala. The whole group worked both Saturday and Sunday at FFC playing KOOB, soccer, stella ella olla, having henna designs put on, painting various wall and murals, cuddling babies, playing with toddlers, and working with the kids in special care. Tomorrow the playground installation begins and we will be doing a major shopping expedition with several shopping lists from various projects here at FFC. We’re all safe and sound and are cherishing our last days here in India. At dinner we were discussing how it feels like we’ve been here for months. Time has kind of slowed down but none of us are complaining.
See you all soon at the airport.
Jim and Barb

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 Hey everyone,

We’re writing to you from the GPS guest house. We returned from Kerala last night and reconfigured our sleeping arrangements this morning. Some of those who were previously at FFC’s York House are now sleeping at the GPS guest house and vice versa. As for the GPS guest house, we have to give a shout out to the Barbara’s for their superb decorating skills – the house looks great!

After a five hour bus ride, we arrived in Cochin, Kerala mid-day on Monday. We checked into the Rosita Wood Hotel and then headed straight to the Spice Market, where most of us bought two thousand rupees worth of spices. Cochin, the land of the Chinese fishing nets, is the first city colonized by the British and has become a major port. Before heading to our dinner spot, we strolled along the beach and saw the fishermen’s fresh catches of the day. We woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning and spent the entire day lounging on a boat for a tour of the Indian backwaters. We hopped off the boat in a village where we were shown how rope is made out of coconuts and had the opportunity to try banana and tapioca chips, as well as roasted peanuts. They were delicious! Our next stop was for lunch, which we got to eat off of banana leaves.

The backwater tour ended mid afternoon and we spent the rest of the day shopping. We’ve all brushed up on our bargaining skills and even made some new friends along the way. Unfortunately, a promise to introduce Starbucks coffee to an Indian storekeeper in the exchange of a few cheap dresses will never be met. Still, every girl on the trip sported their new dresses the next day, when we visited the elephants. We watched baby and fully grown elephants become squeaky clean, as Indian men scrubbed all the dirt off them in a river. They are washed twice a day every day, morning and afternoon; who knew elephants were so high maintenance!

After our visit with the elephants, we checked in at Cherai beach hotel and spent the afternoon soaking in some Indian rays at the beach (while we applied and reapplied sun screen, don’t worry!). We slept in the next morning and some of us started the day off with an Indian massage. The experience was extremely relaxing and unlike any massage a Canadian could ever imagine. We hopped back on the bus for another five hours on the crazy Indian highways (where very few Young Drivers rules apply) after lunch at the hotel and arrived at FFC/GPS last night.

The Yorkies at GPS spent this afternoon with the school’s Dance Master and Karate Master. After two Bollywood dance classes, we are still yet to master the Indian head bobble, but we’re trying! With the GPS kids out of school for the weekend, the whole group will be spending tomorrow and Sunday doing various activities, such as a soccer match and another round of Koob, at FFC. We’ll keep you posted.

Love,

Dani and Kathryn

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Here are some pictures from our wonderful trip to Kerela! We all loved the elephants and we are currently working on posting the videos of their dance. BTW all of the photos posted so far are courtesy of photographer Ms P (propz)

James

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‘In India being in a hurry is foolish and deluded – and often bad manners.” (Excerpt from Paul Theroux, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star). Each year that I have had the privilege to co chaperon this trip, I’ve made an effort to bring along novels and books that are set here in India. Today I hit the quote above and it struck a chord. On the York India trip we have a saying, ‘hurry up and wait’… We do everything we can to set things up with organized itineraries and schedules but there are always unforeseen changes and glitches; drivers who get lost, places that used to be ‘right here’ but seem to have vanished, power failures, cheerful statements of the obvious – ‘he is not come’ – crowds and traffic everywhere… We have had a very full week and a bit here and I think I’m safe in saying that we are all having the time of our lives. Yesterday we enjoyed a gloriously lazy day drifting around the backwaters of Kerala. Dmitri Rick and James had a ‘big day out’ as they set off in search of a music shop that sold sitars. (Mission accomplished!) We’ve all honed our haggling skills and have all kinds of beautiful Indian crafts and spices to pack for home. The walls of the new special care unit for babies at FFC are painted, murals have been designed, the footings for the GPS playground are (hopefully) bring poured in the ten 2 X 2 X 1 holes we smashed out last week, 400 kg. of donated goods from the York community have been distributed and we still have over a week to go! We’re all staying healthy and safe. We’re presently enjoying our last evening at Cherai Beach before we head back to Podanur and Chetipalayam for more service projects at FFC and GPS. Thanks for looking in on the blog and best wishes. JB.
PS. Happy Birthday Ms. B!

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Hi Everyone, Here are some photos to accompany yesterday’s blog post. Hope you enjoy!

-Jack

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Hey everyone,

Today was another eventful day in Podanur, India! After the slightly repetitive (but still delicious) breakfast, the FFC group split ourselves up to do some painting. Dani, Kascha and Kathryn set out to finish their mural in the special care building while the other group finished painting the new baby room that we had started with Chinmaya.

The completion of the mural in the special care building marked the end of an eye opening experience. We were asked to paint the mural in the “play room” because any attempts to decorate result in posters being ripped off the walls. The Aya’s appreciation for our work was evident right from the first day of painting. Those who live at special care suffer from severe mental and physical handicaps and seeing the lack of one-on-one attention they receive and the little they have can be difficult to bear. Moreover, painting was a challenge with girls clambering on us and trying – without success – to communicate. Still, we take comfort in knowing that they are well cared for and will always have a place at FFC.

Meanwhile, the rest of the FFC crew was hard at work in the new baby room. Yesterday’s baby room painters had finished all the easy parts and left only corners and hard to reach places. We set to work on ladders and ledges going where no group had painted before. The pre-selected colours for the room were wild purple and wild lilac, which is pretty much just dark and light purple. Halfway through, some of the little girls helped out and started a mini dance party. The room turned out great. The only problem was that no amount of turpentine could remove the paint stains from the floor (not to mention from the crevices behind our ears!).

The team washed up and met just in time for lunch which, again, was slightly repetitive (but still delicious). (The three of us all just laughed pretty hard at our own witty humour…lol). After lunch, we started a game of Koob with the Koob set that had mysteriously vanished last year. Despite the two years the girls went without practice, they still destroyed us (a.k.a. “Shiva’d” us – for those of you not familiar with Hindu mythology, Shiva is the destroyer).

After a short and laundry filled rest hour, the FFC gang hopped on a bus to meet the GPS gang for a tour of the settlements near the Global Pathways School. The settlement communities are small neighbourhoods in which Indians who were displaced by the government reside. In the efforts of building new condominiums near the city of Coimbatore, many were left displaced far from the city and no longer able to work or find jobs. While the newer of the settlements had the luxury of electricity and running water after demanding more from the government, the families in the remaining settlements live without clean water or electricity. Regardless, every settlement comprised of 9 ft by 9 ft shacks and housed full families, many of which were uneducated and malnourished. However, we see new hope for the children we befriended today thanks to the work of GPS.

Tomorrow we head out on a five hour bus ride to Kerala (cross your fingers that the air conditioning will work). The blackout at midnight last night reminded us that it is the perfect time for a little vacation. We hope to have many new experiences while we’re there and we will report them all back to you.

Love,

Dani, Kascha and Jack

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Answer: 9 students, 3 teachers and half a village. Today represented the 5^th and hopefully, final day of digging the foundation for the GPS playground. In a final push, 4 York boys including ourselves (Aidan and James) and 5 Chinmaya boys sacrificed several layers of skin on their hands for the sake of the jungle gym. Despite the 17 blisters counted on my (James’) hands, we conquered the rock and completed all 10 holes. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the day was seeing the reactions of the Chinmaya students and teachers alike to the poverty that exists in their own country. For many this was an eye-opener as their boarding school limits their access to many of their surroundings. We were rewarded for our hard work by Ms P treating us all to ice cream!

Upon arriving at FFC we shared yet another meal with our chums from Chinmaya to hear about how about the tasks that the other students had performed throughout the morning. We were entertained by their stories of moving rubble at FFC and painting a room at the Special Care Unit. We then had the pleasure of sharing our experiences so far here at FFC with the Chinmaya students, as they joined us in playing with the kids for over an hour (loads of fun!)

The fun didn’t stop there however, as we were all scheduled to compete in a football (soccer) match against the older boys of FFC. Although we were all sore and exhausted, both teams took the field with smiles on their faces. With the help of the Chinmaya students, the York India Trip came out on top with a final score of 3-1! The first time in trip history that York emerged victorious. The smiles we all brought onto to the field were still visible immediately afterwards as the FFC sportsmaster (a title soon to be adopted by Mr D) invited us to a match of cricket. By then our energy was near zero and we graciously declined.

Barely able to stand, we made our goodbyes with our new friends from Chinmaya and returned to our apartment for some much deserved showers and naps. This was just another action packed day here in India and despite the fun we are having, we miss you all!

P.S Shout out to Mr Youssef for your impeccable football coaching as the York team carried most of the load scoring the first 2 goals of the game!

Stay classy Coimbatore!

Aidan & James

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