Working on Disaster Management in Naddi

Considering all the natural risks the communities we work with face (earthquakes – the fault line of the Dharamsala region passing through Naddi and McLeod Ganj, floods, landslides…), it is coherent for an organization likeEduCAREto have a Disaster Management & Emergency Planning Project to reduce the vulnerability of the population to such hazards.

To achieve this goal, my project consists in providing the communities with cognitive and technical tools in order to lower the effects of hazards.

More exactly, I am running workshops to raise awareness about disasters among the youngest through the school and the Girls Club. I am also setting up a training session for the adults in partnership with a Training and Capacity building coordinator from the United Nations Development Programme, also consultant to theDistrict Disaster Management Authority, for them to receive first-hand information about hazards and get advice on mitigation strategies they can easily implement.

The other side of the project is to build a community action plan so people can respond appropriately and efficiently in case of the occurrence of a disaster. 

This is probably one of the most challenging aspects of my project since it implies for us to be the link between the authorities in charge of the disaster management and the communities. Indeed, if the programme theoretically exists at the rural level, although the population is not aware of it, it is far from being functional. Furthermore, it has proven difficult to understand how the Indian administration operates and especiallyto identify the people in charge.The ultimate goal would be to have a village level incident response team that would be able to react automatically.

Also the monsoon doesn’t make our lives easier! But at the end of the day, the challenging environment we live in makes the job even more interesting!

Sam is ready for brave the elements

Aude Guiraud

Disaster Management & Emergency Planning Project Manager

Incredible India

Educare was not my first experience in India. I had the chance to spend 7 wonderful months in this country before, and I have been so marked by this culture and these people that I started looking for a way to be back as soon as possible even before leaving. One of my friends, who was already a fellow for Educare told me that the organization was always looking for new volunteers, and especially it was looking for someone to be in charge of PR and Marketing.

When I get the approval for the position, it was such a relief. I knew that I was leaving India being sure to come back and even if the things were more complicated to get my visa and it took a long time, noting could stopped me.

So I arrived in Naddi and fully enjoyed my stay with the Com Team. Spending my weeks working for the organization and my weekends enjoying my favorite place in India. Thanks to the NGO, I got the opportunity to experience a total freedom in my work, which is more than rare for a student. It makes me want to give my best to achieve the objectives in collaboration with HR, other team members or even alone.
 

But working in India does not only have positive aspects. This country definitely teaches to have patience and resignation. Oneself has to admit that the things can’t always be controlled and to let everything go sometimes. There is always obstacles, delays that sometimes pop up when working on a project, and oneself just has to deal with it. It improves your ability to face any issue, your sense of humor and teaches you to trust in a better tomorrow.
 

But it’s so worth it … I never found a country in the world where I feel at home like this one. Never met people that makes me feel better than these ones. Never been afraid of living in a place as much as this one. And I promised myself to do what it takes to come back as I did since I’m here …

Sometimes you just can’t explain why, but you know that something’s made for you. And that’s what happened pretty fast when I reached these mountains. There’s something mystical in the atmosphere that instantly calms you down and makes you feel like you belong to this place. Something that makes you feel like a better version of you, a soother one. And even if people keep in mind that India is a patriarchal nation, I never felt as free to be myself than here. It’s not about wearing short skirts or loose t-shirts, it’s about meeting people who look through your eyes to touch your soul and respect your heart. There is a strong belief here that what truly matters is to have a beautiful heart and soul. And for our own good, we should try to act more often like this in Europe.
 

Anyway, India was like a “lifesaver” for me. A place where I can truly feel myself, no matter if I am alone or surrounded by people, a little peace in a large world in war. I spent almost one year here, and I know I am changed forever. Maybe I will find another place where I feel this good while traveling. But I know that I’ll need to come back here. I have the opportunity to go directly to India after my studies and I honestly can’t think to another plan. Let’s see where the future leads me and what will be the next steps of my life…

Namaste India.

Juliette Dabe - France

PR and Marketing Coordinator

My stay in India

My name is Jeanne, I am 19 years old and I study Agriculture in an engineering school in France. I arrived in India the 1st of June after the longest flight ever. I met Gautier at the airport in Delhi, he is also French and in Harike as the SWASH manager. I am on the organic farming project.

My first impression after my first step in India was: the heat. The exit of the airport was an oven and it was only the beginning of our travel, we had to go to our hotel with all our luggage, what a good start! We were assaulted by the taxi drivers, the auto rickshaw drivers, the hotel managers and many other people that wanted to sell us something. After an hour or an hour and a half of metro, walk and getting lost many times we finally reached our hotel. There another nightmare was starting, understanding the formalities of the hotel and trying to not be over charged, even if both Gautier and I were not really fluent in English. We can say that it was an interesting exchange!

Despite all that I began to like Delhi, all the different smells, the trash, there you can smell  incense and at the same time the smell of the street food. Here and there, there are street dogs, cows, squirrels, pigeons or even a zebu pulling a cart. But the most significant maybe, are the people. So many people who are doing so many different things, food street vendor everywhere (momos freely, corn, samosas, ice-cream, juice...), barber, street ironing service, ear cleaner, trash picker, beggar child, woman, old person no one is spared to this condition, and this day and night. One other thing that you have to get used to as a foreigner is people staring at you as if you had a problem on your face! As well as sometimes people just do a little walk with you to ask you where do you come from? What are you doing in India? Did you see the Taj ? Or you have to go there it is beautiful and then go back among the crowd. For me that is Delhi and I love it.

Playing cards in the train!

  

The next days, I discovered Harike, a “village”! 8ooo inhabitants, many shops, dhabas, chemists, tailors, boat makers, 4 different schools, at least 4 Sikh temples, one Hindu temple, one post office (never open), many fruits and vegetables stalls and even more. I was very surprised to see that. It was not really what I had imagined. I had the same impression when I discovered the intern’s house, I was expecting more privacy, more comfort, more everything but I finally like this place. After a week or two you feel at home and find your own way to live here. Then it was time to meet the communities and our neighbors, the first contact was strange and I didn’t feel comfortable to be welcomed like we were. But now it has become normal to have chai or cold coffee everywhere, even at the fixed price store they give you a soda. The Punjabis are very friendly and welcoming when you take a step toward them to try to discover them. I am learning a lot about the religion, the way of living, their point of view about their country, about ours (Punjabi are completely crazy about Canada and Australia!), the food, the history of the country and many other things.

Before I left for India every one told me, “You will come back changed!” I don’t know if it is true but the only thing that I know is that I will come back with a nose full of smells, eyes full of colors, ears full of horns and Punjabi music and finally a head full of memories. 

Jeanne Tardieau - France

Organic Farming Project Manager in Harike

What did I learn in India?

As Marcel Proust said:

«Le véritable voyage de découverte ne consiste pas à chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais à avoir de nouveaux yeux» // «The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes» 

- My look upon the world has changed, regarding : 

How I perceive the inequalities (poor/rich differences, people living in the street, gender inequalities especially regarding girls that are forbidden to pursue their education after a certain age, arranged mariage…)

How I perceive India, and the culture : I didn’t have that many expectations, I maybe was

beautifying the Indian culture and that issues that they had…

I realised the importance of education, regarding women's empowerment and the destiny of these women.

- My look upon myself has changed :

I’ve realized, (even though I was kind of aware of it) that I would like to be a teacher and that education is something really important to succeed in life and to gain more self confidence, self esteem and self accomplishment.

Talking about the people I have met, how they have changed my perceptio and my way to look at things.

For having lived in India for almost three months now, I can assert that my view on wealth and gender inequalities that are deeply rooted into the Indian culture have changed. Inequalities, especially regarding inequalities of income and opportunity, have always been topics that have upset me. I knew before coming to India that it would be hard for me to see certain things as children pulling on my clothes and begging for money and disabled people sitting on the street. And, indeed, on the first weeks, it was. I was aware of the caste system as well and I felt really bad when thinking about it.

I also knew that coming to India I will witness  gender-based and unequal rules, such as our way of dressing. I was aware that I would work with some Indian girls that start skipping school after primary or middle school in order to do household chores, that I would meet married women, young and old, who have not chosen their husband and I felt quite challenged about it.

Then I came to Harike. I have met the women and children at the temple community  with whom we are working with and the girls from the migrant community. I have encountered a lot of people in the streets, on public transport, in shops, at school, at the temple, at their homes, as well as interns from India and abroad with whom I had great conversations. Observing and witnessing these people’s lives and talking with them gives a different approach to how I consider inequalities, which is a different perception than when I was watching dramatic documentaries or reading sad testimonies regarding « these poor and unlucky Indian people ».

The first time I stepped in the migrant community, I felt pretty shocked and upset by all these houses made out of sheets of metal, straw, and wood. The children, beaming with joy, quickly ran to me, and the girls smiled so much as they welcomed me, that I progressively forgot how poor they are compared to how rich their hearts are.  In my eyes, they progressively have become strong and deserving girls that aspire to be teachers or beauty parlour women that are eager to learn and get over gender inequalities.

Over the Girls Clubs meetings, I got to know the girls better along with their aspirations and goals in life, especially concerning Jyoty and Kyran, the two most engaged girls and sisters.

In the temple community, I am working with Neetu, 14, who is attending the Girls Club and Babu, 20, who is a woman engaged with us to make products and attend English lessons. Although she is very young, Neetu is not allowed by her family to go to school. She stays at home to do household chores. Babu, one year younger than me, has a baby and can barely read or write. However, they are both really eager to learn and be engaged with us. Even though I feel lucky to go to university and to be able to earn my own money afterwards, I do not feel I am anybody to judge their lives. They are surrounded by their families and seem to be happy in this way. They will definitely continue to be engageg in English classes and Girls Club though, because education is the key that leads to self-accomplishment and self-esteem and that could empower them.  bMy previous angry and rebellious feeling toward these unfair situations is in a way fading away as I accept the reality as it is.

Furthermore, sharing opinions, ideas, and facts, about the Indian culture and mindset with some Indian people, has progressively changed the way I consider inequalities in India.

My pitiful view progressively broke down and became a realistic opinion. No one is totally a victim, no one is completly guilty, and everyone is just trying to survive and to be happy. As an EduCARE intern, I can try to bring these people some new perspectives, and attempt to rebalance these inequalities. That is the least I can do.

Delphine Lavernhe - France

ASP and Girls Club Project Manager in Harike

A SWASH intern in Naddi

I joined Educare India in may 2016, for 3 months. After finishing my studies in waste engineering, I planned to work with this NGO on waste management.

The adventure started in Naddi. Hopefully, someone was already working on waste management. That helped me to have a quick Induction. Thanks to that, we directly did activities related to SWASH :

- School workshop: we went to the governmental school in Cheni to do some workshops on waste. We played some games to raise their awareness. Each time, the workshop was a success and the kids were really engaged and involved.

Workshops in Cheni's Primary School

- Trash collection: Once a week, we organized a waste picking for Naddi's shopkeepers. This project, established by previous interns, ran for a long time. We took over the project. That consists in collecting the waste bin from each shopkeeper involved , carrying it with a truck and empty the bins in a bigger waste bin that will be collected by the municipality.

Bins used to collect the waste 

This part is not the easiest or the cleanest but sometimes it is funny. One time we arrived at the big bin but we were not able to do anything because of the monkey family who had lunch around the bin. We waited, in the truck, in front of the bin, that monkeys finished their lunch. 

Despite this fast Induction, it was very difficult to focus. There is too much to do ! You would like to do everything, but 3 months are not enough, you need to focus if you want to get things done. So you list the ideas and organize it with a priority level. After speaking with the organisation, we agreed to focus on the soft plastic issue. This waste is produced a lot and its collection and treatment are often neglected. The aim is to collect soft plastic from our house and one shopkeeper (start little but think big), clean it well and store it in hygienic conditions. The next step is to find a way to resell, reuse or recycle it. 

After collecting the soft plastic, we built a washing machine that could clean more soft plastic and faster.

Our DIY soft plastic washing machine!

The biggest part was to find the best "process" to clean the soft plastic efficiently and ecofriendly. That's mean using less water, a natural soap...

After we need to store it, waiting for something to do with the soft plastic. Some centers store the soft plastic in a cloth to create a cushion. I chose to store it in plastic bottles because it is costless and it is a way to reuse plastic bottles. if we don't find a solution rapidly to reuse this soft plastic, we can put the plastic bottles together and create a sofa!

Plastic bottle filled with soft plastic and sofa model 

Sofa, cushions or other products from soft plastic could be resell. If it is working, the project could be take over by the community because they could create money with this waste. Here is an idea to develop a local soft plastic recycling sector !

Working with Educare India made me think differently about the waste issue, with new problems and new perspectives that I had never think about before. I am happy to come back to my country with a new vision of the waste issue, it could be useful for my future job!

Coralie Rambaud - France 

SWASH Project Manager in Naddi

There is no such thing as comfort zone

This article is a little mix of everything that popped up in my mind when I had to reflect upon my current experience in India. I have been living in a rural village of lower Himalayas in Northern India for a few months now, working towards social and sustainable development through micro-finance initiatives and projects, in the framework of an Indian NGO.

When I applied for this experience, I did not know what to expect. From the articles I have read, India is the place where the cultural shock experienced can lead some to severe depression and anxiety. From the pictures I have checked, India is a beautiful country gathering multiple extremes – landscapes, people, smells, colors… – all in one place. From the documentation I was sent before flying over, India is a very much challenging experience. From the endless talks I had with friends and acquaintances here and there, India can be either very traumatic or incredibly marvelous. I therefore ended up having mixed feelings about living in India for a few months, low expectations if any, and one overwhelming urge I couldn’t repress: going there, no matter what, for multiple reasons – experiencing something different from any perspective to challenge myself deeply being the main one I guess.

Fifty shades of outfits: India is partly famous for its bright, flashy, overwhelming colors that turn your perceptions upside down

So I did. I believe the first obvious striking thing in India is the standard difference with the Western industrialized countries that deeply highlights the meaning of comfort zone. Bugs everywhere, daily internet, power and water shortages, sketchy housing, antiquated transportation facilities, strong language barrier, farm animals enjoying your rooftop or terrace while you are working there… The simple fact that comfort is gone for real makes you break out of your comfort zone whether you want it or not. Then, there is the framework I am evolving in. Most of NGOs are grass-root level structures that require a detailed understanding of the community needs in order to work properly. You have to meet the people you are going to work with, talk to them, understand them, and assess their needs and wants not only to define the scope of their problematics, but also to reflect on your options, resources, and abilities to impact them within a sustainable perspective. You are your own manager, entirely independent, and it is all up to you to make the most of your time here.

All of the ideals and hierarchy patterns we are taught and raised in back in our traditional occidental universities or schools seem outdated, misplaced, and irrelevant here. The working style you have acquired so far, and the bubble it’s lingering into can do nothing but blow up out here. You have to think out of the box to cope with a contradictory situation: making things work in a long-run over here, even though being here for a very limited period of time. You have to be innovative and adjust your strategies and approaches towards the people you are working with. You have to attempt, fail, and start again with an improved methodology. Rethink everything you thought you knew, observe and analyze situations to come up with matching projects and processes. Basically, forget everything you knew and learn again.

Traditional flour making: girls of a Himalayan village pounding wheat grains to prep flour, the base ingredient of many Indian dishes, before monsoon starts.

I now must say the comfort zone I had back home is far from me right now, but I do not miss it, as I created a new one here. I enjoy being challenged every day, meeting the community members and listening to their stories, their needs, their lives. I enjoy perfecting my working methods towards them over and over again, and managing an indefinite number of stakeholders that keeps growing whenever an initiative is successful. I enjoy encountering new types of issues raising new ways to improve my social managing skills.

At the end of the day, India not only challenged nor strained me, it grew on me. I have evolved in the way I cope with a given situation. I now believe I can create as many comfort zones as I like to. It is up to you to feel home wherever you are. By taking time to change your perspectives and beliefs, you open yourself to new possibilities and ways to learn. My father used to tell me “there is no problem, but solutions”. Daddy, you were halfway right. This experience taught me there is indeed no problem, but opportunities, taking your statement to the next level. Each issue does have solutions but more than anything else raises opportunities that people have to seize.

When I applied for this experience, I did not know what to expect. When I wake up in the morning, I do not know what the day is going to bring up. But what I do know, is that when I am back in France, I will look for another amazing lifetime experience such as this one, and be grateful for the chance I had to go to India, and break out of my comfort zone in so many ways I realized there is actually no such thing as comfort zone.

Beauty is everywhere you want it to be: the colorful merging of traditions, globalization & wild landscapes can be as surprising as peaceful

Marine Cabrol - France 

MicroFinance Project Manager in Naddi 

Three months in India

Who am I ?

I am a french student in engineering school where I am studying environmental sciences.

Why did I choose India ?

I had to do an internship in a foreign country. I wanted to find a country completly different from France, with an other culture, an other language and other life conditions. That’s why I chose India, the second most populous country in the world, the 7th largest country in the world.

My arrival in India 

I started my trip with the capital, New Delhi , because I arrived at New Delhi airport from France. The first thing and the most difficult one when I came out of the airport was the heat (47°C). Then, the second thing was the most suprising one : the taximen. About 10 taximen came after me saying that the metro was broken. I stayed 3 days in Delhi where I could visit several temples, discover the old Delhi with its little streets, the diveristy of food and the amazing traffic.

Street of my hotel

Visit of the Lotus Temple in Delhi

My arrival in the centre

My center is located in Harike, Punjab. When I arrived, I discovered that Harike was a little village and was completly different than New Delhi. Indeed, the landscape is not the same, Harike is situated in the countryside and surrounded by wetlands. I also discovered the house of interns and I was pleasantly surprised because the centre was spacious and the rooms were nice.

The Harike centre

Harike, view from a roof

What are my projects ?

I am SWASH project manager and the field which interested me in particular is the waste

management. Moreover, the main problem in Harike about the waste is the soft plastics issue. Indeed, there are trashpickers who pick up all the trash (plastic bottles, glass, metal…) in the street except soft plastics. That’s why, we can find in the street a lot of soft plastics (in particular plastic bags).

Soft plastics area in Harike

Thus, the main goal of my different projects is to reduce the use of soft plastics or to reuse them.

The first project is the creation of cushion in soft plastics.

We implemented this project only in the intern house for the moment. Indeed, we collect our soft plastics (plastic bags, food packages…), then we wash them and we use them to cram the cushions (the cushions are made by tailors).

Washing of the waste

One cushion filled up with soft plastics

The second project is the reusable bags project.

To reuse soft plastics is a good idea but it would be better if we manage to stop the use of soft plastics and in particular plastic bags. Thus, this project is to make cloth bags to replace the plastic ones.

First, we picked up fabric scraps for free thanks to different tailors. Then, we found some women in the community who agreed to make bags with these fabric scraps. In exchange, we gave english courses to women who want it. For the ones who did not want English lessons (and made most of the bags), no compensation was asked as they said they were happy to sew the bags.

Thus, we managed to create 34 bags for the moment. The challenge now is to make sure that the community will use and reuse these bags.

Should we sell these bags ? Should we give these bags ? Should we work directly with the shopkeepers ?

Some of the reusable bags

Paralelly to these projects, I try to find some creations to do with plastics and I managed to make two things :

Pompoms in plastic bags

Bloom in plastic bottles (7 bottles)

Holidays and weekends

Some pictures of our weekends and visits 

Golden Temple, Amritsar

The Indo-Pakistani border

The wetland, Harike

Taj-Mahal, Agra

Gauthier Guerrar - France

SWASH Project Manager in Harike

Learning to learn

When I came to India with Debora, I did not know a lot about the culture and what to expect from Indians and their country. As a SWASH intern, many people in my country told me that India is very dirty with trash everywhere on the streets and that people do not respect the environment. However, I did not want to come here with assumptions and I was sure of one thing: this experience would change me and open my mind.

The beginning in the village was intense. We wanted to change everything as we had thousands of ideas to improve what we were observing - people burning their trash as well as throwing packaging on the floor, open drains where trash was floating, some trash in the fields and the cows eating it. I thought that the community were unconscious and we would have a lot of work just to make them realize what they were doing. We stayed for a week in a homestay during Induction. We shared all our evenings with the family, playing with the kids, learning Hindi, eating like crazy and of course discovering them. Thanks to these links that we’ve kept, I got a good opportunity to observe the way they are living and relate it to our SWASH project. We saw how they deal with water and trash, thus introducing us to the trash-picker of the village and helping us understand the different systems in India.

As an intern, you also travel a lot! We already went to Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Jodphur and Agra and there are still so many cities to discover. Everywhere you go, you can observe the habits and the ways of dealing with the waste in the different cities; people cleaning the open drainage, bins in the corners, men and women brooming in front of their doors - because their house has to be clean even if it means throwing everything in the streets - and even poor people collecting the trash such as hard plastic, glass, cardboards to sell it and earn money. You also see good habits like using reusable plates and glasses instead of plastic items, washing them in the shop without anyone thinking it’s unhygienic. These concrete examples made us picture the whole trash system outside of our small village and also gave us some ideas to develop, even if it is more difficult to initiate change in their way of thinking. Travelling is also a good way to understand how Indian people think as it is easier to meet English speaking Indians that we can communicate with, which is not always easy in our village with our poor Hindi. 

The more I meet and talk with people and the more I realize that they hate trash on the street and having to burn it because they feel it’s harming them as well as others. They would love to have a clean village and good health. Before globalization, they were using leaves and biodegradable materials to pack and transport items whereas now plastic is everywhere and in huge quantities. It is really hard to create a system and adapt it, especially in such a big and populated country! But the government started a campaign, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, to clean the country and it will take time but you can already see the impact on big cities. This can be a tool and a way to sensitize people in the village even if they already know that plastic is bad and have implemented their own system.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleaning the road to launch the campaign Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

After 3 months here, I realize how the assumptions I heard were wrong and that Indian people are every bit as smart as us. It is not because trash is everywhere that they do not care but they do not have other alternatives for now. It is exactly like in our Western countries some decades ago and honestly, do you really know what your trash becomes after the garbage man takes it from your house? We are here to help them develop a sustainable system but, since it will take time, we need to find alternatives in the meanwhile. EduCARE India's interns have many ideas such as reducing the plastic coming into the village, recycling soft plastic by filling sofas or pillows and still more innovation is to come. I still have so much more to learn from all the research we do on the Internet and in the field. I realize I did not know much when I arrived here and you could say I still know nothing but I’m learning every day and Indians opened my mind so much and most importantly, they taught me how to listen to people.

Camille Cristophe - France

SWASH Project Manager and Centre Project Coordinator in Gajner

Photovoltaic Solar Panel System Project

With EduCARE, some interns already did few projects in alternative energy to have a way to produce clean energy, and without harmful effect on the environment and the people, like biogas station, solar heating water system, windmill system... Studying electrical engineering in France, I wanted to provide to Educare a new way to produce energy (and especially electricity), that Educare still didn’t have implemented. So I it’s all naturally that I proposed a small PV solar panel project, to provide electricity to the Naddi ReStore.

Why in ReStore?

The ReStore in Naddi had no way to have electricity power, and therefore, no way to have light during the night, or to run electrical cooking device. With the PV solar panel system, ReStore is now fully electrical autonomous, and able to run cooking device such as blender and so facilitated the work of the girls, to charge small device such as Smartphone or small speaker, and so make the job for girl more comfortable, and to run an LED light and so open lately in the day or also during the night. For the future we are also thinking to provide a free internet Wi-Fi to ReStore customer to attract more people. 

PV solar panel installed on the roof of the ReStore

For whom this project is it for?

One of the main goals of this project is to make the job more pleasant and more comfortable for the girls. But with this project, my objective was also to show and present this mean of electricity production to the people and the community, create an interest in people for solar electricity production. The last goal of this project is to provide a base of documentation for other intern who would do this type of project in other center for future project, and therefore not have to have strong knowledge in electricity to install a PV solar panel system. 

But how does it work?

About the technical part, the system is very simple, the solar panel transforms the solar energy in an electric energy, and the energy is store in a battery. To control the flux of energy between the PV solar panel and the battery we use a small controller/regulator. And then we can directly use the energy thought the battery to run light and small device, or use an inverter to use bigger device (220V).

Synoptic of PV solar panel system

Thomas Lecomte - France

Alternative Energy Project Manager in Naddi 

First day in India

Everything started on the 5th of February 2016.

After many adventures to get my visa I closed my backpack and took the car to reach Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport. Unfortunately, there was a taxi strike (France you know!) and my departure depended on them. I wasn't sure that I will catch my plane because traffic was blocked for several kilometers to the entrance of the airport.

FINALLY I reached the airport, I ran as a crazy girl to register my baggage and I entered in the plane 5 minutes before the closure of boarding the plane. I found my colleague who will travel with me for the next few days. I was too stressed and I wanted to vomit, anyway I was in the plane guys!

8 hours after, we arrived in Indira Ghandi International Airport in Delhi. We didn't have any cash, any local money (smart) … No problem we were sure that it will be possible to get money in the ATM outside the airport. So we left the airport to get money but of course all of them were out of order otherwise it was not funny.

No worries, we tried to go back in the airport to get money. Of course, as the security told us it was impossible because we didn't have any plane to take. Damn we are blocked in the airport, without any money it's impossible to take the subway or the taxi to reach the main railway station..We wasted so much time to talk with the security hoping to enter in the airport. No way, even with our best smile it was not possible.

After I don't remember how much time we found a miracle, a sweet woman told us that her son will help us. We met her son, Ashia, he was so nice almost too nice that it felt weird. He called a taxi for us and asked him to drop us at an ATM in Delhi. He joined us in the taxi... I didn't really understand why and I had the impression to be in a scene of Taken 1.

Taken 1 scene

Fortunately the following is less dramatic.

Finally the taxi dropped us at the ATM, we had money, we said bye bye, thank you to Ashia, and the next incredible adventure could start. Few hours after, we reached the railway station to buy a train to reach Gajner, which is in Rajasthan, where we were expected for our induction.

There were so many people in the railway station but unfortunately from that billion people we asked to buy a ticket to the wrong person. The man told us that is impossible to buy a ticket here because we are foreigners. 

Typical situations in Indian Railway Stations

Because we are young, naive (and super tired for my defense..), we followed him in a governmental foreigners office.

He told us that there is no train, no bus, a big event in Delhi which meant that it will be impossible for us to find any hotel. He told us that he can provide us a taxi to reach Gajner. 

We knew that the man was lying to us, anyway the night fell, I don't want to spend more time in Delhi, this crazy city, and we are already late for our Induction. So unwillingly we accepted his proposition, took a taxi from Delhi to Gajner and pay 10 times more than if we took the train.

The way from Delhi to Gajner

Conviced to take a taxi was the best solution because I could sleep serenely and arrive fresh to the Induction...I was completely wrong ! Impossible to close my eyes since I realized I was about to cross the country with someone that I didn't know 5 minutes before.

To summarize,after throught the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, and going throughout several checkpoints, the taxi man who was supposed to drop us in Gajner, left us at 5 am on the side of the road (in Bikaner) 45 minutes from Gajner.

Definitely motivated to join Gajner, we took a rickshaw from Bikaner to Gajner at 5 am, in the most bitter cold of the desert in February. 

Travelling in the Rickshaw!

FINALLY around 6 am we arrived in Gajner and I don't know how we found the headquarters of EduCARE. Daniela, the experience coordinator was here to accomodate us with her best smile.

Ready for the next 4 months. Let's go, Jammin together!

Lina Machrouh - France

Women's Empowerment Project Manager in Rait