An amazing trek for my holidays

“I’m not going to make it, I’m not going to make it,” I kept thinking to myself as I focused on my feet while trekking uphill. I didn’t want to look up because I knew it would be hours of uphill until we reached the pass. In fact, there was so much uphill I couldn’t even see the top.  I was trekking through the most beautiful part of India, and I was dying.

On Day 1 of the trek from Zingchen

During the two weeks of holiday I took during my internship, I discovered my favorite place in India. I traveled to Ladakh in Northern India with fellow interns, Harmonie and Whitney, and for a lack of better words, it was freaking epic! Ladakh is a high altitude desert (over 3000 meters) and is surrounded by the most breathtaking landscapes. We traveled two days by bus to reach Ladakh and we passed Taglangla the second highest pass in the world (5,328 meters) on the way. Normally I would cringe with the thought of taking a two days bus ride, but the views made even the bus ride enjoyable.

Me on the second highest pass in the world

I went on a three day trek from Zingchen to Chilling and I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. Maybe it was the altitude putting me in a daze, but I never imagined mountains in a desert to be so beautiful. The beauty was definitely well earned too: at one point I had to count my steps in order to keep from collapsing... I was so out of breath. Five sets of 8 and then a break. Needless to say I was last in our trekking group.

We made it to the top of the pass (5.000m)

Ladakh is also home to countless Buddhist monasteries and we were able to visit a couple in Hemis and Thiksay. It seemed like a very peaceful place to practice Buddhism and it gave me the sense that they had all the time in the world to reach enlightenment.

Future Buddha at Thiksay monastery

As Educare plans to open a centre in Leh next summer, I think about all the lucky interns who will be able to work there. It was such a magical place, I will definitely be coming back again…maybe as an Educare intern!

Michelle Fujisaki - USA

HR Coordinator, Maiti (Himachal Pradesh)

Protesting in Harike

During the whole time I have spent in India or any country, I have never experienced anything like what recently occurred in a rural town of Punjab. It was the biggest and most extreme protest I had ever seen.

It all started because someone had ripped pages out of a holy book. People started protesting about that and while the police was trying to deal with the situation, one officer shot into the crowd and killed two people. The protest got bigger and then a local man went on a food fast for five days in protest and died. Which made the protesting bigger because he died on duty. The day I saw the protest that guy had just died and they were doing rituals and prayers for him. After that, they burnt his body. All roads in the area had been blocked by the protestors, which had caused a great upheaval to all the transportation throughout the state.

But what made the protest very intense was that 90% of the protestors were carrying weapons. Now the weapons weren’t guns or anything but they were swords, axes, huge sticks, spears, etc. I found this very extreme even though I have lived in India before and seen a lot of intense stuff. But later when I thought about it, I realised that if something similar had happened in Australia then maybe people would react in almost the same way. Maybe not with weapons, but if all that had happened in Australia you would have had a very similar response from the public. A holy object was defiled, two people were shot and killed by the police and someone died while doing a food fast in protest. Maybe a situation like that wouldn’t end up so extreme in Australia, but people would still be very angry and I think it would cause almost the same effect as it did in India. It made me think “are we really that different from each other?” and I came to the conclusion that yes we have different cultures, backgrounds, values, morals, religion, etc.; but at the end of the day we are all the same, we are all human, with human emotions and reactions.

I have been coming to India since 2010 and I have never really thought the similarities between all humans in this way until this incident. I think I always knew, but seeing this situation really made it clear to me. We may look different, speak different languages and have different life styles, but we are all humans and most people would react the same no matter where they are in the world if something like that had happened in their country.

Ethan Donovan - Australia

Harike Center Manager, Harike (Punjab)

Camel Trekking in the Thar Desert

One of the nicest aspects of volunteering in EduCARE’s Gajner office is the seemingly unlimited options for travel on the weekends. Situated in a central location in Rajasthan, Gajner has access to more interesting places than imaginable. A short overnight train or bus can bring you to the blue city of Jodhpur, the white city of Udaipur, the pink city of Jaipur or, my personal favorite, the golden city of Jaisalmer:

View of Jaisalmer from the Fort

Jaisalmer Fort 

I decided to do a short weekend trip to Jaisalmer towards the end of my time with EduCARE with a fellow intern. The trip involved a 6hr overnight bus ride that dropped us off at 5am. We were quickly bombarded with tuktuk drivers trying to bring us to their sponsored hotel, but thankfully our previously booked guesthouse sent a man to fend them off long enough for us to get into his taxi. After a short rest and some breakfast, we were ready to grab a tuk-tuk and hit the city.

Tuk-tuks waiting for tourists near the bus stand

My favorite thing to do when visiting a new city is to go to the center square and proceed to get lost. This allows you to see a side of the city that the standard tourist misses. For example, scorching hot slides in the middle of a desert!

Playing with the slide, an uncommon tourist attraction

After a few hours of exploration, we somehow managed to find our way back to our guesthouse and proceeded to plan our next adventure: a camel trek in the desert. Having zero knowledge on how a camel trek is even organized, we opted to ask for help from the owner of the guesthouse we were staying at. Enter Abu, a widely eccentric man named who is constantly talking about how life is “mama mia.” We arranged to do an overnight trip that involved camping under the Rajasthani stars. But first, we had to learn how to get comfortable around these beasts:

Mamma Mia

After a few failed attempts of grappling on top of my camel unsurprisingly named “Mama Mia,” we set off into the deep desert. I found it interesting how much greenery there was in this desolate place. I also found it interesting how difficult it was to take a clear picture while riding a camel.

Slightly out of focus

After two uncomfortable hours on top of Mama Mia, we finally reached our destination. It was amazing seeing the drastic changes in the scenery during the ride. All the previous green rolling hills had turned to bright hues of yellow. We immediately hopped off the camels and stretched before racing to the tallest dune we could find.

Me on top of a dune while the sun sets behind

Sunset quickly came, and the stars soon followed. I had never seen stars as bright as they were that night. Unfortunately, my amateur photography skills failed to capture the moment. But it was an incredible evening. Even the giant beetles that seemed to constantly gravitate towards us contributed to what I would say was the best two days I experienced in India.

Amazing sunset in the desert

“No hurry no worry, no chicken no curry, no honey no money, no woman no cry, no hi, no bye, no chai, no chapatti, life is mama mia” – Abu desert safari man.

Alex Grainere - USA

Microfinance Project Manager, Gajner (Rajasthan)

In the migrant camp you will always be welcomed with happy smiles

My experience at EduCARE has been a wonderful one with its own ups and downs. For some their expectations are served, for some they aren’t but for me I stood right in the middle of the bridge. This one month has been a glimpse of an independent life that lies ahead of me. I have learnt things I couldn't get my head at in a year. When I first started off, I was really skeptical. Being away from home isn’t easy for anyone after all. Even so, it whelped a sense of enthusiasm and curiosity of what lays ahead.

I started working from the very day I arrived at the centre and on the first day itself I knew it was going to be an experience worth a lifetime. I managed the migrant camp and at first I felt disconnected. It was later in time that all the kids became a family to me and I would look forward each day to see them. Wherever you go, you will find imperfections but what matters the most is that part of the day which makes you overlook them all. For me, going to the kids was that part. Whenever I arrived I was welcomed by a huge hug from Rajesh followed by Suman’s laughter and Sonyabathi’s smile. As I left, I was departed with kisses. If this isn’t worthy of all the work then I don't know what is. 

This country has vast amount of difference among cultures from state to state thus there’s adaptation required by everyone who doesn’t belong here but it's only a matter of days until the community flings their arms wide open to welcome you into their home and in their lives. It's a milestone to know that you can change someone’s life for the better. I understood my aim of being here from the very day of my arrival. Like any other person, all the people at migrant camp might seem disinterested at first due to constant changes taking place but with time, they adapt to you. Its nice to know that however your day went at the centre, you will always be welcomed with happy smiles in the mid of your day which sets the tone of your day right. 

The fellow interns at my centre made the house at Rait a home. I am taking back a handful of great friends with experiences I will never forget. EduCARE has a strangely nice way of working which I began to admire by the last week I had left here. There is no delegation so you assume responsibilities and learn the importance of self initiative. It works by such a flexible way that even when the managers and the owner itself is with you, you don’t feel challenged. My centre was like a chamber for all animals to reside in, be it a tiger or a deer, all resided in one spot. I am going to miss the thought of “I want to go to Rait” on my weekends. EduCARE is a very unique organisation and the experience is all a mix of bitter and sweet. This was the tale of my one month here and I hope I come back next time for even a longer tale.

Ashna and Puja with the children of the migrant camp in Rajol 

Ashna Nain - India

ASP Project Manager, Rait (Himachal Pradesh)

Leaving Dal Lake

September 30th, 2015 is a day that we, the Naddi interns, won't forget. Everything had to be removed from the office/intern house of Dal Lake on this day, after months of waiting for the new houses to be built. There, some facilities are still not available and the shower room has apparently no wall to give intimacy in one of the houses… But the houses are built and most of the rooms are ready to welcome interns. So, in the morning, we started to pack our stuff in boxes. There were hundreds of books, bags full of medicines, broken things, electronic waste etc. After packing, we took a little break to take lunch at Cebu’s café, just next to the office. Cebu was sad to see us leave. We are one of his dearest customers and the move will make it hard to see him that often. So we proposed him to move next to the new office!

As requested, the truck driver arrived more or less at the time we asked him to. That’s a big achievement in India! It took at least 2 hours to move the stuff in the truck. Everyone was there to help. Step by step, the rooms were completely emptied. Everything was ready to go. But another work waited us: cleaning the rooms. It took a while to clean everything correctly. Then, the rooms were completely empty. There was nothing… It was an emotional moment to leave Dal Lake, a place full of life and memories. When seeing the empty rooms, I thought we couldn’t leave without keeping visual souvenirs of the Dal Lake house. I hope these photos I took will keep the memories alive

Getting everything on the truck before leaving Dal Lake

After taking a last look at the empty rooms, we left the office to carry everything to the new buildings. The truck driver brought us to the ‘Blue house’ where all the personal stuff from interns of the Dal Lake house waited for us. Few minutes of effort and the work was done. The move ended. It was exhausting but it was an amazing experience to move a whole office and an entire apartment with the other interns. It was a good way to reinforce teamwork spirit in Naddi. It offered us the opportunity to discover everything that past interns left for us, intentionally or not. And it remind us some great moments we had in Dal Lake, like the last BBQ party we had.

Chalk drawing in the Dal Lake house

Now, we have to think about the future. Let's make the ‘Blue house’ and the new interns house lively places as Dal Lake was. And let's start a new experience in EduCARE!

Kevin Sundareswaran – France

SWASH Project Manager, Naddi

Eco-kitchen, a way to fight the unbearable heat inside the house

When I arrived to Gajner one of the first things I realised was how incredibly horrible it was to cook there. There wasn’t any type of ventilation and we had to turn the fan every time the fire was lit. Beside that, considering that sometimes at night we had 40 degrees, cooking there was literally like tucking into a sauna. It was unbearable.

I was ordered to build an open kitchen on the rooftop and a room for more interns to sleep there. When I arrived, there was not enough space for everybody and some interns had to sleep on the outside. At the same time, I started working on two technical projects: the solar project, from Johann Kieffer and Vjay and the sand filter. It was about building a solar panel on the rooftop in order to obtain hot water for cooking and for the shower. The sand filter project, from Lucía Villamayor consisted on two sand filters, one on the terrace and the other one down in Manoj´s backyard, our logistics manager and neighbour. The sand filter aimed at cleaning the dirty water used for washing in order to reuse it to supply a small garden. We realized soon that the most logical idea was to make everything work together as an Eco-Kitchen, by fixing the hot water tap and putting there the sand filter.

For the Eco-Building I started with the material: Bamboo. It is very common and popular in Asian architecture and it still remains an integral part of their lives. Moreover, it is incredibly flexible, resistant and cheap, and it is more sustainable than normal wood since it’s production doesn’t waste a lot of energy. In addition, during the growth period the bamboo has a positive influence on the climate of the region and helps to control erosion and floods. So it was perfect for the Eco-Building project, in spite of not being endemic of Rajasthan (bamboo can not grow in desert areas and had to be imported from more humid places of India). 

The Eco-Kitchen that I designed is basically a bamboo enclosure of 2.7m per 6m, with a sloping roof that sheds rainwater sinks toward the terrace. It presents a versatile philosophy, which means that the space can be adapted for different uses such as kitchen, bedroom, meeting room, etc. The walls are designed to be movable and placed in different positions. The roof is made of small bamboos that are supporting a tarpaulin that can be put on or removed as needed. Finally, the design takes into account the location and the possible climate issues during the year.

I would like to say that I like the result of my work on the Eco-Building project, but I am specially proud and excited about the solar project and the water sanitation project. Some people got really interested on those projects and are currently trying to do the same in other places. At that moment I felt that we were doing something great and beautiful for the community.

 

Enrique working on the Eco-kitchen on the rooftop of the interns' house in Gajner

Enrique Reig Navarro - Spain

Eco-building project manager, Gajner (Rajasthan)