February 10, 2015: When a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity Happens Twice

I’ve know from a very young age the importance of helping others and making an impact in their lives.  I remember when I was 10 years old, listening to my best friend’s father share his stories of those he had volunteered his time to support in rural Africa – and of those who still needed the help more than ever. I sat in amazement, listening and realizing that one day, I too wanted to visit and help.  It became a life long dream I never knew how I would make a reality until 2013 when I was lucky enough to be on the SC Cares Board that went to Maai Mahiu, Kenya.


This once in a lifetime opportunity provided me with the chance to work with a fantastic organization along side some of the best people.  We met amazing people and I came back a changed person.

With some hard work and a little more luck, I carried over to the 2014 board and that once in a lifetime opportunity came around for the second time.  Only this time the project wasn’t in Africa, it was in India.

India, a place that wasn’t really on my bucket list,  seemed so far away to me, and for a number of reasons, getting excited was a little difficult.

The purpose of the project for India was similar to the project in Kenya – help a community to learn and grow.  We had weekly meetings with the gentlemen from Jatan who were all friendly and thrilled we were coming.  We planned out what we were about to undertake, booked an exciting adventure for our weekend off and began to learn about the culture we were going to visit.

We boarded not one, but three planes and in all that I still wasn’t getting pumped up.  Everything seemed like a haze or a dream and I was just walking through it.  It wasn’t until we were driving through Udaipur and pulled over to for a look at one of the lakes that it really hit me.

As we began to meet the people we were to work with it was clear that the colour and energy felt around it came from the people themselves.  Their excitement for the potential we bring with us shined as brightly as that pink camel.

 
As I looked around, the true beauty of India woke me up and I became excited for the potential of what we could accomplish here!

Tara Bradbury
DWC/Softchoice Volunteer Participant
India. February 10, 2015.

June 7th: Final thoughts and a return to Nepal

Shortly after leaving India, we found out about an incident that happened in a village where three women were raped while trying to find privacy to go to the bathroom in the desert. It put our whole project into a better perspective and made us grateful that the village of Morra where we worked will have a safe, clean and private bathrooms for women. It's not exactly a project that you think of as being important right off the bat, but we realized just how important it will be.

Jatan is a wonderful organization and they do so much in so many different villages - it's remarkable. I'd also like to point out that Kailash. Jatan's director, is the nicest and calmest man in the world. He has set up Jatan with a good philosophy and strong foundation. I really liked how when we were at the office for lunch and chai breaks, we were treated as any other employee or volunteer was, and were not given "celebrity status" as they would call it. We had meals cooked for us, but after meals, everyone washed their own dishes by hand. The office workers continued their work while we were there and we often had to be quiet while they were on the phone or working. I just appreciated how they welcomed us kindly, but then took us seriously and treated us the same they treat all their employees. It stood out to me because the work they do is to promote gender equality and fairness, so it's great that this philosophy starts within the organization itself.

We were made to write a daily report for Jatan every day about what we did and what we learned. Every day a different person wrote the report. We would often meet at the dinner table before eating, for a sort of reflection on the day, and finish our daily report then and there. At this time we might also write the blog post for the day. It gave us a chance to talk about what we were doing and check in every day. It was so great, and it is something that other team leaders may find helpful. If I ever lead a trip again, I will for sure do this because it helped everyone (the NGO and ourselves).

So from India, I came straight to Nepal. That was about 2 days ago now. When I arrived in Nepal, I met my mom here and we met Dinesh and Nura from Creating Possibilities Nepal, as well as their families and they had us for dinner. We met Michelle from IWEN which is another Canadian partner organization supporting CP Nepal along with Developing World Connections. It was really special to see Nura and Dinesh after one year after my first DWC volunteer trip, and share stories! I may even be going back to Dang and visiting the classroom that I helped build last year!

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
May 2014

June 1st: A final namaste in poetic form

A final namaste (a poem for my team and for our new friends):

4 weeks ago our team left Canada
Vienna, Vikas, Eunice, Vita, Ana and Mariana.
We met Jatan and our guide Chirag-Ji,
who introduced us to India - the culture and biscuits called Parle-G.
Chirag rapped to Akon.
Our car had air-con.
Many carries were shared, and cows and camels scared,
as we ventured through the Rajasthani desert.

One day we visited a temple.
We went to a health centre and women's empowerment meetings.
We embraced new situations with patience,
and gave children and villagers namaste greetings.

Our team's flexibility was admired by all.
We worked in the 40 degree heat and thankfully no one had a fall.

One weekend we took a bus and a train.
We made it inside just before the rain.

We played Stella Stella ola with our new friends.
It really felt like our routine would never come to an end.

Many funny things happened every day.
Encounters with wildlife, public transportation, and just funny things people say.

Despite a language barrier in communication,
We managed to finish a bathroom's foundation.

We never imagined to become so attached
to people and places as we travel.
But with an exceptional group, brought together by fate,
We will not soon forget India and the warm dusty gravel.

Taking part in women's empowerment meetings and gatherings in small villages around the district of Rajsamand

Pooja, our good friend who came to the worksite every day and even helped carry rocks and cement.

Uur young friends at the worksite

A woman who worked at a laundry shop in Udaipur with her grandson.

Saying goodbyes and giving thanks to Jatan for this experience.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Udaipur, India May 2014

May 29th: Dinner out wearing saris!

The highlight of today was buying saris and going out for one final dinner with Kailash and Om, two directors at Jatan Sansthan. It was a struggle, but we managed to tie the saris ourselves, and they didn't fall apart!

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Udaipur, India: May 2014

May 28th: Saying goodbye to our host family & Vikas

We packed our bags last night and said goodbye to our host family early this morning. They have been so hospitable and accommodating during our entire stay and we were so glad to stay with them and experience village life! We are going to miss waking up to a cup of chai brought to our bedside, made with spices and fresh milk from our family's cows. We are going to miss the rooftop with the most incredible view of the stars on a clear night. We are going to miss the food and our new Indian little brother who always wanted to play games on our phones. Most of all, I think we will miss the warmth of family that we got to watch and also be a part of for a short while.

Our final dinner with our host family!

When we got back to Udaipur we went for a tuk tuk ride in search of a restaurant to eat lunch at. We found one, and fittingly, it was the same one that we had our very first lunch of the trip, one month ago! We came back to the hotel and finished a Bollywood movie on Vikas' laptop that we started last week. 

 In the afternoon, Vikas' cousin came to pick him up as he continues his travels in India to visit family. Our little group became even little-er, with just Vita, Mariana and Ana left. Eunice, Vienna, Chirag and Vikas - we miss you! Wherever you are right now... 

Vita, Ana and Mariana
DWC U30 Team Leader and Volunteer Participants
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 27th: Last day of construction on the women's washroom project

We woke up early today and were treated to a breakfast of rice flakes made my our house mother, Saneha. Then we drove straight to the worksite, a few small villages away for our last day of construction. The masons and kids waved at our car as soon as it turned off the main road and down the short bumpy path to the location of the almost-finished bathroom. Man, are we ever going to miss this place!

We hopped out of the car and went straight to work, comfortable with the routine now. We mix "masala" (aka cement) with shovels and water from the nearby water trough that the cows drink out of. We carry the cement in "tagaris" (aka small metal bowls about the size of ones people use to bake cakes and cookies) on our heads and up steps made out of bricks up to the foundation of the new bathroom. We spread the cement on top of brick layers with metal tools resembling spatulas and we lay the bricks, lining them up with strings.

The day went by quickly and we had so much fun with the kids today. We stacked bricks around a small boy named Rahul who stood still and giggled as he began to be trapped in a rectangular brick box. We played Stella Stella Ola and drank chai our of small plastic cups and when it finally came to say goodbye for the final time we gave hugs all around and waved goodbye through the car window with tears in our eyes.

This is a photo of Shankar and Shanta, two of the villagers working with us and their two sons, during a chai break.

Though the bathroom is not complete, it is almost finished, with just a roof and some more stalls to build. We can't wait to see the finished product via photos or maybe even in person if we ever return to India!

Vita Sackvill-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Banediya, India: May 2014

May 26th: A farewell party for the remaining volunteers

After a fun-packed weekend, we started the day off early since we had to head back to Banediya to continue on the construction work. Sadly, we had to say our final goodbyes to Chirag before leaving since he was leaving later that day to his trip to Mauritius! We all promised that it would not be a goodbye forever though, just a see you later. Vita, Vikas, Ana, Mariana, and Azad then rode all the way back quiet, absorbed into our own thoughts with sad-movie music playing in the background. The car felt empty with Eunice, Vienna and Chirag missing.

We finished two rounds of construction, one before lunch and one after lunch. We are finally making visible progress and we get to start laying bricks which is much less technical than fitting stones and cement together like a puzzle to build a foundation (which is what we had been doing for the past week and a half).

Standing in front of the brick wall with some local children.

In the late afternoon, Jatan threw us a farewell party where all the staff, construction workers and representatives were invited. It was nice to formally talk about our experiences and share some funny and inspiring stories over a cup of chai and some handmade sweets. We were given a traditional Rajasthani farewell by receiving scarves and tikis (small red dots between the eye brows or the position of the "third eye"). To our surprise, our group was also interviewed on camera for the local news.

The remaining team members with Jatan's Kailash (far left) and Om (far right).

Although we held a farewell party, we decided that we want our work tomorrow since we have one more day in Banediya before heading back to Udaipur.

Vita Sackville-Hii and Mariana
DWC U30 Team Leader and Volunteer Participant
Banediya, India: May 2014

May 25th: More farewells and "American" treats

In the morning, Vienna and Vita went back to Railmagra with Chirag to pick up Vienna's bags from our host family. Vienna had to change her flights last minute and she will be leaving us tonight. While Chirag was gone, Mariana, Vikas and Ana put together a scrapbook of pictures and quotes to give to him as a farewell gift and a thank you for being the best translator. He will also be leaving us tomorrow morning. Our group just keeps shrinking!

On their way back from the village, Vita, Vienna and Chirag stopped by a mall in the city to have lunch and they ordered pizza from Pizza Hut for the rest of the team. The cheesy paneer pizza was delicious!

On the way to drop off Vienna to the airport for her evening flight, we had milkshakes at an "American" diner. And gave Chirag his present during dinner. It is amazing to see the contrast of lifestyles in India - how we can be in a rural village and a fancy mall in the same day. India is a new world that continues to inspire, shock and surprise us. One final farewell to Vienna at the airport and just like that she was gone. Fittingly, it began to rain for the first time in weeks.

Tomorrow we head back to the village for a couple more days of construction. It will not be the same without the rest of our team and our translator! We will try to make the most of every moment we spend in this beautiful place.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 24th: Camel and boat rides in Udaipur

Today was the first day of a wonderful weekend spent in Udaipur to relax, recharge, and enjoy each other's company. We began the day with some much needed sleep! At noon, we left the hotel to find a quaint rooftop restaurant where we had lunch and enjoyed a view of Pichola Lake. The hike up 7 flights of narrow winding stairs was so worth it.

After lunch we decided to go to Fateh Sagar Lake for a camel ride and boat ride! The camel rides were bumpier than expected which made the ride even more fun as we laughed atop these massive mammals.

After that we zoomed around on a speedboat while the late afternoon sun glittered on top of the lake, pinkish orange.

To end off the day, we went out for a fancy dinner at a 5 star hotel in Udaipur. Poor Vikas must have been exhausted because he fell asleep at the dinner table. All of us enjoyed paneer butter masala, naan, and other assorted curries and gravies - topping it off with rose ice cream. Yummmm!

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Udaipur, India: May 2014

May 23rd: Week #3 in photos

Here we are hanging out in front of Jatan's office in Railmagra. We are sitting with Jatan staff member, Om (far left), our driver, Azad (second from right) and our translator, Chirag (far right).

On Tuesday night, we watched a Bollywood movie with a group of school kids that attend programs run by Jatan.

 The foundation of the women's washroom is coming along quickly!

Time for a chai break!

The construction crew in front of our complete wall on Wednesday.

 Mango break!

 Hanging around at the work site and enjoying the shade.

We were interviewed for the local paper!

Vienna poses with a giant bag of Parle G cookies, our new favourite to eat while drinkin chai.

 Visiting a temple.

Vita Sackville-Hii

DWC U30 Team Leader
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 20th: A recap of the team's work

As for our project work, we have finally almost completed the base of a building that any will be a women's bathroom. Our small team of six has been working so hard and it is really incredible to see the progress we have made with thee help of some masons and an engineer from the village. With about 1 week to go of work days, our goal is to start the brick walls and finish the building foundation so women can begin to use the structure as a private bathing, washing and toilet area - which is something in this village that they don't even get in their own home.

A group of girls came to visit the team at the project site!

A mother who is working on the project shows us her beautiful henna designs.

Our daily visits have been very eye-opening as well. We do not have a visit every day, but some days we go to women empowerment meetings, police stations, health centres, temples, or people's homes. We are always greeted with a small cup of chai and a place to sit and talk. Yesterday our "chai count" reached a new record of 8 cups of chai as the daily total per person!

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 16th: Women's help line & police station in Rajsamand

Today we had a day off work to visit the Jatan office in a different village called Rajsamand. We learned about a women's help line that Jatan runs for all of India. Women can call at any time of day for anything, whether they need help or have questions or want resources.

The team sitting in on a women's meeting in Rajsamand.

We visited the Rajsamand police station and got a tour. In the police station, there are two women counsellors trained to specifically deal with family conflict in cases of dowry arguments, and they were brought there because of Jatan.

In some rural village,s a women's family must give a dowry in the form of money, animals and possessions to the man she is marrying. If the woman is from a poor family, it is difficult for them to find a husband who is willing to accept a small dowry, and so there is conflict around this issue.

Later in the afternoon we visited the beautiful Rajsamand lake. It was the perfect end to a day off work.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Rajsamand, India: May 2014

May 11-12th: Visiting a health centre & experiencing an Indian wedding

Hi everyone!

We are able to access wifi on our lunch breaks at the Jatan office in Railmagra, so I'll give you some quick updates!

This past weekend we visited Mt. Abu, a four hour drive from our village. There is a beautiful lake called Nakki Lake and lots of Indian tourists. On Sunday, we went peddle boating on the lake.

Yesterday, we worked in the morning and then visited a health centre in the afternoon. The health centre serves as a hospital for over 50 villages around Railmagra and there are only 4 doctors! We were shocked when they invited us on a tour through the maternal delivery room and the infant and mother's care centre when we were covered in dust and dirt from construction. Some of the babies were so tiny and some of the mothers were 18 years old or younger.

In the evening we were invited to an Indian wedding. For some of our group, it was their first time seeing one! We got so many stares, especially while dancing, but it was a lot of fun!

Today we worked in the morning and we are currently having lunch that consists of cantaloupes, papaya, chapati, rice, daal and potatoes. We are also planning this weekend's trip to Jaipur and Agra to see the Taj Mahal!

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC Team Leader
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 9th: Women's empowerment meeting

Today, we sat in on a women's empowerment meeting in a rural village in Rajasthan. Women here are under the ownership of men for their whole lives. When they're young they report to their father, when they're married they report to their husband and when their husband dies they report to their sons. In the village, married women are not allowed to show their faces in public or when there is a presence of a male so they cover themselves in sarees. The violence women experience here is economical, social and emotional. We compared this violence against women to ways in which women are discriminated around the world and living in Canada does not protect us from this. As a protest, we joined the NGO Jatan in writing slogans on the walls of buildings around the village. There is still so much to be done to give for women's rights all over the world.

Vienna Lam
DWC Volunteer Participant
Dhaneriyagadh, India: May 2014

May 7th: Starting work on the women's washroom project

We left early for the Jatan office in Railmagra, where we had breakfast of corn flakes (in hot milk), poha (rice flakes), and bananas. Then we visited our project site for the first time. This is where we are to construct a community washroom for women over the next several weeks. However, as of now, all that is present is a plot of dirt with few linked narrow canals dug in.

We dug in the morning in 40+degree weather, took a chai break after 15 minutes and went back to work before lunch. After lunch we rested and resumed clearing the canals of dirt. Tomorrow we will be laying bricks and cement to construct walls.

While we were working some local children came to watch us. They are on summer break from May until July. When we took a rest under a large tree, we made some new friends and taught them how to play Stella Stella Ola and then they sang ABC for us.

We waved goodbye as we walked to a nearby house in the village of Morra to sit in on a youth meeting, a project sponsored by Jatan. The meeting happens once a month for children as co-curricular learning and a chance for them to learn social and personal responsibility. These kids are told to look up to leaders such as Gandhi to stand up against injustices they may experiences in their families and villages. They attend government schools where some teachers do not show up or teach according to the curriculum because they are paid either way. The youth group aims to let children know that they deserve a proper education and that they can speak up if their teachers are not teaching.

On the road today, we picked up a small turtle and saved him from getting run over. We named him "uger" like the Jatan initiative because we gave him/her a "new beginning". We also saw part of Indian wedding as village women paraded down the streets singing and later there was load music and celebrations. Our guide Chirag G tells us it is wedding season in Rajasthan. Fun!

Later in the evening, we rested and snacked on chai and Parle G glucose cookies. They taste like baby cookies only more tasty, especially with chai.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC Team Leader
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 6th: Our new home in Railmagra

We had our bags on for the roof of a car heading to Railmagra. Thankfully, there was air conditioning!

We are staying with a family in their small house equipped with a television and electricity which often shuts off, cows which our house mother Snarha milks twice a day, a pet parrot which our house father GS loves, an open air kitchen and one indoor washroom. Vienna, Mariana and Ana sleep in GS's brother's house next door, and Eunice,Vikas, and myself have rooms in GS and Snarha's home.

Today we visited Jatan's office in Railmagra and had lunch of rice, daal, chapati, bananas and cucumber. After that, we met 6 girls that Jatan had adopted and given a scholarship to go to school. All were under 20 years old, and two were married. We made arts and crafts with them. A girl named Reeka discovered one of our cameras and took a bunch of pictures and videos. The girls also did beautiful heena designs on our arms and palms. Vikas and Chirag were brave enough in join in the heena party too.

We headed back to our house, and after a late dinner, we had a wonderful sleep.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC Team Leader
Railmagra, India: May 2014

May 5th: Visiting Jatan's office

Today's breakfast menu: Nutella crepes and grilled cheese with peanut butter that we brought. Delicious!

Today we visited the Jatan Sansthan office. It was a short 10 minute drive from our hotel. Chirag, our trusty guide, picked us up. He is our new best friend who is friendly, knowledgeable and answers every question we throw his way. Fun fact: he is in post graduate studies in English literature and he enjoys reading Shakespeare.

We met Kailash, the head of the office, and other executive of Jatan Sansthan, who were all so welcoming! They gave us care packages filled with hats, notebooks, pens, first aid kits, biscuits, water bottles, working gloves and info packets. They are worried about how we are handling the heat as May and June are the hottest months in Rajasthan with temperatures reaching up to 45 degrees. We are taking it slow and drinking litres upon litres of paani (water) every day.

We went out for lunch which consisted of chana (chickpeas), daal (lentils), rice, roti, naan and lassis (sweet yogurt drinks). At lunch, we learned how to properly pronounce "lassi" and eat the traditional Indian way with one hand.

After lunch we had a presentation about UGER which means "new beginnings". It is one of Jatan's programs that empowers women and supports their menstrual health. They make reusable sanitary pads out of cotton for women as a micro finance project . They also aim to increase the discussion around menstrual health and "put the 'men' in menstruation" as it is taboo here in India and also all over the world, including in Canada. Menstruation is often something hidden and not talked about even though it is an essential and natural part of human reproduction.

In the evening, Chirag took us to buy long sleeve shirts at a tailor shop with any colour or pattern you wanted and each for about 300 rupees, which is $6.

We went to bed early again and packed our bags to leave in the morning for Railmagra, the village where our building project will take place.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC Team Leader
Udaipur, India: May 2014