Letter to Students from GLA India 2015
Hello and Namaste to the India 2015 crew!
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I hope you are all doing well in your endeavors, whilst taking time to reflect on what you are doing and why.
As you all know, in India we can pretty much always expect the unexpected. I wanted to share three memories which demonstrate this well and how flexible you students were in dealing with the situations!
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During the June programme, we went on a 3-day trekking and camping trip into the Himalayas. As we set off the weather looked beautiful and fears that the monsoon rains might defeat us were far away. However, during the course of our first night, we soon realised we weren’t going to get away that easily and a massive thunderstorm struck. It soon occurred to me that my tent was feeling slightly wet under my sleeping mattress, and it hit me that, if my tent was flooding all the others would be too. So I jumped out into the torrential rain and did the rounds. Sure enough we had some soggy students. I alerted our local mentors and we sprang into action. We ran about like mad men in the dark in the downpour trying to rearrange bodies from the wet tents into the dry ones. The local staff all squeezed together making room for the students. Finally, everyone in a dry(ish) place, we laughed at the absurdity of the situation and not one complaint was to be heard.
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It’s so easy to get upset about things like this but everyone just took it as part of the Himalayan experience!
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My second memory is also from this trek (it was eventful). Our local mentors prepare everything for the trek, including the al fresco food. It’s challenging to prepare food in the mountains and they make the most delicious trek food I’ve ever had. What they never expect nor ask for is help from the students or mentors. So, to their surprise, they got offers of help to make chapatis over the fire, to collect fire wood for the evening and to wash the dishes in the morning. The students were so gracious in their offers to help and had no prompting whatsoever from Will and I. A proud moment.
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The third and final memory I want to share is of a very unexpected final day of the July programme with Max, Lorenza and Alejandro. As we had three students left (all the others had flown out), Elise planned a food tour of Old Delhi. We were all excited about this but really did not expect what was about to occur! We spent 4 hours, yes 4 hours, sampling the delights that our guide so expertly put in front of us from Indian sweets to meat kebabs to kulfi to parantha. It was a mind-blowing overview of Indian food and each time we approached the next ‘food stop’ our eyes lit up. Our three students were so game and just could not believe their eyes or taste buds and I think I’m correct when I say they’ll remember that day for years to come. As we waved them goodbye at the airport, Max was still saying “this was the best day of the programme!!”. We hope it will be included in future GLA India programmes because so much about experiencing another country is wrapped up in the food.
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Well, all that’s left to say is that we experienced many unexpected moments this year as always, making India 2015 a true lesson in life!
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Best wishes to all of you guys,
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Vaila
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Some more snippets from 2015:
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Owen and Nola helping the kids make a ‘hand print tree’ for the wall of their daycare placement
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Chloe, Joanna and Rachel’s faces dropping during storytime with the kids when they realised Indian story books are somewhat ‘different’ to Western ones!
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Elizabeth and Emma making storybooks with their placement kids
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Kabbadi!
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Sachin’s chai (it has to be mentioned)
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Prince Ambi and his weird and wonderful contributions to our programme
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Planting new trees near our Himalayan campsite
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Andi as leader of the day, unforgettable!
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July group’s amazing efforts to fundraise for local slum kids
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