INDIA – Service in the Himalayas – July 7

7/7/2015

Everyone is here and happy, eating our first meal in Amritsar! Tomorrow we venture to the golden temple and then off to Dharamshala!

7/10/2015

So today after breakfast we went to our volunteer placement groups. Jess and I taught young kids English by volunteering at a day care center. Other students volunteered at other day care centers and summer camps. We came back after 3 hours and had a western meal for lunch. During lunch we discussed our progress in our volunteer placements and talked about our excursion for the day.

In our excursion for the day we visited a local slum in Dharamsala. We were greeted by excited loving children from the slum who grabbed students and staff by the hand, escorting them into their home. In the slum students took many pictures with the children and learned about education in the slums. After we left the slum we went to a hostel for designed for children from the slum to be educated funded through Tong-Len. “Tong-Len’s Child Sponsorship program allows children from Charan slum to attend school daily while living in the enriched environment of the Tong-Len hostels.”

After we returned from our excursions for the day we had a long and emotional talk about our privileges and circumstances. Students wrote about their experiences in their journals and had a thoughtful reflection about the day. We returned with happy faces and had an amazing Indian meal. After dinner we had a group game led by Jess and I that helped students get to know each other a little better. After watching a Bollywood movie everyone went back to their rooms and got ready for bed.

Two photos: one from placement, the other from the visit to the slum

7/11/2015

Today started out with a good Indian breakfast. After that we got in the taxis and made our way to the Hindu Temple where we met our guide who showed us around and explained the teachings of Hinduism and the differences as well as the similarities to western religion.

We then went down to the river where we saw a shrine of a Hindu god carved into the rocks. Afterwords we had some free time to take in the atmosphere of the temple. Then we made our way down to the taxis and saw a cremations site and saw the significance that it plays in the local culture. Then we hiked to McLeod Ganj which is the tourist area of Dharamsala. We ate a good Indian lunch and then made our way to the temple of his holyness, the Dalai Lama. Our guide explained to us the basics of Tibetan Buddhism. We then saw Monks and learned about the daily lives in the Monistary. We then saw monks. We then took the holy pilgrimage walk around the temple. We also saw the residence of the Dalai Lama. Afterwords we had some free time to shop in the McLeod Ganj. We went back to home base and ate another Indian dinner, followed by a movie about the Dalai Lama. Exhausted we got in bed excited for the big hike the next day.

-Max And Zachary

7/12/2015

We started the day preparing ourselves with a heavy meal before the hike. This was the first hike we’ve ever done before, so we didn’t know what to expect. After breakfast we gathered all necessities needed for the trek, water, warm clothes, rain gear, extra socks, umbrellas, etc. We left the home base at 9:30 AM, and arrived at the start of the trail at around 10:00 AM.

The beginning of the hike was smooth, but it gradually became more intense as the trail became steeper. We drank as much water as we can to stay hydrated. After about an hour we reached the midpoint of the hike, where we stopped to take a break for some Chai tea and enjoy a nice view along with it. The place where we stopped for tea, The Magic View was even told to be the oldest Chai stop dated back to 1984.

Once we reached the top of the mountain, all we can do is take in the beautiful view of the Himalayan Mountains, and the wonderful city of Dharmasala. We were above the clouds so it made the view even more amazing.Photo by: Ryan Parrilla

7/13/2015

This afternoon, we participated in a media lecture. We talked about how the media affects our expectations and influences our perspectives. First, we wrote down some of the ideas that we associate with Indian culture. These included poverty, hunger, and disease. We quickly realized that most of our pre-conceptions revolved around suffering. We were then asked to think about where these negative associations might have come from. So, we compiled a list of resources that spanned from news headlines to campaign posters to Facebook posts to YouTube videos. Each of these platforms perpetuates a single story of Indian culture. They paint a picture of corruption and exploitation, of pain and frustration, of hopelessness and isolation. Western culture victimizes in ways that are extremely damaging, and limit our ability to see India as a country of beauty and power.To address this issue, each of us chose one Indian stereotype and developed a plan to find something positive about it. For example, I came to India with the assumptions that all sectors of life were extremely male dominated and forcefully misogynistic. So over the next couple weeks, I am going to focus on women in the community and look for strong female support groups that emphasize the value of Indian women. The purpose of the assignment is not ignore of invalidate India’s pressing social issues, but to shed light on those strengths that are so often dampened by the Western world.In addition to the individual projects, we developed a campaign that would highlight the importance of modern media, by creating real change in one of India’s most struggling communities. We decided to start a virtual fundraiser for Tong Len, a hostel that provides housing and education for children living in the slums. The school also runs two local educational camps in the slums for younger students and students who are unable to attend the off-site program. They are doing amazing work, and open up a world of opportunities for young people that genuinely want and deserve it.We chose to support Tong Len for three reasons. One, it’s local. It allows us to give back to the Dharamsala community in an extremely meaningful way. Two, it’s educational. As students, we all benefit from the privileges of education and recognize how important it is in providing a sense of worth, interest, and support. And three, we’ve seen the change. Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to visit the slums and the three Tong Len schools. The effects were evident in the teachers and students we met. One woman attended the Tong Len schools in the slums and is now using her education to enlist in the military. Another graduated from the twelve year program at the hostel and is moving on to medical school to become a doctor. These stories are important to us. So we have decided to spend the next couple weeks raising money and awareness for their cause. This is social media for change.

7/14/2015Today we started out the morning on a high note with delicious French toast. We then all went to our different placements. I am helping at a day care where I teach kids from the age of 3 to 15 English. I work with the older kids, most of whom are very advanced because they go to private school. Today we worked on parts of the body and conversation vocabulary. During the school year, the kids do a lot of memorization so they have trouble being creative. When I gave them the task of drawing whatever they wanted they found it very difficult but were excited to try something new.After finishing their pictures and having a quick snack, all the kids joined together for a giant game of kabbadi, a popular Indian game. Then I got a group of the really little kids together to play a game of duck duck goose while the older kids played with Jaylee. It was very cute because the little kids did not understand that the person chosen to be the goose was supposed to be a surprise so they would always ask me to pick them by chanting “Didi (big sister) me goose!”After placements and lunch we walked to a local market near home base. Many of the girls bought saris or pant suits and a few of the boys bought traditional men’s shirts. Other popular purchases were bindis bangles, jewelry, and junk food that people missed from home. We then all returned home to have dinner and plan lessons for placements.

7/15/2015

Today we learned about different aspects of Tibetan culture through the tour of a government building, art lecture, and traditional food.After lunch we walked to the Tibetan government building and learned about how the government works in exile. We were able to tour the building and we saw the Tibetan Parliament room. After learning about Tibetan politics, we learned about an ancient form of art called Thangka. Thangka is a religious/ spiritual art form. Our guest artist Karma, showed us samples of his Thangka paintings. We were able to appreciate the intricate designs and all the time put into the paintings.For dinner we made momos, which are Tibetan dumplings. We learned multiple methods for folding the dumplings. While we waited to eat, we listened to traditional Tibetan music.

7/16/2015

Fair Trade. How much do you really know about it? Ok, maybe that sounded a little cliche but the question still remains. In fact, the question ties into the theme of the day “Labour and Fair Trade”. While the title might have a serious connotation, the day certainly had an opposite vibe.
Today started just as any other day. A hearty breakfast at 8 o’clock, followed by a peaceful two hour break before going to our individual service sites. Now let us share the joys of our service work.

Here at the local daycare, 7-13 year olds that are currently enjoying their summer break join our two volunteers, Max and Sophia, to discover new countries on the large world map that decorates their tiny classroom since a couple of days . All of them have picked a country, and learned to introduce themselves in the local language. Amongst others, Germany, Hungary, the United States, and Mexico are represented by a child in the play that our volunteers are developing with the kids . The idea is to introduce the kids to the world that surrounds them outside of India.

The infants of the group are a rowdy yet adorable bunch who spend their time playing around with Lorenza and Anna. The two girls often entertain the children with whimsical bits of arts and crafts such as origami and drawing while they also attempt to teach the children the basics such as the alphabet and counting.
Here at the arts and crafts daycare there is a combination of several different age groups ranging from children as young as four to students as old as seventeen. While the age groups differ greatly, the GLA students, Jess, Elizabeth, Yosa, Larson, Emma, Erika, Eden and Joanna, are able to split themselves into several groups to tackle the wide range of abilities. Using methods such as teaching songs about the water cycle or solidifying their understanding of the alphabet by teaching the alphabet out of order, this group is definitely succeeding.

Sports Camp has been busy not only teaching the students American sports such as baseball but also learning themselves how to play Indian sports such as Kabbadi and Cricket. Alejandro, Zac, Ross, Beau, Wendi and Shari have been overcoming the challenge of lacking the equipment for baseball by utilizing the cricket bats and balls, in turn creating an enjoyable experience for the kids as well as giving them a means of being able to play the game when the GLA students leave.

Stella,Ariel, Daniela and Ethan are having a great time teaching their students through arts and crafts. One of many ingenious ideas they’ve come up with is to have the students decorate the different letters of the alphabet and then hanging them up around the room. In addition to this they’ve built loving and strong bonds with their students.

Now back to today’s theme of “Labour and Free Trade”. We visited two different social enterprises each run by a strong woman.

Dolls 4 Tibet is a doll-making workshop that goes back to the founder’s idea of having dolls with Tibetan features. A creation that diverges greatly from today’s Barbies.
Here the students learned about the struggles a small-scale business faces in becoming Fair Trade certified and how restrictive the regulations can become as they often don’t take country or culture specific characteristics into account.

The doll workshop is unique in that it employs three different ethnicities of women: Tibetan, Nepalese and Indian. Therefore eradicating the barrier between the cultures wherein the women work alongside one another, fabricating beautiful dolls and woolen angels.

Then we moved onto another inspirational workshop owned by none other than our own international director, Elise Sahota. Sahota’s company, Blue Ullu, designs, creates and sells high-end children’s wear. Successfully employing 15 women of the local community under fair working conditions that allow them to carry out and fulfill their domestic responsibilities.

Furthermore, Fair Trade that tries to establish a transparent production chain and promote sustainable development of communities often is more suitable for large scale businesses and allows room for corruption or loopholes.

The day provided us much insight into a different angle of entrepreneurship. Teaching us about the importance of adapting to cultural norms rather than imposing foreign ideas/concepts, while setting up a business.

-Shari and Sophia

7/17/2015

Today we were fortunate enough to experience some of the amazing art and architecture here in India. We began our day by heading out after breakfast to the Kangra Fort in Kangra. This fort was built hundreds of years ago and has transformed immensely since then. The sheer history behind the Kangra Fort made it a truly incredible visit, and the amount of detail and thought it required to build the impenetrable fortress heightened our respect for the architecture. After driving from Kangra Fort and enjoying a delicious pizza lunch, we arrived at Norbulingka Institute. This Tibetan institute is the heart of Tibetan culture and art. We explored the serene center and were able to examine how different forms of indigenous art are made. After finishing our exploration of the institute, we broke up into different teams and embarked on a scavenger hunt that tested our knowledge of the Tibetan culture. It was not only amazing to visit this institute and view how the different forms of art were made, it was also inspiring to see that Tibetan culture is alive and thriving even outside of Tibet.Today, we had the privilege of observing different art and architecture in India. The Kangra Fort left us in awe due to the fact that even though it was large in size, intricate detail and thought went into every brick and stone in the fort. The Norbulingka Institute dazzled and inspired us. From the copper statue making of Buddha, to the intricate Thangka paintings, we were all amazed by the beauty of the Tibetan culture. This experience was truly remarkable since it took us a little bit deeper into the culture of India. Just like everything else we have encountered so far in India, the art and architecture were absolutely astounding. We were so lucky to have been able to experience this.

-Lorenza

7/18/2015

BLOG: INDIA FUN DAYIndia has one of the best and most interesting cultures in the whole world. Everything, everywhere has a different smell, different color, taste and sound. That’s why on “India day” we’ve decided to celebrate the diversity and the different cultures of this amazing country.Firstly, we woke up at 7:30 in the morning, had breakfast and as usual we went to our placements in the community of Dharamshala. After spending 2 vrry fun and active hours with the local children we had lunch. At 2:00 we played a traditional game called “kabaddi” based on tackling and running everywhere. Afterwards we dressed up with traditional handmade saris and turbans, danced to Punjabi music and got our hands tattooed with henna by a very talented young woman. Finally, for dinner, we had a delicious traditional Indian dish and to intensify the experience we ate without utensils.This has been my favorite day out of all the trip and this was a great experience for all of us.In conclusion, GLA india should keep promoting Indian culture for the young teenagers of the “western world”.Leader of the day: Laurence Le Brun-Ariel and Alejandro

7/19/2015

Namaste family, friends, and other readers!

Today we went on our second hike in the Himalayan Mountains, not too far from the first hike we went on. We split into two groups: those who wanted to go on the hike, and those who stayed at home base to dedicate their time and hard work towards an important fundraiser we have been organizing. But first, we all started our day with a good and hardy breakfast consisting of eggs, fruit, and toast to power us through our Sunday. By 10:00 we were ready for our hike and piled into two cars and drove off—which is an experience in itself on these roads. On the exciting and bumpy ride through the streets of Dharamsala, we got to see amazing views of the mountains, the many colorful rooftops from afar and below, and even an elephant which we shared the road with. One thing I’ve realized about Dharamsala is that there is never a view that isn’t amazing, especially on a clear morning like today.

We began the hike on a rocky and declined trail surrounded by tall and thin trees, which led to a beautiful stream where we stopped for snacks. Here, we loaded up on the necessities—chips, soda, and chocolate! These also served as a pre-reward for the inclined trek ahead of us. The path up the mountain consisted of steps, steps, and more steps, but the many goats, cows, dogs, and sheep that greeted us on the journey made it quite interesting, while also allowing our minds to be distracted from how tired we were. The further along we were on the hike, the thicker the fog became. People walking ahead of us became mere silhouettes, and the mountain we had been hiking became a small land floating in the clouds. Our sense of place on this mountain had diminished, considering we were unable to see ahead, behind, nor below us with the thick white fog that filled the air, so we simply followed our path to get to our destination. At the top of the mountain there was the Guna temple, which we had finally reached. There, we stood at the rail where one would gaze at the amazing view a clear day would bring, but instead, considering the circumstances, we stood staring at complete blankness. Although this wasn’t the view we were expecting, it was an amazing thing to see and experience. It looked as if we were floating in a large cloud with nothing but the Hindu temple behind us, where we sat and ate our Indian meal and drank our chai.

For those who stayed behind from the hike had put in a day of hard work toward our fundraiser for Tong Len, which is a hostel here in Dharamsala that takes kids from the slums and gives them new housing, education, and a better future. We were able to create the impactful video to promote our fundraiser and set up the GoFundMe, where you and anyone else who wants to help this cause can donate to, and completely change a kid’s life!

(http://www.gofundme.com/onepicture)

-Chloe

7/21/2015

Tuesday was Animal Welfare Day. We went to our volunteer placements in the morning and taught at our schools/camps for a few hours. When we got back for lunch we found out that a small black street puppy had followed a few of the girls back home from placements.Because it was animal welfare day, the program director said that we cold take her, (by that point we had already named her Bebe), to the Dharamsala Animal Welfare Center where we were going after lunch to get her vaccinated.

Everyone in the group had a great time at the animal welfare center. There were so many sweet puppies and dogs there who received plenty of love from every kid. There were also other animals there like a kitten and a parrot. Much was heard about the work the center was doing to protect India’s animals.
Also, in good news, there might be a family who wants to adopt Bebe!

-Emma and Anna

7/23/2015

Like most typical days during our program, we started off our day by going to breakfast and then to our placement. Rachel and I are working with kids from age 3 to 18 in our arts and crafts program. For that specific day, we taught the kids how to make a paper chain, which they also decorated with their names, favorite colors and animals. After that, we spent the rest of the placement time playing Kabbidi (a traditional Indian game) and blowing bubbles. The parents of two of our students even treated us to Chai at the end of the class.
After returning and eating an Indian lunch, we walked to the Tibetan Medicine Institute up the road and received a behind-the-scenes tour of traditional Tibetan medical practices and production from cleaning raw materials to packaging medicines. We then sampled a delicious variety of Tibetan medicinal teas and visited a store full of natural lotions, incense and medicines. We finished off the night with a big, Western meal and a discussion of Indian stereotypes based on our own photos from the trip. The group as a whole decided that the trip really challenged our previous perspectives of India, and we hope to bring home the new perspectives we have developed so far.

– Rachel and Joanna

INDIA – Service in the Himalayas – July 7 – July 27, 2015

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