DofE Residential 2013...an Indian adventure!

Basti Ram’s Duke of Edinburgh residential participants have very excitingly arrived in India! Basti Ram is a DofE Approved Activity Provider, giving young people working towards their Gold Award the opportunity to spend time with the children attending our linked projects in Rajasthan and working with people they’ve never met before. Kerry, Emma, Alex and Lucy very bravely made their journey independently and were greeted at Udaipur airport by our Duke of Edinburgh residential co-ordinator, Katherine and Project Manager, Himanshu. Kerry (18) describes those initial moments, ‘I got off the plane, got my suitcase and went to meet Katherine and Himanshu. It was so weird! There were cows in the street; apparently in India cows are sacred. I got to the volunteer house and it’s so nice. Katherine showed me round and I was going to go and pick the other participants up from the airport with Katherine but I was so tired and emotional I couldn’t!’.

Kerry, Emma, Katherine, Alex & Lucy at Kumbhalgarh Fort

The first day was spent attending orientations and being given a city tour by our ground staff. This helped the group to acclimatise to their new surroundings and feel fully prepared for their teaching experience. Lucy (17) shares an extract from her diary, ‘Just got back from a city tour which was so chaotic but interesting. There are so many motorbikes which go really fast and sound their horn when someone’s in the way. There are even young children and women in beautiful saris on the back of them! The city is so busy and full of happy people. I spent the whole time looking at the sari shops and street food, which smells amazing’.

Shopping for saris in the market!

The second day was spent undertaking work-site visits. This provided Lucy, Alex, Emma and Kerry with the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the school and destitute boys home, learn about the local communities and the social issues they face and meet the children with which they would be working with. Emma (17) describes her experience, ‘We travelled a bumpy journey to the school. It made us speechless. We arrived to be greeted by so many smiley faces and as we stepped into each of the classes they stood up and said ‘hello Didi’ (meaning big sister). The school was very basic with 5 classrooms and just one teacher. They all ran to pose for photos and gave us high fives. I got some once in a lifetime photos. We then walked around the community being followed by giggling children. Young women came out, around fifteen or sixteen, with red on their head to symbolise their marriage! A family of five let us look around their house and it was so very basic. It consisted of two rooms, only one with light and they all slept on the floor. The mother looked so young, yet her children ranged from 1 to 16. But they were all so happy! We then returned to the volunteer house feeling rather selfish!’

The view before climbing Kumbhalgarh Fort

Tuesday was a public holiday meaning the children were not attending school whilst they celebrated a festival. This gave the group the time to undertake an excursion to Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranakpur Temple. Built during the course of the 15^th century, Kumbhalgarh is an impressive structure built on a hilltop in the Aravelli Hills. Ranakpur Temple is a spectacular Jain temple with 1444 carved pillars. Travelling home from what was a beautiful day out, the group stopped for a rest, ‘we unexpectedly pulled up at a building in the forest and were greeted by an old man in traditional dress with a bright orange turban. I wondered what we were doing, but once I saw it was 4.30pm I realised it was chai time! Between 4-5pm everyday without fail, the whole of India stops to have a cup of chai tea!’ Alex (18).  

Thankyou for reading my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like information about future DofE residentials, to find out more about the innovative work we do or how you can get involved in any of our projects please visit www.bastiram.org or email bastiram.uk@gmail.com or call +44 7515 857 865

Katherine 
Youth Development Officer