Hello everyone!
Merry Christmas.
I had a lovely Christmas here, although it was of course a bit strange not to be at home with family, doing the usual Christmassy things.
During the day on Christmas Eve, we had a normal working schedule. The participants and some staff went to visit the community partners they're working with during this event, and the few of us that were left at Sangam worked as normal. My day consisted of emails, paperwork, checking in with people about Gwenning things, and tidying the programme room. In the afternoon, I helped Steph to run a 10Million Girls session, and felt that my work over the summer set me up well for explaining the deep, look inside yourself stuff that we're doing with this group so that they can all discover their potential!
The evening was a bit more Christmassy. After dinner, we went carolling to the houses of some of the local staff. We began with Aruna and Mathura, who live in accommodation on the Sangam site, and then went across the road into Phulenagar. It was really good fun, if a little disorganised!
Carolling finished, I offered people the opportunity to come to the local church, as their Christmas Eve service had just started. The other option was to rickshaw out to one of the bigger churches at 11pm, but everyone was pretty knackered, so the little local church was a better option. Emily and 2 of the participants from the UK came. We left our shoes outside, and shuffled quietly into the back row. The service was in Marathi, so we didn't understand anything, but it was nice to see the church and who attended, what went on etc. About 5 minutes after we arrived, a man who'd been at the keyboard came and whispered to us, asking if we'd sing a song. We'd been recognised as being from Sangam, and they were being super welcoming! As we'd just been carolling and I still had the songbook, plus 3 of the 4 of us were big on singing, we agreed to this. We chose 'O Little Town of Bethlehem', and after the (very long) prayer, we were invited to the front. Grinning at each other sheepishly, we made our way to the front and launched in.Emily was instantly confused as the American tune to this song is distinctly different to the tune we know and love in the UK, but she followed along quite well. During the second verse, the keyboard guy also decided to follow along with some chords, which were, thankfully, correct, but which distracted one of the others and made her laugh. All in all we found the experience crazy and hilarious, but it was nice to be asked, and certainly left us all with something that we'll always remember!
When I got home, Bron and I decided we should watch a rubbish Christmas cartoon, and there was a suitable Daily Express disc with a story about a snowman who learns to sing on it, so we put it on, but it was a bit too rubbish really; I was bored and Bron fell asleep! But never mind. Em and I also helped Father Christmas and his elves to fill the stockings for all the staff before we went to bed.
My Christmas day began at 5:30am when my alarm went off. This means it was only just midnight at home! I got up and opened the presents that had arrived for me previously from friends and family at home, and then tripped over a present that Santa had left outside my door as I headed for the shower! I tidied my room, put all the chocolate I'd gained in my 'good things to eat' pile, and then headed down to the courtyard to meet all the participants who wanted to climb up the water tower. For the first time, everyone wanted to climb, so we did it in 2 groups. I went up last, so this is a photo of the second group looking very happy and christmassy:
After a Christmas-themed flag ceremony which had us galloping across the campsite like reindeer whilst jingling bells and singing Jingle Bells, we had breakfast, and then all piled on a bus to travel to Maher. I'm not sure whether I've introduced Maher to you before; they are, as you've probaby guessed, one of Sangam's community partners. They provide shelter to abused or mentally disabled women and their children; their motto is 'Always room for one more'. Sister Lucy, who runs the organisation is a really incredible woman and very inspiring. They invited many friends and people from all their satellite sites in Pune to attend their Christmas celebrations, and we went along too. When we arrived, some music had started up and men were decorating the outdoor stage; there were a lot of small children dancing and having fun, and all the participants were dragged up to have fun too. It was really lovely to see, but I was struck suddenly by intense homesickness. Not for the UK, but for Manali. I haven't really been in a location similar to the children's home since returning to India, except for an hour or so at the Mobile Creche, and I think I just finally realised that I was back in India, but that these kids weren't my kids. They were all just as lovely, I've no doubt, but it wasn't the same. I was a little tearful for a while and felt really weird; I think it's the first time I've felt truly sick from homesickness. But as the programme of dancing and performances started, I began to enjoy the atmosphere. It was a really hot day, so we were given chairs in the shade, and it was lovely to just sit and watch all the children doing their dances and clearly enjoying it.
After the dances, we moved because the sun had caught up with us, and then ended up sitting for quite a long time listening to lots of messages in marathi as they tried to get all the women and kids fed. We were eventually fed too though, and it was nice food. After the icecream had been distributed, our participants from the UK were asked to help carry down boxes of the presents that they'd supplied (their leader back home used to work at Sangam and has a strong connection with Maher), and then to get up on stage and help to give them out. Each one had been named individually, so it was taking a long time, and unfortunately they had to excuse themselves part-way through as we had to get back to Sangam, but it was nice for them to be able to see some of their gifts making the women and children very happy.
Back at Sangam, we had some rest time (except I worked - so many emails and things to keep on top of when doing 2 jobs at once!), and then all the participants decorated the hall and prepared entertainment etc. for our Christmas Dinner. We had roast chicken with potatoes, peas, carrots, bread sauce and cranberry sauce. Not bad at all. And very yummy. We played games, pulled crackers that our new VIT Priya had made, and Santa (Jen) came to visit to give out the secret santa presents we'd all been putting in a box under the tree. It was really good fun and that, combined with the game that came next, finally made me feel pretty Christmassy...!
It was WAGGGS Game - Christmas Edition after dinner! This is our quiz show I've written about before, but Jessica really pepped it up for Christmas. We had commercial breaks featuring the coca cola advert, 6 white boomers and alvin and the chipmunks, silly challenges, and of course a variety of questions about WAGGGS, Sangam, and Christmas. The hall looked amazing as we'd spent a good hour decorating with streamers and fairy lights, and we (if I say so myself) looked pretty awesome too. Jessica as MC was the Sugarplum Fairy, complete with wings that Bron and I found for her on a shopping trip, and with pompoms cellotaped all over her; I was 'Australian Santa', in blue swimming shorts, an Australia top that Net left me, and a baseball cap that said 'I believe in Santa Claus'; and Emily was Cindy-Lou Hoo, from The Grinch, dressed in a cute pink dress with bunches and pink ribbons. Hayley, Steph, Em and Bron also came to join in with the fun and each helped out a different team. WAGGGS game is always a good session, but I think this was my favourite one so far. Christa said it sounded very noisy and fun from the Guide House, and there was also a lot of mess to clear up at the end, so I think that's a good measure of the success. I don't have any photos on my camera (I was too busy dancing around the room like a maniac), but when I find some on another camera, I'll try to upload them!
All the fun and excitement over, I returned to my room to Skype with my family, and then we all sat up talking in Em's room for a while. It was a really great day, and even though most of it didn't really feel like Christmas day, I did feel Christmassy and enjoyed being here with all my new friends, as well as having contact with home. Today (Boxing day) I enjoyed a lovely day off with Jessica, and tomorrow it's back to work!
TTFN
Merry Christmas.
I had a lovely Christmas here, although it was of course a bit strange not to be at home with family, doing the usual Christmassy things.
During the day on Christmas Eve, we had a normal working schedule. The participants and some staff went to visit the community partners they're working with during this event, and the few of us that were left at Sangam worked as normal. My day consisted of emails, paperwork, checking in with people about Gwenning things, and tidying the programme room. In the afternoon, I helped Steph to run a 10Million Girls session, and felt that my work over the summer set me up well for explaining the deep, look inside yourself stuff that we're doing with this group so that they can all discover their potential!
The evening was a bit more Christmassy. After dinner, we went carolling to the houses of some of the local staff. We began with Aruna and Mathura, who live in accommodation on the Sangam site, and then went across the road into Phulenagar. It was really good fun, if a little disorganised!
Carolling outside Aruna's house
(sorry about the quality; my camera doesn't like the dark!)
People in Santa hats and reindeer antlers crossing the road!
When I got home, Bron and I decided we should watch a rubbish Christmas cartoon, and there was a suitable Daily Express disc with a story about a snowman who learns to sing on it, so we put it on, but it was a bit too rubbish really; I was bored and Bron fell asleep! But never mind. Em and I also helped Father Christmas and his elves to fill the stockings for all the staff before we went to bed.
My Christmas day began at 5:30am when my alarm went off. This means it was only just midnight at home! I got up and opened the presents that had arrived for me previously from friends and family at home, and then tripped over a present that Santa had left outside my door as I headed for the shower! I tidied my room, put all the chocolate I'd gained in my 'good things to eat' pile, and then headed down to the courtyard to meet all the participants who wanted to climb up the water tower. For the first time, everyone wanted to climb, so we did it in 2 groups. I went up last, so this is a photo of the second group looking very happy and christmassy:
Back at Sangam, we had some rest time (except I worked - so many emails and things to keep on top of when doing 2 jobs at once!), and then all the participants decorated the hall and prepared entertainment etc. for our Christmas Dinner. We had roast chicken with potatoes, peas, carrots, bread sauce and cranberry sauce. Not bad at all. And very yummy. We played games, pulled crackers that our new VIT Priya had made, and Santa (Jen) came to visit to give out the secret santa presents we'd all been putting in a box under the tree. It was really good fun and that, combined with the game that came next, finally made me feel pretty Christmassy...!
It was WAGGGS Game - Christmas Edition after dinner! This is our quiz show I've written about before, but Jessica really pepped it up for Christmas. We had commercial breaks featuring the coca cola advert, 6 white boomers and alvin and the chipmunks, silly challenges, and of course a variety of questions about WAGGGS, Sangam, and Christmas. The hall looked amazing as we'd spent a good hour decorating with streamers and fairy lights, and we (if I say so myself) looked pretty awesome too. Jessica as MC was the Sugarplum Fairy, complete with wings that Bron and I found for her on a shopping trip, and with pompoms cellotaped all over her; I was 'Australian Santa', in blue swimming shorts, an Australia top that Net left me, and a baseball cap that said 'I believe in Santa Claus'; and Emily was Cindy-Lou Hoo, from The Grinch, dressed in a cute pink dress with bunches and pink ribbons. Hayley, Steph, Em and Bron also came to join in with the fun and each helped out a different team. WAGGGS game is always a good session, but I think this was my favourite one so far. Christa said it sounded very noisy and fun from the Guide House, and there was also a lot of mess to clear up at the end, so I think that's a good measure of the success. I don't have any photos on my camera (I was too busy dancing around the room like a maniac), but when I find some on another camera, I'll try to upload them!
All the fun and excitement over, I returned to my room to Skype with my family, and then we all sat up talking in Em's room for a while. It was a really great day, and even though most of it didn't really feel like Christmas day, I did feel Christmassy and enjoyed being here with all my new friends, as well as having contact with home. Today (Boxing day) I enjoyed a lovely day off with Jessica, and tomorrow it's back to work!
TTFN
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