Arrival in Dubai

Hello all. It's been just over 12 hours since I left Sangam. Christa, Gwen, Em, Bron and I stayed up until about midnight watching films, and then I wrote some goodbye notes, got about an hours sleep, and got up again just as I heard my car arrive. I got dressed, stripped the bed, threw the last things I was leaving behind into the Community Bazaar box, and headed downstairs. The other 4 all appeared to say goodbye, and did the traditional singing of 'go well and safely'. I heard them shout goodbye at the gate, which was impressive considering it was 3 am and there were only 4 of them, and also justified all those times I've shouted at cars and wondered whether they could actually hear me. The people in the cars, that is, not the cars themselves. That'd just be stupid.

Anyway, it only took 3 hours to get to the airport at Mumbai becase the roads were pretty empty - in fact, I don't think I've ever seen India so quiet. Especially on the pedestrian front. I changed my last few rupees into UAE dinara or whatever they're called, checked in, went through security and then settled into an uncomfortable chair for a 3 hour wait. I managed to fall asleep for a bit of it, which I thought was quite impressive. We had to wait aaages to take off once on the plane; apparently air traffic control was 'very busy'.

On the plane, I watched The Muppets and Puss in Boots, and managed not to nod off, but the last half hour caught me and I was jolted out of a doze as we touched down. After a LONG walk down many corridors to find passport control and the exit, I got a taxi to the Youth Hostel, where I was greeted by a friendly if slightly flustered man on reception, who requested me to sit and wait for 10minutes, got me to fill in 2 different versions of the same form, and then eventually gave me my room key. It's very luxurious for a hostel - I have  a twin room with really squishy beds, a decent sized and clean bathroom, a/c and a tv. I won't need the a/c though - it's about 23 degrees here, which is just perfect. Much cooler than India was, but not so cold that I need a jacket. Reception man called and booked a taxi for me for 5am, and I thought I'd make use of the internet here to update you all, and let you know that I'm that bit nearer home. Only 3 hours time difference here!

I'm now going to go and find the nearest 'Big Bus' stop, and go on an open-top tour of Dubai. Jen recommended this to me, and I figured it was an easy way to fill my time here before falling in to bed, and then starting the travelling thing all over again. I'll endeavour to write another little post about what I see on the bus - either when I get back here to the hostel, or when I get home.

TTFN

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Yesterday was Gudi Padwa - the Marathi new year. It was also the last day of the Sangam season, and therefore my last day of work. It seemed very relevant somehow that a whole new year was starting, just as one chapter of my life is coming to an end.Winston Churchill's words also seemed to be a relevant title for this blog post.

I'll admit that I've been putting off writing this post. It always had to come, and I've been preparing myself for leaving Sangam for quite a long time. But writing it down and trying to explain how I feel about the experience, leaving, and what happens next, is difficult and I'm not really sure where to start. I think I'll try to explain the practical process of finishing work here, and see how it goes...

I wrote before about our closing ceremony. In some ways, I'm glad that ours happened considerably earlier than our leaving date, as it reduced the emotion. The Tare closing was just a couple of days ago, and it seemed more emotional because it was really coming to an end, whereas we still had a whole event to get to. And on a side note - what an event! It was crazy and frustrating and not like anything we'd done before. I can't say that it was particularly enjoyable, but again, maybe it was good that we weren't actually running it, because it gave us all more time to spend with each other, and to get some end-of-season tasks done.

Our task list included things like giving back uniform, phones and keys, but we also had to do programme-related things like updating session manuals, and tidying the disaster that the programme room became during the seminar. We also composed 'handover notes' for the next SVs - who won't arrive until June. We also had evaluation forms to fill in, which we then discussed with Gwen during our 'final evaluations'. So it's been busy. I also packed early because I wanted to check everything would fit, and then it seemed pointless to unpack it all again. This has also helped me to feel prepared, but I think it's also meant that I've not really had the moment where I really realise that I'm leaving.

I properly cried for the first time this morning when I hugged Jen goodbye - she's on holiday for a few days and won't be back before I leave. I think that the difference was that all the other goodbyes have been me saying goodbye to someone else leaving - this morning, Jen was saying goodbye to me, and it suddenly became real that I'm leaving. However, the rest of the day has been lovely and chilled. We all (SVs and Interns) went out for breakfast with Gwen, and then we swam in the pool (and I got hugely sunburnt), then I slept for a bit, began this blog, said goodbye to some more people, swam again and discovered you can make a great water cannon out of pool noodles, and then came into the lounge to chill out in front of the tv.

The plan for tonight is to watch a film, get Em to draw mehendi on my hands, and drink some beer. Then the last Tare will leave at midnight, and I'll be the only one (of the huge group of us whose terms have finished) left. Tomorrow will probably be a boring day as everyone else here will be working, but we're all going to have dinner together, and then my car will arrive to take me to Mumbai airport at 3am Monday morning.

I've just booked my ticket for the Big Bus tour in Dubai so that I have something to do for the day, and made a pick-up enquiry so that I don't get ripped off by a taxi! It's weird to think I'll soon be home, and definitely isn't real yet. I do firmly believe that this isn't really the end - it's the beginning of a new me, new goals, new experiences.

Maybe I'll write about these more sentimentally - more successfully?! - when I'm all emotional because I finally realise I've left!

TTFN

Closing....

As each volunteer's term ends, we have to give a presentation at our 'closing ceremony'.
I'll write more about how I felt at the ceremony (which was yesterday) in my next post, but for now, I wanted to share the little thing I wrote to say (actually I recorded it as a voiceover) whilst I showed photos of my favourite moments of my favourite people here at Sangam:

I wanted to write something to share with you all. My presentation style is usually to have a slideshow of photographs behind me, while I talk about whatever is relevant, depending on the audience. So for you, I’ve specifically chosen photographs of the memories of people that I have, and my speech is a story. I’m aware that it becomes a little soppy, but I wanted to share with you how I really feel about this experience, and to tell you all how much of an impact my time here has had on me – and how much of that impact is due to all of you.

 

This is the story of a young woman who was lost and drifting in the world, looking for some inspiration. She’d moved through much of her teenage and adult life educating and inspiring others, yet somehow never managing to feel whole herself. However, she kept on journeying to new places for new challenges, in the hope that one of them would finally allow her to discover herself.

Finally, in October of 2011, she found what she’d been looking for. Although she didn’t know it at the time, and had only the same familiar, vague hope of something significant happening. It took many weeks for her to finally realise and appreciate the lessons that she’d learnt, and to put all of her previous experiences into perspective; realising in the process that they were all important, and that each past experience she’d been looking on as a failure had in fact led her to this opportunity, and prepared her for the point at which her perspective changed.

It didn’t happen suddenly, but the realisation that it had been happening dawned at one particular instant. A tiny, insignificant moment that would otherwise have been passed by without notice. But because it was at that instant that she realised who she was and what she wanted from life, it has become a treasured moment. It happened in the breezeway of Sangam World Centre, during a ‘9am meeting’.

She applied for the position of Sangam Volunteer at a time in her life when she needed to make a decision about the next stage. She was about to finish her university degree, and although she had the life-long plan of becoming a teacher, it now felt like a back-up, and she knew she wanted to explore more of the world, and to investigate what life would be like working in the non-profit sector. One of the questions on the application form was “Why do you seek this position? How would this position help you achieve your educational, career, or personal goals?” She answered with the statement that “the experiences I enjoy most are those which allow me to give of myself, as well as gaining valuable skills which will enhance my CV … I am keen to take a year away from study and training in order to further broaden my horizons, and decide exactly what I want to do in my career. Volunteering at Sangam will provide me with that opportunity, whilst allowing me to develop a range of skills so that I could change direction if I wanted to.”

It’s safe to say that her expectations were met and exceeded. The experience of being a Sangam Volunteer – of being a member of the Sangam Family – became more and more significant to her as time went on. There were things that she did, activities she was involved in, and responsibilities that she took on which were new to her and which developed those concrete skills she desired for her professional development. There were also many many more things that were significant because of the personal learning that they allowed to happen. The small, personal things; things that could only be seen in her mind and felt in her heart. They are the things that she will really take away from this experience; they are things that lead to the realisation that she finally knew who she was and what that meant.

This comprehension came about not only because of her actions and activities, but because of the environment created at Sangam, and the people she met and worked with there. The other volunteers and interns who became her friends and confidantes, the career staff who had such amazing backgrounds and passion that they became an inspiration, the local staff who helped to make her feel so much at home so far from the UK, and even the participants who passed through the 10 events that ran during her term. Every person and every situation she met challenged her to use and develop practical and personal skills, and in doing so, forced her to examine herself in more detail that she’d ever done before, and to face things that she’d known were lurking in her mind and personality, but had preferred to ignore.

And then came that fateful day, about halfway through her 6 month term, when it all fell into place. There really was nothing significant about the day, the meeting, that moment, except that she let her mind wander slightly, and realised how content she felt. There she was, sitting in a meeting, feeling like she knew each member of that circle; their personalities, senses of humour, ways of working; and that she understood everything that was being said in the context of the wider work aims of the centre. She also understood why Sangam was important, why her work as a volunteer was important, and realised how much she’d learnt about WAGGGS, about MDGs, about Advocacy, about India, about the world. She realised how many other people she’d helped to understand these things, and the impact that could have.

This is not to say that from that moment on everything was smooth sailing – far from it! But the difference was that she now found it easier to deal with difficult situations, with failures, with frustrations. She was able to see things in relation to a bigger picture; whether professionally or personally. She was, for the first time in a long time, confident that she knew who she was, and she knew which parts of her she wanted to change or improve, or allow to come to the fore. She could see her place and role in her world, and in the world. She knew herself to be Philippa, and Philly, and Philpa, and Phlip. She knew herself to be someone who could rise to challenges and face them; someone who was surrounded by amazing friends and role models; someone who – with their help - really could be the change she wanted to see in the world.

Holi

Holi is the festival of colours. It's a celebration of the start of spring. It's also a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. And many other things. It's probably the biggest hindu festival after Diwali, and so it seems right that, having celebrated Diwali near the start of my time here, I have now celebrated Holi as my adventures are coming to an end.

We celebrated Holi twice at Sangam; the first time with the children at our CP Fun Day; the second time on the actual day of Holi, when we joined a party run by eCoexist - one of our community partners - who used our campsite to host their eco-friendly celebration. How can a festival be eco-friendly or not? You may ask. Well, I shall tell you. As the festival of colour, the tradition at holi is to throw multi-coloured powders at each other. The street powders are made of non-biodegradables and chemicals that are damaging to both the environment and our eyes and skin. eCoexist makes holi colours our of all natural dyes; and in the process supports groups of women and farmers who make the product.

In preparation for CP Fun Day, Jessica, Emily and I emptied 33 boxes of their powders onto large thali plates, ready for the children to play later on. It looked like this:

This was the fun day for the Tare to celebrate the approaching end of their terms here, and so we had 75 children from their 5 different sites. The morning consisted of the usual mix of activities, with a couple of new additions: games, crafts, parachute, bubbles, facepainting and camel riding! Here are some photos:

After lunch and a change of clothes, we shepherded 75 extremely excited children back onto the camp ground, for some group games before we let them loose with the colour. I can show you a couple of photos of the craziness, because I had the waterproof camera that someone donated to Sangam:

It was crazy and noisy and excellent fun. The children all loved it, and so did staff, tare and participants as well! We only used powder, but this is not really the way holi is played, as we were to find out when we joined eCoexist....

The party on the campsite was amazing. Unfortunately I managed to whack my head on a shelf the day before and so had a headache that prevented me from playing all day, but the bit I was involved with was excellent. There were huge piles of (mainly red and yellow) powder, and an entire water tanker on site. Yes, that's right, the element we'd missed with the kids was water. The water helps the dye to stick to your clothes, but also helps to wash it off your face, so that someone else can throw more colour at you! We took the waterproof camera again, but I don't have those photos on my computer, so you'll have to be content with some of the 'this is what we looked like afterwards' shots I took. There was also a drumming circle set up at the campfire; loads of upturned empty plastic tubs and some sticks created some really amazing sounds. Loads of fun!

Well, that's all for now. I only have 2 weeks left here at Sangam, and time is really flying. My official leaving ceremony is in 2 days, and I'm not at all prepared. Then we launch into the seminar which is looking like it'll be fun, but a lot of hard work. No promises about blogs in the next few days, but I'll try to keep you updated!

TTFN

Stop the Violence

I'm certain that I have mentioned this campaign at least once in previous blogs. You may also have noticed that I have a little red and green button on the right of my blog that is entitled 'WAGGGS' Global Advocacy Campaign'. That's exactly what Stop the Violence is. It's a huge initiative started by WAGGGS and inspired by UN Women's campaign to raise awareness of this issue.

The Stop the Violence campaign was launched way back in July at a major WAGGGS conference. Things started happening, and WAGGGS began to filter information and ideas down to the World Centres just as I arrived at Sangam. Pax Lodge responded very quickly, and shared photos of a wall they'd created for people to share ideas and pledges about the campaign; it featured butterflies as they're delicate, like women:

Jen (my boss) emailed this around, suggesting that it was a cool idea, and maybe we should do something similar. I and the other SVs agreed with this sentiment, but we weren't sure that we wanted to do it in quite the same style. Whilst representing the campaign, we wanted to add our own Sangam/India twist to it. Finally I hit upon lotus flowers. As well as being the national flower of India, they also represent a lot of the qualities that we associate with women, and also show triumph over adversity. Perfect!

So I got to work. I researched lots of information about violence against women, I downloaded all the WAGGGS-produced materials (what little there was at the time), I made a box of bits and pieces so that anyone and everyone could decorate their own flower or make a pledge, and I created images and quotes about lotus flowers to go on the wall. It looked like this when I started:

And I hadn't really thought about the impact of the project. It was just another thing that needed doing; another project that I could get stuck into and complete successfully. I hadn't really thought about what it meant.

However, the more I read and researched, the more I saw the ideas and pledges that my colleagues were making when I pestered them to add something to the wall so that it looked fuller, the more I realised how important this issue is. In the work and volunteering I do, it's inevitable that I become aware of certain instances or unfortunate realities that impact on women and girls in a negative way. I never really realised (or perhaps never allowed myself to think about) the scope of it though. If you type 'violence against women' into wikipedia, this is what you get. The 'see also' section terrified me. Not necessarily because of its content (although a lot of it is fairly horrendous), but because the list was so long; the problem was so huge; how on earth could we ever prevent all of this from happening?!

That was the point at which this project became 'my baby'. In every session I ran, I mentioned the wall, and the accompanying box so that people could add to it. In every tour I ran, I stopped at the wall and explained the campaign. Every chance that I had to ask people to contribute, I took. The slogan for the campaign is 'from a whisper to a shout', and I wanted Sangam's voice to be heard loud and clear. Not everyone is comfortable adding thoughts about such a difficult subject to a public wall of course, but a lot of people have. At the moment, the wall looks more like this:

 (I apologise. I've tried to insert these photos 3 times and they definitely don't want to be rotated)

Hopefully you can tell that there is a lot more on the wall. We have the voices of over 60 people represented at the moment, and I'm sure that it will continue to grow. We've done other things here at Sangam as well. WAGGGS joined up with a young female filmmaker in Zambia to show a film called 'Hidden Truth' and hold a webinar with the filmmaker. We joined this live during our HIV/AIDS seminar, and it really hit home to many of us how real violence is for many women around the world. It was also during this session that Christa and I launched the Friendship Bracelet project; an idea that had been kicking around for a while, and that we decided would be a great way to spread the word about the STV campaign even further. This campaign has also really taken off and flown, so I think I can feel proud that I've achieved something during my time here!

We were rewarded for all our efforts in promoting the campaign and making Sangam's voice louder, when WAGGGS announced that it had selected the 25 MOs (Member Organisations) that would pilot the Stop the Violence curriculum that they're planning to create. Sangam is one of them! We've already filled in questionnaires to let WAGGGS know what we'd like to see, what we already know, how we deal with presenting difficult topics, what support people will need to run the curriculum etc. It's really exciting, and I'm a little disappointed that I have to leave and can't remain involved, although GirlGuiding UK is also a piloting country, so hopefully I might be able to help out when I get home.

Finally, the thing that made me finally write this blog up in full (a draft has been sitting around for ages) is that I took my turn to run the meeting of the 6th Nevedita Guides last week. The group meets at Sangam every Sunday, and Sayali, Aarti and Priya - our VITs - are a part of the group. For my session, I did an introduction to the Stop the Violence campaign. It took me ages to decide what to do - it wouldn't be fair to march in and give them loads of cold, hard facts about violence that women suffer, but I also wanted to make sure that they understood the significance, and felt like they, as girl guides, could help to make a difference. So I used a couple of 'getting louder games' to emphasise the campaign's 'whisper to a shout' element, and the importance of people talking about the issues; if we don't talk, we'll never fix them. Then I explained about the lotus flowers. I asked that they write something that was relevant; and focused on ideas about empowerment; they could write a personal goal for themselves, or something that they think women should be allowed to do, etc. What I got was amazing. A set of flowers that mentioned early marriage in India, the importance of women, to love life, the importance of education, and to hate violence. They were great. I also felt a little sad though, that even though I'd not mentioned any ideas, but only said the phrase 'violence against women', these girls were able to come up with relevant things to write about. Which I guess just emphasises again exactly how important the campaign is.

Em came to the session with me and filmed some shots, so I made this video to show that Sangam - and girl guides - are behind the campaign and are spreading awareness; adding our voices. I'm certain that this isn't the end of my involvement with this campaign, or with the issue in general. I may not have started out promoting this campaign because of my own understanding and passion for it, but now I understand - as much as I think I can do - and I am passionate about it. So I will continue to raise my voice from a whisper to a shout, and to encourage others to do the same. I will continue to advocate about issues that affect women and girls, and I will continue to support others who are also trying to make a positive difference. In short, I will continue to be a Girl Guide. I will continue to be me.

TTFN

Untitled. Then titled 'Thinking Day'. Now very late!

Hello.
I've forced myself to sit at the computer and write because it's been a while, but I'm not really sure what to write about. This reflects my mood lately - I'm now close enough to the end of my term here to be starting to think about the going home process, but not quite close enough to actually do anything about it. This has also left me in a strange place at work. Most of my long-term projects are now completed, and I'm just doing the everyday little things which, whilst important, aren't new or exciting any more. I've no doubt that if I were staying longer, thing would still seem interesting and exciting, but the knowledge that it's all nearly over is skewing the way I see things.

We have just finished an event - Celebrate Our Centenary. Aha! This is actually something exciting to write about, but it hadn't occurred to me until this very second! For those of you not in the know, World Thinking Day is celebrated on 22nd February by all guides and scouts across the world. 22 Feb was the birthday of both Lord and Lady Baden Powell - the founders of the scouting and guiding movements - and on this day, we celebrate what the movement has achieved, and think about our brothers and sisters all over the world. For this event, we had 23 participants who were from England (mainly Northants - where I live!), Scotland, Canada, Australia and Ireland. They were a bunch of lovely ladies, a couple of whom kept trying to encourage me to become a trainer with GGUK when I get home. I've promised them I'll think about it, but it'll have to wait a while as I'm going to be very busy in the next year!

Anyway, back to the event. At the beginning, we had a lot of trips out. I didn't sit at a computer for 3 whole days which is unheard of at work here! The first day was pretty standard - tour of Sangam and the local neighbourhood etc, followed by the welcome ceremony in the evening. The second day featured the Laxmi road tour, which I hadn't done for ages because of a combination of off and sick days, so it was nice to go again and help all the ladies choose their sari and punjabi suit materials. I then sat in on Mina's 'Explore Indian Culture' session - in which she answers questions from the participants and informs them about Indian customs, politics, current practices etc. The session after that found me running a 'match the uniforms' game that Jessica had created as part of a round robin of historical activities, and then we ended the day early so that everyone could rest!

The next day found us on another trip out - to our community partner Ishwari, and to Tulapur which is a historical and religious site of importance, at a real Sangam (meeting of rivers).I went before but stayed on the bus with a participant who wasn't feeling well, so I enjoyed being able to discover and enjoy the rivers for myself this time. Ishwari was as excellent as ever; we visited the workshop where women learn to sew, and where the classroom that our recent DYP participants painted is located, before heading to the main site to meet Sister Rosalia. She'd organised for a sweetcorn soup to be made for us all which was delicious, and then we broke into the picnic lunch (rice, dal, potatoes, chappatti and grapes) that the ladies at Sangam had sent us out with. It was a long hot day, but on the way home we also stopped at Alandi ghat so that we could see the multiple uses of the special river.

The NEXT day, we were out again! It was community partner visit day. This time, because the thinking day theme for the year is the environment, we visited eco-friendly sites. I went with Christa and some of the participants to see how refuse collection works in the local neighbourhood (a woman with a pushcart collects  rubbish from each house, roughly sorts it, then leaves it at a designated spot on the pavement for the corporation truck to collect it), and then went to an anaerobic digester plant! Here, they turned all the 'wet waste' (compostable) into biogas, which was in turn converted to electricity which power the plant and the streetlights for the whole road outside. It was really interesting, and very different from our usual CP visits, which was nice because after 5 months, it does sometimes feel like there's nothing new to experience here, and I was proved wrong! I ran a debrief session because Bron wasn't feeling well - luckily we'd planned it together - and then put on the 'MDG7 film', which was Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth. I was quite glad to have to sit in the hall and watch - serving cold fizzy drinks and popcorn halfway through - as it was a nice break, but I had to leave and give a tour to some visitors who'd turned up unexpectedly!

After all that, I was exceedingly glad to have a day off!

A day at Sangam followed my break, but it was a busy day for me, with meal duty, shop duty, reception duty and being on call! I also ran our reflection session in the morning, and the Leave your Mark session which gives participants the chance, funnily enough, to leave their mark on Sangam, by recording their event, or helping us out by painting trees or making paper bags etc. The guests all went out for dinner with local guiding or scouting families, and while I was waiting for their return, I attempted to make scotch pancakes in the kitchen ready for Shrove Tuesday so everyone could have them for breakfast. They didn't look anything like any pancakes I've ever seen, but tasted ok, and some people were brave enough to try them the next morning!
After our pancake breakfast, we had ANOTHER trip out; this time to the headquarters of Pune Bharat Scouts and Guides. Again, it was somewhere that I hadn't visited yet, so made a nice change. Mr Lagu, the secretary, told us all about the history of scouts and of the land there, and then we had a tour followed by coffee and biscuits, before returning to Sangam clutching a couple of patches.

The 22nd was the important day - World Thinking Day. We had an early breakfast, and then headed down to the campsite. Sangam and BS&G alternate hosting the ceremony, and this year was our turn, so we had 350 scouts and guides come to visit us! After ceremonial garlanding of photographs of Lord and Lady B-P, and a couple of short speeches, our participants and Tare all split into groups and took a school (or 2 or 3) group of scouts/guides to a spot in the campground to run games, songs, and activities that they'd planned the day before.

 Our Thinking Day Tree:

 BS&G on the campsite:

Group activities:

Guides demonstrating their cheerleading:

Scouts from the school for the blind performing a dance:

Another performance:

And another:

Games:

 After they'd left, and we'd cleared up, had another session about the environment, and munched a 'soup and sandwiches' dinner of leftovers, we started to get ready for the evening ceremony. My role during the ceremony was to film it so Em could make a film, so I saw most of it through the camera screen, but it was very lovely, and it was exciting that we livestreamed it and lots of people I knew - Ellen, Net and Saga eg - were logged in and sharing the moment with us.


Em's video of the day is excellent, and you should also read Jessica's write-up  on our website.It was a really great day; a girl guide's dream come true to celebrate World Thinking Day at a World Centre.

(The event finished as usual with an Indian Afternoon and then closing activities. IT was a great event, but we then launched straight into prep for the current event!)

TTFN