Share in the Experience...

India

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Some Final Thoughts...

Now that I've been back in Canada for a week, I've had a bit of time to reflect on my experiences while in India.  What I've realized is that being part of the Habitat for Humanity Global Village Program has been one of the most rewarding and amazing experiences of my life.  I've learned more than I could have imagined about Indian culture, made lifelong friends and developed a new found appreciation for my life in Canada.  The Global Village Program has reignited my desire to give back and instilled a new desire to do what I can to improve the lives of others...I foresee another GV trip in my future!!!   

A few things that are noticeably different since returning home:

• the lack of chaotic traffic, horns honking and cattle on the road
• no extreme heat or humidity...just lots of rain!
• much blander food...I'll have to work on my cooking skills to spice things up
• no one carrying bricks, sticks, pots or bags on their head
• clothing is much less colourful and complicated...it takes talent to put on a sari everyday
• no coconut trees to climb when you need a little something to drink
• less people wanting their picture taken
• drinking much less than 5L of water a day
• and yes...the toilets!!!!

Heading back to Canada

 I made my way to the airport in Chennai without incident....it's always so weird to be driving at night when there is no traffic or horns honking.  My check-in at the airport went well and I was sitting waiting for my flight with two hours to spare.  I decided to pick up some duty free...lugging alcohol for 30 + hours is not so fun, but the price was so good it was hard to pass up.  By 4:10am  we started to board the plane...I'm traveling to Doha, Qatar...4.5 hour flight...on my first leg of my journey home.

The flight was non eventful and I was exhausted, so I spent a large portion of the trip sleeping.  I only had 1 hour and 15 minutes to switch planes in Doha, so when I finally made it to the Doha terminal, I was a bit concerned when I saw the hundreds of people pushing their way through the crowd to get to the security screening point.  I thought there would be no way I would ever make my flight, but surprisingly so, the crowd moved along quickly and I made it through the security check point within 30 minutes.  Since this was a US flight...I'm flying from Doha to New York City...14 hour flight...I had to stand in another line upstairs to go through another security check...gotta love flying through the US!!!!

I made it through this security check by 8am...this is what time my flight was to leave...and made it to my plane by 8:20am.   Needless to say my flight did not leave on time.  When I finally made it onto the plane, the captain told us we would be delayed due to a technical problem...the A/C was not working and needed to be fixed.  This took about two hours, so we all sat on the plane for an additional 2.5 hours before we even took off...not what you want to do when you have a 14 hour flight ahead of you.  On top of this, I asked for a window seat and got a middle seat....yuck!!!!

By 10:30am we were on our way to NYC.  The flight was packed and I had lots of young kids sitting all around me.   Lots of screaming and crying....this was certainly going to be a long flight...so I put on my headphones and watched 5 movies, listened to lots of music, slept and ate three meals.  Not that bad after all, but glad when we finally touched down in NYC.

In NYC, I had to go through customs and immigration...when I entered the immigration area I actually saw two large billboards advertising Habitat for Humanity...how cool is that!!!!  As I was standing in line in immigration along with hundreds of other people, I noticed on the big screen TV's that Osama Bin Laden had been killed and that the USA was on high alert for potential retaliation.  Just my luck to be in NYC when this would happen...I will be glad when I'm back on Canadian soil.  It's a bit strange that this all happened while I was traveling home, since I left on a year backpacking trip two weeks after 9/11 and the war on terrorism broke out while I was in Sweden....it all comes in full circle I guess.

When I rechecked my luggage in NYC I found out it weighed 20kg...only 7kg more than when I left...not too bad!!!  Once again I had to go through security as I had to change terminals.  To my complete surprise I was not allowed to bring my duty free purchase...1L of Bailey's Irish Cream...onto my plane!!!!  Apparently I needed to put it in my checked baggage before I rechecked it at the other terminal since I was not on a direct flight...so glad someone thought it might be important to let me know this before I checked my luggage!!!  Needless to say I was NOT impressed to leave my liquor in the garbage in NYC...they guys behind me in line said they would help me consume it before we boarded if I wanted...how kind of them!!!!!

After I got over my unexpected security incident....thankfully I wasn't too cranky after being awake for 48 hours...I found my gate and boarded my flight to Halifax at 7pm.  My flight was once again non eventful...but very cold...and I arrived in Halifax at 10:30pm.  I made it through customs and immigration without incident, picked up my luggage and found my pre-arranged taxi without incident....lord it's COLD here...30 degrees cooler than India!!!!

On my way home I realized the federal election results were just coming in...a majority Conservative government with an NDL opposition...interesting results.  While chatting with my taxi driver about my travels in India I think I peaked his interested in the Habitat for Humanity Global Village experience...he even asked me how to apply!!!

I am absolutely exhausted and ready to sleep in my own bed.  It seems a bit strange to arrive home with no one to greet me...not even my dog...but nice to have a "normal" toilet...with toilet paper!!!!   I expect after a good night's sleep it will all hit me that I am back home and I will begin to relive some of the life changing experiences I have had while visiting such an interesting and memorable country as India.

Until then....

Time in Chennai...last day in India

Today is my last day in India....aside from me, all that's left of my Habitat for Humanity team in Chennai is Bob, Robbin and Jennifer. Lisa, my roommate, left for the airport at 2:30am and I've been awake ever since...just my luck!!!  With nothing else to do, I decided to repack my backpack...God it's heavy...it weighed 13 kg when I left, it will be interesting to see what it weighs now.

After breakfast at the hotel, I met up with the rest of the team and we headed to Spencer Mall to check email an do some very last minute shopping.  We took a tuk tuk for the 10 minutes ride...it can be a challenge to fit four Canadians in one of these things...glad we didn't loose anyone along the way!!!  Once back at the hotel, Jennifer, Robbin and I headed down to the hotel restaurant for a bit of lunch and masala tea...delicious!!!  Jennifer and I decided to take a walk around the area..not a whole lot around our hotel and many places were closed as it was the middle of the afternoon.

For dinner we all decided to go to Dakshin's at the Park Sheraton Hotel and Towers.  Jennifer and Robbin went here when they first arrived in India and said it was a great experience.  This is a celebrated restaurant that features the rich flavors of South Indian cuisine, with live Indian instrumental music.  We decided to take a taxi to the hotel and when we arrived, the lobby was full of people and security.  Being oblivious to what was actually going on, we walked into the lobby right into the middle of everything.  It turns out this hotel is the home of the Chennai Super Kings...the cricket team...who were playing the Deccan Chargers that evening and the players where just exiting the hotel.  Apparently I was talking to one of the players when we were trying to move through the crowd...kind of funny to find this out after the fact....a bit like running into some NHL players at a hotel in Canada!!

When we made out way to the restaurant we realized it wasn't open for another 45 minutes.  We hung out at the hotel...very beautiful by the way...I finally got a postage stamp I've been looking for and I was even offered a free ticket to the cricket match happening that evening...too bad I wasn't here one more day or I would have loved to have gone....Indian people are crazy over cricket!!  When the restaurant finally opened, we had the most spectacular service...we told them we had to leave by 8:30pm to catch our flights and they made sure that happened.  We had some great traditional Indian cuisine, good wine and listened to some light Indian music.  A great way to finish off a fantastic three weeks in India.

By 8:30pm we were on our way back to the hotel where Jennifer, Bob and Robbin caught their cab to the airport.  My flight doesn't leave until 4:45am, so I have another four hours at the hotel....last to depart.  I said my goodbyes...kind of surreal that this experience is coming to an end...and headed back to my room to try and catch some rest.  Unfortunately sleep was not in the playing cards, so it looks like I will be heading to the airport after being up for almost 24 hours.

At 1am I got a call that my taxi was ready to take me to the airport...goodbye Chennai and Indian!!!

Until tomorrow...

Relaxing Time

Many of us were up early this morning and ready to hit the beach.  The beach here is OK, but what makes it so nice are the huge waves....reminded me a bit of Costa Rica and they even had a few people surfing.  About six of us decided to swim in the waves for about an hour...what a great time and so refreshing.

 We headed in for breakfast and then I decided to go back out to the beach  for a bit of sun.  Most of the beach area around our hotel is full of fishing boats.  Many of the fishermen were preparing their lines and some were already putting out their boats.  I decided to take a stroll down the beach passed all the boats...this area is much wider and almost empty.  Now we are in India, so there were not a lot of people out sunbathing on the beach, but being the good Canadian I am, I found a secluded spot and hung out for about an hour.  I would have stayed longer...there was an amazing breeze and I love the sound of the waves crashing into the shore...but the security guard at the resort I was next to decided to try and solicit some services from me that were not really available...totally unexpected!!!!

I decided to head back to the hotel and hang out at the pool with a couple of the other girls on my team.   Oh my God it was HOT....not a single breeze and sweat was just dripping off us as we sat by the pool.  The only thing you could do to cool off was stay in the pool the entire time.  At about noon I had enough sun and decided to shower and pack my things...we are only here for one night and leaving at 2pm.

I bought a few final things, hopped on the bus and we were on our way to Chennai.  This was about an hour and a half bus ride....not much to describe until we hit the actual city. There is so much traffic here...almost as bad as Delhi!!!  I really didn't miss the pandemonium of driving in the big cities.  We came across several markets, lots of tuk tuks, women in their saris sitting to the side on motorbikes...looks very interesting...lots of buses and yes don't forget the odd cow or two.

We arrived at our hotel the Thulashi Park around 4pm....I was exhausted from the sun and heat.  We checked in and at 6pm all got together for dinner in the hotel restaurant.  What a great scoff we had of Indian food.  Hard to believe this is the last meal all twelve of us will be having together....what a great couple of weeks.  By 8:30pm we said our goodbyes, exchanged business cards and headed off to our rooms.  Everyone except myself and three other people are leaving tonight, so many people wanted to finish packing and get a couple hours sleep.

Tomorrow is my last day in India, so I guess we'll see what we can find to do in Chennai.

Until then....

Mamallpuram

Today we are leaving Pondicherry and heading to Mamallpuram for the R&R portion of our time in India.  It is hard to believe that two weeks hve already passed and it's almost time to head home. Before doing so, we made sure we provided tips to all the staff who made our stay at the Atithi Hotel such a pleasurable one.  We said our goodbyes to the staff and boarded the bus for our 2 hour drive along the East Coast Road.

The drive was non eventful really...except for the interesting signs along the way...."Accident Prone Area, Drive Slow".  It was hot and humid as always..God what I'd do for A/C on the bus...and just outside of Mamallpuram we saw people working in the salt flats. We arrived at the Hotel Sea Breeze  at about 1pm, unloaded the bus and headed to our rooms.  I didn't think it could get any hotter in India, but it certainly felt like it here...not a breeze anywhere!!!

Mamallpuram is a touristy town, well know for it's stone carvers. After lunch we went on a 2 hour guided tour of the World Heritage Sites in the area.  During our tour we saw Krishna's Butterball...this is a HUGE boulder sitting on a hill that hasn't moved in thousands of years...

Varaha Cave...beautiful stone carvings...

Arjuna's Penance...this carving is 27m wide and 8m high...

The Five Rathas....carved out of one piece of granite stone and took 80 years to finish...

and the Shore Temple...one of six temples carved in the 7th Century...during the recent tsunami when the water receded from the shore line, one of the temples was uncovered on the ocean floor.

These were incredible pieces of art work and awesome to see in person...worth the visit even in the extreme heat of the day.

We arrived back at the hotel around 4pm and I headed out to do some shopping....not much time left in India and I still have many things I'd like to pick up.  By 7pm, I was back at the hotel and by 7:30pm, we headed out to dinner at the Bay Treasure Restaurant.  Well this was an experience in itself.  At our table we had three BBQ inserts where we cooked our own kebabs...some of us where better at this than others!  We thought at first this was our entire meal because there was so much food, but then realized we had an entire buffet to eat from as well....I haven't eaten so much food in two weeks in my life!

We had great food, lots of conversation...especially about the dessert...a few cold Kingfisher beer and then we found out about the Sheeshas.  I'm not sure the restaurant staff/owner knew what they were in for when they invited us to the lounge area to test these out!!!  Typically a sheesha is tobacco smoked through a small bowl of water and sucked through a tub...here we had different flavours to choose from....mint, Arabian Night and NRG.  Most of us had a turn trying this out and I have not laughed so hard in myl ife...we even had a few competitions about who could smoke it better.  I really do think Colette was a pro and won hands down for best technique!!

What another crazy night.  Headed back to the hotel around 10:00pm in our disco bus and eventually off the bed.  Heading to the beach tomorrow!!

Until then....

The Homes

Over the course of our two weeks with the Habitat for Humanity Global Village Program in India, we worked on five different homes....it takes about 3 months to build one home.  Here is a bit of information about each of them. 

HOUSE #1
Homeowner:  Kasiammal - widow

• Eganathan - son (electrician)
• Ezhilarasan - son (mason)

Kasiammal (35 years) is a widow and is residing with her two sons in Seyamkuppam village. Kasiammal’s husband Elumalai passed away three years ago.

Kasiammal works for 100 days in a year in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme implemented by the Government.  The family is residing in house where the roof is made of grass. The walls are thatched and the floor is cemented. Cooking is done outside the house. There is no toilet in the present house. There is corporation tap which 10 feet away from the house. The family uses this water for drinking, cooking, washing and for other chores.

We  met the mother during the first day of the build and after that she was not well....she had to have a cyst removed from her neck after the first week.  Both son's worked very hard on the home and at least one of them was there everyday.  We worked on this house almost everyday we were in the village and it was so exciting to see the progress throughout the two weeks....from nothing to partial walls!!!

 

Kasiammal says "I am feeling extremely blessed to know that there are volunteers who are coming to
help us in the construction of our house".

 

HOUSE #2

Homeowner:  Anushaya

• Murugan  - husband
• 3 children

Murugan (35 years) and his wife Anushaya (25 years) is residing with their three children in
Seyamkuppam village.  Manikandan (9 years) their elder son is studying in 4th standard in Tambaram which is close to Chennai. Nadhini (7 years) their second daughter is also studying in 4th standard in the Government school in Seyamkuppam village. The last son Bhoopathi is 3 years old and stays at home.

Anushaya’s mother-in-law Ammakannu
(55 years) also stays along with this family. Murugan is involved in digging bore wells. Digging bore well is a seasonal job and Murugan get jobs only in the non rainy seasons. Anushaya works for 100 days in a year in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme implemented by the Government.

This family has ½ acre of coconut grove and also has 3 cows and 2 goats. The family is residing in a thatched roof house. The roof is made of grass, flooring and wall is made of mud. Cooking is done inside the house. There is a bore well and the family uses water from this for cooking, washing and cleaning.

We worked on this house during the first two days and the last two days of the build.  We had a variety of people helping us from the grandmother, the wife and the wife's husband.  We had red ants in one of the holes we were digging and everyday the homeowner would work on getting rid of them...and she finally did.    The second day we worked at this site, the young son of the homeowner climbed a coconut tree to get us some coconut juice.  The heavy rain we had in India washed away many of the holes we dug in the first two days and we had to fix them the last week so we could pour in the concrete base.

Murugan says "I am sure the work of the volunteers is going to have a great impact on the cost of construction. I am going to save a lot on the labor cost and I want to thank the volunteers who are traveling so far to come and help me in saving the labor cost".

HOUSE #3
Homeowner:  Thatchaini

• Ramalingam - husband (electrician)
  
• 3 children

We started to work on this house on our third day in the village.  The husband of the homeowner was very specific about how he wanted sand to be sifted.  This home was already started before we arrived...it was identified by REAL beforehand.  There were many workers hired to do the masonry and painting.  The homeowner and grandmother also worked everyday on the home.  This home had the door and windows installed while we were there...the timing of this was based on astrology.  It was very hot working on this home as there was never any shade!!!

HOUSE #4  (duplex)

Homeowner:  Asodhai

• Rasappan - husband
• 4 children

We started to work on this house during our second week in the village.  It had been started when we arrived and we did a lot of brick moving here.  I only worked at this site on one day when we knocked down a mud wall from their previous house, but I saw the homeowner on many occasions.  This home was a duplex with the older daughter living in the second side of the house....she is just moving back to the village after separating from her husband.  In the final days of our work here they started to build the walls for the bathroom.

HOUSE #5
Homeowner:  Dhanalakshmi (we never met her)

• Dhanapal - husband
• 2 sons residing at home
• Palani - daughter-in-law

Dhanapal (80 years) and his wife Dhanalakshmi (65 years) are residing in Seyamkuppam village. This couple has 4 children. Out of which two of them are married and settled in the same village. Palani (31 years) and Mohan (27 years) are the sons who are residing with the parents. Jeyapriya (25 years) Palani’s wife also lives with her in-laws.

Both the brothers Palani and Mohan work as electricians. Dhanapal also owns a two acre agricultural land. Dhanalakshmi takes care of the agricultural activities with assistance of her son Palani. There are 4 buffalo and the milk is consumed by the family itself.

 The family is residing in a thatched roof house. The roof is made of grass, flooring and wall is made of mud. There is no kitchen and toilet. There is a corporation tap near the house. The family draws this water from the tap for drinking, cooking and washing. Some times the family uses water from their neighbor’s house as they have a bore well. 

We only worked on this house for one day...the day of the lightning and thunder storm.  We moved bricks from the road to the roof and then once it started to rain we moved bricks from the road to the side of the house.  This house was already started before we arrived and we never met the homeowner.  We did meet the husband and grandfather at the closing ceremony...this is when we heard he was over 80 years old and he was extremely proud to finally have a proper home during his lifetime.   How incredible!!!!

Palani says "we are waiting as a family to work with the volunteers".

Until tomorrow...