India Scholarship Interns - Claire and Amelia's 2nd week in India!

Cadbury milk is so much better here! We just needed to share that.



Our 2nd week in India!

Beyond our first overwhelming glimpse of India, of cow pedestrians, spicy breakfasts and turbaned cyclists, we are starting to observe some of India’s more subtle qualities. From a starry outdoor dinner accompanied by a sitar, to watching our rubbish be thrown from our bedroom into the field next door, we are collecting experiences.

Work at Foundation to Education Girls Globally is taking shape and proving to be a lovely base from which to see India. Through several meetings with the coordinators we’ve formed a list of tasks to engage in: an exciting list we hope we will get through! We will be compiling information and training materials to aid FEGG in the expansion of their community mobilisation model. We are very comfortable around the office now, having decorated our room for Christmas and befriended the staff and neighbours. Manju, the lovely cook even calls us Didi ‘sister’.

Safeena, the founder of FEGG, spoilt us rotten last week. We loved going out for dinner with the group and we even fitted in a tour of a palace somewhere. Please note this palace had been moved brick by brick 45 km from where it originally stood! Everybody has been so friendly and helpful, and constantly checking “any problem?”

One problem we have encountered is realising that the field next door is the village rubbish tip. Our initial horror at the environmental impact of our waste soon seemed naive when we reminded ourselves that the only difference in Australia is that the rubbish tip isn’t in our backyard. We now consciously think about it every time we buy a pre-packaged sweet or use some of our precious toilet paper (which we are hoarding for burning one day to avoid seeing it flung into the field from our window…ewww). Maybe it should be compulsory for school kids to visit tips in Australia?

We have had a few eye-opening field trips (excuse the cliché) visiting local schools. We keep thinking back to one girl in particular: Dimple, aged 14. She had been identified as a natural leader for us to interview. Dimple loves school and timidly dreams of becoming a teacher but she has already missed one school year and fears she will be forced to dropout again because of her parents aspirations for an impending wedding. Scared to contradict their wishes, Dimple has resigned herself to an uncertain future but is happy to be in school ‘for now’.

Newsbreak – 8:05pm. Screams were heard in the FEGG house as 2 Australian girls found mice rummaging in their food stash. Food was reported to be untouched but girls may have suffered emotional trauma.

We’re going to have to leave it there as we are going to take refuge upstairs in our room away from the mice.

Dan-e-wad/ Thanks!