There's chapatti in my mouth and everyone's welcome! Continued tales from Goa

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Sally Kirk

First free weekend in Goa: “It’s my chapatti, and I’ll buy 5 kilograms of chai tea if I want to”, alternatively dubbed, “Dinner time in Goa: There’s a chapatti in my mouth, and everyone’s invited. Except you, dodgy street cart food. You can stay home.”

So the past couple of weeks have been completely insane.

Friday

After spending both Wednesday and Thursday night at Majorda beach, we decided to spend our first Friday evening at Colva instead. Half of us browsed the market stalls, while the other half ventured off to the beach.

Colva in general is much busier, and much more touristy than anywhere we’d been so far. Majorda beach is populated almost exclusively by Russian tourists. Owners of the cafes and bars along the beach seem to all already know we’re from “Idex?! Idex?!”, and treat us with discounts accordingly. I’m not complaining. Yesterday, the owner of the beach cafe we usually go to presented us with this sizeable reward for being Not-Russian and Purchasing-hefty-quantities-of-iced-tea-on-a-daily-basis.

Apparently, something like 4 out of every 5 tourists in Goa are actually Indian. Charlotte and Trisha, after going swimming at Colva beach, said that they felt very aware of how much they stood out in their bikinis. Even moving along up the beach, they were followed by gaggles of Indian tourists, all staring, and many taking not-so-sly photos from a not-so-distant distance. Some even asked if they could have pictures taken with them. It’s true that, while at first you feel like a bit of a celebrity, the eyes of strangers bearing down on you quickly starts to feel intrusive. Then again, we are constantly snapping photos of women in sarees packed onto a motor scooter, carrying water on their heads, or gathered next to a particularly picturesque fruit stall. Things that are strange and beautiful to us, but insignificant in the daily lives of the locals here.

We met up with the others for dinner and, after waiting around for almost 2 hours for a place to seat 11 people, we ate at what was probably the best Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to. The curries were served in ornate silver pots, like little steaming bathtubs, and the collective mountain of roti we ordered was so fresh, so doughy and warm, I just wanted to wrap it around me like a giant cocoon, and live in it’s belly forever, and have it suffocate me with love and puffiness.

Saturday

Saturday was a packed day. In the early afternoon, we went on a tour of a spice plantation, where we walked through beautiful forests and learned about the properties of a range of plants (cinnamon, lemongrass, nutmeg… apparently every second spice is either an aphrodesiac, a miracle skin treatment, or “makes you on the high”). Our tour guide also brought us shots of Feni to have before lunch – a local Goan liquor, made from cashew fruit or coconut, and about 40% alcohol. Hours after lunch, Celina (one of the project-managers from the camp) said very aptly, that she could still feel the Feni “dancing on her head”.

The boat cruise that evening was…. Memorable. We spent 3 hours on this big, rickety boat, an enthusiastic DJ introducing us to a series of traditional Goan dances, performed by four not-so-enthusiastic teenagers. The DJ then invited first the children, then all the couples on board to come up on the dance floor and “hold your partner as much as you love them” (All you single people…. You can just sit there in the corner. Yes, there. No, don’t smile. Stop moving. It’s not your turn, dammit. Drink your Feni.) After venturing below deck to brave the bathroom situation (verdict: ohdeargodwow. It was wet), Jess and I ran into the boys from dance troupe. A little star struck, we giggled and stumbled around as they attempted to teach us some form of Portugese salsa – before some guy yelled at them in Hindi to get upstairs, and stop fraternising with the (very uncoordinated) boat guests.

Sunday
After watching the sunset, Charlotte and I (geniusly) decided to walk back to camp, keen for some exercise after a week of overloaded dinner plates and hammock-dwelling. For the second time in two days, we got horrendously lost. In hindsight, it was pretty predictable – we’d never walked before, didn’t know the way, didn’t have a map…. but had been told it was “pretty much a straight line” from the beach back to Idex (unclear in exactly which direction this was…. We cleverly decided to wing it #universityeduation #qualitylifechoices).

Week Two on the Projects: The Government School
The teacher was absent for the entire week at the Day Care centre (for a variety of reasons – from a family dinner party to a wedding, to delivering nutrition supplements to the homes of the kids in the daycare class), and we had an average of 20 kids attending each day. Needless to say…. We were on struggle street.At this point, I’m getting to know each of the children though, and it makes each day that much easier. The

The most difficult thing about teaching at the government school is, when there’s always such a range of ages and ability, it’s difficult to cater to all the kids at once. Either we’re singing the colours of the rainbow, and the smarter kids already know it all, or we try something more advanced, and the littler ones are instantly lost and mute (or, in the case of the 2-year-old boys, tackling and tumbling over each other on the carpet)

Adolescent Girls
It’s quickly become my favourite time of day – when we pull up at 2.30 to the rubbish heap outside, and the girls are all gathered there, waiting to grab our hands and lead us to the classroom. It’s such a vibrant community, always so full of life and optimism. Everybody smiles and waves to you in the streets, and there always seems to be some kind of celebration going on. On Tuesday, we had a public holiday for the Muslim festival of Eid. As Monte Hill is largely a Muslim community, the entire place was decked out in fairy lights and vibrant flags, all red and green little moons, constantly waving and pirouetting in the breeze. All the girls were scrubbed up beautifully in their sarees and best salwar kameez (patterned tunics with matching pants and scarf).

Before we went to class, the volunteers were invited into the home of the family who usually host the Adolescent Girls class. We sat on their rug, and they served us some Falooda (a milky, rose-flavoured beverage) and stuffed puri (homemade pastry, filled with a sugary lentil dal) – traditional dishes cooked for the Eid festival. It continues to amaze me how hospitable the Goan people are. Less amazing for my waistline though. The health kick starts…. tomorrow.

I can’t imagine what it will be like to leave these girls in just two weeks. It’s strange to think that I’ll go home, back to my normal life, and they’ll still be here, growing up. Becoming older, more beautiful, getting better at their times tables and at henna and homemaking. In only a few years, some of them getting married.

This weekend, we’re heading down the coast to Palolem beach, apparently one of the must-see tourist destinations in Goa. It’s renowned for it’s sweeping white sands, lined with palm trees and beach-front bars. We’re staying in little huts just along the shore line. I am far too excited for this.

Edited by Antipodeans

Argentina GapBreak is underway with Spanish and Tango lessons

COUNTRY: Argentina
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Lucy Taylor

Our first week has flown by in a whirlwind of new experiences and adventures. On arrival in Buenos Aires we were thrust in to the very foreign South American and European influenced culture with little to no language skills between the three of us. This buzzing cosmopolitan city however has since stolen our hearts.

Our first week was predominately spent in Spanish lessons with our Peruvian teacher Yanina. She spoke very little English to us, and through this immersion we picked up vocabulary and grammar tropes quickly. By the end of a week of daily three hour lessons, we had picked up enough Spanish to understand, if only vaguely, what was being said around us, and even respond in broken speech if needed.

We also spent time getting to know the others living at the hostel and those completing programs such as TEFL and internships with our in country partner. Although we find ourselves to be a minority amongst a sea of Americans, meeting new people from both around the world and locally in BA has been great fun.

A memorable feature of this week was our tango lesson, held in a converted warehouse in Palermo. Equal parts excited and apprehensive, we joined the other “Roadies” for our first exposure to the traditional Argentinean pastime. I myself had little luck with the steps, however my fellow Antips danced with much skill, particularly Bern, who was asked to dance after class by a Buenos Aires local.

On Friday, exhausted after a late night dinner on our rooftop terrace which developed into an early morning soiree with many other hostel residents, we headed to the bus station with a couple of our American roommates for a weekend trip to Mendoza, the wine growing region of Argentina. On Saturday we embraced the aforementioned culture on a wine tasting tour, followed by a parrilla for dinner. The following day we enjoyed a bus ride into the Andes for some hiking, surrounded by vistas which were absolutely breath taking.

Now back in Buenos Aires, after such a busy first week we feel a little more settled into our surroundings and have begun to navigate the city more like locals than tourists, and we are excited to experience that which is to come in the coming weeks!

A memorable feature of this week was our tango lesson, held in a converted warehouse in Palermo. Equal parts excited and apprehensive, we joined the other “Roadies” for our first exposure to the traditional Argentinean pastime. I myself had little luck with the steps, however my fellow Antips danced with much skill, particularly Bern, who was asked to dance after class by a Buenos Aires local.

On Friday, exhausted after a late night dinner on our rooftop terrace which developed into an early morning soiree with many other hostel residents, we headed to the bus station with a couple of our American roommates for a weekend trip to Mendoza, the wine growing region of Argentina. On Saturday we embraced the aforementioned culture on a wine tasting tour, followed by a parrilla for dinner. The following day we enjoyed a bus ride into the Andes for some hiking, surrounded by vistas which were absolutely breath taking.

Now back in Buenos Aires, after such a busy first week we feel a little more settled into our surroundings and have begun to navigate the city more like locals than tourists, and we are excited to experience that which is to come in the coming weeks!

Cusco, the city of dreams

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Construction
WRITTEN BY: Katie Bergan

So being in Cusco is like waking up from a dream and not quite being sure whether it was real or not, the sights are just unbelievable. When the group met 6:30am orientation day half were jet-lagged after 40 hours plus of travel and the other half were struggling to recover from hostel living, but the atmosphere was vibrant and everyone was keen to start the program. Us girls bonded early due to a clogged toilet (note: you cannot put toilet paper in the toilets in Peru) and the boys never stop talking! Nico has been so helpful, especially with communication and travel.

The school was so welcoming, giving us flowers and showering us with confetti, it was obvious that teachers and students alike were looking forward to this experience. The children are SO CUTE and love to shower you with hugs constantly. The construction is hard work, breaking a sweat every time. Probably the scariest moment was when someone accidentally pickaxed a water main (was so worried that we had destroyed everything the 2nd day in). The walk from the school to the bus stop is death (all up hill, steep too), but every day it gets a little bit easier. Our host family is so lovely, home cooked Peruvian food all the way, going to take our host mother home with us!

Cusco is a gripping city, with the urge to explore almost overwhelming, there is no trouble finding things to do in your free time. This past weekend we went down to Puno and Lake Titicaca to see the floating islands. Buses can be cheap as long as you’re okay with the longer travel time from multiple bus stops (15 SOL to Puno per person). It was a great cultural experience to meet the Quechan people, with everyone managing the lack of running water with great finesse and basically everyone chilled to the bone from the wind. It’s been an awesome week and I can’t wait for more.

Notes for altitude: you will be short of breath when doing simple tasks. Headaches, tingles, nausea and dizzy spells are all normal. Possible loss of appetite. Recommend paracetamol and coca leaves to help.

Aussies put on final Christmas show for Brazilian students

COUNTRY: Brazil
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Wildlife Conservation & Youth Work
WRITTEN BY: Alice Clarke

We never believed it would be over; and so quickly!!!

Our final week without the others was spent freaking out about how much we still haven't done and seen in Flori. Belinda had gone to Santo Antonio and Riberao while we were away and so the rest of us had some catching up to do. The main activity we have been trying (still not yet accomplished) to do is sandboarding at Joaquina. We have probably tried 8 times to get there; but because of the buses and the weather we haven't made it (at least Maddy, Holly and I haven't, the others went one afternoon when we had other activities on).

As for the centre we spent our time trying to decide what to do for the "Final Show" that would be performed at the inauguration for the courts, playground and vegetable garden and deciding what party food to make. Brazil has strict guidelines about what public institutions can feed the children; the nurtritionist said that we could only bring in fresh fruit and vegetables - crashing out Aussie BBQ suggestion into the side of a mountain. Our plan to make 300 miniature meat pies was probably a bit too ambitious and was abandoned in the last week. We settled on ANZAC biscuits and lamingtons.

Once the others were back, time flew as we tried to teach the kids We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Jingle Bells. We also helped to paint the greenhouse after it was finally covered with the plastic the group bought two years ago. Belinda's boyfriend Doug joined us for the final week too. This was when we tried and failed to get to Joaquina, resulting in a few afternoons at Lagoa drinking smoothies at Suco de Saude and visiting the markets. Maddy got a dread from this guy Simon who could just telepathically sense her plan for a hippie lifestyle in the not too distant future. Me and Maddy also went flyboarding with our new best friend Tchello. It was amazing!! Basically a flyboard is a snowboard propelled upwards, out of the water by jets on the bottom. We were pretty pro, Tchello was impressed with us. We also had a photoshoot by the water in our Brazilian bikinis, much to Holly's delight - she's been waiting for it for 3 months.

On the Thursday before the final show, we gathered at Felix's to make ANZAC biscuits (we scrapped the idea of making lamingtons for 300 people) MasterChef style. We had a full on production line going and the biscuits were delish.

The ultimate day at the children's centre finally arrived. We sat around a lot in the morning waiting for it to start, practicing our 7 Australian Days of Christmas and organising our props and santa hats for the kids. There were speeches followed by a choral performance (where they sung Jingle Bells in Portuguese much to our concern as our English version could not possibly follow that). Then half of the students disappeared while the Secretary of Social Services gave his speech only to return and give a wonderful capoeira performance. While we waited for the kids to come back after getting changed out of their canvas skirts, we presented our gifts - Holly's painting, and mp3 player, dvd player and microphone and speaker. THEN THE FINAL SHOW!! We first performed the 7 Australian Days of Christmas which we wrote ourselves - Tom played guitar and the rest of us help puppets and tubes of Vegemite.

On the Seth day of Christmas my sheila gave to me 7 surfer dudes (heckerz), 6 possums eating, 5 wombats sleeping, 4 boomerangs, 3 emus walking, 2 tubes of vegemite and a koala in a gum tree.

The we sung with the kids and Del lead us outside to cut the green ribbon at each of our projects. Then it was lunch time and soon after, leaving for good time :( Some of the kids were upset, some didn't realise we were going forever. We were pretty sad to be leaving such a beautiful group of kids.

Now, the girls have all had Brazilian waxes, the boys have all found fireworks, we've wrote our letter to next years volunteers and we're all ready to go our seperate ways next week. It feels surreal. How can we go from seeing these people everyday to living in different cities/the other side of the world?!

What I will miss about Brazil:

- Açai
- Coconuts on the beach
- Pastels
- Lagoa
- Every place we ever went
- People waking me up on the bus if I fall asleep
- Octavio, Diego, Everton, Larissa, Hillary and ALL the kids at the kids centre
- Cascau, Ana Claudia and Del
- Grazi and Rafaela AND MARCELA
- Gelataria Max (the best ice cream place ever!!!)
- buffet ice cream
- Portuguese
- My host family
- Amazing fruit
- Everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (except putting salt on lettuce. I will not miss that)

Don't cry for me Argentina!

COUNTRY: Argentina
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Madeleine Paradise

I sit here on my top bunk, looking down at the chaos below. The noises, the sights... the smells. It's fascinating - and a little bit scary - how much stuff 6 girls thought necessary to survive 3 months in South America. We're all hastily packing our things, questioning the necessity of our possessions, as well as trying to offload the useless onto each other. "Do I need three of the same T-shirt?", "Does anyone want a frequent flyer nasal spray?", "Anyone need gastro pills?", "WHY DID I BRING SO MANY SHOES?"... It's an interesting experience in Room 1. I'm certain the boys upstairs are a little more blasé about packing...

Packing. Packing to leave Buenos Aires. What? Who's leaving? We definitely aren't. Not in our heads, at least. It hasn't clicked - not one bit - that our time is up in Argentina. Come Friday morning, our beloved Bronwyn is the first to leave, heading to Rio de Janiero. Cass hops on a plane to New York on Friday night. Saturday; Arj, Beck and David fly home to Australia, Lyndon is off to Peru, Britt joins Bronwyn in Rio, and yours truly hops on a bus to Corrientes in Northern Argentina for another two months in South America (sorry Mum and Dad!). That leaves poor Issy, the first to arrive and the last to leave, for one more lonely night in the hostel, before arriving home after 5 months in Europe and South America.

Our time in Argentina and Buenos Aires can - and will - be likened to a painting. A canvas rich in culture, characterised by colour; light and shade; the odd smudge or two; and beautiful but different brushstrokes. Our quick trips away to Mendoza and the Andes; The Misiones and Iguazu; Uruguay; Rio; El Tigre; and an Estancia, all add different colours to the painting. From the red dirt of the Misiones, the stark white snow of the Andes, to the glittering gold of the shores of Rio de Janiero. Light and shade was apparent in day to day life in Argentina. Some days were naturally better than others. Some days were hard; work was challenging, our Spanish skills failed us, we were ill, we missed home, or we simply needed some time to ourselves. Smudges, or errors, are visible on our painting - nothing is perfect. Along the way, we lost jumpers, lost money, got the wrong bus in Mendoza (sorry guys!), inadvertently offended people by misusing pronouns, and had our underwear vanish when we took it to the laundry... But, I think these little smudges complete our painting, it is all the more beautiful for them. Also, amongst this chaotic piece of art that is our Argentina Antips GapBreak, you can't even see the smudges! Not with all the beauty this beast beholds. As for the brushstrokes, every person we met along the way added their own unique stroke. Every single person we met along the way contributed to our artwork; hostel owners, Spanish teachers, charity founders, fellow travelers, cab drivers, waiters, pizza-makers, fruit and vegetable vendors, and - of course - the unforgettable children we worked with in las villas.

At the end of the day, the Argentine Nine were the real artists behind this painting; we may have hit each other with the paintbrush every now and then, but man, we did good. We traipsed around the world, with altruistic ambition, helped those less fortunate than ourselves, and experienced an entirely different culture.

Take a step back, guys. Look at our masterpiece. ¿En serio? ...Wow.

Now, I'd also like to take this moment to thank our respective commissioners; our families and friends. The life of a young artist is hard; without your support (whether it be financial or moral) we may never have been able to complete this wonderful piece of work, and have had this incredible experience.

Our main purpose here, volunteering in las villas , has opened our eyes. We saw the way others live, and realised there are certain benefits we take advantage of at home. We're increasingly, and acutely, aware of disparities people face solely due to class and financial standing in society. We wonder how we can make a sincere and sustainable difference in the lives of those less fortunate (and, honestly, those TOO fortunate), yet we know it would take some kind of a revolution and moral conscience upheaval from all corners of the world... Someone needs to lead it. While eyes immediately fall on Lyndon for the job, it should be lead by our entire generation. ¡Viva la Revolution!

Its the old cliché that time flies when you're having fun.... But it really did. It's November already? Leaving is bittersweet. We've loved our time in Buenos Aires, volunteering with the children, living in the city, and being with each other. I have said it before, and I will say it again, the Argentine Nine have become a tight-knit unit, and have certainly cemented a place in my heart. I am proud to call these 8 wonderful humans my friends, and I wish them all the very best in the future.

12 amazing weeks, 9 beautiful group members, and 1 incredible experience.

Two weeks left teaching! GapBreak Ghana

The kids with their letters from Australia

My Ghanaian wardrobe, complete with work and play attire

Lake Bosomtwe

Kumasi Stadium

A man making a traditional drum

COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care work
WRITTEN BY: Michael Paton

It is now two weeks before we farewell the incredible kids at Calvary Methodist Prep, and head off on a journey around the country, exploring everything this country has to offer.

Since my last post, I have had many adventures! We recently travelled to Accra, where we were able to go shopping in Accra Mall, arguably the most western building in Ghana! We bought some toothpaste, clothes, and a sneaky bottle of red! Unfortunately that night our weekend was halted as Chloe's bag was snatched on the street, so most of our time was spent at the police station. I returned with Rachel on the Saturday so I could attend church, and had a fantastic time enjoying the wonders of the ICGC Gospel Choir. If you are reading this and want to see a video, send me a quick email and I'll send it straight to you! (michael.paton@hotmail.com.au).

Last week at school we had a special surprise package arrive from St Martin de Porres Catholic School in Davidson, my primary school. I had been in touch with the year 4 and 5 teachers prior to leaving for Ghana, and my roommate had the wonderful idea of asking for letters to our kids, from the St Martin's classes. So the classes got straight to it, and 6 weeks later the letters arrived. The kids were so shocked to see letters written and addressed personally to them, asking so many questions about their lives. The kids also loved the great drawings done by their new Australian friends! They wanted to write back straight away. So we had a full day of letter writing, the kids so happy to share their lives with their pen pals! We have since wrapped up the letters and will deliver them home personally to avoid any African mail complications!


On the same day as receiving the letters, we were also very shocked when a few men walked into our school with a big bag of shoes. All the kids crowded around and one by one, individual kids were given a brand new pair of TOMS shoes, completely free of charge. We researched what this could be, realizing, that the brand TOMS, has an advertising campaign where if you buy their brand of shoes, they will buy shoes for one African child. I must admit I have heard these campaigns before, but always doubted the follow-through of the corporations. It was a very pleasant surprise.

The next weekend we went to Kumasi, another main city in Ghana, this time further in-land. We arrived late at night after torrential rain, to our extremely budget hotel, and the next day explored the wonders of Kumasi. We ticked many boxes, including the Kumasi stadium, where only two weeks ago Ghana beat Egypt 6-1. We also had an explore through the Kejetia Market place - the largest open air market in West Africa. The market place was incredible, the fabric section alone had enough material in it to cover Tasmania! We also went to the National Cultural centre, to see some great wood carvings, batik clothing, and some traditional drums as they were being made. We then journeyed an hour out of Kumasi to Lake Bosomtwe, the largest natural lake in Africa, formed from a crater. We stayed in a small lake-side resort for a quiet night accompanied by the rain! Ella, Rachel and I headed back into Swedru on Sunday, to prepare for class on Monday.

Our journey was well...interesting. We began at 10.30 for our ride back into Kumasi, a one hour race apparently. We then found the tro tro (bus) to Swedru, empty. So we joined the tro tro and waited another hour for it to fill up, as is done here. We got about an hour and a half in, and suddenly had to pull over, as the axle had broken. We had stopped in the middle of no where, surrounded by just five or six houses, and no phone battery. Waiting for another hour for the tro tro to be fixed, the driver eventually gave up and called another tro tro for all his passengers. We joined the next tro tro, which then proceeded to take us on a short cut through the forest, where we saw a lot of the stripped back living you don't see in the main cities. No electricity, no cars, just mud houses and fire places. And of course in this isolated forest, our luck (or lack of) continued, as the second tro tro preceded to break down. But no problem, the issue was fixed in half an hour, and we were back on the road once again. We then arrived into a town, Akim Oda (I'd never heard of it either). We were told to get out, and find a tro tro that was going to Swedru. The time now 6.30pm, we were a bit taken aback, and laughing it all off, went to find another tro tro. We succeeded, and after a 1 and a half hour journey with two police checks, avoided with a quick bribe to the police, we arrived into Swedru at 8pm. A long and interesting adventure, it was definitely something that I will remember for a long time!

This week we will try to start finalizing plans for our two weeks of travel around Ghana, and organise some special things for our kids, to say farewell. Thinking about all this makes me a tad sad, because the children are such angels that I really don't want to say goodbye to them.

I am always looking forward though, and getting excited for my adventure around Ghana, and then to wonderful Egypt!

Make sure to stay updated on my Facebook, and Instagram! (patonmichael)

How did 72 toothbrushes land on the beach?

COUNTRY: Kenya
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Community & Conservation
WRITTEN BY: GapBreak Kenya 2013

How on earth did 72 toothbrushes end up on the beautiful golden sands of Diani beach? That is the question our Kenya gappers were asking when we participated in the annual International Beach Clean Up alongside the Diani coastline last weekend…

We prepared ourselves with black bags, gloves and a smile on our face as we walked a distance of 2km collecting all sorts of ‘taka taka’ along the way. Toothbrushes, razor blades, dirty nappies, bottle tops, flip flops and more random pieces of plastic than you could think of were picked up by our staff and volunteers.

We met school groups, conservation groups, locals, and holiday makers alike, all getting involved and making every effort to educate others whilst doing so. Those more interested in chatting up the gappers were swiftly told to get picking the trash rather than talking it! A fantastic group we bumped in to called Green World are bringing conservation education to the younger generation in the area and we are hoping to join forces with them to spread the word further into the interior areas such as where our camps are based.

 

We did get a little over enthusiastic and tried with our might to remove a huge tyre that was burried into the sand, only to discover (we were quickly told) that it was the landmark for the hotels volleyball court and the volleyball post holders were firmly wedged deep in the sand! Woops!!

In total we weighed 190Kg of waste and 25kg of that was flip flops. It proves that flip flops are still an issue, although less so than previous years, and we will continue to utilise them in a creative way by joining forces with local artist Benson Gitari who teaches our volunteers how to make juggling balls, key rings, jewellery and all sorts of weird and wonderful bits and bobs from the discarded flip flops.

This summer we made money boxes in the shape of turtles that were decorated in wasted flip flops to highlight the danger that plastic has on marine life. These little turtles are now in the schools that have joined us on expedition in order to raise awareness of what we do at Camps International and to raise funds for the Camps Foundation which will enable us to continue to assist with marine and environmental conservation.

For those of you who have come scuba diving with us, you will understand, even more so, the importance of keeping our ocean clean and free from plastics and rubbish that harm marine life. If we can spread the word to youngsters and get them involved from an early age that will actually create a change in behaviour with regards to waste management then we are onto a good thing.

Our first week in India

DAY 1
Well I arrived in Mumbai safe and sound! Flying in was amazing as the whole city was lit up and it's huge! The first thing I noticed on landing in Mumbai was the smog and the smell!! The airport terminals were full, even at 2am so our plane didn't have a terminal to pull into. We had to park some distance from the terminal and they sent out buses, which took us to the terminal.

The drive through Mumbai to the guesthouse was definitely an experience!! There are no road rules except toot loudly so people know you are coming. They have multiple traffic lights, which they just ignore, tooting as they go.

After arriving in Malvali we went to the next town called Lonavala on the train. The town is quite noisy with people tooting all the time and with no footpaths it's a battle not to get run over!

Otherwise just sat around & waited for the others to catch us up in Malvali.

DAY 2
We went into Lonavala again with the second group of Antips arrivals as some people hadn't been there yet.

After wandering around Lonavala for a while we got back on the train and headed back to Malavali and just sat around getting to know each other seeing as we are spending the next 4 weeks together!

We had our orientation and we are off to the local hospital in Lonavala to observe a clinic, pharmacy and maybe some surgeries!

DAY 3
Had vegemite on toast this morning for breakfast! The lady here cooked us toast and I brought a tube of vegemite so we had a feast!

Caught the train again which is always an experience. The Indian people are all so pushy when getting on and off and these trains are no-where near as crowded as the ones in Mumbai!

The consultant surgeon at the hospital (Dr Shaa) is very famous and a very good doctor. The three of us spent a couple of hours in the Outpatient Clinic with Dr Shaa. It was a tiny little room with a desk & a examining table & a couple of chairs. Adjoining it was what looked like an ensuite bathroom & turned out to be the drug room. There were 3 doctors present for the appointments, Dr Shaa was the senior doctor & he had two junior doctors who did all his paperwork and script writing. He just did the incredibly brief 'examination'. There was also a nurse or 'sister' who took blood pressures and gave injections.

We then went on a tour of the hospital. It has 25 ward beds split into male and female wards. There is a nurse in each ward. They had equipment like IVs and monitoring equipment but it was ancient! It all looked so old and worn out. They also have an ancient x-ray & ultrasound machine as well as a tiny operating theatre, which was also ancient technology! They do really sophisticated surgeries too considering the surroundings.

DAY 4
We went to the hospital in Lonavala again and sat in on the outpatient clinic with Doctor Shaa again.

After lunch we went and watched the afternoon surgery list, which was really interesting. We saw a circumcision, 2 hysterectomies and a lumpectomy (breast lump removal), which were all really interesting to watch, as I hadn't seen them before in Australia. I have no idea if the procedures here are the same as in Aus. It was fairly hygienic though in some ways. It was just really basic. The funniest thing that happened was the power went off (which is apparently a common occurrence) during the middle of the circumcision and the anaesthetist got his mobile phone out and tried to use it as light. The other junior doctors all had to run down to wherever the generator was and get it going. They still carried on the surgery though in the dim light!

DAY 5
We met the local neurosurgeon who had come down from his hospital near Pune. He is good friends with Dr Shaa and had come down to Lonavala as a favour to do a surgery for a family who could not afford to go to Pune to have it done.

After the consultations we went straight up to watch the neurosurgery. We watched him remove the piece of skull from a guy’s head, which had become infected. After that we had lunch and then headed back up to the surgery and watched a hernia repair on a young girl.

DAY 6
Headed over to Lonavala again. Our train was 20 minutes late this morning, which is the worst it has been so far. Overall I have been very impressed with the Indian rail system so far. I guess that may change once we start going longer distances!!

When we got to the outpatient department we were later than the other days and one of the junior doctors remarked that we were late. India runs on something called IST or Indian Stretchable Time, which basically means that everyone runs 15-20mins behind time and no one thinks anything of it. So for the doctors to remark that we were late today means we really must have been!!

We watched all the consultations again. The most interesting was a boy who had been bitten by a dog and was there to have rabies vaccines.

Once clinic finished we discovered that there weren't any surgeries for the rest of the day so we had a really short day, which was awesome for a Friday!!

This weekend we've decided to go Pune so that should be fun! Next week we're going on the mobile health vans so that should be fun!

From, Katrina

UniBreak Volunteers in Kenya!