HAMPI

Well here I was thinking I would be returning a couple of stone lighter.....No Chance! Every meal consists of some sort if curry or chili based dish with rice or at least four Chapati. In a true English way I try to decline with as many pleases as possible while rubbing up stomach and extending my hand as if to say it could not possibly expand out any further! Whilst sat in front of the Head of the Orphanage (Joseph) and being served by every female member of his family they will NOT allow me to decline. Needless to say I am feeling like I am having three Christmas meals a day, that said I'm actually not finding it funny now and am going to bed on a full tummy with stitch EVERY NIGHT!! I'm also now so blocked up with rice I can't seem to get rid of any of it....."mum please note, don't go OTT at Christmas, a fruit salad will do just fine!"

I have now moved on from the Orphanage in Chennia and am hoping to return for the last two weeks. I left on Friday night with Pappa Rick, Gilly his wife (my contacts for the Orphanages in India through Mustard Seed Ministry's, they live in Goa and also have a house in Southsea) Pedro and Geniloa (a Brazilian couple who run the Orphanage in Goa) We traveled over night to a place called Vijayawada where we were a part of a village for the day.....it was quite something that can only be explained but very touching. We left there last night and traveled by train over night to another corner of India which is a little Paradise called Hampi (look it up on a search engine) It's a Cafe Del Mar type of chilled Indy place where you sit under the trees sipping on your Indian Chai while watching the local ladies in their bright colours bashing and washing cloths on the bolders in the river. It's quite something! When we arrived this morning I thought after three days I had better freshen up then took a walk to the river..... On my return I got chased by a buffalo of all things! I think I was in the way of it and something but luckily in the way of the two of us coming eye to eye with his head and horns lowered was a car! PHEW

Well I have much to see in this place so I had better emerge from this little underground cave of an Internet Cafe and take in some of the sites..... On the way here I have managed to get a man to make me some tailored Fishermans pants for less than a pound, another man to make me a tailored top for the same price and bartered for some jewels, this place is a Shoppers Paradise!

I am going on a four hour tour tomorrow where I will cross the river in a weed type raft, see the temples and generally get a feel for the place. This is a three day R&R.......what a place to have it as well! More before I leave this Hampi...

MOVING ON FROM CHENNIA (for now)

Just a quick HELLO to all! Found myself a new friend....... Heading off from Chennia tonight on an over night bus then train to a place called Hampi for a few days R&R, back to Goa from there then I may well be heading back to Chennia or stay and work in the Orphanage in Goa. When I am in Hampi I will write and tell you all. SO much to tell, need to get my story book head on! Love to you all. xxxxxx

CHENNAI (Madras)

Well I am here now in Tambaram (Near Chennai) After a 24 hour train journey which took me from the West to the East coast of India I was collected by Joseph who runs the Orphanage A.F.R.A (Assosiation For Rural Action) here in Tambaram with 43 Orphans. Tamal is the native language to the South of India and English is hardly spoken....JOY! So I am mostly talking to myself. The kids laugh at me and copy everything I say. They have no toys so I am now tasking them all with making Christmas decorations out of the husk of a coconut and some beads. They will do anything they can to take a peek in my cell room if only to see something slightly Western. I only wish I had brought out more things for them......The smallest of things means so much! If only a touch of the face, a hand hold or just to be sat with them while they eat their rice from steel plates with their right hand (left for ones bottom!) when sitting in rows on the floor.

Well this is just a short entry as I am off to see if there are any toys I am able to purchase for the kids while they are at school. Snap, Memory, elastics, hop scotch, hand slaps etc are all becoming a little the same now! Loving the cricket though, with a peice of fruit and a log!

Next Monday a couple from Goa, Rick and Gilly also Pedro who runs the Orphanage in Goa are coming to A.F.R.A to see the kids; Rick and Gilly support A.F.R.A through their Charity. I will head off with them for 5 days to travel then come back to the Orphanage.

Love to you all, keep the comments and e mails coming, they mean so much. Thank you.

Sorry no picture this time, the USB port is a no go by the looks of things in this village, so it may be some time.

GOA

If only the internet gave use the five senses…… where do I start? A week ago today I arrived at Dabolim Airport (Goa) My stay has been slightly extended as I am customising myself to the Indian ways, after being put on a 6 day wait list for the train from Goa to Chennai I now leave this coming Thursday. The journey will take 24 hours in a 2nd class sleeper carriage, I have been told this is the way to experience true Indian train travel!

Since I have been here I have spent most days with the 33 children at Shalom House Orphanage, not all of the children are orphans but each with a story to tell, some so inhumane it hurts to even think of let alone type. These children have so many strengths that I can not begin to list. They have unconditional love for each other and patience that outweighs anything that I have seen, they are a true joy to be with and completely humbling. Today we took the children to a park in Panjim the capital of Goa. The heavens opened on this very hot day, we danced and laughed as we showered in the torrential downfall. On getting the ferry back to the Orphanage (37 people in a 16 seater minibus) I was holding two of the little girls no taller than 3 foot and of the age of 12 up against the side of the ferry so they could see the water. One of the girls looked at me and said “Aunty why is the water blue?” In fact the water was a dirty murky brown but as the sun shone after the rain the bright blue sky reflected on the dirty water. I loved they way she was able to look beyond to see the brightness and eliminate the dirty waters….. Seeing the world through the innocence of a child in this way is quite something!

I’ve been staying in a very remote village in Goa (Carona) there is about 20 Indian houses many of them made of cows dung. The view from the patio is over the rice fields where the locals spend the day in the heat hand ploughing the rice then straining it on the side of the dusty track while kingfishers perch on the lines above. The buffalo graze in the same fields each accompanied by at least one stork like bird perched on the buffalo’s back or by its side. It’s quite something to see and as dusk falls the bats busy the sky while the frogs entertain the ground, what is in-between just takes a little stillness and time to STOP and take in…….

It’s really quite an amazing place with sights worthy for National Geographic.

As of Friday my next six weeks will be spent living in the Orphanage in Chennai.