India Romeo 5 have obviously been very busy
as they have not managed to get a blog post back to the FB team!!! So that
everyone at home are kept up dated this is what we at FB know of their progress
so far.
They started their time in Mavalam, a farming village in the mountains of Tamil
Nadu with their PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) exercises which included
going to all the houses in the village to complete a household surveys. This
allowed them, not only to find out the members in the household, their
educational level and health awareness but also to meet all the villagers and
for the villagers to get to meet the team.
It was initially rainy and quite cold there
but over the last few days this has improved greatly and they are now basking
in the sun on most days.
They have also completed a village map,
wealth ranking and a Venn diagram which allows the villages and the group to know of all the facilities that are available in the village/area and how easy
it is to access those services. They have met with the villagers numerous times
to work out the time line of the village which includes information such as
when the village was founded, when the temples were constructed and when they
had other facilities within the village.
In between all this work they have found
time to visit a nearby town Sathi Mangalam, for food shopping and other
essentials they needed. They have also managed to find a ‘secret garden’ which
was set back from the village and as such allowed them to have a fun afternoon
away from all the curious children.
After this flurry of activity the team went
to for further training at CIDOR where information on setting up and running a
vet camp and a health camp were gained. This is also where they got more
information about their construction phase.
Since returning to Mavalam the have again
been busy selecting beneficiaries for their eco-sanitation units and helping
India Romeo 6 to run a health camp at the village of Hossaty where the was
nearly 300 individuals seen at by the medical team. The member of IR5 also did
some role plays to the queue of waiting patients to raise the health awareness
on hand washing, prevention of diarrhoea and nutrition. It was a very busy day
especially because IR5 walked 2 hours to just reach Hossaty!
This week they have been busy starting the
construction of the eco-san units but have managed to clean the community hall
with the help of a number of the villagers. A few of the group have also been
giving lessons at the local primary school.
From FB on behalf of all of India Romeo 5
Hopefully your next blog message will come
direct from the group!!
This is for Alex Ash
ReplyDeleteRomeo 4
Dearest A,
I do hope all is well and that you are really enjoying being in Kannagre. When do you think you will be able to contact me? We really miss you and would love to hear from you. With love M and N xxxxx
Thanks for the update. Tell IR5 they are lagging behind the others .. We want piccies and stories too!! :-)
ReplyDeletemessage for heather nicholls ir5
ReplyDeleteso good to have an update everyday i have people asking hows heather whats she up to dad keeps telling them she prob trying to think of ways to get a baby elephant and tiger cub home lol......sounds like your team are very busy stay safe love mum and dad xxxx
Hi John, IR5, sounds like you've been busy. Dreamt last night that you arrived home by boat 5 weeks early with Josh and Luca lol . Can't wait to see photos/movie of your team on the blog (# barelydisguisedhint). Bex reminded me of Diwali .. great to be in India for that. Bumped into Jack's mum and dad ... They asked after you ... Your mates are wondering if you're still alive!! Bex will update them on Fb. Missing you loads young man, love Mum xxx
ReplyDeleteFor John, IR5.
ReplyDeleteHi John, we got your letter today!! What a lovely surprise! Sounds an amazing place with wonderful people .. Please do not even consider returning without the curry recipes!!
Will share the letter. Can't wait for the next update, lots of love Ma and Pa xoxo
For Becky, IR 5.
ReplyDeleteMiss Mathis, no idea if our letters have reached you but you've a whole heap of FB messages on your wall and everyone wanting to know how you are..But only now have we finally discovered the blog!
Funny thing was I went for a curry last night with BRC but got home & started looking through the Raleigh site to then see you had won the Indian cook off - perhaps I should have just flown out and had you cook instead!!
Imagining (in fact I know!) your having the most incredible experience out there, thinking of you every day and can't wait to hear all about it..
Love Mark xxx
For Becky, IR5,
ReplyDeleteDear my lovely Manface Mathis :P Im writing to wish a very happy 22nd birthday to my oldest and best friend :) I hope you're having the most incredible time out there and can not wait to see you when you get home! Looking forward to planning the rest of the wedding when you get back!
Love Annie xxxxx