Monthly Archives: May 2011

Visa Revisited

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Indian visa

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About a year ago I wrote a blog about getting visas to go to India. It seems like a simple thing to have to do, so why does it require a blog last year? Well you could read it, or just trust me that getting a visa last year was frustrating.

So this year, I would be more prepared. The blog last year was 4and a half weeks before the flights, this time it is 9 weeks. That is forward planning, getting myself ready with more time to spare, just in case, like last year, there are any hiccups. To try and stop any problems, I sorted my own visa before the rest of the team. This way I could make sure that everything worked before they sent them off.  A trial run, just to iron out the kinks. Which was a good thing to do, as the form online had changed again. Not that 3 changes in three years frustrates me. Or even surprises me now. Having been getting visas for a few years now, they do like to keep you on your toes and change things. A bit like when they changed the place you had to go to to get a visa. Or the time they decided you couldn’t take a bag in to the embassy, meaning I had to wait outside while Cathy and Isaac queued up. Changes keep happening, this time I would be prepared.

We also changed the way we filled them in. We have moved quickly in the past 3 years, in 2009 we filled in paper copies – this drove people mad, the spaces were small and lots of people filled in more than one. In 2010 we filled them in online – I had 5 or 6 people in the internet cafe and buzzed around telling them what to put in the bits they didn’t understand.  The plan for 2011? I would fill them all in online in advance of the May meeting, just requiring people to sign them.

This worked with only a few problems. Firstly my trial run did highlight a problem. Not the payment method this time, all done online with the debit card, but the photos. I foolishly sent passport photos. You need 50mm square photos. If you can’t visualize the size that is, it is a little bit bigger than a passport photo and square. Where do you get these sizes of photos from? really? A daft size. we worked around it. Take a picture, photoshop and print at the in-laws, no problem. It did of course mean that we needed to take a picture of all the team members against a plain background, but that is easy enough.

Actually getting 22 people to all sign the document they needed to and write their own address on an envelope did seem to take slightly more effort than I expected, but we all got there in the end.

The thing is about all of this, is that change happens, and we have to deal with it. Yes it is challenging, frustrating and annoying, but you can get past it. It is always more satisfying to have done something which does challenge you, rather than something that is really easy. This is what makes Chennai Challenge so satisfying for everyone involved, after a real challenge, you can see the good things that have been achieved.

My Chennai Challenge

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I could sit here and ramble on about how difficult raising money for Chennai Challenge has been, but I’m not going to lie my family, friends and church have really taken it all on board literally throwing money at me! My church has been so lovely, giving up their time and even their own homes to make events possible. From ‘afternoon tea’ to a ‘curry night’ at the vicarage, Chennai Challenge has really brought our church community closer together.

So what has been a challenge? I suppose the thought of having curry for breakfast isn’t  that appealing (glad there’s still the option of toast), actually flying to India and being without my family. Going to miss my mum!

I am very excited and definitely feel part of the 2011 Chennai Challenge Team!

Charlotte

 

Exam Stress

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Students taking a test at the University of Vi...

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It is now the middle of exam season in the UK. The majority of students have just had exams, or are preparing to have them. It is not just restricted to those students who people might expect, but Year 6 students (age 11) have just had to do SATs, many students sitting formal exams will have end of year exams from their school. Many schools are using modular courses so pupils in Year 10 as well as Year 11 will be sitting GCSE exams. AS exams and A level exams are going on. Even higher than this University students are sitting finals or possibly trying to finish off a dissertation. This all leads to a lot of stressed people.

For a lot of students they will be stressed about doing revision. Especially students who are on study leave, where you have the freedom to do the revision you like, when you like. Yay, the freedom. The reality for many people will be  the freedom to find anything else to do, except revise. There are countless people who have spent their time cleaning, organising, baking. just so they are doing anything but revise. Then getting down to the actual revision, but needing to make a new version of your revision timetable to account for the time lost to other activities. This obviously needs to be fully colour coded, which adds another hurdle as you can no longer find your colouring pencils in this new organised set up you have created.

Finally when you do get do doing some actual revision things don’t seem to get any better. You find some bits you know like the back of your hand, and they seem too easy to be on the exam, and then other bits you have no recollection of, were you even taught it? Surely your teachers didn’t do it. A quick text to a friend reveals you did do it and they know all about it. Oh dear. Anyway, after a good half an hour revision session you can reward yourself with 10 mins of TV or xbox. That turns in to an hour.

Students are generally worried because they want to do well, and have an idea of the results they will need to do what they want after education, and have the pressure from their own hopes as well as those of teachers and family. They could be many that have in their mind that they have a back up plan. I could retake this, change my course slightly, there are options to fall back on. Maybe for some people they know they can fall back on their parents, and for others (if we believe what we read in the media) there are always benefits.

The results are often stressing teachers out as much as the students. The teachers have been preparing the students for a year or two for the exam, and now need to sit back and see what happens. When they do find out, they need to explain why the students got those results, were they what the teacher predicted? Why did they not get their target grade? Why did they exceed their target grade?  All of these questions can be asked, the school needs to show how good it is and look at the results, so they can show they have 60% of students getting 5 A*-C GCSEs, or what ever measure they want to use.

Looking down the middle of Fort school

If you have a school with 70% 5 A*-C at GCSE, those will be considered very good results. The Fort school, run by the Madras YMCA, in Chennai as had a 100% pass rate in exams. 100% pass rate for 6 years running. This from providing education to slum children who live locally, not any one identified as ‘gifted’ or ‘talented’, just ordinary children, who wouldn’t be able to afford school otherwise. Maybe they have the motivation to learn, and the knowledge they have no second chances, no wealth, no benefit system to fall back on. In the words of JLS, they only have one shot.

If you wanted to help provide a new school for students at Fort then donate online, or text FORT01 £5 to 70070.

So go on, take out a few seconds to make a donation to help. Then maybe get back to your revision

Fund Raising Fun

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So one of the most challenging things for me about Chennai Challenge is raising the money.  This has changed from when I first went.  On my first visit raising the funds was easy(ish).  I had a network of local people around me who all helped me to organise events and raise money in inventive ways.  We made jewelery (it was funky – let me tell you!); we performed gigs; we “ski’d” the 3 and a bit miles from Guildford YMCA to Farncombe; we ran a whole week of India inspired events in a local Secondary School; we did a charity car wash.  However, nearly 10 years later it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise £1400 every year…

I now live in London.  London is an amazing place full of people, and full of interesting things to do.  In fact it is just this that makes it so much more difficult to raise funds.  How many justgiving emails have you received in the last few months?  I know that I get a good few, and I am all for people fund raising for amazing projects that they are involved in.  But the market place is flooded.  It’s not enough to just ask for money now.  You have to make it interesting.  You have to draw people in.  Any event you plan has to be original and fun…and of course professional.  Undoubtedly you have to pay for a venue, pay for a drinks reception, and somehow acquire amazing raffle prizes.  Some might call it a full time job – indeed for some it IS a full time job.  And here am I.  Raising what is actually not a large sum of money each year and increasingly struggling to get there.

But of course, this can only be a positive.  There are other challenges that I face, but this is the biggest by far.  I wouldn’t have it any other way – I want to be challenged by this project.  I want to push myself to achieve the best I can.  If you have any ideas for fund raisers post them here – I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.  I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve, it’s just the organising of them that needs to happen now!

So here’s to another year of inovative fund raising from our team, of rising to the challenge and exceeding the £1400 minimum target for funds.  And here’s to my own personal Chennai Challenge.