Monthly Archives: May 2012

Rainbows

Posted on by

Last night, 2nd Beacon Rainbows (St. Peters) did a sponsored skip raising £71 for Chennai Challenge. They were amazing!! Each girl skipped for about 5 minutes in the corner of the room while the others made a dream catcher, then they swapped. So during the whole night at Rainbows there was always a little Rainbow skipping in the corner. They were allowed to stop for a drink of water though. ;) Image

They skipped like crazy!! One or two girls did claim that they “couldn’t skip” but they all managed to attempt something that resembled skipping, they shared the skipping ropes with each other and tried their very best. They had loads of sponsors from family and friends and even sponsored themselves with pocket money. Well done girls!! :D

Image

Good Puddings – sorry Beaudesert

Posted on by

Well three days on and I have almost caught up on sleep.

There are a number of thankyou’s I want to share:

Cathy, Rob, Isaac, thanks for having such an amazing vision and following through to actually make a difference for others, both here and in Chennai.

Cathy – thanks for the food – nom nom nom!

Then also thanks, or should that be apologies, to all my coworkers on the team this year who have put up with my warped sense of humour, and are still willing to go to India with me – WHY? Just think, Lynn married me and has had to put up with it for more than thirty years – she is a patient lady.

So what else? The weekend was amazing so much information – just feel really embarassed that I haven’t mastered even the most basic words in Tamil – will try harder! Working alonside you all has been great, and after the weekend I am getting excited about going!

We all have different gifts and working as a team we can do so much more than we can individually. We will all have good days and bad days, so those on a good day support those on a bad day – it will swap later!

Don’t bottle your feelings up, they will eat away inside you until you pop like a champagne cork – the champagne goes all over everyone – and its definitely not a blessing. Talk to someone either one of the leaders, or your mentor, get it in the light early, deal with it, then enjoy the next bit in peace. Do you remember any of the warning signs we talked about during the training in London? If you think I am pointing a finger, think of a hand pointing, one finger points forward, three point back toward me – I’m not good at this either, but I’m working at it.

Emma K – my partner in coffee – I am relying on you to feed my addiction – especially in the first few days!

Amy, thanks for giving me a rude comment back – I needed you to, we are working together on the project and I am not MRS Godden – your RE teacher at school! ;-)

Finally, 23rd June at Rising Brook Baptist Church – The Paul Poulton Project – Chennai Challenge Concert 7:30pm all welcome, Tickets are £5 or 2.50 for 12 and unders.

Les

via.

Hannah in May

Posted on by

I really enjoyed last weekend, despite the usual (for me) injuries, feeling bad for waking everyone up at around 2.30am, not getting enough sleep and having back ache ever since! But it was pretty good to meet my awesome Yellagiri partner, Ashleigh, who is just amazing at everything as well as being a really nice person! I also loved all of the delicious curries Cathy made for us, I don’t usually like curry particularly but these ones were gorgeous so thank you very much! I’m already missing my friends at breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as some beautifully childlike behaviour from Isaac and Rob and amazing reactions to everything from Amy!

I went shopping yesterday to buy clothes and shoes for India but it did feel slightly odd buying sandals when it was raining outside! I’m so excited now-it finally feels real and I can’t wait although I do have quite a lot to do within the next 12 weeks before we fly out! Including stupid things like exams but also good things like Duke of Edinburgh walks and Church Balls to go to!! Fortunately, I do not have any fundraising left to do that is vital as I’m already over my target! :D I’m also liking the fact that people are just giving me money, one person today gave me £40 just because I was going to India, that is definitely minimum effort, maximum yield!!

I must say a massive thankyou to the whole team for looking after me when I fell and that I can’t wait to see you all again which is likely to be when we fly out to India as I can’t make the final meeting! I’m so ridiculously excited and hopefully no injuries like this weekend will occur whilst we are out in Chennai! But the things I’m most looking forward to are: a good night’s sleep without waking up; no back/neck pain but also to get on that flight from Heathrow that leaves at 1pm on the 31st of July from Terminal 5!

It finally feels so real and I can’t WAIT!!

Related articles

Ashleigh’s first blog!!

Posted on by

Hi all!

This is my first blog, I don’t know why but I have been quite anxious about writing this as I have never written one before!

I can’t believe how real it now all seems! I am actually going to India for an AMAZING cause with an amazing team (who I have got to know over the training weekend in Beaudesert). I decided in January to take on this challenge, however, it has only just sunk in what I am actually doing and I AM SO EXCITED that I will be exploring life out of my comfort zone!! This is going to be a life changing experience and I can’t wait!

Although initially I was very nervous about this weekend because of not knowing many people and being in a new situation, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Considering I hadn’t met a majority of the team properly I felt so welcome (so thank you to you all) and I can’t wait to get to know everyone even more!

Since I arrived home on Sunday I haven’t stopped talking about the weekend to friends and family. Everyone who has visited my house has been shown the 5 rupees that I won. I love that new game =D although after, I had difficulty sleeping ha-ha! I am having withdrawal symptoms from the scrumptious, traditional South Indian food we ate over the weekend courtesy of the lovely Cathy =D I am thoroughly looking forward to introducing new foods to my palette!

Bizarrely, I have found myself thinking about the chart that was on the W.O.K every time I have visited the bathroom (I am blushing typing at this point). I haven’t managed to bring myself to actually check yet but the thought of the chart is in my head. The intention is there! By the time we go to India I should be able to check and talk about it openly. (As I get quite embarrassed at the moment)!!

I have spent most of today emailing and writing letters to various people to help with my fundraising. I have also been TRYING to convince my friends and family to abseil with me off an 80ft railway bridge over a river to tackle one of my newly found fears of heights. (Well I am not scared of heights but for some reason I seem to be scared of not having my feet on a secure surface and not being in control! I suppose a fear of the unknown really)!

I am still anxious about aspects of this new experience but that feeling is continually turning into excitement. I cannot wait to experience a new culture with new friends!

Thank you for reading my first blog =D

Ashleigh xx