Category Archives: YMCA

The final two days! :)

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So we are now sitting on the M25, in slight traffic with no beeping horns, lane structure and quiet! It feels very strange!

Our last few days in Chennai have been so busy – sorry for the lack of social networking activity.

Thursday was again an Oasis day – the teams delivered their last English sessions to their groups, all except two eager shoppers. Mary (aka Happy) and myself (aka The Fresh Prince) were chosen to go and shop for the boys town equipment we had agreed to purchase this year. The list included 3 computer monitors, notebooks ( enough for a years school work), cooking vessels, medicines, ceiling fans, buckets for washing and bed sheets.
I can officially tell you that this is a first and hopefully last experience of this as we were taken to the new 9 storey superstore around the corner, Saravana Stores! I have never been so appreciative of Britain’s queuing system and manners. Although saying this we did have a successful shopping trip after all the pushing and shoving to pay for the said items.

Thursday evening we enjoyed our yearly treat of a visit to Prince’s house. This year it was for pudding. Unfortunately for me, I was ill on this day and was unable to, like the rest of the team, fill myself with fresh fruit, ice cream, gulab jamon and payasam.

Friday was a day we were definitely looking forward to! To begin with Isaac and I went to Sathymanager community centre with Asir and an engineer. The purpose of this second visit was to obtain a quote for a rebuild of this amazing but very small centre. Every team member I have visited Sathymanager with has had a soft spot for it, mainly due to how welcoming it is, how active it is and how much community spirit surrounds it. However as we have mentioned before it is very small and not fit for purpose. Isaac fulfilled Rob’s role of senior project leader listening to the extension conversations and I was in the shoes of Cathy talking to the locals about the centre and its activities. By the end of the visit we both had that excited butterfly feeling in our stomachs as the quote came in at a maximum of 8 lak (£10,000). This is now an achievable target for fundraising over the next two years. Please pray for this project and the fundraising - we will keep you updated on the progress of this project.

In true Indian style we were now late for our next engagement – the laying of the foundation stone at Fort School. Last year we pledged 10 lak to assist the rebuilding of Fort School so that during the monsoon season they can still attend school without being sent away due to severe flooding. This year we were fortunate enough to see the rebuild commence. When we got to Fort School, Suzanne had got the rest of the team there and they were enjoying cool drinks and conversations with the GS and Headmistress. Myself and Isaac apologised for our late arrival and we were soon ushered to the end of the newly laid playground/pathway where they had already begun demolishing the classrooms.  After a song and a prayer from the teachers at the school, Isaac was ready to unveil the plaque. This all went smoothly and then the team posed for official photographs by the plaque. (Pictures to be posted soon!) May I mention here that Isaac was soooooo excited to be unveiling the plaque – we could not get the smile off his face!

The team then enjoyed some free time. Some visited the beach whilst others finished gift shopping at Spencer Plaza.

On Friday evening we had our final session at Boys Town. This consisted of an Indian takeaway, lots of dancing and presentations of gifts and equipment. The last session is always a difficult one for the team and once again we had tears from both boys and team members (but not me as I am a machine!). Even though it is a tough session, it is also one of the most rewarding ones. The smiles and expressions of thanks from the boys when they receive our gifts really signifies how important and effective our short time in Chennai really is.

Wow sorry for the long blog but there was just so much to fill you in on!

In the next few months we will continue to keep you updated on the progress of both Fort School and Sathymanager projects. Please pray for the projects and the fundraising for them.

YEmma x

This weekend…

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I have very little to do on a Thursday so I thought I might as well write a short blog.

This weekend the Chennai Challenge team of 2012 will be setting off to London for a weekend of training. I’m sure it will be filled with silly songs and dances and possibly even a snazzy PowerPoint presentation, but that’s all part of the fun of Chennai Challenge.

The YMCA boys certainly don’t mind us acting like complete fools. That’s probably one of the strangest qualities I’ve gained from going to India with Chennai Challenge; there’s nothing wrong with being a bit silly. That’s part of being outside of my comfort zone and without that we wouldn’t be prepared for the amazing work we are going to do in August.

Yet again this year I am amazed at people’s generosity and not just with their money. They have generously given their time and even promised their homes for evening events. Without them a curry night that has been organised and even a sausage and mash night would be completely impossible. My church this year has helped so much already.

As promised only a  short blog but just remember it’s perfectly fine to act like a monkey (Isaac) because it puts a smile on a small Indian boy’s face. And that is good. :)

Blue Edge

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Today some of the group went to Blue Edge to help with an English lesson, it was very rewarding and enjoyable. They really made me smile and showed me how much  they appreciated their education, we did some role play pretending be shop keepers and overlooked an exciting game of Pictionary. It was very overwhelming to see the difference in the local community change as we drove in Auto Rickshaws through the slums, the place we are staying is luxury compared to that!  However going to Blue Edge was a very beneficial part of the day for me.

Charlotte

The Simpler Side of Life

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It is amazing to sometimes stop and consider what you actually need.

I come to this ground breaking realisation shortly after making the point accidently whilst talking to a Rotary club about Chennai Challenge.  Having the opportunity to talk to Brewood and district Rotary Club about who we are and what we do was great, and so I made sure I had everything I might need ready to go.

The talk was on Wednesday, so on Tuesday I slightly changed the presentation on the computer to get it right, and borrowed a laptop and projector to show things. I saved a number of videos on to my ipod, and got the wire ready that would link this to the screen. I made sure I had the speakers ready for sound. I found and extension lead, so that there would be no issue with plugs. As well as all this I packed the old display boards to go up. I even made notes to go with my prezi, to keep me on track.

So I arrived at the venue, an Indian restaurant (well, technically the staff were all from Bangladesh) and put up the display boards. Then started to realize that I hadn’t got a screen to project on to. The wall was a good colour, but there wasn’t really the right place to put the projector.  I was ake the question ‘Do you really need it?’ and I said no. Instead of using all the pictures I could have, video and audio, I just spoke. My notes were linked to the presentation that I now wasn’t using, and so were little help. Except that they were nice to hold on to. I made a point of talking about Fort School. It is run by the YMCA Madras and is free for local slum children. The facilities they have are basic at best, with class sizes of 40+ and teachers equipped with a chalkboard, chalk, a book and a stick. Despite not having computers, interactive whiteboards and all other sort of bells and whistles, the school has had an 100% pass rate in its exams. Not just for this year, but for 6 years in a row.

At the end of my talk I was thanked, and told that there was no need for all the things I hadn’t used. That was nice to hear, and it shows that we don’t need a lot of shiny things to make things good. Take Fort YMCA school. They get great results with what they have, but the building is falling down. We would love to be able to rebuild it, but that would take money.  So donate if you can, not to provide trimmings and extra bits, but a space where children can simply learn.