Sammie and Lizzie send feeback from India

Sammie and Lizzie went out to Southern India in September 2009. They are keen to let their peers know what life and work is like at their orphanage. They write:
'We have almost reached the 2 month mark now in India, and the time has gone so fast.
We have experienced several celebrations, including birthdays and Diwali (the Indian equivalent of Christmas), and have done some sightseeing around and outside the city we live; Chennai.
Since the moment we touched down at the airport in Chennai on Wednesday 16th September, we knew that this was it; there was no going back now! On first impressions as we got off the plane, we both thought ‘get us home’. The first thing that hit us was the heat, the smell, the people, and the airport was just chaotic even at 5am. We really were not mentally prepared for the reality that we were facing right then at that moment in time. We thought the place is so dirty, and we witnessed a huge amount of poverty, where people just sleep on the side of the road. It honestly was a massive culture shock, but it was obviously something we had to get used to very quickly. We were so scared and it felt like it was just the two of us against the whole of India. After getting through customs (which was very stressful as we did not know our address and had many forms to fill in) we then had to endure the most terrifying taxi ride of our lives; we thought we were going to die! The traffic is a nightmare, and there are literally no road rules what so ever; find a space, fill it! At around 5.30am we finally arrived at the YWCA guesthouse, which we stayed for two nights before transferring to the orphanage (Prema Vasam) on Friday 18th September. Those first two days seemed like the longest days ever, and it was the waiting around that really made us think about home and how much we just wanted our families as there was nothing else to do or think about. The only thing we just wanted to do was to get to Prema Vasam and begin our placement. From the moment we arrived here at the orphanage, life in India changed for the better and from then on we absolutely loved it. Everyday brings new experiences for us, and there is so much to be doing, whether that is entertaining the children, helping out in physio, or doing domestic things, for example; washing our clothes, changing the children or just sleeping during free time.
Now we have got into the swing of things, our daily routine is as follows; 8.30am feed the 'special' children, then change them, and carry them down to the basement where they have physio from Monday- Friday and every other Saturday. We then have free time until 12.30 at 12.30 we go down to the basement to feed the special children their lunch, they have to be hand fed, with our right hands ( very difficult to get used to at first as we are both left handed, and don’t eat with our fingers at home, let alone a whole different hand!) after feeding, we have free time again till 3.30 when we have to carry them back up to their rooms, and maybe change them if they need it; mostly the carers do things like that. we have free time again until 8pm when it is feeding time, so again the same as before, feed, change, entertain etc and dinner for the staff is at 9pm.
We very quickly settled into life and a daily routine here at the orphanage, however it did take a good month to get to know our bearings of the city, by which we had to start with traveling by buses and auto rickshaws. These were whole new experiences within themselves for us as we had never traveled ‘Indian style’ before. The buses are sometimes so packed that people are literally hanging on to the window bars; something which we have not yet done, and do not wish to do. Due to the mass of poverty here, when we go out for day trips using auto rickshaws, the drivers try to rip us off because as we are ‘white’. They associate us with money, and therefore class us as ‘rich’; which we are not, so we have learnt to haggle the price to that of an average Indian. We have tried telling them that we are not tourists; we live here in Chennai as volunteers so have no money. It sometimes works, but the majority of the time, it doesn’t!
We have recently celebrated Diwali, so all of the children here received new outfits, and a few small gifts from visitors who donated them. The celebration lasted for 3 days, with specially donated meals, and hundreds of fireworks. It was a big privilege to experience this main event with the children and staff as this is the only time of the year that the children receive new dresses and gifts except for on their birthdays. The fireworks were definitely something we both will never forget as they make our fireworks back home look ridiculous. There is no health and safety, they allow the children to play near them, and set them off. The fire-crackers were the worst; they were so loud, and extremely dangerous, as they were flying off in all directions. At the time we were certainly petrified and were probably more worried about getting burnt than actually enjoying them. But looking back now, they were fine, apart from the noise and give you a great adrenaline rush! We also wore our sari’s on the Saturday to take the children to the temple just 30mins down the road in an auto-bus. At first it was exciting to wear them, however the novelty soon wore off as it was the hottest day ever and we were literally sweating inside them, it was very unpleasant. They are very difficult to walk in, let alone climb the temple stairs! We couldn’t wait to get out of them; now they are only worn on very special occasions.
We also get the chance to do a bit of traveling during our placement as the orphanage is very flexible with time off. They even encourage us to take a break from the kids once in a while, whether that is just a day trip, a weekend or a few weeks away.
If we want to go out during the day, or have to meet our representative in Chennai central, we usually travel by bus which takes just over an hour. We often go to a massive shopping mall called Spencer Plaza which has everything you need, but is quite expensive; only the ‘rich’ shop there. Here we buy our supplies, withdraw money; go for pampering sessions at the salon, eat lunch, and just have a good day out!
On the other hand, our first experience traveling outside of Chennai was to a French city called Pondicherry three hours away from home. It is definitely a contrast to Chennai; cleaner, more built up and very touristy. It was like visiting a mini French town. There were lots of things to do, places to eat, and we went on a half-day tour round the area. It was a good place to visit and start our travels.
Prema Vasam not only has the orphanage were we are currently staying; it has a ‘boys home’ just over one hour away. This was basically set up for the boys here because when they turn 13, they have to move there as this is mainly an all girls orphanage. The older college girls live here and Selvyn (the founder) does not want the boys and girls ‘mixing’ as they are brought up as siblings. We get several opportunities to visit the boys home if we wish to. It is a lot of fun, and they love it when volunteers from the main orphanage go to see them. They also come here about three or four times a month and have volleyball tournaments with the girls, as well as special occasions such as Diwali.
Overall, we have had an amazing two months here, although it did take time to get used to everything. We still have a lot to learn and are taking each new day ‘as it comes’. Every experience is different, and we look forward to what the next four months has install for us. We are extremely thankful that we got sent to such an amazing place as this. In our opinions, we obviously got the best pick out of the orphanages we could have been sent, and we hope that the next set of students to be sent out are equally as fortunate as us.'
They are stying in India for six months - and despite the initial shock of India they are relishing their remaining time in this part of the World.