Selvyn at Prema Vasam in India provides an update

Selwyn, one of our hosts at his orphanage in Southern India, provides an update. He writes:

'Dear David,

Lots of love and greetings from Prema Vasam!

We have so many things to write to you, celebrated Christmas and New Year. Later we celebrated Pongal too. Now it is the time to concentrate more towards studies and other activities.

Our first child Indra has passed in distinction in the fifth semester of MCA studies, these days she is busy in preparing the project for the completion of the course, as it is we are always proud of her. Indra is incharge for the free tuition centre, nearly 120 poor children are getting benefitted. Indra teaches and coaches the 10th standard students, last year one of her students Leelavathy got 452/500 marks, Indra gave a nice gift (watch) to Leelavathy on the annual day.

One of our college going girls Miss Benitta has donated blood last month happily. Benitta is doing final year of her college, please pray for the success of her studies and for her future. Miss Soni who is doing B.Sc Nursing got a price for the essay competition at the national level in the “Competition Success” magazine.
Our college going girls got their fifth semester results too. Anisha, Anitha, Kalaichelvi, Suganya have got first class whereas Benitta has passed in second class. Unfortunately Lakshmi and Radha has failed in the fifth semester, both of them are so upset and sad. Of course all our college going girls do so much work in looking after our special children, they are very supportive and helpful.

On 4th February our boys home was inaugurated by Sonia Bonfiglioli, the director of Bonfiglioli groups. She is so happy to support and promised to help us in the coming days for our children.

Couple of our college going girls Radha and Benitta have got trophies for the college tournament and we are so proud that Radha got champion of champions trophy in her college.

Today one of our children Prema is celebrating her 14th birthday, please pray for her.

We are desperately trying our best to get a piece of land to extend our service to many more physically and mentally challenged and less fortunate children. Sometimes we are discouraged and disappointed while we approach the government officers for the same. Please remember our children and this special intention during the moments of grace. I am extremely sorry for this long silence in not keeping touch with you.

With much love,
Selvyn'

We wish Selwyn and his team good luck with their new projects. I will keep you updated.

Christmas wishes from India

We received a charming postcard from Prema Vasam, one of our orphanages in Chennai, India.

We want to thank Selvyan and his staff for all their hard work and support. We hope the children enjoy a wonderful Christmas with our volunteers.

I hear through the grapevine there is a nativity play in the offing!

Merry Christmas everyone.

David and Shirleyxx

Alice provides insight in to her journalism placement to India

Alice went to India with Changing Worlds last year.

She completed a three month placement with us on a journalsim placement to Chennai.

She writes:
'Here is my small advice for anyone planning on the journalism placement...I hope its helpful in anyway!

the Expresso section of the New Indian Express is small, friendly and very approachable. They´ll give you a chance to try subbing some articles and of course to write your own and take photographs. There is a weekly meeting on Tuesdays when it is best to have a few ideas for stories up your sleeve as it is very much a case of you get what you give - no story ideas means you won´t be writing any stories! They will of course occasionally send you on assignments but you have to bug the other reporters to give you assignments as occasionally, given the busy nature of a newspaper, they do tend to forget about the interns! The bottom line is it is up to you how much you do but it´s a great oppurtunity to really get to know Chennai and learn about living and working in a big city as more or less you are totally responsible for yourself.

they are very happy for you to take time off from the newspaper to travel if you haven´t much oppurtunity afterwards. Frustratingly your days off given are Thursday and Saturday which sometimes puts paid to taking a weekend off although they are very relaxed about time off. I managed 2 separate weeks away (one to Kerala and one to Gokarna - both highly recommended!) and a couple of long weekends which were brilliant - save the hill stations for when it gets hotter as they are a great place to cool off away from the Chennai heat! (I would definitely recommend using the trains to get around not buses. and to book trains go and book them direct at Central station in the foreign tourist booth - all you need is your passprt and they make it very easy!)

Back in Chennai, you will most likely be living in the Thirumangalam/Anna Nagar/Mogappair areas. Everything seems a bit of a shock when you arrive but I got really fond of my neighbourhood. Living as a paying guest is great because it makes you feel very independent and also sharing with Indians - there is no better way to understand a country better. Not easy start with of course coming from a totally and utterly different culture but if you keep yourself open it´s very easy to slip into a routine. you get used to using the buses (D70 was the bus that took us to work in the mornings) and share autos and I walked a lot because it was the best way to get your bearings. Nungambakkam (bus M147C goes there from Ambattur Estate Road) is one of the nicest areas if you want somewhere to meet friends at a cafe and a good place to meet other expats. Egmore is also nice and has a great material market on Cotton Street which is just beyond the government museum. Food is good and cheap everywhere (eat where Indians go - it´ll always be best and ask for recommendations!) and making friends with other reporters at the newspaper is great - we got invited to peoples houses for ´proper´homecooked indian food - best way to eat!

Whatever happens it is an experience never to be forgotten and because it really is what you make it even if your not having a great day you just have to think í´m in india´and open your eyes to whats around you. Enjoy!

I hope that´s Ok, if there´s anything else you want me to add in let me know! Of course - I forgot about the cricket. it must be a welcome distraction! I can´t imagine how hot it must be. I´m currently in the highlands in Bolivia where temparatures can reach below freezing at night!

Have you heard from any of the other interns. I hope they´re all doing ok (I hear from Jess and Poppy now and again and it sounds like they are having a great time!). I hope you and Grace are well,
all the best,
Alice'

Alice worked as a trainee journalist at the New Indian Express in Chennai. As you can read this provided her with an excellent insight in to how a real newspaper works.

The New Indian Express is an English language newspaper produced six days a week (excludes Sunday). Most of the volunteers start work in the features section of the magazine before going on to more regular slots in the newspaper itself.

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.

Selvyn at Premavasam, an orphanage in India, signs in

Selvyn at Prema Vasam does his monthly report on the health and welfare of his special children...this is always an eye opener and keeps everything in some kind of perspective living and working here in the UK. Selvyn writes:

Dear David,

Lots of love and greetings from Prema Vasam!

In my previous mail I have written about our Diwali preparations to the extreme of expressing our anxiety to get new dresses for Diwali. Most of our children are Hindus hence we celebrate Diwali every year to make them happy and joyful.

This year on 17th of October we have celebrated Diwali, every year we buy new clothes for all our children and for our carers too. Some of our friends consider it as a duty to buy new clothes and fireworks for Diwali, this year also at the last moment we got new clothes for all our children we bought fireworks too. It is like a pleasant surprise indeed. Our boys from the boys home also came here to celebrate Diwali with us all, it was a great celebration indeed.

Our school going children got their quarterly marks. Our boys scored good marks than our girls. Three of our boys Prakash XI, Ramesh VIII and Pandian XII got first rank and two of our boys got second rank and Prasanth got third rank whereas none of our girls got first rank. These days our college going girls Anisha, Anitha, Benitta, Lakshmi, Kalaichelvi, Suganya and Radha are doing their semester examinations, it started on 30 of October would be over on 29th of November, please pray for them specially.

Our boys are very much interested in feeding the elders. The number of elders have been increasing so we have built an extension kitchen. On first of November being the birthday of our first child Indra we have started preparing the meals for the boys as well as for the elders on the week ends in the new kitchen. It is so convenient and very spacious too.

Thank God, we have one more new physiotherapist Mr.Sasikumar joined us on 4th of November onwards. He is so affectionate and has a special love for our special children. Now the number of therapists are seven but still all the special children will not get therapy everyday. Please pray for our special children so that we may afford to have more therapists for them.

With much love,
Selvyn.

Our best wishes go to Selvyn and his team at PV. At present we have three volunteers working with his team at the orphanage.

Launch of the 1st Changing Worlds Competition

Hello all,

We are delighted to announce the launch of the first ever Changing Worlds Photo of the Month Competition!

We have selected 4 photos that have been sent in by past volunteers that we are now asking the general public to vote on. The winning photo will become the face of Changing Worlds for November including Twitter, Facebook, our monthly newsletter and of course a profile of the winner on here.
Just by voting you will be entered into a free prize draw to win a travel guide of your choice. This could be for a trip you are planning or just to provide you with an insight into a country of interest. We don't go anywhere without one!
All you have to do is follow the following link to view the photos in full size and cast your vote.

http://bit.ly/oB3HV

Selwyn in India reports back

Selwyn at one of our orphanages in Chennai, India likes to keep me updated about the children in his care. There is always plenty to ponder in his diary. He writes:

Dear David Gill,

Lots of love and greetings from Prema Vasam!

Today we have appointed one more physiotherapist, Miss Mercy to give therapy for our special children. Since the number of special children are more, sometimes some of the special children do not get the professional touch of the therapist.

Though we say proudly that we wish to serve special children more affectionately than school going normal children but the number of school going children are more in Prema Vasam. Of course the school going children too deserve our love and concern. Hence we try our best to develop the talents that dormant in them. Having that in mind we try to teach Karate, classical dance called Bharathanatyam, playing drums and so on. Last week some of our children took part in a karate tournament, Vasanth got gold medal in his age group, Arun and Sathish got silver medal in their age group, Manikandan and Hemalatha got bronze medal in their age group.

These days our Soundarya is not keeping well, please remember her during the moments of grace.

Our school going children got their progress report for the first mid term test, some of them have scored good marks and the rest of them have to concentrate more on their studies. We are so happy that Punith got First Rank in the class. And our college going girls got their semester results too. Anisha and Suganya have passed in all the subjects, whereas the rest of them have failed in one or two subjects, it is so sad and disappointing. Of course it is so soothing that our college going girls are serving our special children and teaching our school going children, they contribute so much for the well being of our children.
Dr.Roshan and his colleagues from Meenakshi dental college have come forward to give dental care for our children, to begin with every Thursday they take some of our children to their hospital for the dental care.

With much love,
Selvyn.

We hope that Soundarya makes a quick and full recovery.

Selwyn in India reports back

Selwyn at PremaVasam, one of our orphanages in Southern India brings us up to speed with life in his orphanage. He writes:
Dear David,

Lots of love and greetings from Prema Vasam!

These days our school going children have done their first mid term test, hopefully they have done their best. It is so disturbing that this year we did not get a good teacher to teach and help them to do their home works at home, please we need your good wishes and prayers for the same.

One of our children Soni who is doing B.Sc. Nursing is doing her second year annual examinations. She spends a good time in looking after the sick children and our special children too. But she does not spend more time in studying her lessons. We are trying our best to motivate her to concentrate towards her studies.

Our Boys home, boys are living in our new building. It looks like a palace for them, after a year of struggle in a small congested place, now they are comfortable and happy.

One of our dreams is to start a school for the normal children. Of course it is not that easy but as an initiative act this year we have started the kinder garden at Prema Vasam itself. It is so nice to see them with uniforms happily going to our kinder garden school. Miss Sumathy and Miss Pramila are doing their best for them.

During these days we have celebrated some of our children, Soni, Uma, Soundarya, Hemavathy birthdays. And our therapists, one of our occupational therapist Mr.Pradeep and one of our physiotherapists Miss Aishwarya have celebrated their birthdays too.

With much love,
Selvyn.

Selvyn at Premavasam, an orphanage in India, signs in

Selvyn the director at Premavasam orphanage in Southern India has been in touch to say:

'Dear David,

Lots of love and greetings from Prema Vasam!

I have been thinking to E-mail you for a long time, somehow could not make it. I am so happy to inform you that our first child Indra has got her fourth semester university results, we are very proud of her, she has scored 80% marks. This is the final year, she need to concentrate more on her studies. Of course in the evenings she helps the poor children from our village. During the summer holidays she has updated our website www.premavasam.com a big thanks go to her .

During this month some of our children Vijay, Rajalakshmi, Jancy and Vidhya have celebrated their birthdays, as usual a new dress has been given as a birthday gift and the birthday cake too.

Pavithra and Angel

In this month two special children Pavithra who is lying and Angel who is sitting next to her have joined our Prema Vasam family. Though our house is full with children, we could not say "no" to them.

During this week end we took some of our children to Besant nagar beach for an outing. Our children could not spend more time due to the unexpected showers of rain. Outings and picnics give so much joy and happiness to our children.

The construction work is going on very well. The final stage is going on, by this month we want to shift our boys to our own building as you are aware more than a year they have been living in the rented house with much struggle due to the congested place.

The whole world is affected due the recession, we are also affected financially so badly. Hence we need your wishes and prayers in order to cope up with the financial crisis.

I am sure you would agree with me that these children are looked after by the providence of God and with the support of kind hearted people like you.

With much love,
Selvyn.'

If you feel you would like to help - provide financial assitance or your time as a volunteer then do let me know.

The best of India

There are so many reasons why you should go to India; the people, the colours, the culture, the buildings, the food, the weather, the poverty and the need for volunteers. This site also highlights some of the geographical reasons why India shouldn’t be missed:

http://www.indiamarks.com/guide/The-Best-of-India-Geographical-facts/2701

From mountains to rivers and even glaciers, India has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

We have volunteering placements in Southern India where you can work in orphanages, teach English, even work on an Indian newspaper. Once you have been eased into their way of life and immersed into the cultural values Indians adhere to you can then take that knowledge and travel round the rest of the country. Having that experience of India behind you will really help enhance your backpacking and give you greater confidence to see and do anything and everything.

Go to our website http://changingworlds.co.uk/ to find out more about our placements in India, and please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us should you have any questions. We would be delighted to help.

Slumdog Millionaire boosts Tourism...lets see a volunteering boost too

USAToday report that Slumdog Millionaire has boosted tourism to Mumbai.

http://tinyurl.com/c3p4q6

It's good that it has raised awareness of the plight of orphans and street kids, but now is the time to get involved, volunteer and help out, not just be a spectator.

You can help empower some of these children that have very little and put smiles on their faces during a 3-6 month placement with us. Find out more on our website or Facebook page.

http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/default.aspx?qlink=india

Claire is soon to return from volunteering in India

This is an extract from an email we have just received from one of our volunteers, Claire, and it shows how much she has enjoyed her gap year experience:

"Hi guys, Just a little note to remind you that we're coming home!!! YAY! Cannot tell you how mixed up my emotions are right now as are the other two girls. We are so excited to have completed our placement and that we are coming home but at the same time absolutely devastated that we have to leave our new home."

"We are all very attached to India and have huge ties here including friends and new families. I will be returning to SOS (the orphanage) for a day before I leave if possible to say goodbye to my friends there and my Indian mother who took care of me while I was there. I am still in contact with a number of people including several volunteers."

"I cannot begin to tell you how amazing this experience has been. I know you hear it from every single person who becomes part of the team but I do really mean it. Nobody really understands what it means when they say a gap year changes you. Now i understand."

If you want to find out more about our placements in India email david@changingworlds.co.uk or go to our website: http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/default.aspx?qlink=india