PROJECT WHAT? (has happened)

Sadly Emily and I are coming to the end of our second visit at Project Why in Delhi, India. Things have noticeably changed in the two years since we have been away, and its all good.

We first noticed the difference in the special needs class. Particularly in Muna. He was always a joy but he is now on a whole different level!  His level of communication has improved and his ability to learn and retain new things is finely reflected in his captivating recital of 10 little monkeys.  We brought with us some books that have CDs that go with them and these have gone down a treat with Shamika's class.  They have moved from the basement room to a third floor flat and everyone seems to be thriving up there.  We think it must be the only special needs class in the world to be up so many flights of stairs! The staff are bursting with energy and firing up the kids.  It's a delight!

The Women's Centre just seemed to have more people and all of them are doing great work. In a recent project the kids reflected on their feelings about Project Why.  Some spoke about it being a home and the fellow pupils and staff as a family, they love that they have clean toilets and access to safe drinking water.  Project Why is a passionate  advocate that ensures the local kids get access to proper government funded education.  After hearing horror stories from the Project Why kids of how their schools were not providing even the basics (like toilets) along with descriptions about verbal and repeated physical abuse on the children - Project Why took action!  As a result the schools were taken to court and the ruling is now having a positive effect on many government schools in Delhi as they are being forced to make improvements.  

We have just finished our first day at the Okhla centre. We are so pleased to see the pale blue and candy pink building we loved so much on our last visit but to be very honest we were not looking forward to the fact that it didn't have a toilet.  Last time we braved the slum communal toilet facilities but it definitely wasn't a kodak moment. But hey what you know - they have built their own little piece of toilet cubical heaven!  In addition they now have two wonderful air coolers and a set of fine plastic plates for lunch that would look great in a Peter Jones hamper!  What a makeover!  Also there has been a few staff changes and the team is clearly focused, with a mission to teach and smile while doing it.

At all the centres the kids' English has really improved and that goes for the teachers too!

We will bring this blog to a close answering a question we get asked a lot. Do the kids remember us from last time? The answer is yes. Some remember the bubbles some remember the games others remember Alan's beard.  Project Why makes a massive impact on the kids it serves.  They make countless happy memories here.  They feel safe and are enjoying learning. 

How many of us went on to pursue a certain something because a teacher, who we loved, once ignited a spark in us?  We hope that all the staff at Project Why know that the work they do every single day makes a difference.  Sometimes when you are busy it is easy to forget what a positive impact you make and what an amazing thing you are part of.

To all the staff at the project - Anou and her family, Rani, the teachers, cooks, transportation guys, those who keep the place looking lovely ... there are so many local people that are part of this project - they are all wonderful!  

Project Why: They are back..... (A Blog Post from the founder of Project Why - the wonderful Anou)

Project Why: They are back.....: They are back! Wonder who? The Worman's!  They are back their prodigious smiles that never seem to need time off and can lift the worse c...

Day One back at the Why

Very excited to have arrived back in New Delhi at 2.30 in the morning yesterday.  After about an hours wait at customs they let us in.  Even our half awake state we managed to get a taxi without taking any lives.  The best part was being about to remember the way and direct the taxi driver to Chirag Enclave.  It was after 4am when we arrived at the gate to the house.  It was a great surprise when Anou raced up to the gate to let us in.  We should have remembered that she gets up VERY early to make use of the quiet hours to update her blog and to connect with sponsors around the world that help keep Project Why alive.

Then .... we slept .... and slept ... and slept ...

We did try and wake up, we did.  It just didn't work.  Finally we dragged ourselves out of bed and had a (what we like to call) an Indian shower at about midday!  Everyone else had already left for the Project ... opps.  So we made good use of our time and went shopping!

If you donated money - THANK YOU - we managed to give Project Why a cheque for one thousand English Pounds!  With the money we also got some Big Books (we'll show you them in action in a future blog post) and lots of people gave us resources that we have with us to use.  Today we added to all this goodness by buying all this at a local shop.  Check out the photo below and then guess how much it cost ...

What ya reckon?

The whole lot set us back around NZ $30 (UK £15).  Things like this are so much cheaper here.  For the consumer it looks like a good thing but unfortunately we're guessing products are so cheap as labour is even cheaper to buy.

Super looking forward to our first day back at Project Why tomorrow.  We'll be spending time with the Special Education class and Alan is especially looking forward to getting reunited with Munna.

We'll be posting updates on facebook and you can subscribe to our blog by signing up (click here) to receive posts via email.

Our $2.25 Challenge is OVER!!!

It is very exciting!  We might start off with just a cup of tea and a biscuit :)

Our week has been really interesting.  Even before the challenge kicked off it was pretty exciting as we got in the Manukau Courier.

But then reality set in ...

This was our daily 50gram portion of pasta

And this is how we usually ate it for dinner - with half a can of beans 

Dry toast and hot water served as a much needed snack

But we reckon it's pretty much midnight now!  So we are off to EAT!!! 

Thank you to Mum, Glenn, Rachelle, Bec, Kirsten, Janelle, Dani, Margaret and Roberta who sponsored our team!  You guys rock.  It's not too late if you wish to donate.  Just click this link.

We didn't think we would raise this much so THANK YOU.  We are also super happy about all the countless conversations we've had with people about the 1.4 BILLION people around the world that live below the poverty line.  

There is enough for everyone - the question is - how do we share?

All our food for the week...

As you can see it's not a very exciting diet!  This photo was taken on Sunday when we completed our shopping.  Not in this photo is stuff we haven't got yet.  Another loaf of bread and another can of ... something.

Alan reckons the beans just keep getting tastier (really?) Emily couldn't even face beans on her potato for lunch today so had it with ... nothing.

We haven't eaten the onion yet.  We are saving that for an extra special treat.  ARGH.

Some people do the challenge using stuff from their cupboard and working out how much it would cost.  So, for example a pinch of salt, a cup of flour and they work out how much that would cost. However, we decided to go hard core and not use anything from our cupboards.

We reckon if you were living in extreme poverty you wouldn't be able to buy in bulk.  We know that in New Delhi the families of the rickshaw drivers wait at home until evening.  The father comes home and hands over what he has earned that day.  Only then can they go out and buy what they need for dinner that night.

Mum has got a lovely lemon tree outside and some veges growing.  However, the chances of owning productive land and having the resources to grow stuff when you are in extreme poverty as also low.

Yes, its pretty depressing but this challenge has started so many conversations.  To find out more check out https://www.livebelowtheline.com/nz

Living Below the Line

Hi Everyone

Long time no write.  But we do have something to tell you about.  We are on day two of our 'living below the line' challenge.  We are living on ....

JUST $2.25 per day!!!!!!

Check out the video which inspired us to take up the challenge...

So ...  Day 1

Breakfast : 1 Sausage, 1 piece of bread, an egg
Lunch: medium sized potato, half a can of beans
Dinner: 50 grams (weigh of pasta uncooked) and half a can of beans
Snacks: 3 bits of bread each - which we have been toasting ...

Alan has also been snacking on carrots but Emily can't face it ... yet.

Day 2:

...  oh, the same as day one ...

It's all very boring and we have been a little hungry but not too much.  Thank goodness Mum found a pack of 12 sausages for five bucks!  It's good to start the day with a reasonable breakfast.

The things we have found so far are ...

- when you are living below the line food is boring.  There is no joy here.
- when you are living below the line you fight a lot!  It's very stressful shopping and deciding what to spend your money on.
- when you are living below the line you really miss your morning coffee.

But it has started lots of conversations.  We are determine to live the week out and thank you to those who have sponsored us.

Hello World!

We have been kiwis for nearly ten months!  Time in NZ definitely moves at a slower pace.  So it’s a massive surprise to us that we have achieved ….

Living with Mum for this long…

Sounds nasty doesn’t it?  But all three of us were a little nervous about it!  However, it rocks.  Naomi is super shopper, menu designer and weekend crock pot cook.  Emily is bathroom cleaner, bin lady and left over cuisine specialist.  Alan is wheelie bin manipulator, master chef wannabe and good at lifting things guy.  Washing up is sorted out by a short straw or wrestling.

Alan has been assimilating…He is now officially a member of the Brotherhood of Auckland Magicians (even has a cool little badge to prove it).  Taking up fishing off the old Mangere Bridge with some yummy success.  Luckily even NZ has steam trains (big and small) to keep him interested and he also got himself a membership to MOTAT.  Earning his pocket money by busking down Queen Street has been fun and he is loving the focus on food here – he will always accept an offer to a shared lunch.

Emily has mainly been church hijacking & studying

Its has been great to hang out with our kiwi family and sister blister!  And we've also gained a couple of church families too.

MCC Auckland is a little congregation with a big heart.  Mum goes to Otahuhu Methodist and we go to Papakura Crossroads Methodist in the morning and then we all go to MCC in the evening.  We call it double dipping…

Doug the MCC Pastor is fab and is a bus driver by day (if he is working on Sunday nights he gives us a ‘toot toot’ as he goes past the service in his bus!)  They have also supported Emily as she and Alan both realised on camino that she should give theological studies another go.  So now, thanks to cross-credits,  she is already nearly half way through the papers she needs for her theology degree from Otago Uni (distance learning). 

Crossroads is awesome too.  It’s a bigger church and Emily’s old mate Michelle is involved with the youth.  Alan accepted the challenge so we are now helping out with a homework study group on Tuesday nights and are starting up a Friday night hang out zone in a couple of weeks with a big launch party.

Our main baby though has been Science in a Van. 

Things are going well and we have decided that we need to give it another year to see if it can fully support us.  Check out the map which shows all the schools that we will have visited by the end of 2011.  Not bad considering Science in a Van was dreamt up just before Christmas!

Mum is still chief sponsor and is VERY generous with her rent demands.  However, we have been doing other bits and bobs to keep us ticking over.

Mystery Shopping - free burgers, mechanical checks and we now know all about home medical alarms)

Bollywood Promoters (this is sooo fun.  Not only do we get to go to Bollywood movies for free we also make lots of friends when we go out and put up posters – we’re talking a lot of free samosas … yum)

Casual security work (you may not believe this but we have looked after the All Blacks, helped the Australian Rugby team off their bus and ushered around way too many over excited teenage girls at an Owl City concert)

Extra work .. literally – not extra work … work as extras (We reckon Alan will get bonus points for his NZ Visa due to his speaking part of Shortland Street.  “That’s quite alright” was his line and now it’s a bit of a catch phrase in the house.  He was only on for a bit but gets recognised quite a lot.  The best part was he was a science tutor – weird aye?) 

But it’s all paid off as we just purchased our flights!  We get back to London on Thursday the 8^th of December and leave again on the 9^th of February.  We are really looking forward to seeing everyone we have been missing and are definitely signing up for Crisis at Christmas!

Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce to you ....

Hi Everyone

It's been a while since we've blogged but a lot has happened.  Our fun money has run out so we needed to refill the penny jar.  After walking across Spain and volunteering in India (and who could forget our great jobs at the Science Museum blowing things up and driving steam trains) a normal 9-5 job seems a little mundane.  So .... Science in a Van was born! 

A massive thanks must go to the Black Friars who inspired us to follow their great example, Michelle, Viki, Bec & Megs (our teacher focus group), Wesley College who let us practice on their kids, Mum (our sponsor) and Edith (Audio Visual Production Manager). 

Check out our website (we already have a couple of bookings - very exciting!) www.scienceinavan.co.nz

Most of all, keep your fingers crossed for us, keep praying and if you have friends that are teachers in NZ - let them know about us.

Love Al & Em (Mr and Mrs Science in a Van)

PS - you should see our business cards - they are hot!

One down eleven to go.

Well it been just over a month spent in my new home in New Zealand. It was an interesting introduction to my new home. I helped Emily's uncle Peter to move a scuptuer from were it was on display to a art gallery. By the he makes his art out of bricks. Yep big heavy bricks!!

A few days after many Radox baths there was a call from Auntie Glenn. The rat that stole her Christmas mince pies was now dead in her washroom. Now being Christians me and Emily felt we had to rush to her aid. So we rocked up with shovel in hand and singing "there's a rat in the kitchen" then dug a hole. Em said as i dug the hole she would pick up the rat. Off she went to pick it up there was a cry "its alive"!!! So me and Emily celebrated the resurrection and danced with joy. But Glenn wanted the thing gone, So i went in elbow high in a black bin bag. I picked the limp thing up, it moved sligthly. I laid it down to give it a last chance to run... but it didn't have the energy to move one bit. So i carried it out and laid it in the hole. It was hard to bury it but it was so full of poison it wasn't going any where fast. I would like to point out it was the poison that killed the rat not the mince pies it had stolen off Auntie Glenn's table ... they were yummy!

The rest of my time has been taken up travelling around and seeing friends and family. We had a great time on Xmas day at Em's Uncle Peters. There was a fantastic new year at Huntly race track seeing stock cars. After the racing we went into Auckland, set up our fold-up chairs on a quiet back street with a view of the Sky Tower to watch the New Year fireworks. There was a relaxing time on Waiheki island where we went swimming in the lovely sea.

Day to day life is taking shape. I have a work visa and waiting to hear from a job at the Papatoetoe Historical Society http://www.nzhistoricalsocieties.org.nz/members/papatoetoe.html

We have also found our place at MCC in Auckland. Its a little home from home of MCC South London. I know my local magic dealer and on February the 8th I will be going to the magic meeting. On Sunday's down at the local park the mini steam trains run (this will get its own blog) http://www.planmyplay.co.nz/CustomContentRetrieve.aspx?ID=106768.

So, one month down, eleven to go. All going well i think i can manage it.

I'm not saying there isn't lots to do in NZ but ...

We've been keeping very busy making our own fun.  Our sister Edith got a video camera for Christmas and we've been putting it to good use.  You may watch these videos as long as you don't tell immigration that George is in the country... okay???



He has even been practicing his magic ... 

A early Xmas present from us!

So travelling around as we are you pick up many things which you haven’t witnessed before. It’s a bit like George Harrison from the Beatles fell in love with the sitar. So I am going to share a few things with you that we have seen in India. Do remember India is an advanced and vast country and has many influences from overseas. Also me and Em have been quite chilled in Jodhpur and watch alot of TV. So the first things were a bit addict to is something called Minute to win it. It similar to millionaire but as the guest are not up to the general knowledge level they take part in games. Click to see a preview.

.

Also if you want to see more and how to make the games for the family Christmas see here. http://www.nbc.com/minute-to-win-it/how-to/index.shtml

We also saw this, it’s beyond words.



Know for something of an Indian flavour. This man is the daddy



Since the Cammino and working at Project Why me and Em are trying to live light and fast. So were not doing presents this year.This is an early Xmas present from me and Em Enjoy. If you’re having problems on thinking what to get a loved one for Xmas I know a great charity http://projectwhy.org/Donate.html.

Launchbox FUN!!!

We have been using bits and pieces from the Launchbox over the last few weeks.  Unfortunately at Okhla where we were for the first two weeks didn't really have enough room to make the contraptions.  Now we are based at the Women Center which has more classrooms and a lot more space.

Check out the kids watching the lovely Danny explain the Launchbox and the Launchpad Gallery.  We prepared the kids so they knew that they wouldn't understand everything Danny said but to shout out any words and objects they recognised in the video.  That turned into a lot of fun and noise!

Together we viewed the "On the Move" video.  They were absolutely spellbound!  We shouted out words like rolling, falling, fire, dog, turning and burning.  

 
Here is the contraption that Alan made to inspire the kids to make their own.  We labeled it with the vocab we wanted them to get to grips with (we are totally turning into proper little teachers!).

Here we are building a seesaw.

Getting them fired up with the Stupid Egg trick!

Adding the final touches on their Big Machine!

Here's some video of the girls practicing their new vocab! 

Over a few days they built their own contraption.  They absolutely loved the experience. In mainstream Indian classrooms it's very much one answer for each question.  If they teach the sky is blue and a child might answer sometimes it can be pink or grey, this answer will be wrong.  Opinion and testing out theories isn't really the deal.  In many poorer schools we have been told the teachers only turn up to take registration and the rest of the day the kids play.  In India boys and girls attend school at different times.  At the women's centre the boys come in the morning and go to the normal school in the afternoon.  The girls attend in the afternoon after they have been to school.   

It's a fantastic project that not only supports the kids in this area but also runs classes for the local women (like sewing skills) and provides a bedroom where women can take refuge if needed.

If you donated money to this project before we left or are still collected (I know MCC South London is currently collecting pennies) you're money is definitely going to a grass roots charity that is making a hell of a lot of difference!  A massive, massive thank you to Lex and Danny who put the Launchbox together for the kids xxx

Night night don't let the track bite

Standing on Platform one of Delhi Sarari Rohilla with the Delhi smog enhanced by the wedding season fireworks blurring the lights of the trains as the hollow haunting horns sound the arrival. As we stood amongst the crowd with the sound of Chai, chai, chai rang in our ears and smell of platform food overload our nasal senses.

We found carriage S1 on the 1035 sleeper to Jodphur Junction and boarded finding our beds 25 and 28. We climbed up to our top bunks and laid down and observed. The excitement and high pace energy of the kids from a family near us amused us for a while. A mans ritual of whipping down the bed laying a blanket the perfect shape of the bed then covering it with two further blankets and topping it of with a inflatable pillow. Me and Emily wrapped in a double blanket and heads on our bags showed we were not as experienced but very ready and excited for what lay ahead.

The horns sounded and we were of the rocking motion of the train and the rhythmic chatter of steel wheels on the track made for a soothing felling and masked the light snores.As we laid back and our train cut its way throw the night we could hear trains call out in the night. The relaxing ambiance changed for a definite efficient tone of overhead announcements and platform chaos as we entered stops along the way. All in all we both had a good sleep and the experience was great.

The excited family next door woke us up with there hollering and very demanding whining for their mother. The 0630 alarm call was a little early but it did mean we could get up slowly and chat to the older Indian couple down below. They were heading home and enjoyed the chat and a quick read of the Jolly Post Man. The man with the bedding cleaning ritual must of felt the cold as him and his friend were top and tail on the lower bunk.Once the wake up chai was in then the nut cutlet type things were severed with the finest white plastic bread and Heinz tomato sauce on the side which then was washed down with more Chi. We arrived at our destination.

The experience of this sleeper was great. It was well used and slightly worn yet well maintained. The open track long drop toilet was in good condition no worse then some loos on Southeastern railways back home. I would say to anyone travel by Sleeper and don't be put off by standard class it's where "real India" travels.

Huff and puff in India

This blog comes with a warring. And that warring is this and my next entry is me banging on about trains. So if you keep reading and think your never get the time back you were warned.

So first things first the National railway museum in Delhi. This is a great place on 10 acers with a vast collection of historical trains and carriages from the colourful history of the Indian railways. There's a lot covering the times British colonial ear. It's nice to walk around a well layered out disused siding with trains sitting on the track looking slightly weathered and the odd scare from there working life. There is also a nice under cover museum. With many items ranging from name plates, signals, railway cups and a Elephant skull.

Many of the trains came from works in England and my first instinct was to write about them but then i found a great example of something which i find interesting. It came in the shape of this little yellow beast 25630.
Its a fireless steam locomotive built in Germany in 1953 working as a Factory loco (works shunter) at Sindri Fertilizers, Sindri. Now as you may are not know a steam engine usually works by a fire in the fire box heating water in the boiler and that becoming steam and that pressure is used to drive the pistons to then move the train. But this has no fire. How this works is there a a fixed boiler plant that produces the steam at a great presser. That presser is feed in to the tank on this train. The problem is that this train has a slow speed and cant go far away from its boiler plant. But this type of train was used in shunt yard and factories like chemical plants and explosive factories were you don't want sparks from the fire flying around. This is a great looking train and very creative way around a problem. This idea was tried out in the early days of the London underground.

This Elephant skull is from a wild elephant that charged a mail train on September the 28th 1894 on a rail bridge 220 mile from Calcutta. The loco and its 7 carriages was derailed and the Elephant was found 40 feet below. The impact of the collision and the fall the Elephant was dead. The skull is on show in the Delhi Rail museum. One tusk was given to James Bell the engine driver while the other is at the board office in London.

All in all the train system is amazing over here from it in city Delhi metro to its long distance rail roads which I will be covering next time.

Are they really talking about us?????

http://projectwhy.blogspot.com/2010/11/rerely-is-love-instant.html

We keep reading Anou's blog entry (link above) and thinking "oh, how nice, what lovely people they sound", then we look at each other and have to remind ourselves that it's written about us!!  How strange!!!  It reads like the best references we've even been given!!!

Isn't it a shame we cannot take all the credit for ourselves!?! ha ha ha.  If it wasn't for our families, church and friends we would even be here at all.  They have released us with their blessings and so many have supported us and Project Why financially.  With the love and grace of God somehow we have managed to grown into people that can have fun and give love easily and we experienced both of these things in very large quantities here at Project Why.   The amazing part is we have received much, much, much more than we could even imagine giving back.

Anou, her family and this amazing project have made us feel so welcome and have taught us so much.  How will we even thank them????  

Elephants on the way to work!

Our walk to school

We've been super fortunate to be staying with the Anou and her family.  Anou gave 'birth' to Project Why and continues to work very hard making sure that it continues.  Most days we travel with her, her daughter Shamika and grandson Agastya in two rickshaws (or autos as they are called here) and too keep grounded she visits the person who first inspired her to start Project Why.  We have chai and receive a blessing then Shamika, Alan and I walk the last bit to school.

Shamika letting Alan 'lead' the way to test if he can remember which twist and turns to make.

Learning can happen anywhere.  This class were so engrossed in their studies they didn't even look up when we started taking photos (VERY unusual reaction in India).

The classroom above from a little way down the road.  It's an awesome street with lots of action, chickens, dogs, kids, cooking, cleaning, chai and chats!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

For some reason our camera wiped a whole lot of our photos (including one of Alan being Princess Diana at the Taj...) but some which I thought were lost were saved!  Hurray!

Exercise books are actually called 'copies' in India.  This is due to the fact that in government schools books are used for copying off the board.  Sometimes it can take a bit of encouragement to get the kids to draw in their books and to convince them it's okay to write what they want and to make mistakes.  I think I helped by leading by example here - check out all my spelling mistakes!  This work was inspired by one of the all time best books EVER ... 

Finally some videos!

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBIDKevoTU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdZYuHGnfUM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzkoKpayR_E

Diwali

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z3KZMgoSKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcOOxg1sVhU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI0yfaleTvo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uT_vJxlOqY

Enjoy!

Finally some photos!

The kids enjoying the bubble workshop (sorry we didn't get the cow in the background).

Cleaning the classroom with the bubble mix.

A few of the students outside the classroom.  They had just finished painting it ready for Diwali.

Getting ready for sunset on Diwali night at home.

The balcony of the house after we'd put all the candles out to welcome and guide home Lakshmi Ganesha.

Someone enjoyed all the Diwali sweets!

The Dad of the house we are staying in is actually the Indian version of my Dad.  He is about the same age, smokes cigars, well travelled, tells bad jokes and great stories of people and places which I pretend to know all about.  Loving it!

Needless to say Alan is pretty popular with the kids.