Community Spirit

Here is a little bit of information about the community projects and further details of the trekking adventures:-

Welcome to Charlie One

Community Project: Bio-gas fuel installation

Location: Ealamanna

Project Partner: Centre for Tribal and Rural Development (CTRD)

This project is part of Raleigh India’s model village development programme and working with CTRD the Raleigh project group will be pioneering the construction of a Bio-gas fuel installation in the small tribal community of Ealamanna. So what is Bio- gas I here you ask? Bio-gas is fuel for cooking and lighting which is produced from none other than cow manure! Raleigh are providing the group with 6 cows and their manure will be used to create the bio-gas. The waste product can be used as fertiliser or compost and  in the future the community will be able to use the cows milk to sell and to produce ghee which will also give the village another income stream.The village will also become a training centre for other communities to learn about bio-gas technology and with the assistance of future Raleigh Expeditions their aim is to  install one unit in every home in the district.

So let me introduce you to the project manager team  that will run this project:-

                    (LtoR Driver, Mr Raju (CTRD),  Rita, James and Priya)

Firstly there is Priya, an Oxford graduate, who will embark on her career as a city lawyer when she returns home. She has spent last year travelling around the world and has been to South East Asia, Borneo, Oz , and New Zealand before joining us here on Raleigh.

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1. Her luxury item that she has brought with her is her mascara.

2. She would most like to trek with Will Smith or Aristotle.

3. She would choose the mozzie bites.

You have met James previously on another blog entry so that just leaves me to introduce you to Rita. Rita is a medic, a masseur, a yoga teacher, she is about to embark on a TEFL course and the list really does go on and there appears to be no end to this ladies talents.

1. Her luxury item that she has brought with her is her yoga mat but she does actually consider that this is a necessity.

2. She would most like to trek with her son

3. She would choose the mozzie bites to the face.

So what happened on the pre project visit. It obviously, as most things do in India, started with a cup of chai
and I am starting to realise that business does not commence here until you have shared a cup of chai together.

Below you can see the beautiful village of Ealamanna and the community hall where all of the villages marriages, poojas and ceremonies take place.

There is an element of luxury for Charlie One as they will  be living in the houses shown below and they will also be cooked for by the local community. The village community are part of the  Paniya tribe and will have had no exposure to westerners before.  The group's first observation is that the tribal community  are far shyer in their approach to us than has been previously been observed in other towns. One of the key challenges here is to develop good relationships with the village and the other main test for Charlie One will be the close proximity that the group will be living and working within.

Below is the site for the bio gas. I am looking forward to being able to show you the photographs showing the progress that this group have made.

I will give you a brief introduction to Charlie 2 but only a brief one as the project doesn't get underway until the second phase so much much more of Charlie 2 to come later in the expedition. But for now......

Call sign: Charlie 2

Location: Kudimery


Project Partner: CTRD

Set in the Nilgiri Mountains 3-hours south of field base, this project is part of Raleigh India’s ongoing programme of tribal village development. The group will work here in partnership with the Centre for Tribal and Rural Development Trust to enhance the living conditions, and livelihood of these poor marginalised communities. In Kudimery the project group will work alongside the community and some skilled masons to improve and repair the sub-standard housing currently inhabited by the 8 families. They will be living in the village and being cooked for by the community Indian style!

And last but not least.........

Welcome to Charlie 3

Community Project: Sanitation Camp; Sustainable Agriculture


Call sign: Charlie 3


Location: Huskurhadi


Project Partner: MYKAPS

Huskurhadi is a poor rural village in the Mysore District. Raleigh are working on an ongoing basis here with project partner MYKAPS on a 6-year intervention sponsored by the NABARD bank. The project group will assist the community in improving agricultural infrastructure to give the families an improved sustainable livelihood. They will work along side the families constructing irrigation channels and producing river water harvesting units.

So time to meet the team, well you have met Dave who we are now affectionately referring to as "Big Dave" here at field base so that just leaves me time to give you a little bit of info about Jo.

                                       ( LtoR Vijay, Dave, Sophie and Jo)

This is Jo's first time on Raleigh but she plans to travel on afterwards possibly to Kerala which is known as the Italian Riveria.

1. Her luxury item is her pink Chanel nail varnish. A lot of the girls here have quoted their nail polish as their luxury item but I have noticed a shift towards the outdoors even in the short time I have been here as I overheard a nail polish being described as "kind of like a messe tin blue" the other day.

2. She would like to trek with someone strong such as Geoff Capes.

3. She would most like to be bitten by the mozzies than anything else.

Below the photographs show the school where the group are building the rain water harvest units.

This photograph shows the agricultural land where the local village will be encouraged to grow crops.

And more information about the trekking phases which look simply amazing............

Adventure Project: Trekking & Camp; Bamboo Rafting


Call sign: Tango 6


Location: Misappulimala - Kerala

Project Partner: Kalypso Adventures

This is a 200 km trek through the mountains and tea estates of tropical Kerala. The group will climb India’s second highest mountain outside the Himalayas – Misappulimala on the second day of their 19-day journey. Carrying their food, cooking equipment and tents, the trekkers will continue south along the Western Ghats range before meeting the Periyar River and undertaking a 2-day bamboo raft expedition down the river.

Call sign: Tango 7

Location: Attagiri - Coorg

Project Partner: Karnataka Forest Department

A challenging jungle trek over the mountains of Coorg. The trekkers on the Attagiri route will also cover 200km in 19-days carrying all their equipment and supplies. There is some difficult terrain to overcome including several summits of the Western Ghats over 2000m. They will be guided by forest rangers and sleep in jungle camps to protect them from the wildlife – watch out for snakes, elephants and the leeches!

The trekking team did a recce together. They came back saying it was really tough with stories of blisters and the like although when I have looked at the photographs it does look a bit more like a holiday camp. I will let you know more about that when I go out and join them. I have a sneaky suspicion I will be eating my words though.

(LtoR Helen, Clive, Benn and Sammy)

                                      (LtoR Helen Clive Rosie Benn and Sammy)

(Lto R Rosie Sammy Helen Clive and Benn)