Welcome to the official blog for Raleigh India 12I | July - August 2012



Welcome to the Official Blog for Raleigh India 12J September - December 2012.



Friday 3 February 2012

All sorted out

Boy, I am glad I read Harry Potter (or rather let Stephen Fry read it to me). Otherwise the events of 1 February would have been somewhat peculiar to me.
In the evening, the fieldbase of witchcraft and wizardry’s roof terrace became the centre of magic decision making, as our management team solemnly conjured the Sorting Hat, which was to allocate our PMs to their respective Phase I projects. This phase will start on 16 February and PMs and Venturers will be back to fieldbase for their changeover on 5 March.
These are the choices the Sorting Hat announced *drumroll*:

Community Project Charlie 1 - Eco-sanitation - Stephen, Cate (M [this means Medic])
Stephen and Cate (and the soon to arrive Venturers, of course) will help poorer families in the village of Gandenahalli to construct their own eco-sanitation facility. The project will improve community health through access to safe drinking water by reducing pollution of the local water sources. Moreover, the units will provide sustainable rich compost every 12 months; a great basis for growing nutritious crops, which, in turn, provide a source of income. Our project partner MYKAPS and the village’s Self Help Group leaders selected the 45 beneficiary families.



Community Project Charlie 2 - Sanitation - Emma, Izi (M)
Emma, Izi and the Venturers will assist 38 beneficiaries in Kayuni and two neighbouring communities to build individual sanitation units for their family. Not only will the units improve the drinking water quality, but they will reduce the risks particularly for women and children in going into the adjacent forest to satisfy their sanitation needs and risking attack by wild animals including snakes. Our project partner CTRD Trust focuses on tribal and scheduled caste communities with their in the Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP).


 
Environmental Project Echo 3 - Turtle conservation - Natalie, Harriet (M), and M&E Officer Joe
Natalie, Harriet, Joe and the Venturers will help communities on the Maharashtra coast, where growing populations of Olive Ridley Turtles nest between November and March, to develop their economy around eco-tourism. Based in the coastal village of Velas, the group will undertake work to construct a pathway from the village to the beach, so tourists can witness release of turtle hatchlings. They will also patrol the beach at night to prevent poaching and to identify new nests for relocation into the safe hatchery. Project partner SNM has been working towards the conservation of marine turtles since 2002.


 
Environmental Project Echo 4 - Bio-gas - Jenna, Sammy, and Chris (M)
The team of three PMs and Venturers will help to construct bio-gas units for seven recipient families in the very marginalised community of Cheriyery. The units will provide them with free gas for cooking and an alternative livelihood from the sale of dairy produce and organic fertilizer both produced as a bi-product of the biogas production and reduce the environmental impact of firewood consumption. The beneficiaries were selected by our project partner CTRD, according to their knowledge of animal husbandry and the size of their land.



Adventure Project / Trek Tango 5 - Janet, Matt
Janet and Matt will lead the Venturers during their 19-day adventure phase in Kerala. The 200km journey takes place in the Western Ghats Mountains, incorporating trekking in the forest, across savannah grasslands and rice paddies, off-road mountain-biking, and river rafting. Physical challenges will easily be rewarded by breathtaking scenery, including indigenous wildlife (cross fingers for elephants!). The trek is guided by our adventure partner MuddyBoots.





Adventure Project / Trek Tango 6 - Amanda, Barney, and Photographer Bob
Amanda and Barney will lead the 17-day trek in Kerala. During the 200km journey, the Venturers will summit the second highest mountain in south India (2600m) and undertake a 24hr survival challenge including river rafting. This section of the Western Ghats Mountains is renowned for its beauty and diverse terrain, as well as for plentiful opportunities to sample Kerala’s special foods and of course the tea! The trek is guided by our adventure partner Kalypso Adventures.


 
After the Sorting Hat had spoken, Mark Malfoy, Simon Snape, and Pete Potter decided to provoke some antagonism between the newly formed teams by letting them Ready-Steady-Cook against each other. After fierce competition with partially illegal methods, Team Fieldbase and Team Echo 3 topped the list in terms of taste, creativity, presentation, and X-factor. After a penalty shoot-out - involving classic dance, oriental dance, and water - the panel announced douze points for Team Fieldbase, proving that the central management of this expedition is incredibly well taken care of.


Competition faces
The judges

The glorious Fieldbase team and Hogwarts' headmasters





Today, after having worked through folders of essential information about their projects, the PMs headed to their project sites to conduct a Project Planning Visit. They will meet the partner organisations, learn about the project and why it is necessary, meet the local community and assess potential risks on site. They promised me to bring back first-hand information for you, so prepare for a thrilling session of guest blogging.

18 comments:

  1. hi Natalie, great to see your news and the Turtle project assignment. I didnt realise it was going to be so tough! love from buster et al.

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  2. I reckon you've drawn a good one Barnes. Should be great fun and it sounds like a wonderful part of the country. Take care. Fulham in the snow later today. Will text updates.

    Nunks

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  3. Hi Izi,
    Charlie 2 sounds great, trust you to get into sanitation. Your knowledge of the Bristol Stool Scale will prove to be invaluable!
    Love
    Dad & Mum.

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  4. Hi Jenna,

    Finally get to see what project your are working on sounds as though it could be a bit smelly! have a great time. Its cold here and loads of snowmen everywhere
    Love
    Dad x

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  5. Ollie, glad to hear you arrived safely. Have a great time! Love Mike, Aggie, James & Millie XXXX

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  6. Bee!! You rock girl!!! ben trots op je.. ziet er geweldig uit!!!!!!! Dikke kus uit Sydney KUSKUS LOTJE

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  7. For Beatrice delta two: love from Jaap PJ and Annelies , it is snowing in Bergen,,,

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  8. Beatrice, it is snowing in Bergen, we are happy to see you in The picture in Delta 2!!!
    Good luck and enjoy every moment in The expedition !!!
    Love ja PJ and Annelies

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  9. Caspar!!!! nices bild freu mich drauf wenn du wieder da bist!!!!! hab diese adresse von valerie, etc, war heute auf der Alster laufen , ist zu gefroren das problem habt ihr wohl nicht ;)

    hahah meld dich mal

    dein luca

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  10. caspar!!!!! na wie gehts dir?? freu mich schon drauf wenn du wieder hier bist!!!
    hab das eine bild von dir gesehen echt nice ;)
    war heute auf der zugefrorenen alster laufen haha das problem habt ihr wohl nicht ;)

    dein luca

    meld dich mal

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  11. To Kris Clayton, Echo 4, Looks like you are having an amazing time, a great life experience for you. We enjoyed reading your blog. Southampton are top of the Championship again and Katie is now 25! We did a murder mystery evening which was really good, Jamie was the murderer! Other than that we have all had colds, could do with some of the warm weather you are having. The builders are still here!! We miss you loads but check the website daily to keep up with your whereabouts. didn't like the sound of you having to kill chickens! Lots of love. Mum, Dad, Beth and Mollie. xx

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  12. Hey Shaveh, Hope your having a good time, everyone is fine, just when u get ur phone it might be a good idea 2 check it as quiet alot of bad stuff has happened recently and its not really relavent to post. Looks like your having a great time and your team charlie 2 look really nice, i might not be here when u come back but hopefully see you soon all the best CJ

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  13. Caspar Tang 5

    Hallo Caspar, ich vermisse Dich jeden Tag aber heute besonders, da Santiago jetzt Fussballsticker wie veruckt sammelt und ich ihm die ganze Championsleague erklaeren und die Resultate im Netz raussuchen muss, mierda!!das ist Dein Job!
    ich freue mich, dass Ihr sooooviel erlebt. Wehe ich höre nur ein "gut", wenn ich frage wie es war!! Ich freue mich auf Dich und Deine Geschichten und Deine Umarmngen!( nachdem Du Dich geduscht hast) un beso muy fuerte Luisa

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  14. Daniel Crasemann9 March 2012 at 04:14

    Caspar Tango 5

    ich habe heute Polo gespielt auf braunem Platz. ich bin tod. alles tut weh. morgen kommen Sdrenkas, mit Tanja!!! Luisa zittert schon. und Sonntag kommen die neuen Pferde. Herr Trueper war hier in Barrala!! ( er war zufaelig am Strand als ich ihn anrief) Du hast schon ein paar Zusagen. Wie geht es Deinen Fuessen? Freitag fliegst Du weiter nach Mallorca. Mami weiss Bescheid, wenn Du kommst gehen wir essen bis Du platzt! ich liebe und vermisse Dich Papi

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  15. Calling Annie Woodcock Echo Four! Hey babe - blog page looks pretty exciting!! Hope biogas units are Great Success and look forward to hearing about it when you're back at base hopefully. Can't believe you've made it to India before me - Go You!! Love from all your peeps (you know who we are) XXXX

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  16. Hey Jude,
    Hope your having an amazing time. It's great to see what you have been doing in your team Charlie 2. What an experience!
    Looking forward to seeing you soon.
    Love Em x

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  17. Haydn Tango 6

    Heya, I figured it was about time I got round to writing you a message and it's a pretty good form of procrastination. I feel as if I'm slowly dying of boredom at the moment with the amount of statistics work we have, but you have all this to look forward to. Of course me being as lazy as I am means I haven't started yet.
    I'm guessing you're having a pretty awesome time in India. It all looks pretty cool. You're definitely not missing much at home. I'm only in Kent for a week this holiday. I think it will be odd at home without you or Alex. Coss is seriously depleted. The other week I'm going to Egypt with my dad.
    It's really hard to think what to write on this when you can't reply so I'm just going to stop rambling. See ya in Thailand Loser.
    Love Dulcie xxxx

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  18. Alex Tango 5

    Hey Alex, I hope you're having an awesome time away. You are definitely going to beat me on redness when I get to Thailand. Although I think compared to Haydn I will look basically transparent I'll be so white.
    You're not missing much at home. People are just starting to go home for Easter. I'm only back in Kent for a week and I'm a little worried that without you there to organize us we literally won't meet up. Starbucks Wednesday is not going to feel the same without you or Haydn. I swear you've never missed one before.
    I hope you are having a really good time but don't have too much fun without us and we'll see you in Thailand. Love Dulcie xxx

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