The Training Trojans of Mysore

Hello again, I am sorry this is going to be a very short post as we are all flying round field base getting ready for our trek training tomorrow (Friday). We will be heading out of field base at first light which will be around 5:30am to explore the surrounding area and gain some expert training on trekking and camp craft. 

Just to tell you a little bit about what your volunteer managers (VMs) have been up to since they arrived, on Wednesday the training started in full swing, with Julia and Jen getting us up to speed with the phonetic alphabet along with some exceptional role playing on what VMs may come across during their time on expedition.  On another note, if Julia and Jen ever want to pursue new careers acting maybe a good place to start.

Jen and Julia role playing for the PMs

But it’s not all hard work and we’ve had a lot of fun while getting to grips with how to organise an expedition. The VMs split into two groups, with Jen and Andrew captaining the teams, below are some photos to give you some visuals of the games and more importantly who won. 

Some action shots

The winning pose

I don't think this picture needs explanation!

Today has been very exciting as the VMs have been learning about all the expeditions that we will be working on over the next three months from Mark. I will have lots more detail for you about these over the next couple of posts, but believe me there are some exciting times ahead!

We also had a birthday celebration today, it is actually John’s birthday tomorrow, but we wanted to get him lots of delicious chocolate cake to celebrate it and more importantly we wanted to eat some too! 

John has a chocolate surprise

The girls eyeing up the cake

It really was as tasty as it looked

Happy Birthday John


Field base will be back on Saturday!

Field base welcomes the new project managers!

The volunteer project managers (VMs)have touched down in India. Yesterday morning Clare, Donks and Little Manju successfully picked up the volunteer managers from Bangalore airport after their 10 hour flight from London, happily all the bags made it too!

All our PMs at Bangalore airport

Smiley Sally

Lindsay through the gates with all her bags

Big smiles from Jon and Rachel even after a 10 hour flight

To help the VMs stay awake on the four hour bus ride to field base in Mysore, Clare and Donks treated them to a stop off for a traditional Indian breakfast. The restaurant also has a coffee shop next door which does some of the best coffee India has to offer (they also do the best chocolate cake in the world, but that’s another story). 

Indian Breakfast

Meanwhile back at field base, Andrew and I (Fletch) tried to put up the big Raleigh ‘Welcome’ sign for the arriving VMs. Andrew’s scout skills in knot tying came in handy as we tried to secure the massive sign against the wind, which had chosen that precise moment to pick up. Shakrapa, our onsite security guard, put us all to shame in the clear up of field base by the amount he could move on his head, all the time maintaining his ear-to-ear grin which he is constantly sporting.

Andrew showing off his scout skills

Shakrapa, effortlessly clearing up around field base

The bus arrived around twelve and everyone piled off to a big welcome from all here at field base. Julia gave out big hugs to all the sleepy new arrivals while the bags were unloaded from the bus. 

The bus arrives

Clare and Louise arriving in the Bravo 3

Sarah and Susan relieved to be off the bus

Welcome hugs from Julia

Andrew missed Donks even though she was only away over night. 

Sally one of our 5 week PMs

Lindsay and Susan getting to know our Logs man Tim

After the VMs settled their belongings into the staff dormitory it was time for tea and coffee in the dining room and a warm welcome from Mark, Julia and Jen and a little bit about what to expect from life on expedition. Most importantly it was also time for lunch!

After lunch I had to subject the VMs to a mug shot for their ID cards, I don’t think it was a popular move, but they also got a chance to find out the important things about field base like, where the chocolate is stored, how and when to get hot water and the chance to meet our resident toad Neville – I don’t think he was too sure about the increase in people as he's been keeping a low profile this morning. 

It’s the first full day of training today, but I’ll make sure to give you all another update on Friday to tell you about how everyone is getting on.  

Over and out from all here at field base, we'll be back soon. 

Expedition 11E and 11F - field base team have arrived!

Welcome, welcome to the official blog for Raleigh 11E &  11F. There are loads of exciting expeditions going on over the summer and the advanced team are already here at field base working hard to get the place all sparkly for the arrival of the rest of the volunteer project managers and the venturers. We’ve been up to all sorts, Andrew, one of our medics, has been donning fetching pink marigolds to make the medical bathroom a shining beacon of cleanliness. Jen, our deputy project manager has been wading through list after list to ensure the expeditions run like a well oiled auto-rickshaw, our logistics team Julia and Tim are on an ordering frenzy, making sure there is a variety of goodies to eat, the Raleigh equipment is in tip top condition and finally Winston the cow is chewing hard to make sure all the grass is cut before everyone arrives.

Winston our speedy lawn mower 

Before I tell you more about what we’ve all been up to this first week and introduce the field base team, here are a few pointers about how the blog works. The blog is not only for you guys who are coming out here but for your family and friends to keep in touch with you and track the trials and tribulations of expedition life so make sure they know about it before you come out.

The blog will be updated 2-3 times a week with news and photos of what everyone is up to. From the blog you’ll be able to find out who’s in which group, where they are, what they’re working on, along with all the gossip from the expedition sites. We’ll also make sure we get lots of pictures up so you can see how the expeditions are progressing, laugh at the embarrassing tans which develop on expedition and see the luxury accommodation available on project site.

This blog is also how you can send messages to people out here on expedition to let them know you’re thinking about them and reading about what they’re up to. The venturers and volunteer managers have no access to any form of communication whilst out on the expedition sites for a few weeks at a time, so coming back to field base to messages from friends and family really does create some huge smiles and possibly a few tears, but good tears. All messages for individuals are printed, cut out and handed to them when they return back to field base between phases so it’s like getting their own letters through the post from you guys back home, just without having to wait a few weeks for the post! 

While they’re out on project sites, venturers and their volunteer managers will also have a blog book that they can write messages in for friends and family and we’ll post these on the blog so you can see their responses to your comments. So use this blog to keep us posted on all the gossip from wherever you are and we’ll be doing the same in return.

Right back to the field base team and who is here doing what, the permanent field base team here at Raleigh India are Mark (Country Director) and Julia (Country Expedition Manager).

Mark - Country Director

Julia - Country Expedition Manager

Are volunteer managers here at field base are: 

Jen our Deputy Programme Manager 

1. Donks our administrator

Andrew and Clare - Team Medics

Julia and Tim - Team Logistics 

The advanced team was picked up from Bangalore airport by Raleigh’s lovely drivers Prashanth and Little Manju, we also have another driver called Big Manju but if you have a look at the photo below you can see who’s in charge! On arriving at field base the team was welcomed with a curry lunch which went down a treat and we all got up to speed with our roles, while fighting jet lag.

Big Manju hard at work and Little Manju keeping an eye on his work. 

Over the last couple of days we have been to Mysore to stock up, but we also had the chance to do a bit of shopping.  On Saturday morning it was time for the swim test and we made our way to one of the local rivers. A local woman was very amused by the four volunteer managers treading water in the middle of the river while she calmly went about her washing. We all passed though, but I don’t think all the shoes made it back!

First field base team looking good in the water

Getting ready to tread water for the swim test.

The new volunteer managers are arriving tomorrow and Donks and Clare are getting ready to set off to Bangalore. We’ll be posting tomorrow to let you all know they have arrived safe and sound. If you want to leave them a message I’ll make sure they get it tomorrow when they arrive and it made help them get over their jet lag. For now over and out from field base. 

The field base team are ready for expedition action!

  

This is our last goodbye...

Well it's almost time to shut down the computer, switch off the lights and head back to the bunks for the very last time. It's a strange feeling here with everyone reminiscing about all that has taken place over the last three months and reflecting on everything we achieved and the good times on the expedition.

Here's a quick summary of exactly how much hard work everyone has put in over the last three months...

Community projects

• The Charlie 1 groups built, plastered and painted 2 tribal village houses, 3 cowsheds and 3 biogas units in Vellary
• The Charlie 2 groups built, plastered and painted 45 eco-sanitation toilets in BD Munti
  

Environmental projects

• Repaired 500m and dug 1,200m of new elephant-proof trenches 2m by 4m wide in Huskurhaddi and Basava Pura
• Installed 1.2km of sloar-powered electric fencing
  

Adventure projects

• Trekked 990km through the mountains of Kerala between the teams
• Cycled over 270km through local villages
• Climbed peaks of 2,130m high, twice the height of Ben Nevis

Quite an impressive list for ten week's work. On top of this we've met some incredible people along the way, both in our own Raleigh teams and beyond in the villages we've been working in.

Kathryn will be uploading the last of the photos to the Picasa album in the next few days to take a peek at that for more shots of the fun we've been having.

You can also keep in touch with Raleigh on their website and the next expedition will be appearing on this blog in June.

A huge thanks goes to all of the people that have made this expedition so fantastic. Your work, humour and dance moves have been second to none. 

Thank you also to all of you that have been reading and commented on the blog, it's been an absolute joy to keep you updated on our shenanigans. It's also been a real pleasure to be able to pass on your kind and funny words from home over the last few weeks, the impact they had on people was huge. 

But all good things must come to an end and hopefully this has just been the start for some of us  in giving us a taste for adventure and helping others in the future.

So for the very last time, I shall wish you good night.

This is expedition 11A listening out.

The end of the road...

Lovely readers, thank you for your patience - I know this penultimate post has been a while coming but to make up for it, I've made it a total whopper. There's highs, lows, tears and toads.

So let's go back in time to just before the end of the final phase when we attended the inauguration ceremony at BD Munti. The expedition teams built 45 eco-sanitation toilets in the village to help reduce water pollution and promote health and hygiene awareness. We arrived at the school where the teams had been staying to find all the group dressed up in their finest clothes and all the villagers had come out to be part of the lovely ceremony which was fantastic to be part of and great to recognise the hard work that the teams, project partners and school staff had all done over the last three months.

The ceremony opened with a song from three schoolboys

The entire team were then given beautiful flower garlands as a thank you for all their hard work.

PM's Celine and Cat join in with the blessing with William de Souza from MYKAPS

Phil and Binika say a word of thanks to everyone on behalf of the venturers

Chris also gets up to say a few words about how much he's loved his time in the village

The grand opening of one of the toilets built during the expedition, with Paul (Financial Director) from Raleigh doing the honours

Almost as soon as we returned from BD Munti, we heard the first bus roll into field base carrying the venturers back from their final phase on expedition. So once everyone had hugged, unpacked and cleaned their kit it was time for an early night before the 5am wake up call for the 10k run that you kindly sponsored us for. We raised a cracking total of £1,825.00 which is fantastic and means we can build a tribal village house and also put money towards future projects at Jayapura school.

Due to the 40 degree heat, we had to run at sunrise at 6am. There weren't many volunteers for making porridge that morning but James Bell and David Gutteridge kindly managed to get fuel in us all before we set off, thanks lads!

Some of the boys made a tough run even tougher by wearing backpacks full of rice bags - crazy!
L - R Chris, Stuart (PM), Phil, and Thatte

Country Director Mark wearing his short shorts even shorter

On your marks, get set...

Go!

Chris, Ross, Phil, Richard, Stuart (PM), Scott and Holly running through the local village of Jayapura.

PM Stuart running with his additional weight of about 17kg.

Running through the local streets as the sun came up

The winners of the 10k race with Guy coming in first place, Ed in second and Andy in third place. They all managed to complete the run in under 40 minutes, staggering!

PM Susan comes in 6th and is the first lady to complete the run, well done Susan!

Lucky for us all Mark's shorts are now at a more respectable height as he tries  to cool down with a spray from a water pistol.

Thatte ran carrying not one, not two, not three but four tents! It was a real struggle but he completed the course with a little help from his friends who went back out to help him in the final stages. Good work Thatte, we salute you.

Thatte, Elliott, Stu, Phil and Chris empty all the weight from their bags. You think they'd be sick of carrying heavy backpacks by now.

After a quick break to recover it was straight onto the 'Pull the bravo' competition. Everyone got into teams of four with two boys and two girls in each team. We soon realised that they didn't just have to pull the bravo along, they also had to pull the weight of the three drivers sitting in it.

Tango 5's Daan, Lisa, Clare and Sachin prepare to pull

The PM team of Stu, Cat, Kate and Dan 

The last team to go was 'The Tigers' made up of Manjy, Becca (logistics), Prashanth and Manju who took a break from driving the bravo in exchange for pulling it across field base.

The winning team of the BD Broncos are presented with their glamorous prize.
L - R Dave, Kate, Phil, Chris, Binika and Book

So once all the fun and games were over, it was time to get all glammed up for our last supper together.

The dining room was transformed with hundreds of fairy lights, candles and clean, glamorous people.

Fieke, Clare and Alice

Phil, Sunil and Nic

Sachin, James, Emily and Genevieve

Book, Hugh, Guy, Ben, Emily, Sean and Sarah

Danielle, Sophie, Ed and Jonny

Lisa, Bryony and Georgia

Georgia, Binika, Ross, Andy, Louis and Elliott

Susan, Eleri, Celine, Stuart and Thatte

Laura, Sam, Ellie, Anna and Georgi

Rob,Rachel, Sam, Ellie, Philip, Anne-Romee and Alex

Lucy, Amz, Karen, David, Sheena and Georgia

Scott, James, Louisa, Clare, Catherine, Lottie, Sian and Paz

Ross, Becky, Katy, Ellie, Elliott, Ros and Naomi

After dinner it was time for the screening of the expedition music video that we shot during the first phase. Thanks to everyone for their incredible efforts, I laughed non-stop when putting it together.... 

And then it was time for some traditional Raleigh skits, a chance for each of the teams to act out a quick play about their last phase. So, so funny to watch and a great job done by all.

Charlie 1

Charlie 2 

Echo 3

Echo 4

Tango 5

Tango 6

The venturers then surprise the staff by presenting each of them with an award with Stuart winning the best PM award, congratulations mate - you deserve it.

The award ceremony hosts Richard and Amz present Stu with his invisible award

After more speeches and thanks to everyone, it was time to dance the night away for the last time in India together. Sad times indeed. Then after a few hours sleep it was time for some final communal porridge, chores and packing before the farwells began.

Staff flicking through the expedition magazine that Kathryn and I produced. Katy Star's won the competition for the featured photo on the back cover so well done Katy!

Kannan and Stuart.

One last song before you go...

And then they were gone.

Some of the staff went up to Bangalore with those flying back home and dropped them off at the airport for some more farewells very early the next morning.

It was an emotional time wishing everyone cheerio and realising how much fun we had together. The field base animals are still recovering from the whole thing. Betty the calf is in bits, the toads are in tears and Eddie the egret Edwards is so upset that he's eloped. 

So as we now clean up and get everything wrapped up, all the talk is of the amazing venturers that we've just spent ten weeks with and the fun that was had. They were an incredible group of young people that were an absolute pleasure to be with and we wish you so much luck for the future. Thanks to all of you who came and made this expedition amazing, you worked hard and laughed hard, helped so many people along the way and gave everyone fantastic memories to treasure.

We leave here tomorrow at 11am so I'll be back with a quick update to say farewell. Until then...