The loop is back with all the news as phase 1 gets underway

(Above: Alpha 1 trekkers Parthi, Jo and Hamish cool off with a swim at Lakeside camp. All pictures by Anni Taylor unless otherwise acknowledged)

Through the sweat and strain of working on volunteer projects in the southern States of India, the 53 Venturers of Raleigh 09C are beginning to discover the rewards and trials of simple living and hard work.

Alpha 1 has climbed the highest peak in India outside the Himalayas and been served tea at the world’s highest tea estate. Alpha 2 has whitewashed the village of Kalainahnahalla and almost completed 10 (seriously, 10!) eco-sanitation toilets. Alpha 3 has been moving a veritable mountain of granite for housing and for Alpha 4, they’ve built their bamboo city of basha beds and started learning the technical art of repairing solar-powered elephant proof fencing…

Last night was the first edition of Radio Raleigh, a weekly slot at 7pm produced by the PRO Peta to send news, gossip and the all important sports results to the various sites. The programme is sent through Skype to the communications devices (mostly mobile telephones) on the sites.

It is a crucial tool for the Venturers who have formed close friendships between the Alpha groups and are keen to hear how the other groups are going.

So, for our readers, here is the news as the Venturers heard it last night through Radio Raleigh.

Out at Alpha 1, the trek has been described as a “rollercoaster” both in altitude and emotion. Today is day seven of the trek and the group has settled in after celebrating Ella’s 19th birthday at Lakeside camp on Thursday night. The trekkers made her a crown of grass and local flowers, managed to procure a cake from a nearby village, made her a card and wrote a poem.
(Above: the Alpha 1 trekkers group on top of the world of India)





(above left: Frankie nears the summit. Right: Shinola, Jo D and PM Liz)
We reckon Ella will probably remember her 19th birthday as a special one for the rest of her life.





(Above, big picture: Alpha 1 celebrates Ella's 19th birthday around a campfire. Above left: PM Andrew and Mubarak hold Ella's birthday cake. Above right: James and Frankie take a well-earned break. The editor gratefully acknowledges Larry for the above photographs.)

For the gang at Alpha 2…
They have the loop vehicle complete with Doctor Andy (who will run a medical clinic to treat blisters, sunburn and other ailments on site) and Paul on board. The group is geared up for their arrival and have reported they’ve already written their own blog post so stand by for that soon!

In other news, the team visited the Golden Palace yesterday (unfortunately we can’t write the name in Kannada as I don’t have a capable keyboard!) to catch up with the monks and take a well-deserved break from building.

They also had a fancy-dress night on Saturday and cooked up some chickens they bought from local villagers.

We’ll have new pictures from Alpha 2 soon once the loop returns.

For Alpha 3, yesterday was their first day off hard labor building tribal housing and they spent it going to a waterfall. Alpha 3 has been busily adding bling to their camp with signs for everything including the long-drop and slops pit. Matt (PM) is living large in a bright pink tent (to match the slippers) which he hopes will not attract the wrath of elephants and the boys are complaining a bit of insomnia thanks to Will’s snoring and Seb’s constant sleep talking. Felicity has become a favorite with the locals thanks to her dancing whilst carding granite and Guna and Sreejith have been giving lessons in their local languages (Malayalam and Tamil)

(Below: Felicity and PM Lucy collect small stones for the masons on site. Below left: A chain gang moving granite. Below right: The A3 troops take a lunch break. Pix by PRO Peta)

More importantly, Alpha 3 had a campfire to meet with residents of Kappikadu village who, through an interpreter, expressed their appreciation of the work Raleigh is undertaking with the Centre for Tribal and Rural Development in building the houses.

It was a special night for Alpha 3 as language and cultural barriers were broken down to unite the town and Raleigh volunteers in a common goal to improve the lives of the village residents.

(Below: Annabel, Seb and Eveline take a shower near at the Alpha 3 campsite)

And then there is Alpha 4, who are sleeping under the stars in bashas at their camp at Anaikatty. It was a tough start for Alpha 4, who had to play “dunk the venturer” to retrieve a piece of metal from the bottom of a one thousand litre water tank. As previously reported, Ivan (PM) attempted and failed, before he eventually persuaded Rosanna to have a go, as she was one of the few both tall and narrow enough to get through the mouth of the tank.

(Below: Tom Mills gears up for dinner as the sun sets over Anaikatty campsite. Photo: Hobby)

(Above left: Rosanna and Emily J work out how to cart water to the fencing site. Above right: PM Neil among the bamboo city of Anaikatty campsite. Pix: PRO Peta)

Since then, they’ve had classes in fence fixing and have started work in earnest, threading, pulling and tying wire on to the elephant-proof solar-powered fence that circled the village.
The fences have six bits of wire: The top two are to keep out elephants, the centre two are designed to repel deer and the bottom two are aimed at keeping wild boar away from crops.
Whilst on the loop visit, Host Country Venturer coordinator Vijay (who speaks all three of the languages common in Southern India, as well as Hindi, English and a good spattering of French!) asked the locals how they were faring with the fence currently in disrepair. The answer was one which highlighted the importance of the work of Raleigh: The villagers told Vijay they had lost many crops to trampling by wild animals, which had jeopardized their livelihood in their tribal homes.

(Picture: Emily J gets into fence-fixing mode.)

(Above: The loop gang of Vijay (HCV coordinator) PRO Peta and Julia with the Raleigh 09C shop)

From those of us who went on the loop trip out to the sites (Peta, Dani, Anni, Julia, Vijay, Girish and 60/60), we'd like to say well done to all the Venturers and PMs who are doing an amazing job. It is a great privilege to be able to assist them in any way.

Our next blog is scheduled for Thursday, please keep the comments coming.