All aboard

Yesterday was an exciting day for all the ventures, project managers and field base staff. It was the start of the next stage of our Indian adventure…

By an impressive 9:30am all the projects had deployed and the field base staff were left with an empty nest. The silence that ensued at field base for the rest of the day was quite spooky and not at all what we had been used to!

Above and below: some goodbyes

Luckily we were kept updated by all the project groups who have been calling in with their sitreps (situation reports) on a regular basis. And it sounds like they are all nice and settled in already.

We’ve had an update from Charlie 1 who arrived to find that the villagers had started laying the foundations of the new tribal housing already which means they1 have been able to get stuck in straight away. They are also planning how they can welcome the field base team who will be on the loop trip visiting them on Sunday and so far there are rumours of a pajama party!

Charlie 2 have been made to feel at home with a traditional welcome from the village. They’ve settled in to their accommodation which is a classroom in the local school. They had an early start at work this morning and are getting in to the swing of things.

Charlie 3 arrived at their site to find that electricity had recently been installed so that was a nice surprise for them. Charlie 4 have sorted out their living quarters by installing a deluxe shower (!) and toilet system and are starting to work today with the masons who have already started laying for their eco-sanitation units.

Echo 5 have sorted out their camp too and put up some shelters and their tents which they spent the first night in last night. Echo 6 also were in tents last night which wasn’t to plan but after the arrival of their bamboo they will be putting up their bashers (kind of like a hammock with a tarp over the top) today which will be their beds for the project phase. They have started working on building their first water tank at the bottom of the gravity water feed.

A little about the blog:

When will the blog be updated?
The blog will be updated every Wednesday and Saturday each week.

How do I get messages to the venturers / staff?
Friends and family can post comments which will be passed on to the venturers and staff when a loop trip goes out. Messages will be passed on daily over the phone too. The blog is the main way to communicate to and from home and it's always really exciting to receive messages from home so please do leave comments.

What is a loop trip?
A loop trip is when a car of field base staff go t visit the projects and they take out all blog comments, letters and any equipment which is needed.

Will I hear back if I leave a comment?
You probably will do but it might take a while…we are on Indian time you know! When all the project sites are visited everyone will get a chance to let me know if they want to post a comment on the blog so keep checking back for any messages from India.

If you have any more questions about the blog please leave a comment and I will make sure the question is answered.