Phase 1 Alpha Groups revealed

The volunteer managers have all been assigned to their alpha groups for Phase 1 and they have been out and about to visit their expedition sites and plan their projects. We thought this would be an excellent opportunity to tell you little bit more about our VMs and the projects they will be involved with.

First up we have Charlie 1 and the VMs who will be heading up this phase are Susan Payne and Ana Steel. Susan and Ana are going to be in Kotapadi village for Phase1 working on a sanitation project, Ana is not yet here with us at field base but will be arriving this morning!

Susan is from the UK and back at home she works as a consultant. Susan chose to come to Raleigh because she wanted to gain experience working internationally in a community setting. Over the last couple of days Susan has been out to visit Kotapadi and is really excited as she has seen there is a real opportunity to make a difference with the community. Susan’s funniest moment since she has been out here is seeing John in a bikini, I hasten to add it wasn’t his own.

Susan off to find her partner Ana

Lovely Lindsay and Lou

On Echo 3 we have the dynamic duo Louise Shute and Lindsay Topham and these two are off to Huskurhaddi to carry out an environmental phase building elephant fences and trenches. Lou is from Liverpool and when she was back by the Mersey Lou worked as a community youth coordinator for the Fire service. Lou is on her second expedition with Raleigh as she has previously been to Ghana as a venturer, Lou’s experience in Ghana made her want to become a VM and she is now fulfilling that goal here in India. The thing Lou loves most about India is the variety of the landscapes and the warmth of the Indian people and she is really looking forward to setting up camp on the edge of a farmland.

Lindsay hales from London where her day job is managing the volunteer service at Brunel University. Lindsay chose Raleigh as she was impressed by the Raleigh ethos which she found to be very different from similar organisations. Lindsay also had a premonition that she was going to meet Donks and Fletch which hastened her decision to jump on a plane and high tail it out to India.  One of the most surprising things Lindsay has learnt since being at Raleigh is about how long a long drop actually is, very good knowledge to have when digging one and the funniest thing that has happened to Lindsay since being on expedition is trying to squat over a short-drop (very good for thigh strengthening). 

John taking Sarah for a trek 

Our Tango 5 alpha group has the joy of Sarah Whetter and John Whitaker who will be trekking through Wayanad in Northern Kerala.  John is one of our Raleigh medics and back home he works in cardiology. This is John’s first expedition with Raleigh and he came on expedition as he wanted an opportunity to see more of India having previously spent time in the north of the country. A surprising thing John has found since being here is that he wasn’t expecting to be ok with bucket showers and having no walls in the dormitory, but he is. John’s funniest moment came while he was trying to demonstrate to fellow VM, Catherine, how to walk down a slippery, muddy slope to avoid falling over. While in full swing of the demonstration John fell flat on his bum much to the amusement of himself and his fellow trekkers.

Sarah Whetter, John’s trekking partner in crime, is from New Zealand. Sarah has come to Raleigh after working in finance for the past ten years. Sarah decided to come to Raleigh as she has always had an interest in volunteer work and a friend of Sarah’s recommended Raleigh as they had previously been on expedition. Sarah chose India as she had never been to the country before and Sarah finds it amazing that after two weeks of curry she still loves it.  Sarah’s amusing moment  came when she fell over while checking out the trek route and one of the guides said to her ‘never to believe fully the stick’ – meaning don’t rely too much on your walking poles love.   

Tim and Catherine 

The Tango 6 team is made up of Catherine Playfair and Tim Pollington. Catherine and Tim will also be trekking in Wayanad. Catherine is another one of our Raleigh medics and in the UK she works as a nurse in a hospice. Catherine has been on Raleigh before as venturer in India and her experience as a venturer made Catherine want to return as a VM. What has amazed Catherine about Raleigh is how quickly you become close to your other team members on expedition.  Catherine found it hysterical watching John demonstrate how to walk down a muddy slope and stacking it and also finding a leech had made a home on the back of her ear.

Tim has left his job as a web site support officer for Action on Hearing Loss to come on expedition. Tim chose Raleigh because he wanted to get more overseas experience in an environment which was less spoon fed and he has also taken the opportunity to do the International Field Leadership course at Birkbeck.  Tim finds the patience of Mark, Jen and Julia astounding (we all ask a lot of questions) and he finds the atmosphere here brilliant. The strangest thing Tim has found so far is how the forest rangers work in only their sandals and dhotis with an umbrella hooked over their shoulder while he is trekking beside them fully kitted out.  

So that’s our ten week volunteer managers but we have four more volunteer managers who will be getting involved with the 5 week expeditions. 

Sally and Rachael 

The first team up is Foxtrot 1 and this consists of Rachael Brooke and Sally Orange and they will be heading to Ponani to work on a community project.  Rachael is another medic and when she returns to the UK she will be working in emergency medicine. Rachael has come here on Raleigh because she wanted to practice medicine outside a hospital setting in a country which would challenge her. The most surprising things for Rachael so far is the fact we have to burn our toilet paper out here and she also didn't think she would have so much fun building a camp! The funniest thing Rachael has seen so far was when Andrew trod in poo.

Sally is from Nottingham and back home she works as a physiotherapist in the Army. Sally chose to come on Raleigh as she had time off after spending four months in Afghanistan (I probably would have picked a five star hotel but each to their own Sally) and wanted a new personal development challenge. She was surprised to find that Mysore was so green and Sally is very chuffed to have been put on project Ponani, enough said! 

Christina and Clare 

In Foxtrot 2 we have Clare Watkinson and Christina Ambrose and they will be working in Basavapura building elephant trenches and fences. Clare is one of our medics and has been qualified for four years. When she returns from expedition she will be starting to train as an anesthetist. This is Clare’s first Raleigh expedition and she chose Raleigh as she wanted to practice medicine and work with people in a new and challenging environment. When Clare came on Raleigh she was not expecting to share a toilet and shower with Neville our toad and the most astounding thing Clare has found since being in India is the amount people manage to get on a Honda 250cc after spotting a man transporting five bags of rice on his.  

Christina is here doing two role, first off she will be working with Clare building elephant trenches and fences. Christina will also double as one of our expedition photographers as she works as a freelance photographer back in the UK. This is Christina’s third expedition and she obviously can’t get enough of India as they have all been here. Christina is an expert in building trenches and she can dig deep like nobody else. Christina has been embracing the wildlife in 

India as she has been sharing her bed with a cricket and a moth.

That brings me to the end of our volunteer managers who will be deploying with the different groups. They are currently learning how to build unrivalled campsites and I’ll be bringing you updates on how they have been getting on. 

Bye for now.