Christmas has engulfed Field base in celebration of the Venturers and PMs return this morning. With tinsel everywhere and the Christmas tunes blaring out, we were so excited to welcome them all back from their final phase.
It's a bitter sweet time though, as although we're all so excited to see everyone and catch up with their news, it's all tinged with the sad reality that the Raleigh 10K expedition is coming to a close. But not before we celebrate and party in style!
It's final skit night tonight where each group will entertain, amuse and most likely sing a theatrical account of their phase. Then tomorrow we're up at dawn for the Fun Run before a day of wash-up and reviews topped off with the big leaving party complete with Golden Ganesh Awards.
I'll be inviting some Guest Blogs from the PMs over the next few days to summarise their final phase and describe their achievements.
Thanks also to everyone who's sponsored the Fun Run, over £700 has been raised so far! All the money will go towards Raleigh projects in India like the ones the 10K expedition have been working on. If you'd like to sponsor someone please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Raleigh-India-Fun-Run
Merry Christmas One and all!
Polly C x
Showing posts with label Tango Five. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tango Five. Show all posts
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Friday 10 December 2010
Group Round Up - The Final Countdown
Myself, Polly B and Anna head out on The Loop tomorrow where we'll be swinging by Tango 6 to collect Del who's been out there with them this last week and then heading up to Charlie One for the opening ceremony of their houses.
Before we depart, here's a round up of all that's happening on the project sites:
The houses are nearly all complete as the group have been hard at work plastering, flooring and putting in windows. They've also been flexing their creative side designing a mural to leave a lasting legacy in the village.
Charlie Two
All twelve eco-santitation units have been built and their delightfully green coloured toilet pans fitted. It's just the painting and the finishing touches they've got left to do now.
Echo Three
Still slogging it out hard and loving it in the trench the group have also continued erecting more fencing. The group will be taking a well earned break today and go to visit the local Golden temple for a bit of culture.
Tango Five have been absoultely loving it out there in the wilderness. Yesterday they enjoyed an amazing trek through tea plantations and today is the biggy, the 26km trek. We wish them luck!
Tango Six
Tango Six have too been loving it, with blue skies above them and barely any leeches in sight they're having an amazing time. Yesterday they had a 50km cycle route which they loved and today they've got a gentle 14km walk with the reward to me, Polly B and Anna waiting to greet them at the end of it!
All text by Polly Carpenter and photos by Polly Baldwin http://www.dynamicpictures.co.uk/ (unless stated otherwise).
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Messages from Tango 5
There's no Loop visits this phase to Tango 5 down in the south of Kerala but we do know from Comms that they're having an amazing time. They've seen elephants, survived survival day and loving the walking!
They also radio'd in some messges to loved ones back home ...
From: Kavita
Hey mum, dad, deep. Trekking is hard but also a lot of fun. i am learning lots and having a good time. lots of love, Kavita xx
From: Laura (PM)
Happy Birthday for 9th Greg!! I hope you have an awesome day, see you in two weeks!! Lots of love Laura xxx
From: Ryan
Hello Charlie, mum & dad + everyone lese, having a brilliant time trekking I have lots of stories to tell, I am really looking forward t seeing everyone soon. Love Ryan x
From: David
Hi to mum, dad & Danielle,
Trekking and picking up and I am having a blast. Things finally drying out as it rained for the 1st 6 days!! Take care, David
From: Tessa
Mum, send my ticket Sunday, trekking is good!!
From: Amy
Dear everybody, thanks for letters and phone calls. i'm working hard and loving it! Amy xx
They also radio'd in some messges to loved ones back home ...
From: Kavita
Hey mum, dad, deep. Trekking is hard but also a lot of fun. i am learning lots and having a good time. lots of love, Kavita xx
From: Laura (PM)
Happy Birthday for 9th Greg!! I hope you have an awesome day, see you in two weeks!! Lots of love Laura xxx
From: Ryan
Hello Charlie, mum & dad + everyone lese, having a brilliant time trekking I have lots of stories to tell, I am really looking forward t seeing everyone soon. Love Ryan x
From: David
Hi to mum, dad & Danielle,
Trekking and picking up and I am having a blast. Things finally drying out as it rained for the 1st 6 days!! Take care, David
From: Tessa
Mum, send my ticket Sunday, trekking is good!!
From: Amy
Dear everybody, thanks for letters and phone calls. i'm working hard and loving it! Amy xx
Monday 22 November 2010
Phase Two: Over and out
So here we are again, on the eve of Changeover two eagerly awaiting the return of the venturers back at Field base. This time we have them here for two days before packing them off for the final phase of their Raleigh India 10K expedition.
As always, Field base has been working hard in anticipation and preparation of the Venturers return: Myself and Polly B have been pulling together the expedition magazine, a long hard slog but hopefully well worth it for a great memento of everyone's time out here. Doug over in logistics has been his usual calmly organised self, everything raring to go with enough tins of tuna, porridge and noodles ready to fuel the venturers in Phase Three. Christina has done a brilliant job organising the loop shop (always a welcome sight for the sugar and e-number starved venturers) and creating the Raleigh India 10K t-shirt. Phil's been the reassuring voice on the end of the phone for all medical queries and entertained himself by writing, directing and editing our 'comedy' skit video ready for the venturers return. Whilst Anna has been masterminding the operation and Del has been a hive of organisation both ensuring that everything runs smoothly.
Out on phase they've been telling us what an amazing time they've been having. The projects are really taking shape and each group are able to tangibly see the difference they are making out here, both on site and to themselves.
Charlie One have now completed all brick work on the five houses, two roofs are up and they've finished plastering on one. Tonight is a closing ceremony with the village, no doubt a joyous but emotional affair.
Charlie Two completed all 12 eco-sanitation toilets. Today they had a sports day with the community and a leaving celebration tonight.
Echo Three have worked tiresly on the trench and made fantastic progress. They had a leaving ceremony yesterday where they enjoyed a big feast.
Echo Four have had a a slightly challenging phase due to weather conditions but have been resourceful finding other ways they can support the community and certainly made the most of their time out there.
Tango Five are jubilant after completing the trek yesterday! They're now making their weary way back to Field base on the day and a half journey up from Kerala.
We can't wait for them all to descend and tell us all their stories ...
As always, Field base has been working hard in anticipation and preparation of the Venturers return: Myself and Polly B have been pulling together the expedition magazine, a long hard slog but hopefully well worth it for a great memento of everyone's time out here. Doug over in logistics has been his usual calmly organised self, everything raring to go with enough tins of tuna, porridge and noodles ready to fuel the venturers in Phase Three. Christina has done a brilliant job organising the loop shop (always a welcome sight for the sugar and e-number starved venturers) and creating the Raleigh India 10K t-shirt. Phil's been the reassuring voice on the end of the phone for all medical queries and entertained himself by writing, directing and editing our 'comedy' skit video ready for the venturers return. Whilst Anna has been masterminding the operation and Del has been a hive of organisation both ensuring that everything runs smoothly.
Out on phase they've been telling us what an amazing time they've been having. The projects are really taking shape and each group are able to tangibly see the difference they are making out here, both on site and to themselves.
Charlie One have now completed all brick work on the five houses, two roofs are up and they've finished plastering on one. Tonight is a closing ceremony with the village, no doubt a joyous but emotional affair.
Charlie Two completed all 12 eco-sanitation toilets. Today they had a sports day with the community and a leaving celebration tonight.
Echo Three have worked tiresly on the trench and made fantastic progress. They had a leaving ceremony yesterday where they enjoyed a big feast.
Echo Four have had a a slightly challenging phase due to weather conditions but have been resourceful finding other ways they can support the community and certainly made the most of their time out there.
Tango Five are jubilant after completing the trek yesterday! They're now making their weary way back to Field base on the day and a half journey up from Kerala.
We can't wait for them all to descend and tell us all their stories ...
Tuesday 16 November 2010
The Climb with Tango Five
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| PMs Hannah W, Lynne, Charlotte & Polly B |
It was obvious from the quiet chat on the bus that many of the ventures were apprehensive about what lay ahead. They had plenty of time to catch up on sleep and get to know their new mates on the one and a half day journey to the south of India and the southern Western Ghats of Kerala where the trek begins. Although this sounds like a chore, most members of our team had been on static sites for Phase One and so the journey gave them a new and exciting view of this wonderfully eccentric country.
We stopped a couple of times on route to enjoy some local cuisine with the help of our host country venturer, Ajee, translating and explaining all the food on offer, the venturers began their journey of discovery.
We had an easy first day a 4k walk through tea plantation to our first campsite that had a solid shelter and camp fire to dry us off from the rain that was to become a big part of our first week.
We were in our tents early as we had a 4am wake up call for our first big day a 16K trek to the summit of Messipullimala 2650 meters above sea level. We began our climb in the dark as the sun rose to reveal a truly stunning scene. We made slow progress to start with as some of the team struggled with the weight they were carrying after an hour some of the girls decided to redistribute the team kit between them to those who felt they could carry more and we were soon making good progress. The scenery was truly amazing, the sky was hazy and it was quite windy. As we reached our first view point we looked across the ridge at the mountain we were about to climb, the task we had ahead was quite overwhelming but the team dug deep and sang our way to the summit.
“Climbing mount Misappuli Mala was hard but we all made it as a team and the views were out of this world. I can’t describe how happy the team were when we reached the top and looked down over Tamil Nadu to the east and across Kerala to the west. The sense of achievement was phenomenal!” Kirsten Elliot
After lunch with a view and a long decent off the mountain we had a cup of tea in the highest organic tea plantation in the world a truly stunning location for a seriously well earned cup of tea!!
Day three was survival day, a much anticipated moment for the team. The challenge was to build a shelter from natural resources, sleep in the shelter and cook a meal on an open fire with produce available from the land in the local area.
The team split in to sub teams and set about their day. James Mcintosh led the shelter team, who all did an amazing job, whilst Jack, Owen , Liz and Laura spent all day preparing the evening meal and everyone took turns to collect fire wood and other natural materials for the shelter. As PM’s we were all very proud of every member of the team who put maximum effort into the day under extremely hot conditions and managed to meet their challenge of spending the whole night battling with the cold in the shelter.
Morning was a welcome relief, a 6k hike took us to our next location by the reservoir where we spent the afternoon building the rafts that we would paddle across the water the following day. “This experiences helps you appreciate how hard day to day life in rural India really is.” Laura Hulley
The last couple of days of my trip saw a lot of rain, some amazing food cooked by the venturers, hiking through beautiful tea plantations and cardamom farms. Unfortunately the rain prevented us from completing the infamous windy ridge but the team did get an extra, well earned, rest day to catch up on washing and simply enjoy eachothers company.
The whole team have overcome some difficult challenges in the few days I spent with them, but they are all having a wonderful time and I was sad to leave them as they went on their way - only another 145k to go....
Monday 8 November 2010
Happy Diwali!
It has now been a few days since all the newly formed groups left Field base and arrived at their new projects.
Tango 5 had a great start to the phase spotting elephants on the drive down to Kerala. They are now well in to their 16 day trek and have already climbed the second highest mountain in South India – Misappulimala, which peaks at 2,637m.
Charlie 1 arrived at Uluvadu and got stuck into things by digging a new long drop toilet. They are now continuing with the 7 houses started last phase.
Charlie 2 have met the villagers at Hagaranahalli and settled in to the school where they will be living for the next few weeks. One the first day they managed to complete the foundations for 6 of the 24 sanitation units that are being constructed.
Echo 3 set up camp and met the locals. They have been having lots of fun continuing with the Elephant Proof Trench and Solar Fencing started last phase.
Echo 4 also had a new long drop to dig and got their new bashas organised before continuing work on their Trench.
A few of the groups have also had the chance to celebrate Diwali with the locals, which is one of the most important festivals in Hinduism. Also known as the ‘Festival of lights’ Diwali is celebrated for 5 days, and involves lots of fireworks, candles and firecrackers.
Tango 5 had a great start to the phase spotting elephants on the drive down to Kerala. They are now well in to their 16 day trek and have already climbed the second highest mountain in South India – Misappulimala, which peaks at 2,637m.
Charlie 1 arrived at Uluvadu and got stuck into things by digging a new long drop toilet. They are now continuing with the 7 houses started last phase.
Charlie 2 have met the villagers at Hagaranahalli and settled in to the school where they will be living for the next few weeks. One the first day they managed to complete the foundations for 6 of the 24 sanitation units that are being constructed.
Echo 3 set up camp and met the locals. They have been having lots of fun continuing with the Elephant Proof Trench and Solar Fencing started last phase.
Echo 4 also had a new long drop to dig and got their new bashas organised before continuing work on their Trench.
A few of the groups have also had the chance to celebrate Diwali with the locals, which is one of the most important festivals in Hinduism. Also known as the ‘Festival of lights’ Diwali is celebrated for 5 days, and involves lots of fireworks, candles and firecrackers.
Here at Field base myself (Christina) and Anna walked into the local village to see the morning celebrations of Diwali and found lots of Cows being cleaned ready to be painted with bright colours, and everyone wearing their best clothes to celebrate ‘Naraka Chaturdashi’.
This day of Diwali signifies the victory of ‘good over evil’ and ‘light over darkness’. Small oil lamps are lit and elaborate Kolams (sand paintings) are drawn outside houses to bestow prosperity to homes.
Through the daily sit reps we were able to find out that Echo 3, Charlie 1 and Charlie 2 were fully involved with local celebrations, visiting local temples and being included in the community festivities.
Polly C and Del will be back tomorrow from Echo 3 and Echo 4 with an update of how they are getting on. If you have any messages for any of the groups leave a comment and all messages will be taken out with the loop vehicles.
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| Diwali Celebrations at Field Base All text by Christina Ambrose Photos by Anna Tate and Christina Ambrose |
Thursday 4 November 2010
Holi Moly!
It’s been Changeover craziness here at Field base as all the groups arrived back yesterday looking disheveled and dirty but with beaming smiles as they relayed their experiences from Phase One.
The Alpha groups arrived from 8.30am and Field base was whipped into a floury of activity as they were whisked through a process of debriefing, checking their equipment back in, submitting their best photos for the slideshow and having a much desired hot shower. Then it was into Mysore for an afternoon of pizza and stocking up on essentials.
The evening’s activity centered around the skits each group had been working hard to prepare. Charlie One's story telling style gave a great overview of their phase complete with Macarena dancing and Anu’s snoring; Echo Three opted for a TV news report and belted out some cleverly rewritten pop songs to tell their tale; Echo Four produced an amazing musical medley with theatrics of Broadway standard; Tango Five were the winners of the evening with a skit that had it all - flair, comedy, musicality and entertainment with a particularly memorable dancing elephant impression by Lynne; Tango Six’s skit focused on one particular ‘incident’ during their phase which they worked out through the medium of Jeremy Kyle – to very much humorous effects!
The night’s activities were not over though, as we sent them all down to their dorm to create fancy dress outfits out of bin bags. Little did they know that whilst this was happening we’d hidden to ambush them with Holi paint!
It was an explosion of colour and frenzy as the venturers were initially stunned but then found their paints and retaliated aginst the PMs. It wasn’t long until we were all the colours of the rainbow.
It was then up to the roof to party into the night …
This morning the group visited a local temple to pose for the expedition photograph and film the last scene for the music video each group has been shooting scenes for during Phase One.
Then, when they were least expecting it we announced Phase Two allocations by giving each venturer and PM a bracelet and asking them to find everyone else who had the same one!
The expedition was given a good stir as the alpha groups have all been mixed up to form Phase Two groups:
Charlie One
PMs:
Liam Gallacher
Eira Evans
Caroline Millar
Venturers:
Kimberley Delamare
Amy Gannon
Robert Dwyer
Natalie Gordon
Katie MacNaughton
Kavita Shah
David Frattinger
Shaun Green
Hubertus Kramer
Basil
Anniek Akerboom
Charlie Two
PMs:
Josse Emanuel
Rachel Allan
Susan Pollock
Venturers:
Olivia Ferrari
Kane Grennan
Fiona Marchbank
Rosalind Page
Simon Majtlis
Justine Stuart
George Miller
Katarzyna Ulichnowska
Shanelle Ward
Erdinch Yigitce
Raghu
Echo Three
PMs:
Laura Burnet
Bethan Jones
Oliver Whittle
Venturers:
Coenraad de Mol van Otterloo
Arthur Fane
Iain Hood
Samuel Mason
Lucy Marie Flint
Tessa Nooteboom
James Rowantree
Katharine Studley
Anupama Varghese
Narthan
Echo Four
PMs:
Stirling Grey
Hannah Lobben
Luke Jones
Venturers:
Isabelle Wijsmuller
Sean Edlin
Ryan Heeley
Michiel Kruize
Philip Smith
Jennifer Rimmer
Denise Stoelzel
Rosie Ward
Sarah Ward
Nga Yee (Irene) Yiu
Raja
Tango Five
PMs:
Charlotte Parbery-Clark
Hannah White
Lynne Cooper
Venturers:
Owen Duffin
James Mcintosh
Jack Phillips
Kirsten Elliot
Laura Hulley
Jessica Norgrove
Jonny Womack
Elisabeth van der Zee
Aimee Welch
Ajeesh
Whlist PMs Phil Dart and Christina Ambrose join the Field base family.
If you’d like to send a message to anyone whilst they're out on phase just add a comment to the bottom of any blog entry by clicking the link. Don't forget to tell us who the message is for including their full name and project group. Then select name/URL from the dropdown menu to tell us who it's from (URL can be left blank). Please be aware that we might not be able to publish all personal messages but we will make sure they are distributed via 'The Loop' but do note this may happen only once during the phase.
It's only a quick Changeover, as everyone deploys out tomorrow for Phase Two. From Fieldbase, Polly B will be heading out with Tango 5 for a week's trekking, whilst Polly C is off to Echo Four, keen to experience the self titled 'glampsite' and Del is Echo Three bound to get his dig on.
The lovely Christina will be taking over the blogging reigns until my return ...
The evening’s activity centered around the skits each group had been working hard to prepare. Charlie One's story telling style gave a great overview of their phase complete with Macarena dancing and Anu’s snoring; Echo Three opted for a TV news report and belted out some cleverly rewritten pop songs to tell their tale; Echo Four produced an amazing musical medley with theatrics of Broadway standard; Tango Five were the winners of the evening with a skit that had it all - flair, comedy, musicality and entertainment with a particularly memorable dancing elephant impression by Lynne; Tango Six’s skit focused on one particular ‘incident’ during their phase which they worked out through the medium of Jeremy Kyle – to very much humorous effects!
The night’s activities were not over though, as we sent them all down to their dorm to create fancy dress outfits out of bin bags. Little did they know that whilst this was happening we’d hidden to ambush them with Holi paint!
It was an explosion of colour and frenzy as the venturers were initially stunned but then found their paints and retaliated aginst the PMs. It wasn’t long until we were all the colours of the rainbow.
It was then up to the roof to party into the night …
This morning the group visited a local temple to pose for the expedition photograph and film the last scene for the music video each group has been shooting scenes for during Phase One.
Then, when they were least expecting it we announced Phase Two allocations by giving each venturer and PM a bracelet and asking them to find everyone else who had the same one!
The expedition was given a good stir as the alpha groups have all been mixed up to form Phase Two groups:
Charlie One
PMs:
Liam Gallacher
Eira Evans
Caroline Millar
Venturers:
Kimberley Delamare
Amy Gannon
Robert Dwyer
Natalie Gordon
Katie MacNaughton
Kavita Shah
David Frattinger
Shaun Green
Hubertus Kramer
Basil
Anniek Akerboom
Charlie Two
PMs:
Josse Emanuel
Rachel Allan
Susan Pollock
Venturers:
Olivia Ferrari
Kane Grennan
Fiona Marchbank
Rosalind Page
Simon Majtlis
Justine Stuart
George Miller
Katarzyna Ulichnowska
Shanelle Ward
Erdinch Yigitce
Raghu
Echo Three
PMs:
Laura Burnet
Bethan Jones
Oliver Whittle
Venturers:
Coenraad de Mol van Otterloo
Arthur Fane
Iain Hood
Samuel Mason
Lucy Marie Flint
Tessa Nooteboom
James Rowantree
Katharine Studley
Anupama Varghese
Narthan
Echo Four
PMs:
Stirling Grey
Hannah Lobben
Luke Jones
Venturers:
Isabelle Wijsmuller
Sean Edlin
Ryan Heeley
Michiel Kruize
Philip Smith
Jennifer Rimmer
Denise Stoelzel
Rosie Ward
Sarah Ward
Nga Yee (Irene) Yiu
Raja
Tango Five
PMs:
Charlotte Parbery-Clark
Hannah White
Lynne Cooper
Venturers:
Owen Duffin
James Mcintosh
Jack Phillips
Kirsten Elliot
Laura Hulley
Jessica Norgrove
Jonny Womack
Elisabeth van der Zee
Aimee Welch
Ajeesh
Whlist PMs Phil Dart and Christina Ambrose join the Field base family.
If you’d like to send a message to anyone whilst they're out on phase just add a comment to the bottom of any blog entry by clicking the link. Don't forget to tell us who the message is for including their full name and project group. Then select name/URL from the dropdown menu to tell us who it's from (URL can be left blank). Please be aware that we might not be able to publish all personal messages but we will make sure they are distributed via 'The Loop' but do note this may happen only once during the phase.
It's only a quick Changeover, as everyone deploys out tomorrow for Phase Two. From Fieldbase, Polly B will be heading out with Tango 5 for a week's trekking, whilst Polly C is off to Echo Four, keen to experience the self titled 'glampsite' and Del is Echo Three bound to get his dig on.
The lovely Christina will be taking over the blogging reigns until my return ...
All text by Polly Carpenter and photos by Polly Baldwin http://www.dynamicpictures.co.uk/ (unless stated otherwise).
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