Ladies who Lunch: The Pollys day trip to Charlie One

The two Pollys popped over to visit Charlie One yesterday. We were only there for a few hours but happily did manage to fit in lunch. Charlie One have the priviledge of being cooked for everyday by the local community they’re living amongst – most delicious!

Last time Polly B was there, a small cyclone hit the village and today Polly B was blamed for bringing the bad weather with her as the skies opened just as we arrived! 

Not deterred by the weather, the group proudly took me on a tour of their site, showing off their luxury shower complete with drainable bamboo flooring, a very hygienic and sturdy three bowls area and their communal living room.

The group were in great spirits, happily posing for photos and filming the music video which were the purposes of our fleeting visit. I also took the opportunity to catch up with the group and get the low down on their experience so far ...

The group’s arrival last Saturday was a big event as the villagers were excited and intrigued to meet them all. With such a warm reception the group were keen to start working straight away on building the five houses to replace the mud huts that the villagers currently live in.

The first task was to lay all the foundations, this involved digging down a foot and half - tough labour but they told me it was good physical work to do.

After this their next task was to move a small mountain of rock. All equipment and materials are delivered at the bottom of the village and so the group had to form a human chain to get the rocks up to the plot sites. This was hard graft but the group bonded with singsongs initiated by Caroline. I’m told the villagers looked on amused at the group belting out their guilty pleasures and some musical theatre numbers.

Job done and all this rock was subsequently laid into the foundation trenches and then cemented up about a foot from ground level. The group have stormed ahead with their work since their arrival and today at the site they were finishing off the foundations of plot five.

For the group’s final task of the phase they will be putting up the walls of one of the houses on plot one. We’d just missed the erecting of the first door frame into the plot this morning, but the PMs happily posed next to it when we arrived.

It’s not long to go now, as Charlie One only have four more working days left because they’re taking the weekend off. On Saturday they will visit a local tea factory and on Sunday they’ve planned a Sports day with the villagem, where they’re going to introduce them to such British classics as the Egg and Spoon Race and the Sack Race – I can’t wait to hear how that goes!

Group highlights:

• Community party where they taught each other their culture’s dancing – for the Raleigh group this consisted of limbo dancing and the Macarena!!
• Finding a frog with wings in their ‘living room’
• James amusing the villagers by digging like a dog with his hands!

Working alongside local Masons and the Villiagers themselves, it’ great to see Charlie One are truly part of the community. They’re a well bonded and fun group, I hope they enjoy the final week of their Phase One and looking forward to catching up with them all at Changeover.

All text by Polly Carpenter and photos by Polly Baldwin http://www.dynamicpictures.co.uk/ (unless stated otherwise).

Don't cry because it's over, laugh because it happened: 09C wraps up.

Goodbye, and thank you.

Thank you to all the blog followers who came on the India 09C expedition via the wonders of cyberspace. To those who commented on the blog (probably when they should have been doing work!) to get messages to their loved ones on expedition, you made a huge difference to the venturers and project managers out on the sites.

Thank you to all the parents and friends who encouraged the venturers and volunteer managers of 09C to put away 10 (or 12, or 14) weeks of their lives to join a Raleigh expedition and make a difference in the world, both to themselves and those who have benefited from our projects.



Thank you to the Raleigh head office team who have been a huge support to the volunteer managers and permanent staff on the ground in the Mysore field base.



Thank you to the Raleigh permanent staff: Country Programme Manager Mark Ashby, Facilities Manager Deepak, Host Country Venturer coordinator (the immensley talented) Vijay, Logistics Manager Amanda Ockwell, drivers 60/60, Girish and Manju, security guard Ashok, to the cleaners and the caterers, to Ravi the taxi driver: Thank you for making 09C an amazing expedition.

To Country Director Gavin Shelton (pictured below, with Helen), who today hangs up his Raleigh t-shirt for the last time, we all thank you and wish you all the best. Those who have worked with him know the time and effort Gavin put in to getting the Raleigh India expedition off the ground to become a roaring success has been extraordinary. The story of Mark and Gavin arriving in India with nothing more than a credit card and a laptop with a view to creating an expedition base is fondly (and often) recounted.

To the volunteer managers Ivan, Julia, Dani, Jenny, Neil, Lucy, Caz, Dr Andy, Andrew, Paul, Savage, Liz, Matt, Joey and Anni: You came from all walks of life to join Raleigh 09C, thank you for committing to making this expedition something truly extraordinary.



And to the venturers:

Well done!! Thank you for choosing to make a difference to your lives, and to the world around you.



Make Raleigh count: take this experience with you and apply it to your lives.



Join the Raleigh alumni group, load your pictures to Facebook, and make a lot of noise about your Raleigh experience so that others might have the chance to take the same journey.



In a phrase often quoted by Gavin Shelton from anthropoligist Margaret Mead:



"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."



PLUG: Our amazing photographer Ann Taylor will be heading back to the UK in the coming weeks. She has done a remarkable job capturing the story of the Raleigh 09C expedition. And she's not too bad at portraiture either, check these out!


(above: Fieldbase medic Caz Stephens)

(Below: the three witches of field base, from left: Dr Julia Mitchell, Blog Boss Rule, Deputy Programme Manager Danielle Esterhuysen)You can check out Ann's website here, she's available for photographic work in the UK's north-east.

All the best everyone,

The 09C team