Charlie 3 – Rainwater Harvesting at Mosarahalla

Beccy C, Becky H and Kezi report live from C3...

Having laughed our way through our first week in Mosarahalla, we, the members of Charlie 3, can honestly say that we have the best project and the best team. From the moment we arrived, we became instant hits with the children, especially Holly (PARO!) and Beccy C, who has become the resident nanny!

Above: Beccy C with the local children

Asoka has won the hearts of the whole village, and has had several proposals of marriage – let’s hope they’re not too devastated when he leaves!

The view from the school we are staying in is breathtaking, looking over the reservoir with every shade of green imaginable and the local food is exquisite. Whilst living on a primarily vegan diet, Damien has found a suitable sugary supplement to his diet in the form of Tang, particularly mango flavor, which has left him with toothache as a result of excessive drinking!
The days consist of hard work building rainwater tanks – all 18 frames have been completed. The only major injuries from our work have occurred to accident-prone Kezi who has not only succeeded in getting cement in her eye, but also received a hit to the face with a spade by Holly on the day she was day leader – clearly she was a popular choice!!

Above: Damien, Gareth and Holly hard at work

Above Becky H and Abby at work

The other major excitement at work was when Becky H, Harry and Damien discovered a venomous and rather long snake in a pile of bricks. Damien was clearly not going to save Becky and took the every-man-for-himself strategy, claiming his fear for snakes afterwards. Harry nobly stepped forward to kill the snake, but was pulled away fast by a mason, who in the end did let him put in a smash (once the snake was dead!)

In the late afternoon, we make the daily trip to the reservoir, with Sophia leading the way regardless of the temperature of the water! Harsha and Vikas enjoy causing trouble and are the champions of water volleyball!

Above: Damien on the reservoir

By night, the Cluedo killings are occurring by the hour, especially with the invention of Ultimate Cluedo by Jija and Beccy C. Their invention of this game has brought levels of paranoia to new heights and due to the complicated rules has ensured that there can only be two winners – themselves!

Anne has been tied down all day every day with medical emergencies (not always, but mostly, our own!). As we write, Abby H is team leader and is holding a group meeting to decide who will be wally of the day. It will most probably be Kate, who is winning the tally at the moment, and wore a sari to lunch today with rather attractive walking boots underneath! Abby is following in large footsteps of Gareth who set a hard act to follow with his great games. Gareth is doing an excellent job of being a strong member of the workforce, along with the other boys!

Two days ago, a prominent member of our family, Kath, left us for fieldbase. We are missing her greatly, but had a great conversation with her after listening to Radio Raleigh last night! To pick us up, MJ has come to stay for the second half of the project, and we are all looking forward to spending more time with her!

A big shout out to all the other project groups, we are missing you all loads and can’t wait to see you all in Kerala before the adventure challenge! Keep smiling!

And in other news…the Hotels

We have two bespoke groups out at the moment from St Helen’s. Hotel 1 is in Alanahally and Hotel 2 is in Segawadi. Both groups are building eco sanitation units for the families in their villages and have made really good progress on the builds. Hotel 2 Had an opening ceremony for eight of the units today where the villagers officially opened the toilets! There were garlands and the toilets were decorated with flowers.

All of the guys at Hotel 1 and 2 have been working really hard in heavy rain and hot sun to build the toilets for the villages and have done an amazing job. When they haven’t been working their fingers to the bone the groups have been out and about on trips to Mysore, hosting cowboy and Indian parties and visiting Bandipur National park.

Well done on the build to the Hotel groups and good luck on the next phase – the trek!

Messages from Charlie 2, 3 and 4

We've got in some messages from the Charlie groups so here goes:

From Wahid
I'm working hard and looking forward to seeing my people at the party take care everyone

From Fatmata
Hey guys, I’m missing you all so much and can’t wait to see you all. I hope you are all working hard. Take care of yourselves xxx

From Aimee
Hey guys, working hard I’m constantly covered in dirt lol really not funny. Miss you all you better be missing me lol bye xxx

From Natalie
Big hello to Mum, Dad, Chess, Flea, Ora and Tullah! Hope you’re all ok and that you gave tache man a fab birthday (not being attacked by sheep I hope!). Really enjoying it here – constantly dirty and tired but so much fun – the place is beautiful! Tell Tullah to stay out of my room. Love you and miss you lots. P.S. I’m absolutely dying for a steak and diet coke its just curry three times a day!

From Meriel
Hi Family, so nice to get your messages they were bought out to us in the village! Having such a good time here, quite challenging all we’ve done for the last five days is carry bricks and sand in the boiling heat! I’m just off to go and help cook lunch with the locals which is exciting! Hope you had a lovely time with Jonny and Lucy and that Ben is enjoying China. Miss you all so much. Can’t wait for a fry up can it be ready and waiting for me on the table please!! Lots of love P.S. I figured you might have difficulty with the blog glad the Marshalls are helping!

From Nick Woods
To the Woods family, Hay everyone having an awesome time and getting proper digging these holes for the mango trees. In your spare time you can google our location of Netikal Hundi village in Karnataka, India. Met some amazing people and can’t wait to see you all again lots of love xxx

From Owain
Hi Mum and Dad, Hope you’re both doing ok. The village we’re staying in (Netikal Hundi) is amazingly beautiful, you might be able to find pictures on the net. Otherwise you can see the hundreds I;ve taken when I get back (or check the blog in a couple of days when the laptop will be out on project). The people here are really kind and generous and the digging is hard but quite satisfying. I’ll be in touch again soon. Lots of love x

From Bijal
Hey Nikil, thanks for writing to me on the blog, I will be out of contact for a while as I don’t have my phone on me but when I do I will contact you. I will be leaving for London on 27th August and I think at 6am from Bangalore airport if you want to come down but I will try and contact nearer the time. Give my love to everyone. Bijal xxx

Hey Krish, Mum and Dad. Thank you for writing and keep checking blog. Miss you all loads but am having a wicked time and I am safe and well. I don’t have my phone at the mo as I am on project. It’s really good and have been meeting local villagers and doing some teaching. I’ve worn saris and had chai! Loads of love Bijal xxx

From Charles (Wong)
Hi everyone in Hong Kong, now I’m having fun in India. I’m working in a village called Netikal Hundi for the sustainable agriculture project. The villagers here are really nice. Hope I can share some more with you all in September.

From Anna
Hi to the Reads, I am having so much fun here I am in a small group in a rural bvillage called Netikal Hundi. It’s just amazing and I have met some fantastic people and I am so happy. I will writesoon I hope you are all fabulous. xxxx

From Marie
Hi Mum and Dad, thank you so much for the message reallt glad you’re all well. Just in our school at the mo having bought a new t shirt…so happy to have something clean! Apart from being really grubby everythings going great thanks! Lots of digging, playing with kids and about to start painting the school. Lots of love xxx

From Rebecca
To the Culverwells. Hi Dad hapy birthday!!! Hope you had a good day, sorry I couldn’t be there! Having an amazing time working in the community. The children are so sweet! Building is really hard work my arms will be properly musclely next time you see me! Hope Portugal is good. Good luck to Jenny and Tom for results. Missing you lots Beccy xxxxx P.S. love to Grandpa as well

From Gareth Senior
Hey Guys, I’m doing great over here post seems to be a little slow! I have sent postcards instead of letters…yes I know very lazy! Anyway just letting you know I am ok and having the time of my life over here. Talk to you soon, love Gareth

From Kezi
Hello guys, hope you’re all doing well. I’m great, post seems to be taking its time though so sorry if I haven’t replied to letters – I haven’t got them yet! Missing you all loads but not enough to come home anytime soon – am having far too an amazing time here! Love Kezi xxx

From Kate Owen
Hi guys, hope you are all well and enjoying the English summer. Having an amazing time here, in my best dreams I didn’t think it could be this ood. Looking forward to steak and chips in September! Love Kate. P.S. What’s the Hull City news?

From Damien Hanna
What’s going on boys? Just wanted to say I’m having a wicked time and hope you all are too. WE MADE IT! And you’re all gonna have to lose to me in the adventure phase! Good times

From Holly
Yo guys!!! I miss you all seriously. We’re having a wicked time hope you are all good. To all City and Islington and the Taliban boys love you and miss you the most. Remember to make the most of the expedition it’s what we’ve been waiting for! Take care dudes Mwwwaaaaaah! xxxxx

Echoing messages home

Messages home from Echo 5 and 6

From Rich Peters
Just to say Happy Birthday Dad! Hopefully everything is ok at home 

From Rosie Crocker
Thanks for your messages Mum, Dad, Mart and everyone! Doing great, it’s amazing here. We go to Kerala a week Friday – can’t wait for that! Hope you are all ok. Miss you all, lots of love to Dan, lots of love to you all, Rosie xxx

From Emily Hakin
To Granny and Grandad, thank you so much for writing literally every day! I love it that you are following the blog, I read it when I can. I have been sleeping under the stars every night to the sound of wild elephants calling to each other! I am filthy! Ha ha! Love Emily xxx

From Louise Gregory
Dear Mum, Dad (and Oli if still at home) having an amazing time, it’s absolutely knackering. Hope all is well at home. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Love Louise xxx

From Alice and Laura
Dear Sacha, happy birthday for 18th August, have an amazing time, we miss you lots and can’t wait to come back and party!!! Lots of love Alice and Laura xxx

From Laura
Dear Mum, Dad, Auntie Jo, Sam and Sarah, having a brill time. Looking forward to a nice steak  Love you all lots. Laura xxx

From Alice
Dear family, having a good time on project. It’s so peaceful here, hope everyone’s well, see you soon love Alice xxx P.S. please don’t send my results I don’t want to know til I’m home!!!

From Tarlan
Hi Auntie Farah, thank you so much for the message. I’m havingan amazing time in Ramaranai village. Anyway love you lots and can’t wait to see you love Tarlan xxxxxx

Hi Mummy! Miss you so much but I’m having so much fun and it’s so unbelievable! Right now I’m in Ramaranai village and on Friday I’m going to Kerala (next Fri). Love you so much, Tarlan xxxxxxxx

From Kris
Just want to say that I’m having a great time out here an enjoying every minute. This area is amazing. (Just a note to parents to have steak, chips and egg for dinner and English breakfast in the morning – cheers) xxx

From Chinedu
Hello to everyone reading the blog and thank you for being involved in such an exciting project! I am enjoying myself thoroughly but would have an extra energy boost if some of my special people could leave me some messages. I love you all, Mum, Kai, Kallu, Anu, Izy, Uncle Perry, Pebbles, C Dot, Daisy, Ayemido, Shanigio and everyone else that I love. Leave me a message and I’ll stop crying 9hence the terrible pictures of me). God bless.
P.S. NCC Youth, hope youth day is blessed

Note: some of these messages were slightly unreadable apologies for any misspelling of names!

Messages in a water bottle from Charlie 1

Messages from Charlie 1:

From Merry
Hi Rosemary (Mum)
Hope you are enjoying Gardeners World and are enjoying your hols. Haven’t got any letters yet, tell Grandad to keep writing! I am very muddy. Am sending you a letter. Lots of love, Merry

From Emma
To family and sheniequays
Thanks for your messages, missing you loads but everything is going well in Muttimoola village. I am writing to you all now so youll get it in the next few weeks. Will send a message via this again if I manage to change my flights. Mum hope Borneo is brill. Da enjoy the burgs and give corsampooch a hug. Love you loads xxxxx

From Sarah
To everyone,
Hello all! Getting letters and I’m so happy to hear from you all – fam have a wonderful time in Venice. Charlie 1 is fantabulous working with a great community, in 3 days moved 3000 bricks! This is so good guys I’m thinking of you all, imagine me singing in the monsoon and carrying massive granite bricks! Miss you and love you all xxxxxx

From Terry
My fiancée Tasha steward I love you with all my heart and always will. Thank you for my comment be expecting something in a couple of days. I LOVE YOU XXXXXXXXXXXXX :o)

From Charlotte (Ali)
Hello to all my friends and family – HAPPY BIRTHDAY in advance for all. Leanne have a good 30th bday love you Mum, miss you all hugs and kisses xxxxxxx

From Kath (Paton)
Thanks for your messages has been good to hear from you. I hope you enjoy Scotland – I bet you wont have as good time as I’m having! Miss you all x

From Olivia
Hello M & Harry, thank you for your messages. I’m really enjoying living in the village and helping to build houses. Looking forward to those gym trips. Lots of love xxx

From Venuse
Hello Dad and my people! How are you all? I miss you soooo MUCH! But don’t worry I’m having a fantastic experience and we have been so busy everyday! Weather’s lovely, sometimes rains but still lovely. I love you all loads and looking forward to seeing you when I get back :o) TC xxxxx

Update from the Echos

Echo 5 and 6 are in Ramaranai at the moment working on the gravity water feed for the local village. Some of the field base team went out to visit both the project sites to give a bit of a helping hand, bring them some chocolate and see how they are getting on. The project site, camp sites and local people are amazing. It really is the experience of a life time. Here are some blog updates directly from Echo 5 and 6…

Becca Hammond reports back from Echo 5
Our project phase is going SO well. We’ve nearly completed the check dam at the top of the gravity water feed and are in the process of finishing the water tank. We’re all putting in maximum effort and have developed a good relationship with the villagers (they even give us chai!). Almost a quarter of the pipe-laying work has been completed which will eventually meet the work that Echo 6 are doing.

Above: the kitchen at Echo 5

During the past few days we’ve decorated our campsite by building a table out of bamboo (which sadly collapsed after being sat on by three heavy guys). We’ve made the best long drop ever and had campfire nights and morning group exercise classes and had group lunches and dinners. We’ve been teaching and playing with the local children and we’ve learnt a lot from them in return. We’ve learnt a number of Tamil phrases such as vanakam (hello).
We’ve seen elephants, deer and butterflies as big as birds! We’re working from the top of the hill and the view is incredible it makes the steep climb every morning worthwhile.

Above: the water run

We’re all looking forward to going on our safari (tomorrow), which is being led by the local forestry commission and to all the fun days and nights ahead of us in Ramaranai.

Echo 5 hard at work at the top of the hill!

Echo 5 by Laura Morgan and Becca Hammond
We are the fantastic Echo 5
Eating rice to stay alive
Be it sun or be it rain
We’re up the hill, we wont complain

Slippery rocks, potential falls
Building lots of concrete walls,
Digging trenches and scooping dirt,
Lets just hope no one gets hurt

The stars are out the fire’s on
In India what could go wrong!?

And just a stones throw away Emily Hakin and Rosie Crocker at Echo 6 let us know how they are getting on...
It’s 6am and the alarm bell rings, the yoga junkies jump out their bashers, grab their roll mats and perform salutations as they watch the sun rise over the mountains.

6:30am and there is a low grumble, no, not the calling of the elephants, but the sounds of Echo 6’s man force falling out of their bashers ready to start the day.

Above: Echo 6's bashers

6:45am, the infamous water run. We march through the village and up to the water pump which is in elephant and viper territory, outside the safety of the electric fence. We march back with 25kg on our shoulders to the echoing of our rumbling bellies with only one thought on our minds…porridge.

Above: L-R Jackie, Emily, Lotte, Rosie, Will, Claire and Victoria on the water run We dig, we snack, we pole, we sweat, we snack. We dig, we sweat, we snack, we trench some more, we pole some more, we collapse! Thank god it’s 12pm and then we lunch.

Above: back row L-R: Siva, Rich, Rosie, Will, Victoria, Jackie, Liam, Vijay. Front row LR-R: Nicholas, Alice, Emily, Claire, Louise, Jonny and Lotte

It’s 8:20 and its high ho off to work we go time. Slap on the suncream for our seven hours of strenuous manual labour. Stretching us to our limits, the only thing that keeps us going is the thought of our favourite new snack…peanut crunch.

We keep our heads high as we are shouted at in Indian that we are not strong enough. We laugh it off, we trench. Its 4pm and the thought of showering alone in the forest where there isn’t even a fig leaf lifts our sweaty mood as we complete the final push for the day.

We arrive here to the camp to the sweet aroma of our dinner cooking. We chill.Above: Echo 6's menu ideas

We review the day over a cup of teas our bodies close down for the day.

It’s 9:30pm, the sun has gone down and we fall asleep in our bashers underneath the stars listening to the sound of elephants. They are 100 yards away calling to each other as they stamp through the forest. We start again tomorrow at 6am, we are Echo 6.

The best of Echo 6…so far, some of Echo 6’s top moments by Jackie Mustoe

Above: Jackie skipping with the local children

Work is physical but the demands are overcome by rewards. The Western ghats surround our camp providing the most stunning views at work.

Our food - the amazing satisfaction the peanut crunch provides and devouring delicacies made up of either rice, noodles or pasta complimented by tuna, sweetcorn or baked beans.

Our camp, Rich and Nick’s innovative park bench poohole as the best outdoor toilet ever and bashers, sleeping in style and absolute comfort. Pumping water from the well and building up those guns of steel, then getting back to nature and showering with buckets of fresh cold water.

Standing in silence at night, peering through the electric fence, hoping for a glimpse of an Indian elephant…

That's all from the Echo groups check back soon for some messages for home.

Friends reunited

At field base we are currently a very small bunch as Jess, Nicky, Jocelyn and Ali are all out in the field visiting Charlie 1, Echo 5 and Echo 6 at their project sites. I am sure that everyone is glad to see them as they will be delivering copious supplies of chocolate, post and other treats! All the groups are making great progress on their project sites and most have managed to have a day off to visit various local villages and temples.

We have had a busy weekend though as we hosted the first Host Country Venturer Alumni weekend here so we were lucky enough to meet Qathab, Sathyajith, Srikanth, Shiju, Kareem, Arun, Sundar, Sulfee, Kahar, Siva, Veni, Jaga, Manju, Mubarak, Murugesh, Mani, Guna and Sreejith who were all venturers on 08C, 08F, 08I and 09C. On Saturday Vijay organised games including an Olympics obstacle course which was won by Alpha 1, although it was very close at the end!

Mani mastering the spiders web on the obstacle course!

On Sunday the host country venturers and most of the remaining field base team (Cat, Margaret and M-J) headed to the Kabini river where we built rafts out of bamboo and tyre inner tubes and all went rafting down the river which was great, and everyone managed not to fall in!

Vijay directing the raft building!

As a result of the weekend, we have now set up 2 support groups for host country venturers and alumni; one based in Kerala and one based in Tamil Nadu. This will be a great source of help and support in recruiting future host country venturers and guiding them through the training for expedition. It was sad to say goodbye when everyone had to head home yesterday afternoon but everyone left having made new friends. We are hoping there will be another alumni gathering before Christmas, including the host country venturers from 09I that are out on project at the moment.

The alumni team (and Cat!)

Jess will be back later today so keep checking the blog for updates on their visit to Charlie 1, Echo 5 and Echo 6. We have other members of the team out visiting the other projects too this week so we will keep you updated on their progress.

Charlie 1's first few days - by Emma

Guest blog from Emma Ballantine – Charlie 1

Live from the project site…

We arrived in the Muttilmoola tribal village three days ago and were welcomed by the villagers with flower garlands. The village is gorgeous and is set out on three layers and looks out over tropical forest and tea plantations. We thought that we would be staying in a school building so got a bit of a shock when we found that the girl’s bedroom is basically a bamboo mud shack with no door and lots of holes to welcome the snakes into our boudoir! The boys put up a six man tent and the girls quickly made themselves at home by putting tarpaulin on the floor and hanging mossy nets and a clothes line.

Above: the camp buillt by Charlie 1

The villagers and masons have been working so hard and have laid the foundations for the seven houses that we are helping to build. Because the village in situated on a hill, for the past few days we have been moving massive bricks from the top layer to the bottom so that the bricks can be cemented into the houses. We are right in the heart of the community and the villagers have helped us form people chains to move the bricks down. Because the work is quite hard and monotonous, we have kept up spirits by singing, drinking the AMAZING Indian tea and playing with the village kids (who are so cute, but very shy). So far we have moved 3000 bricks into the village, but have many more to move as each house needs 700!

Above: playing with the local children

Some of us have also worked on the house sites, cementing bricks and we all took part in a traditional blessing to mark the first door being cemented. The blessing symbolised prosperity and good health.

The local food is really good and Ruks has even managed to score us some chicken! We are gradually getting used to the mud (which is EVERYWHERE because of the rain) and the spiders, apart from some (cough cough Charlotte). Tomorrow we are having a welcome day off and heading into town to do some shopping and visiting a tea plantation, then it’s back to work!

Charlie 1 guest blog live from Muttilmoola

Guest blog from Sarah Eastaff

Charlie 1

The playground is empty, but the mud is full,
With secrets. Already spilt.
Amongst the rain, refresh, rejoice, renew,
And these lives, partially distilled.
Shall hold in time, lost from a plane,
We shall drive the other sane.

Giving many, all this change –
To a world of twilight and noise
That is lost, in a memorable breaking of voice;
With restrictions – infinite.

And purity. It holds the mess,
The tears, sweat and the rest.
For we are unity.
Shadowed in an underworld,
Held by two electric lights
And concrete bricks with women in night.

Cover your shoulders but put your heart on show,
There is nothing here we can not know.
In infinity. With purity. A lack of fuss.
Welcome, this is us.

News flash

News just in from Echo 5: an elephant was spotted this morning during the daily water run.

On this mornings water run the bright and breezy and slightly sleepy venturers were lucky to spot an elephant whilst they were collecting the day's supply of water.

Something tells me the water run might be a more popular chore from now on...

This is count one for the elephant spotting at Echo 5 may there be many more!

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.

Energetic venturers in field base

The whole of 09I got back together last night for their penultimate night at field base before deployment...and what a night it was! Themed as gladrags and bin bags fancy dress everyone got in to the swing of things and had an amazing night. Above: a few bin bags

Above: Will as a banana I'm slightly concerned these are his glad rags

Above: some gorgeous glad rags

Today was the first day since the venturers arrived that we have all been at field base together. After a bit of medical training it was time for a bit of aroo cha cha again....but this time with venturers and not just staff...

Tomorrow morning all the Charlie and Echo groups will deploy and a huge part of today has been announcing the project allocations. They are:

Charlie 1 - Muttilmoola Tribal Housing
Project Managers: Charlie and Rukmini
Venturers: Rohith V, Durga Sekhar, Sultan Mohammed, Khalid O’Briene, Dominique Wood-Whyte, Jamie Orrego, Kath Paton, Venus Ardalan, Venus Ardalan, Olivia Young, Emma Ballentine, Sarah Eastaff, Terry Prince

After their announcement Charlie 1 decided to do a bit of singing in the rain...

Charlie 2 - Netikal Hundi sustainable agriculture
Project Managers: Leti & Katharine
Venturers: Teja, Subash, Suleman Ahmed, Bianca Dixon- Naraine, Nick Woods, Charles Wong, Alex Stewart, Bijal Chandaria, Amina Nabwcenya, Freddie Gillingham, Owain Williams, Anna Read, Marie Rayment

Charlie 3 - Mosarahalla Rain Water Harvesting
Project Managers: Anne, Kate and Kath
Venturers: Abbie Harper, Becky Harper, Harsha, Kezie Evans. Harry Lowles, Vikas, Asoka Jayaweera, Damian Hanna, Jija Sufi, Holly Halden, Sophia Footm Gareth Senior, Rebecca Culverwell

Charlie 4 - MC Tolalu Hundi Eco Sanitation

Project Managers: Lewis & Camilla
Venturers: Thayal , Madhavi, Claire Dannatt, Inigo Casale, Meriel Hubbard, Aimee Tunbridge, Luis Lai, Wahid O'Briene, Mona Al-Haery, Fatmata Kamara, Chris Ashby, Rory Williams Burrell, Natalie Cox

Echo 5 - Gravity water feed supply to Ramaranai village
Project Managers: Gareth & Miriam
Venturers: Remya. S, Atul, Gloria Lau, Will Hatton, Kris James, Akim Millar, Richard Peters, Russell Finlay, Chinedu Okafor, Tarlan Alikhanzadeh, Rebecca Hammond, Laura Morgan, Ciara Hennessy, Birute Klymantaite

Echo 6 - Gravity water feed supply to Ramaranai village
Project Managers: Rich & Lotte
Venturers: Siva Prabhu, Vijay, Rosie Crocker, Emily Hakin, Nicholas Thorpe, Johnny Gustar, Liam McCreesh, William Damerell, Victoria Grincisina, Louise Gregory, Claire Melly, Jackie Mustoe, Alice Frost

For more details of the projects check back to past blog posts.

Pass on any messages now before they’ve deployed by commenting on the blog. We’ll put up a post when they depart field base in the morning.

Good luck everyone!

A flexible way to start the day

News flash: we have had to move yoga outside field base after the participant number trebled over night.

Here’s a little taster of how we start the day in Mysore…


And now on to the serous work for the day. Communications training for the Tiger groups including polishing their skills spelling with the phonetic alphabet…


We’ve heard from all the Elephant groups this morning who are on the second half of their trek at the moment. More on that when they return to field base later.

Tonight is our gladrags and bin bags fancy dress night...lets see if it'll be glamour in saris or trash in black sacks for the venturers and staff.

Trek 1-2

Its day three of venturer training at field base.

The Tiger groups are out trekking at the moment, they left field base yesterday lunch time. The Tigers are Johnny, Richard, Natalie, Alice, Meriel, Anna, Jamie Alejandro, Mona, Amina, Khalid, Gloria, Siva Prabhu, Vijay, William, Asoka, Rory, Sarah, Abigail, Jackie, Suleyman, Sophia, Tija, Fatmata, Damien, Inigo, Tejaswini, Subash, Russel ,Harry, Nicholas, Kezia, Rebecca, Katherine, Nicholas, Bianca Melissa, Aimee, Birute, Zaneb, Harsha and Vikas. Yesterday they trekked to their campsite which was about 4km away from field base.

Above: Tigers group 1 set off on their trek training from field base.

It was their first trek with all their kits, tents, trangias and the three bowl system on their backs!

Above: some of the happy trekkers

When they got there (in a much quicker time than the PMs when they did their training) they tested out some skills like putting up their tents, digging a long drop and cooking on trangias…yummy! Above: the girls made the tents sturdy

Above: Jonny sorts out the long drop

They also had a visit from the snake man…snake Shyam. Shyam is famous in Mysore for his snake catching and he came along to the campsite to talk to the venturers about snakes in India and what to do if you come across one. The venturers got a chance to hold the snakes…
Above: Khalid totally calm!

and Shyam showed them a spectacled cobra… They then got cooking and had a chilled evening by the campfire.
They set off again this morning for the top of Chamundi Hill and are descending the 1000 steps right now.

Meanwhile back at field base the elephants (Freddie, Liam, Emma, Meredith, Ciara, Marie, Dominique, Rosie, Chinedu, Wahid, Luis, Thayal Nithi, Madhavi, Christopher, Kris, Owain, Claire, Rebecca, Laura, Olivia, Victoria, Bijal, Venus, Holly, Sultan, Remya, Atul, Will, Gareth, Rebecca, Louise, Claire, Alex, Terry, Tarlan, Emily, Akiem, Charles, Sekhar and Rohith) have completed their communications training and are getting ready for their trek. They’ll be leaving in a few minutes and following the same route as the Tigers. So the race is on, can they get to the campsite quicker than the Tigers!?

The last arrivals

The rest of the venturers finally arrived in Bangalore. After their flight being delayed by two hours the the last venturers arrived at 6:30 this morning.

A team of field base staff were there to meet the 67 tired, hungry and very excited venturers .

Some of the arrivals at Bangalore
The group gathered together at the airport
We have now have all now arrived safely back in Mysore, everyone has had a welcome from Mark and has had their first curry meal for lunch which went down pretty fast!Above: the first mess tin curry meal!

They've spent the afternoon getting to know each other, playing some name games, unpacking and finding their way around field base.

Over the next few days the venturers will be learning loads of new skills, like how to communicate with field base on expedition, cook on a trangia, put up tents and bashers for sleeping, digging slop pits and long drops as well as learning more about the projects and their time out in India. The venurers have been split in to two groups for the training - the Elephants and the Tigers. Part of the training this week is about trekking and the Tigers will be off out on a short trek tomorrow up Chamundi Hill, they'll be camping out over night to practice their skills.

More on the training tomorrow! Also check back to find out who won the staff cluedo game and who got killed in the male staff toilets with a book of spells...

First arrivals at field base

Today we have our much anticipated first venturer arrivals. Durga, Subash, Tejaswini, Rohith, Vijay, Harsha, Madhavi, Shiva, Thayal, Vikas and Iman all arrived this morning from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The new arrivals have created a real buzz at field base, we’ve started the day with some games to all get to know each other and we’ll all be having lunch together before a team sets off for Bangalore to pick up the rest of the venturers.

Our first venturers arrive and settle in to a game of volley ball with the PMs.The rest of the venturers will be landing in Bangalore in the early hours of tomorrow morning and will be arriving at field base about lunch time. We are all really excited about meeting all the venturers, everyone feels like this is the real beginning of expedition and I’m sure field base is going to be extremely lively over the next week. Bring it on!

In other news yesterday all the PMs and field base staff went out rafting. The group was split in to two groups the elephants and the tigers.

Above: the tigers building their raft.

Above: Pretty in pink our expert raft builder

After excellent demos by our Country Director, Mark, on how to build rafts the race commenced. It was neck and neck for all of about one minute, the elephants stampeded ahead whilst the tigers strumbled at the first hurdle – getting in to the water. Unfortunately for the tigers getting this proved slightly troublesome with them getting stuck in the weeds. After a bit of a heave they were off too and the race was on…apart from the fact that the elephants had already practically finished.

Above: the elephants had already cleared their raft and the tigers weren't even in sight.

So with a few collisions with various greenery and the tigers managing to do a u-turn unintentionally the race finished with the elephants in first position and the tigers coming second (not last!).

Above: the tigers finish - note the absence of Kate who was already on the bank after a quick swim.

The tigers had a spectacular finish with Kate demonstrating how not to throw a throw rope and ending up throwing herself in to the water instead.

After a quick dismantle of the rafts...

It was time for a quick swim before home time.
So now off we go to Bangalore to pick up the troops, there will be a new post on Saturday once they have arrived at field base.

A monsoon in a tea cup

After lots of updates and info about our projects and projects managers I’m sure we’re due for a field base team update…lets not leave them feeling left out!

After two weeks of planning, training, scheduling, blogging, counting and stacking the field base team had a much needed day off whilst the PMs were out visiting their projects.

After a bit of deliberating the field base team (Jess, M-J, Joss, Kath, Ali and Margaret) visited Mysore Zoo. We had a great morning wandering round the zoo, drinking coconut juice and dodging the showers.

Above: a tiger at the zoo.

Yummy coconut juice

After walking all morning round the zoo we had built up a huge appetite and decided to grab an auto and head to the Lalitha Mahal Palace. This is the second palace of Mysore and is now a hotel, apparently it was originally built for the King of Mysore’s mistress is 1921. We had an amazing lunch (obviously of curry) in a room that Joss described as ‘like being inside a wedgewood tea cup’.

The wedgewood tea cup

Margaret, M-J and Joss in the tea cup

We also had a little look at the stuffed tiger and lion...

Can you spot M-J in this pic?

...and then were treated to having a nosey at a bollywood film being made in the hotel, we even saw Amitabh Bachchan who’s really famous in India, in fact only earlier that day Kath had read about him in People magazine! Good celeb spot Kath!

We managed to blag a tour of the hotel and grounds and had a ride in the first ever elevator in Mysore…
And we checked out the views over Mysore…

Amitabh Bachchan wasn’t our only spot for the day we also bumped in to the Ambassador of Senegal on his way in to the hotel, he looked at us a bit strangely but then we weren’t exactly dressed for the occasion!

After a great day off it was back to work for the whole field base team and our first job was to arrange a party for all the PMs to welcome them back from their projects. We decided to have a fancy dress party and the whole field base team came along in Indian dress.

The lovely field base ladies

There were various other outfits from a mummy (Rich)…
to Scream (Gareth) and a fairy (Katharine)…
Since then its been heads down for soft skills training at field base and with the arrival of the venturers advancing at a mega speed on Saturday its all hands to the pump to get ready.