Looping with Charlie 1 in Multimoola

Well the looping has begun, and yesterday some of the Fieldbase team loaded up their Bravo vehicle and headed out to the wonderful community of Multimoola, situated some three and half hours from Mysore. Our mission was not only to visit Charlie 1 but also to drop off Ali our roving reporter who will spend the next couple of days out and about.

As a newcomer to India the scenery continues to blow me away, and yesterday was no exception. The first part of our journey took us through the majestical Bandipur National Park, known for elephants and tigers, before we headed up to the mountains and into tea plantation territory. It was quite simply stunning and literally took my breath away. India never ceases to amaze me!

Charles leads the way in the digging stakes

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When we got to Multimoola we were greeted by Charlie 1 who were hard at work digging in the toilets which will be attached to the houses Raleigh built over the Summer. Interestingly the girls, India, Laura, Nanette and Sam had finished their digging and had moved on to glamming up the existing toilet with paint they themselves purchased from a nearby village. The boys on the other hand, had called in PM Charlie to help them and were still hard at work (of course their hill was bigger, their ground harder etc etc!)

Everyone has settled in well, cleared out the creepy crawlies that inevitably inhabitat houses in small Indian communities, and set up a great campsite. 

The local people are clearly delighted to have Charlie 1 to stay and are working incredibly hard right alongside them.  Of course it is not all work, the cricket set is being put to good use, as is the nail polish brought by Laura and there is a constant background sound of laughing and giggling from the children as they get to know their foreign guests.

 It was heartening to see just how much this group has accomplished in a very short time and how brilliantly they are doing as a group.  You will have more updates from Charlie 1 in a couple of days when Ali gets back, until then keep the messages rolling in. 

Anna 

Country Expedition Manager 

PS. As a late edition to this post, Charlie and David want to say a personal thank you to all the young people who are currently helping in Multimoola.

Lunch time - eaten on the veranda of the girl's house

Come on boys! Keep digging!

Charlie with the local Leader

Dave gets involved with henna - maybe stick to the building Dave!

Charles and Kit - hanging with the kids

                                                              

09J have left the building!

Alison our PRO Officer deployed yesterday to go trekking with Tango 7 for a few days so I‘m very excited as the other half of the Comms team to get to be guest blogger for the day!

After a long day and night spent counting, packing and repacking we finally waved off the Venturers at the crack of dawn yesterday. 

James and Shamnad (Tango 6)

Charlie 1 leaving for Multimoola

Echo 4 and 5 both made it safely to Bandipur National Park and trekked in with their kit to their separate camps.  Echo 5 had the added excitement of seeing elephants on their way to their project site.  They have now set up all their bamboo bashers and have made it through their first night safely despite hearing some unidentified jungle noises.  Echo 4 however woke up to the realisation that they had left their porridge supplies at fieldbase.  That is of course unless the bears in the forest didn’t find it in the night!

Elsewhere, Charlie 1, who also saw elephants on their journey, reached Multilmoola to be greeted by the villagers who presented them with traditional jasmine garlands.  Although shy at first the local children are now loving having new friends to play with.
 

Tango 6 and 7, who had the longest journeys down to Kerala, reached Thrissu and Udumalpetti respectively where they spent their last night for some time under a roof.  Both groups reached the start of their adventure challenges earlier today.  Tango 6 start in Nerimangalam with the challenge of building rafts that will carry them down the Periyar River, while Tango 7 will start at Silent Valley, bracing themselves for the second highest summit outside of the Himalayas.

Here at fieldbase we are somewhat lost without the rest of our family.  It’s eerily quiet but we’re looking forward to speaking to the groups every day and finding out their news and progress.  We’ll be passing on your messages to them as we receive them, and posting messages onto the blog from the groups.  I can’t stress how much the messages and words of encouragement from home mean to everyone here so do please keep them coming.

Alison and I between us are lucky enough to be getting the opportunity to spend some time with all of the groups during this first phase to get photographs for the blog and the expedition magazine.  We will post some of the shots at the first opportunity so that you can see the stunning environments and truly amazing places the groups are living and working in.  We’re aware that not everyone has been in a photo on the blog yet but we’ll do our best to capture everyone as the expedition progresses so do please keep checking back.

Tomorrow I am going out to see Charlie 1 in Multilmoola to join in the local celebrations for Diwali, the festival of light, and then will be continuing on to see the Echo 4 and 5 in the forest and hopefully spend my first night in a basher!  Alison will also be returning from trekking in Kerala so we will have lots to report on and show you next time.   

Ali (aka Moycey)

And they're off!

The trek training was a complete success! Jet lagged, the venturers set off in groups to complete a 20km trek in searing heat.

Hotel 4 are greeted by local children at the halfway point

But everybody made it and reached the site to set up camp, which was to be their base for the next two nights. The second day they completed their swim test and were given a snake safety talk and the chance to hold some of the less dangerous varieties!

Tor

On returning to fieldbase the venturers were allocated their project groups for phase 1 and are ready to set off tomorrow. As you can see from the pictures, the Project Managers each chose interesting ways of announcing the news...

Amy, Katie, Vijay

Davina and Leti

The groups are:
Charlie 1 - Building the school in Multilmoola
Charlie Elgy
Kit Hei
India Letcher
Laura White
Sam Flood
David Hildreth
Charles Lockhart
Nanette Vrinjenhoek
John Emmerson
Tony
Avaneesh
PMs: Charlie and David

Tango 7 - Trekking then rafting
Pik Yan
Lee Qua
Beth Grainger
Daniel Sellars
Ben Strachan
Holly Dunlop
Adam Russell
Emma Morgan
Vinay
Arvind
PMs: Helen, Jeff and Miriam

Tango 6 - Rafting then trekking
Chloe Stephenson
Colin Thorburn
Baz Murphy
Tina Boden
James Gurney
Philippa Crockett
Maddie Oakes
Alain Eisma
Jhon
Shamnad

Echo 4 - Ranger Station
Chris Braggs
Nicky Beveridge
Michael Stern
Bill Murgatroyd
Victoria Begg
James Eyles
Claire d'Ursel
Luke Argall
Rehman
Boops
PMs: Amy, Katie and Vijay

Echo 5 - Fire Lines and Anti-Poaching Camp
John Springate
Christina Ambrose
Matthew McDonnell
Georgie Webb
Morten Jacobsen
Georgie Page
Louis Nerurkar
Amy Whetstone
Shyam
Prajeesh
PMs: Frankie, Neil, Kate

And here's everyone together before they all set off in different directions...

Raleigh 09J

That's about it until the groups get settled and we have some stories from the project sites. But we do have some messages from venturers...

To Mum
Hiya. Having a good time. Going to write a letter hopefully when can get time. My first project is refurb on a rangers' anti poaching camp. Say to Libby I really miss her and RWARRR. Been thinking about her loads.
From Chris Braggs

Hi to Everyone
Just been assigned my first project and it's the one I wanted. My back is annoying me but the medics have been really helpful. Gotta run for group games, I leave tomorrow but just wanted to check in and send you all lots of love!
To Tai - It's bugging me that I can't speak to you now, will try and get a sim card asap.
Much love, Mikey

From Holly D:
Hi Mum, Dad and everyone - Greetings from India!
Had a good journey here, the place is amazing and the people are great. There's been lots of sun, thunderstorms, training trekking, sweating, laughing, spicy food, tuk tuks and even shopping!
Hope everything's fine at home, missing you lots but it really is awesome. Start my first project tomorrow - the 200km trek and rafting. Keep checking for my progress but it's all smiles for now! Lots of love and kisses, Hol xxx

Hi Mum, Dad, Charlie, Abbie and James
Been into Mysore today on the tuk tuks which was so much fun. I wasn't a very good back seat driver, they go quite fast!
I leave for my environmental phase tomorrow which I'm quite excited about, sleeping in bashas!
Hope you're all well, I really miss you all.
Lots of love, Georgie P (now known as Page as I have another Georgie in my group who is called Webb!) xxx

They're here!

Kit, Pik and Michael are the first to arrive at Bangalore airport

So we're finally complete! The host country venturers arrived at field base yesterday and early this morning the rest of the travel weary venturers arrived at Bangalore Airport to be greeted by over-enthusiastic staff and then the even more enthusiastic PMs when they arrived at their new home.

The venturers (minus the ones who were spark out on the bus)

Some of the host country venturers gather to welcome the international group

Everyone made it safe and sound and after getting a quick tour they quickly had to prepare for the next two days of trek training. But not without a couple of rounds of Robot Wars and getting to know all the staff.

Robot Wars!

We've also finally been able to get the group of staff together and in one place for a group shot with a lovely holy tree.

The next blog update will come after the trek training when the venturers have been put through their paces, quite literally. There should be plenty of stories, but in the meantime we have our first message home from a venturer...

Hi Mum, Dad and Soph,
Arrived safely in the blistering heat! The field base is a wonderful place, really pretty and surrounded by palm trees. We are going on a practice trek tomorrow morning for two days, camping overnight, so I'd better shower (of sorts)!
Really enjoying myself and kit all works fine. Love to you all, Charles.

Bring it on!

The Project Managers have now returned to fieldbase with much excitement after carrying out their planning visits at their respective project sites. For venturers about to make their way out to India, there's no doubt that whatever project you are allocated, you are all guaranteed to have a fantastic time. And if you don't believe me, here’s what the PMs have to say about their experiences!

Charlie 1 – Charlie and David

Our trip to Multimoola was an emotional occasion. We arrived to a welcome ceremony from the villagers – garlands of flowers and traditional music, and then keys to houses built by the previous expedition (which Charlie was also involved with) were handed over to the new residents.

We saw the old school (a flimsy building with little protection and a mud floor) and realised what a difference a proper school building will make.

Also during the project, toilets will be built for each house and smokeless stoves will be installed, which will be much more healthy than the open fires used for cooking in houses. Finally they will be building some walls to protect part of the village from mudslides during the monsoon.

And for all the venturers about to leave the UK for Bangalore we would like to appeal to you to try to find space in your rucksack for a few crayons, colouring books, or even small toys for the children of Mutilmoola. Anything ‘UK-related’ particularly welcome!

Charlie also recorded a message to the previous expedition's Charlie 1 who built the village houses. Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxksA4kof8

Echo 4 – Katie, Amy, Vijay

We’re really excited about being on this project! Our aim is to renovate the Chowdhalli Ranger Station to aid the anti-poaching project in the forest. We’re going to be living in Bandipur National Park – a forest where very few people are allowed and only with permission from senior government figures. By living in the forest we will be very close to the animals we are working to protect eg elephants and tigers – we might even see them on our doorstep! Due to the remote location, the campsite will be entirely what we make of it. We’re only going to be limited by our imaginations and resourcefulness. We really can’t wait to ‘go wild’ there with the venturers.

Echo 5 - Frankie, Kate, Neil

The Echo 5 PMs have kept it short and sweet...Make your own survival camp in the remote Bandipur Tiger Reserve (www.projecttiger.nic.in/bandipur). Enjoy jungle living and hardcore conservation work with Echo 5’s finest PMs. As for wildlife, you name it, we’ve got it, sleep tight in your jungle basha.

Charlie 2&3 – Alison, Claire and Mili

Phase two and phase three will see the start of the two remaining community projects. We went off to the villages of Halsur and Hosaheggudilu to see firsthand what invaluable work Charlie 2 and 3 will be undertaking. “These projects will provide the means for more sustainable agriculture for two tribal communities. The venturers will work with the villagers digging trenches and building bunds. They will be directly involved in something hugely worthwhile that will boost the farmers’ future income and make a real difference to the area. Venturers will be living in the local schools in the heart of the communities and will be able to help the children learn English, something they are extremely keen to do, there’s lots of scope for games!”

Tango 6&7 – Jeff (green Raleigh T-shirt), Lewis, Leti, Davina (aka Dave), Miriam, Helen

We are all extremely excited to spend the first phase in the rainforest in Kerala. We’ll be trekking in the Western Ghats and building our own rafts to travel down the Periyar River. Every night we will set up camp in a different beautiful and remote wilderness location. We will pass through tea plantations, climb the second highest peak in India outside of the Himalayas and see wildlife in its natural environment. We will enjoy exposure to unique habitats and large tracts of remote protected national parks and the reserved forests of Southern India. We will be pushing ourselves to the limit while having a lot of fun along the way and together everyone will complete this ultimate challenge.

Behind the scenes

None of these project planning visits could have been possible if it wasn’t for Raleigh India's Operations Manager of nearly two years, Amanda working hard behind the scenes to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Thanks Amanda!

Here in Mysore we have had cause for more celebrations with the announcement that Anna Tate has been appointed as the new Country Programme Manager for India. Lots of Raleigh participants and staff will know Anna who has worked on no less than five previous expeditions in India and Costa Rica and I’m sure will want to join us in congratulating her on this new role. 09J are extremely lucky to be the first expedition to benefit from her wealth of experience and her incredible catalogue of tried and tested recipes including her now infamous “energy bombs”.

And the project goes to...

The projects have now been finalised and allocated to the project managers. All the staff are now heading out to plan the projects which are... drum roll...

Charlie 1- Multimoola community project

This project will construct a 765 sq ft primary school which will serve the children of Muttilmoola village families, alongside a wider education development plan which includes the training and education of teachers and educational materials for the school and scholarships for the students. In addition a number of additional infrastructure facilities will be constructed for the tribal village people.

Charlie 2 – Halsur and Charlie 3 – Hosaheggudilu community projects

These projects are part of a six-year intervention, which started in June 2009, to develop an innovative and replicable model for improving the livelihood opportunities of vulnerable scheduled tribal communities in nine villages in HD Kote Taluk, Mysore District, through sustainable and equitable use of resources. Families from nine communities will benefit from the project and each family will be assisted to develop one acre of horticulture plantation. Raleigh volunteers will provide support to establish the horticultural infrastructure by planting cash crops of mango and amla fruit, creating contour bunding to retain monsoon rains; creating agricultural water storage tanks and constructing vermi-composting units.

Echo 4 – Ranger station environmental project

Raleigh, in partnership with Karnataka Forest Department, will refurbish a 100 year-old guest house deep inside Bandipur National Park. The guest house was constructed in 1908 by the Maharaja and has laid empty, falling into disrepair. The group will completely renovate the guest house adding sanitation and water services in order for it to be utilised by the Forestry Department as a permanently manned ranger station serving the Chowdhalli Range – an important habitat for tigers, elephant and many other key species.

Echo 5 – APC and fire lines environmental project

The group will construct additional facilities and provide clearance of nearby fire lines at an anti-poaching camp in Bandipur National Park. Bandipur is designated by the Government of India as a tiger sanctuary. The project will enable the Karnataka Forest Department to better protect the wildlife and ecosystems of the National Park from the threat of fire destroying the natural habitats.

Tango 6 & 7 - Adventure

The group will conduct an 18-day adventure phase in Kerala, guided by Kalypso Adventures, Raleigh’s adventure partner. The first stage will incorporate 14 days of arduous trekking at altitudes of up to 2,500m. The route will begin in Kerala, just inside the border with Karnataka at Marayoor in the Erivikulam National Park. The trekkers will head up into the Western Ghats and on day 16 will reach the Periyar River where they will construct two eight-man bamboo rafts and paddle west downstream for two days.

The staff going on phase one of each project will be: Charlie and David on the Multimoola project; Davina, Lewis, Leti, Miriam, Helen and Jeff all take on the treks between them; Vijay, Amy and Katie head off to the ranger station; Frankie, Neil and Kate are to tackle the fire breaks and Mili is to be the first fieldbased medic. Everyone is very happy with their allocations and just for good measure, here's some silly celebrations...

Frankie

Davina

Lewis

Charlie

A cultural and sweaty start

Project Manager David and Medic Amy are greeted by Country Director Mark

The rest of the staff members have now arrived and it's been all go ever since. After the advanced and permanent staff excitedly pounced on the tired travellers as they got off the bus, they were shown around their new home (complete with welcome banner and flowers) and were plunged straight into training. There will be a group photo as soon as we can get everyone in the same place at the same time! But it wasn't all work work work as we also got to witness Puja, a Hindu ritual whereby all our work tools at fieldbase were blessed to keep them functional and safe. Our computers, phones and even the cars were decorated in a colourful ceremony that we were all lucky enough to witness and gave the new team members an extra special cultural start to their expedition.

Mark blesses the office and above, the cars and bikes all dressed up for the ritual

Mysore craziness

In another break from the intensive training we took a trip into central Mysore to try and catch the elephant parade as part of the Dasara festival. However, thousands of Indian tourists and locals had the same idea and we ended up in the middle of what can only be described as Mysore craziness. Some of the group did manage to jump above the heads of the ever increasing crowd and see part of the parade but unfortunately,  most of us just saw the heads...

The hill

Trek training was also on our schedule this week. We split into two groups and trudged happily off from field base with all our equipment on our backs. Luckily the weather was perfect for trekking; cloudy, dry and breezy which we were grateful for as although we had many interesting sweat patches, we were all aware they could have been worse. We reached our campsite, on the other side of Chamundi Hill for lunchtime. Medical training and general camp craft were next on the agenda and after our superbly cooked evening meal of noodles, we sat around the campfire swapping trek stories and finished the day with a quiz. In the morning we still had to conquer the hill so with weary legs we decamped and set off up the steps for another few hours of trekking before returning to fieldbase.

 Project Manager Neil shows the rest of the staff how to construct a basha

Messages

All of us here at Raleigh India would like to wish one of our medics, Mili, a very happy birthday! It's probably the sweatiest one yet!

During the expedition we will be publishing some comments from the staff and venturers to our loved ones back home and, Charlotte, our team coach, would like kick off by saying congratulations to Louise, Gareth and Leah on the announcement of Louise's pregnancy.

Welcome back!

We have now welcomed two more staff members to the team. Neil (above), project manager, and Ali (right) who will be the photographer, are both staying on from previous expeditions after a quick jaunt to Sri Lanka to sort out their visas.

This week has been a mixture of comparing insect bites, working, finding our feet in Mysore and lots of fun with a trip to the circus (interesting and scary in equal parts), an Austrian cafe (delicious) and various games (Vijay will be getting all the new staff to play Jungle Speed at some point!).

Birthday celebrations

Also, in honour of Neil’s birthday, this morning we went next door to the Olive Garden restaurant to have a fancy breakfast and tonight we plan to throw some cheesy moves at a local nightclub after a meal out.

In feline news, the mother cat did keep returning to the logs room with her kittens but have once again been rehomed outside of field base.

The induction programme for the project managers has now been sorted and we’re all very excited about welcoming them. I’ll be updating the blog after they arrive and we can introduce the team fully. Not long now!

The beginning and lots and lots of curry

The advanced staff team have made it to field base and have made ourselves at home. After an exciting drive to Mysore - passing cows in shops and various large packages on motorbikes - we arrived at field base rather jet lagged but intrigued to know what our roles would be like. We were helped through our day by curry for breakfast, curry for lunch and curry for dinner, and venturers and the remaining staff members (not to mention parents) will probably be reassured to know that field base (above) is feeling very much like a home from home already.

The team so far...

It’s already clear we’re well suited to our roles. Finance officer Claire is tackling spreadsheets “In my life, if it’s not on a spreadsheet it doesn’t get done”, medic Frankie “ooooh this anti-biotic is magic!” is sorting through the medical kits and logistics managers Andrea “I can not work in a messy area” and Mike (aka Mutley due to his laugh) are going through the kit and food in the logistics room but also rehoming a mother cat and her very new-born kittens who had nested in there. Whereas I (Alison) am telling everyone what we’re up to!

We’ve all settled in well, taking time to create a fitness regime into our busy schedules. After a quick explore around the base yesterday morning, Andrea and Frankie set up a circuit involving skipping, press-ups, sit-ups and lunges and then we had a yoga break a bit later. Then this morning we tackled the nearby Chamudi Hill and its 1,000 steps...

There’s currently a festival on in Mysore called Dasara which celebrates Hindu goddess Durga slaying a demon and therefore the triumph of good over evil. The events include elephants being dressed up, painted and paraded throughout the city (according to 60/60, one of Raleigh’s drivers, the elephants love having their make-up done!), and there’s various yoga, drama and music events. The elephants are due to parade on the 28th so the next lot of staff members can see them too. The city is heaving with locals and tourists who have flocked to the area so going into Mysore could be a bit of a baptism of fire...

Above, from top, Claire, Frankie, Mutley and Andrea, and Alison

Getting to work

In the meantime, we’re busy preparing for the next lot of staff members, who are due to arrive on Saturday 26th, and then the venturers, who arrive a couple of weeks later. There’s lots to do!

Do feel free to comment on this blog as we’re going along. Once the projects are underway, if the person you’re trying to contact is out on one of the sites, the messages will still get passed on and will be most welcome. And if there’s anything in particular you would like to know about the projects and how they’re getting on, do ask, I shall try and keep you updated as much as I can. Welcome to the beginning of our Raleigh adventures and stay tuned for the next blog in the next few days.