Message from the Country Director:

There have been a few recent blog messages relating to friends or parents having difficulty ringing through to venturers.

This is just one of the reasons why we strongly advocate that venturers leave their mobile phones either at home or with us at Fieldbase for safekeeping. All venturers declared that they deployed to their project sites without their personal mobile phones.

In terms of managing safety and communications on expeditions it is essential that communications only come through one channel – the mobile and satellite phones that we provide each Alpha group with. Raleigh has refined effective expedition’s communications procedures over the past 24 years and you can be assured we are 100% confident in our systems and the venturers have had all had the operational theory behind these systems fully explained to them during their training.

In an age where we have become increasingly reliant on being in constant contact with each other, we think that having a short break from the usual contact and pressures of everyday life is very healthy and all adds to the rich experience of being on an expedition. We place a lot of emphasis on team work and developing a positive environment for some fairly magical group dynamics to take place. If individuals are in regular contact with home through their personal mobiles it can really damage those group dynamics.

Any parents or friends who have been directly in contact with Raleigh venturers through their personal phones, please note that we will shortly be having a phone amnesty so that they can hand their phones back in for safekeeping so please know that this is the reason why direct contact with them may stop.

In the event that any family or friends need to contact a venturer urgently for whatever reason then this can be quickly managed by a call to Head Office in London 24hrs a day - 7 days a week using the contact numbers supplied to all venturers and we will contact the venturer directly for you.

We pass on your blog messages to the venturers very regularly so please do keep them coming – the venturers love it! We hope you enjoy hearing all the news through the blog and look forward to getting the full low-down from everyone when they return home full of stories.

As you can see, the groups are all doing extremely well on their project sites and they all have good reason to be very proud of their achievements.

Warm regards,
Gavin Shelton

Alpha Four Messages Home:

We had a quick update from Alpha yesterday, here are their messages to you all back home…

We have finished the toilets in record time – 16 in 6 days! We are all just relaxing now before our trek and cycle. Tim gave us a talk about all the equipment we will need to take with us for the Adventure Challenge and then we had to pack up the school where we've been staying in Kandegala village. Here are some pictures from the Opening Ceremony we had in the village on Friday:

Ruby: The food’s fine and having such a laugh – love you!
Dane: Good time with quality group. Love ya.
Doona: having such a great time. Mr August in the boy’s calendar.
Charlie: Happy Birthday sis. Hope you’re alright. Having a great time.

Hi, having a great time. See you soon, love Josh. x
Hi, it’s great out here. Missing you everyone! Love Han. x
Hello! Miss you all. Be home next Monday. Love Megan. x

Hi all, miss you lots. See ya soon. Love Adam
Bella: This is an amazing experience. Missing all you doufuses. x
Happy Birthday Mum. Having a good time. Back soon, love Jamie. x
Noller: Having a good time, missing you and decent food. Love ya. x

Miss you loads. Love you. Having an amazing time. Ellis.
Remember to pick me up! Missing you lots, love Harry
Having great time, missing you lots. Love from Connor
Miss you all. Very hungry. Love ya, miss ya, kiss ya. Chelsea

Mitch: Having fantastic time, hope you’re ok. See you soon. x
Sophie P: Can you pick me up at airport at 12:30 on 28th July?
Lowe: Missing you all and Doctor Pepper. See you soon
Natalie: Having good time, miss you all. Happy Birthday Lou. x

The last update is in...

News from Alpha Two

By Project PRO Ali Johnston

As you are reading this we are probably relaxing on our balcony enjoying a candlelit dinner while watching the sun sink peacefully into the distance. Due to our new celebrity status in the village we have been moved into a “luxurious” hotel complete with electricity, toilets and showers (crucial for Sanjay’s rigorous morning grooming).

The balcony has become a central meeting point, where we eat breakfast and dinner as well as hosting glamorous parties such as Nick’s birthday where we munched on chocolate cake baked by the local patisserie and were entertained with a talent show complete with some crazy Bollywood dancing from Sundara.

However, it has not been all fun and games as we have been working extremely hard on our rainwater harvesting systems - in total we have started work on approximately 20 of the 25 sites.

Worksite - the foundations of a rainwater harvesting tank

Alpha Two meeting with the village

Often after work we will play cricket, where we are mobbed by our fans (children). Out of the three games we have played with the locals, we have managed to draw two: this is mainly down to Sanjay who has achieved half of our total score. Afterwards we will wander downtown, again mobbed by children, where Elisha has bought out most of the saree shops and Gary drinks so much Fanta, the general stores get in a delivery especially for him.

Raleigh vs Hediyala

Getting to know the local children - Jess and Medic Nix

Sundara, Sanjay and Elisha with women from Hediyala

Nick - working on his birthday!

Jess and Sophie have had their heads shaved by the local barber for the equivalent of 25p and, judging by the amount of people staring through the window, it was the most exciting event to happen in Hediyala for years.

At the end of a long day (providing Madoc remembers the phone) a few of us like to take a refreshing dip in the nearby lake. We are currently involved in a tough training routine for synchronized swimming, and at this rate we will make the 2012 Olympics. The lake is a truly beautiful place with its calm lapping waters, lush green plantations and the daily sightings of a naked local Indian washing himself.

Swim at Sunset

Much love, Alpha Two!

News from Alpha Four

Alpha Four have now sucessfully completed all their eco-sanitation units in the village of Kandegala! No rest for them yet however - in between trips to the reservoir for a swim, they have been keeping themselves busy painting a mural on the local school.

Yesterday our Programme Administrator, Pam joined Country Director Gavin Shelton on a trip out to visit Alpha for the opening ceremony to celebrate the end of the project.

We should be recieving a full update from Alpha Four themselves tomorrow, with all the news about how the expedition is going for them so far. In the meantime, please see below for some pictures of the group at work and at play...

Visiting Mysore Palace
One of the eco-sanitation units

Quick game of cricket

Project Manager Tim with Hannah

Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,
demonstrated by Project Manager Sally and Ellis

A completed Eco-Sanitation Unit!

Alpha Three News Update

17th July

After our meeting with Dr Raju, Alpha Three were keen to get on the Project Site. We set off on Tuesday morning excited to see what awaited us! En route in our mini-bus we were lucky enough to see two elephants passing by near our project site. This added to the group's excitment and spurred us on for the hard days work ahead!

Team Alpha Three

We spent our first day digging at our new anti-poaching camp. Prior to work commencing we were able to see a blessing of the worksite take place - this was another opportunity to witness Indian culture. Digging the trench was difficult but gave us a huge sense of achievemnet at the end of our first day.

Day Two on the project site: a slightly tired Alpha Three led by Day Leader Ronald made their way to project site. The day was spent finishing digging the trench and laying the foundations.

Day Leader Ronald in action

Day Three on project: We spent today filing in the hole we made on the previous two days - this was a real challenge for Alpha Three; we were required to lift "big jelly stones". However, with a little help from our new friends the local masons (including Manju "The Machine") we were able to get through this challenge!

Manju and Ice
Hard working hands

Other challenges at the worksite include the collection of water: we have to walk to the river to get buckets of water for the cement. Alpha Three have excelled themselves in team work by forming work chains to pass heavy loads in an effective manner.

After a hard morning of work, there is always one thing you can look forward to on project site... LUNCH!

Alpha One News Update

By Project PRO Jean-Paul

Upon arrival in Sollepura the monsoon introduced us to the village. Everybody was anxious to see the houses we had been allocated. We all settled in pretty well apart from the fact that there was a swarm of "killer bees" outside house 2. I have never seen Carl run so fast. We sat around with the locals and introduced ourselves. They sang for us and Nikita gave them a crazy Ukrainian dance.

Morning time came and everyone looked like they had broken their backs, due to the concrete floors for sleeping on. A few of the team had started to dig compost pits because we were waiting for the cement on the roof of the Community Centre to dry.

Carl, Richard and J.P. headed off into town (HD Kote) to get a few practical tools, they also had a sneaky cup of tea in the cafe. When they arrived back in the village, Mark had completed the long drop - what an achievement!

On the third day we all played a game of volleyball with the locals; they are pretty good and so is Rosie. After the game we went to the communal house and played some weird mind games - Lorraine's idea! Mariyan and Holly were the first to have a cooking lesson while J.P. and Alistair went to teach English to the kids in the local school.

Day Five was the real test - work at the Community Centre began. Everyone participated and really enjoyed getting their hands dirty. In the early evening we had two visitors for the night: John and Yadaf, from Cap Gemini, along with Country Director, Gavin and PRO Rosie. Mariyan spoke about Sri Lanka before dinner and J.P. recited some pretty powerful poetry.

Day Six was lovely - the sun had been defeated by the power of the monsoon. Dani, Alistair, Holly and Mark all had a natural shower outside in the rain, after a day of hard work.

Last night we had a dance off with the village, the dance routines and songs were hilarious.

Kandegala Village Eco-Sanitation Project

Alongside our Raleigh India 08F expedition, 20 young people from Welling School in Bexley, London have been taking part in a mini-Raleigh programme in Kandegala - a hamlet in Sagare Grama Panchayat in H.D. Kote Taluk of Mysore District, Karnataka. The Raleigh group is working with fifteen families who currently do not have access to basic hygienic sanitation in order to construct individual eco-sanitation units (or composting toilets) for each family. The project will improve villagers’ health through better sanitation and access to safe drinking water in the community.

Welling School’s trip has been facilitated by youth volunteering charity ‘v’ and London Challenge – the government scheme to improve under-performing secondary schools in greater London.

Along with two Project Managers, Tim Berriman and Sally Jupp and two teachers from Welling School, Phil Scott and Zara Flynn, this team makes up “Alpha Four”.

Alpha Four:

Sophie Baird
Natalie Beasley
Adam Blackmore
Jamie Blyth
Joshua Colmy
Charlie Cooley
Megan Dobson
Samuel Doona
Chelsea Fullbrook
Isabella Goss
Harry Norris
Sam Noller
Hannah Moore
Ellis Knowles
Jack Lowe
Sophie Parker
Dane Pearce
Ruby Purcell
Connor Robson
Mitchell Thurbin

The group have been working hard to complete the intensive project of 15 eco-sanitation units in just 10 days, so on Sunday they were treated to a cultural trip to Mysore, where Raleigh India’s Fieldbase is located. The trip included a visit to the local flower market and famous Maharaja’s Palace, where once a week the building is lit up with over 9,800 lights – a truly spectacular site.

Early Monday morning, the team headed back to Kandegala and straight to the worksite. They reported yesterday evening that despite the heat of the day, they were busy plastering their toilets and will continue to build up the others and put roofs on in the next few days.

Next Monday they will transfer to Kerala, where they will take part in the exciting and arduous Adventure Challenge – more details to follow!

We will try to get you some photos of the group’s progress as soon as possible. Thanks for their messages– we’ll pass any more straight on to them over the radio.

Alpha Three to the Elephant Corridor!

By Project PROs Mark Pryde and Mhari Renwick

Alpha Three are now starting work on a new anti-poaching camp after a hectic but enjoyable first couple of days. After a change of project site due to the fact that our original site was overrun by elephants, Jungle Speed, led by Vijay, Gill and Sharon spent Saturday and Sunday discovering the communities and wildlife of majestic Southern India.

On Saturday the group arrived in Muda Malai, Tamil Nadu where we were greeted by members and friends of CTRG - a group run by Vijay’s dad that helps various tribal groups in the local area. We all agreed that it was a once in a lifetime moment as we were shown about the local tribal village.

The next day there was no let up on adventure as we went on a safari where we saw bison, deer and wild elephants. We then went to an elephant sanctuary where we witnessed the local workers carrying branches for feeding. We all had an amazing time but feel ready to start work after our unfortunate delay.

Keep an eye out for photos from Alpha Three's trip - we should be able to collect and upload some at the end of this week...

Pre-Deployment Thoughts:

A Message home from Alpha 3's Project Photographer Vicki Bull:

To Mum, Dad, Robert, all the family and everyone at work.

Hello from India! Having a really good time, having curry and rice for every meal is getting a bit boring though. Held a snake during our induction training and saw a cobra. Went for an 8km trek and climbed 1100 steps with all my kit to get to a temple. It was hard work but well worth it. Off into the National Park for 18 days working with WWF, building an anti poaching camp. Fingers crossed we’ll see elephants and possibly tigers. We will be very isolated there so hopefully write again when I get back. Hope you are all Ok, see you soon.
Vicky.

The following message was written by one of our international venturers, Ice Tang, from Hong Kong, having completed the venturer training trek on Friday 11th July.

Trek Training
By Ice Tang

I’ve just completed the trekking to one of the Hindu Temples in Mysore. Waking up at 5 o’clock and climbing up the more that 1,100 steps, we saw a beautiful scenery of the city of Mysore at the top. We also met lots of Indians who were kind and very eager to communicate with foreigners. They were painting some red and yellow powder on each step to pray. We will be deployed to our projects tomorrow. Looking forward to it and having great fun!

Ice with Bill and Sundara