I’d like to think I have always been ‘patriotic,’ I mean, what a normal person who has never personally been affected by war is, but is very in tune with worldly issues. I am one of those who love and support the troops, but never agreed with some of the reasons they were going and doing the things they were in the first place. But we won’t get involved with my feelings on President Bush.
While I am very excited that this day, my Independence Day, I am getting the amazing chance to travel to India for three weeks I was a bit bummed about missing out on all the festivities back home. The BBQ, fireworks, drinking, etc…But then I got a call yesterday morning that really put all my feelings in place. It’s not where you are or where you aren’t, but who you have in your heart and what you think about.
I have always considered myself lucky. I mean, I have never really had to face any huge traumas and when the war escalated over four years ago and I never lost anyone personally close to my heart, and still haven’t. The generation ahead of us had a lot of good friends leave after high school to fight a battle that made hearts ache across the country.
But I received a phone call from an extremely old friend letting me know not to worry and his trip to Iraq “won’t be as bad as it sounds.” To which I replied, “OK, but still, no one wants to hear your going to Iraq for possibly 10 months.”
So this Fourth of July is dedicated to all the friends and family we have overseas or back on American soil that we don’t see everyday, or even in over 5 years. You will always be in our hearts and thoughts. Thank you for doing what you do, so I can do what I do. That’s honor.
"A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check Made payable to "TheUnitedStatesofAmerica " for an amount of "up to and including my life." That is Honor, and there are many people in this country who no longer understand it" -Bryce Ford, US Marine May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face
Like many of you may know, Saturday, July 4, I will head to India for three weeks!! What better why to celebrate Independence then to test it personally.. I am spending two of those weeks to volunteer in Bangalore at a local school for deaf and hearing-impaired children. This is one of the many volunteer projects that we have with the company I am currently working for, i-to-i.
What on earth am I doing in India? The school project is called Sheila Kothavala Institute for the Deaf- SKID, and is partially funded by the Government and supported by an NGO, called the Deaf Aid Society. The majority of staff are fully trained specialist teachers with some help from local volunteers who work part-time.
My main activities will be working with the children, teaching written English, math and getting involved with games, crafts, and other extra activities at the school. I will have some time to work and teach one-to-one with some remedial students who are a bit behind, to help bring them up to the level of the rest of the class.
If you’re like me at all you’re probably wondering how this is going to be done while many of the students are deaf or severely impaired in hearing. I was in communication with a past volunteer of ours who worked at the SKID project and she said it was an obstacle at first, but many of the children can read lips and while you are teaching them you are also learning from them useful sign language for everyday activities (as they don’t use our conventional American sign language).
I will be working at the SKID project from about 9 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday, but will probably give some time at the other project we have that I mention below. There are plenty of resources at the school provided for the children, but Stephanie and I are planning on going to the discount store here in town and pick up some books, crayons, etc.
After working at the school I am also going to try and head over to another project, which is helping to provide schooling for children from local orphanages and slums. This one really stuck out to me as many orphans and children in India are deprived of many opportunities to have a successful education and the project aims to keep the children away from the slums.
My accommodation is going to be a local guesthouse (basic but clean) and there is space for up to 5 other volunteers besides myself. I am going to be sharing a room with Stephanie, my roommate now and other i-to-i intern, and all of our meals will be provided of local cuisine. The housing has basic amenities (western style toilet—very lucky!) and there are local facilities for internet and washing any clothes if we need- but I will be bringing a mosquito net in addition to the bedding provided (malaria stay away!)
Plane, Travel or Automobile? We are heading out of Cork on Saturday afternoon and first fly into London. We have a few hours in London before catching our main flight to Dehi, India where we will catch a connection to Bangalore. We finally get into Bangalore around 7 pm on Sunday, July 5th. We are going to be met at the airport by the in country team and then taken to our accommodation for the night until our orientation in the morning. Here we will meet all the other volunteers and find out how everything is going to run and all the details. Then, from what I understand, we will go into town and get any necessary things we need for the project or while staying in Bangalore.
My volunteering runs from July 5- July 19, and then Stephanie and I are taking another week to travel around before coming back to Ireland. We don’t have an official itinerary because, well frankly, we wouldn’t probably stick to it anyways. So our plan is to visit the city of Kerala on one of the weekends during the project, and then mainly visit Mumbai and Goa on the West Coast of India. Unfortunately we won’t have enough time to get up to the North of India where the Ganges and Taj Mahal are (around 33 ½ hours one way by train) so I may have to leave the North of India for another time.
Since accommodation (and everything for that matter) is really inexpensive in India we have booked a weeks stay in Goa at a beach side resort/hut thing for barely any money. That way whatever day we decide to take the train to Mumbai we can stay there for one night, and at least we have our main accommodation booked and barely lose out on any money.
I won’t really have internet to keep up the blog while I’m gone, but I will have my personal journal with me and be recording all the events and daily activities/emotions. I will update this when we return. Stephanie and I get back into Ireland on July 25 just before midnight, and then will make our way back home, July 26, on the bus. So just give me some time to finally have a proper shower and I will get online soon enough to share my stories and pictures!
"Hey baby see the future that we're building Our love lives on in the lives of our children And that's something Something worth leaving behind" Lee Ann Womack
After living abroad a few times I am now based in Los Angeles, California, rediscovering my past. I am living and working the LA life before heading off on my next adventure. I plan to have my passport completely filled before it expires..and I'm getting close!
