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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

dear bloggy...

finally i m back..and sumhow regretting leaving India...the places we visited are mainly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala...we were mainly in Dindigul...but for sightseeing, we visited Kodaikanal Nagercoil, Ernakulam, Quilon and Trichy...all the places were really cool..esp Quilon cos the guest house that we lived in was SUPERB!!

but actually..the volunteer work was the one that had given such a GREAT impact on me...it was in Inba Seva Sangam(ISS), Dindigul and we were put up in a so-called dormitory..

there, we had to become vegetarians cos thats the way of living there...and the lifestyle there is alot more diff than here...the ppl lived very very simple lives..and they are very humble..for eg, Mr Jakes, he is the secretary of ISS and actually owns a big company which caters to USA and EU and he has aloooot of land..i bet he muz be a millionaire lar...but yet, he was nvr boasting or getting full of himself..his character really made me think alot abt the ppl here in Singapore..i bet if there is anione is as rich as Mr Jakes, they wud haf forgotten all abt others who need their help...the children there were also wayyyy better than the children here...they are always hungry for knowledge and they will do aniting and everything to learn more...they cud even study in the dark for the sake of knowledge..Singaporeans wont ever do that lar..they take it for granted that they haf to go and study...i believe dat those kids wud one day excel in life and be successful..hu noes, they wud be the next scientist, politician, etc...haiiixxxxx...IF ONI I CAN BE LIKE THEM...

oh...and i didnt tell u guys rite? we were given 5 modules to work on and meet the target...the modules are: school, solar cooking, genetic garden, mushroom cultivation and biogas building..

Except for school, everythig else was new to us...and it was a great experience..

In the sch, we had to organise the library books and also the books that we had donated(which is ALOOOOT!) and also we had to set up the computers which was donated too by our sch...seriously, these small gestures make a whole world of diff to them..cos it will easily help the sch to progress greatly in their studies...oh and also to teach the students there...but this wasnt applied to my grp...hehehe...

cleaning the library..

decorating the floor with kolam

organising the donated books

transporting the computers and books

setting up the computers

studying English during a blackout

interacting with the schoolkids

done by yours truly..

In solar-cooking, we were taught a diff way of cooking that doesnt cost a dime in using energy..sadly, for my grp, we didnt haf a chance to try it out but i noe the basics of using the solar cooker lar..ahahax...oh..but for this grp also we were supposed to do most of the cooking and house-keeping too..

solar cooking

making chappatis

serving lunch

In genetic garden, its basically gardening and bagging of soil...our target was abt 1000 bags of soil..and we exceed this by more than 1000 bags..ahahax...and another target was to plant 50 diff trees..and hahax...i did plant two trees!!! kewl rite? we were also taught abt the uses of the diff herbs and plants...oh..and we also had to build two greenhouses...one in the garden and another at Gadhigram Rural University...but this was the last thing to do as the greenhouse wasnt really ready...

watering bags of plants

digging for the greenhouse foundation

bagging the soil

In mushroom cultivation, we were taught how to cultivate mushrooms from waste products that are readily available from the villagers...the concept is simple, the facilities were very basic and simple too..yet, it makes a diff to their lives...furthermore, they also rely on mushrooms for protein as substitute of meat(sice they are vegetarians..) i enjoyed this module the most becos its interesting and diff..(and also becos of another ulterior motive..hehehe...)

lecture at the mushroom lab

the basic and simple lab apparatus

culturing the sorghum grains

drying the substrate

mixing the grains with CaCO3

packing the substrate and grains

transporting mushroom beds to mushroom shed

completed mushroom beds

In biogas building, we helped out in building a biogas from scratch..and it aint easy..its very labourous...cos we had to dig abt 4m deep and 7 m wide in diameter...then the laying of the dome cover using bricks and such...and slo at biogas, since its near the organic farming area, we aso had to plat tomato saplings and pluck ladies fingers...(actually for this module i m kinda clueless cos i didnt maage to do it..cos the progress was really good...by the time my grp is abt to start wif the module, everything had ended...

digging the pit for the biogas

building the wall

touch-ups for the dome

We also had a cultural programme in which we showcased our diff races by singing songs or dance but in our traditional costumes..(exception for the Chinese)..for the Malays, we did dikir barat...but well..the original video kinda sucked..so i used the other performance we did at GRU...

I hope that all these has answered the questions of those who haf been asking me abt the purpose of gg to India...and hope that the pics will show a clearer view...ahahax...

and heck..i miss all of u here!!!! ahahx...esp silat!!!
guys...we shud put aside our differences and solve the probs aites...like wat the president of ISS told the Indian students," The Singaporeans are made up of diff laguages, races and skin...yet they can stay united to reach their target..so can all of u students..."
since we all in spsc are mainly malays, we shud put aside our differences and solve it in an amiable way wifout offending anione...
i was kinda disappointed to noe abt all this when i got back..and well..obviously there cudnt be any trainings if all doesnt haf any commitment and cooperation..heys...spsc is not oni abt the committee but abt the whole club as a whole..pls rmb that..i hope dat u guys wud change...plsplspls...thanks everyone...

well..

the next post wud be the rest of pics...

diana..

*twinKLEs*

aka Chandni

*what happened to us?

embrace the moments in life* ; 3:03 PM :)