The decision to leave

This week I made an important decision, one that has been consuming my mind for a few weeks now. I decided that I will leave my placement earlier than originally planned. My period of service was for 1 year, but VSO consider a placement complete after 9 months, giving volunteers the option to leave slightly earlier and not be marked a failure. I discussed the early departure with my family in Laporiya, with my boss, and with VSO. Since I told them a huge weight has been lifted off my mind, I feel in control and positive about the future. It's not that I think I can't stay until February, it's that my reasons for going home far outweigh my reasons for staying.

I feel that I've done what I came here to do. I've had some major achievements at work, I've had my adventure and proved to myself I can cope with what this new situation has thrown at me. There comes a time when you think, actually, what else will I gain by staying out here, and what more can I do for the organisation. I'm ready to come home. I'm ready to have a bit more freedom, to not work 7 days a week, to be able to leave the house. I'm ready to spend Christmas with my family, and to see my love.

It's likely I'll be flying back to London on December 17th, so I've got under 3 months to finish off a few pieces of work and make sure what I have done is as sustainable as possible. As for what I'll be doing when I return to England, I'll be living with my parents and trying to find some temporary work until March when I plan to spend 3 months travelling in Japan, China and Nepal, but this time I'll have company.

Photo taken at Amber fort, Jaipur which I visited this week with Tim, another VSO volunteer who came for a few days sightseeing from Kolkata.

My Volunteering Story

Personal Case Study written for www.volunteeringinfo.org See the original article here

I’d been spending my spare time volunteering back home in England for a while, but I wanted more, I wanted to travel, to have a big adventure, to challenge myself and make a difference to the lives of people living in developing countries. I knew I didn’t want to pay alot of money to volunteer for an NGO where I might not have a big impact, I wanted to be supported by a reputable organisation. I did lots of internet research and went to the Volunteering Centre near my house in Bristol and VSO, or Voluntary Services Overseas, was the best I could find. VSO has a strategic alliance with the UK’s Department for International Development and work in over 40 countries, sending volunteers to share their skills rather than money. All placements with VSO are fully funded and each country has its own programme office supporting volunteers.

I applied for the Youth for Development Programme which is for 18-25 year olds, and after a long 7 month wait I was invited to an assessment day in London. VSO had been flooded with applications as the recession hit, but luckily, after group exercises and a personal interview I was accepted onto the programme. VSO matched my marketing skills to a placement in India, and once the partner organisation in rural Rajasthan approved my CV, I prepared for my year overseas. That meant leaving my job, raising over £1,000 for VSO through a sponsored abseil, immunisations, health checks, saying goodbye to my family, moving house and leaving my boyfriend behind. All VSO volunteers also attend 7 days of pre-departure training at a residential centre near Birmingham where we talk about our motives for volunteering, expectations, the development context, learn workshop facilitation skills, receive health advice and get a chance to network with volunteers being sent to opposite parts of the globe.

I arrived in India in March 2010, along with 14 other VSO volunteers from the UK, Canada, USA and the Philippines where we had a month of training on Indian culture, development issues in the country, Hindi lessons and even Bollywood dancing. I’ve been here over 6 months now, working as a Documentation and Communication Associate for an NGO called GVNML (www.gvnml.org) who work to enhance the living conditions of rural communities in Rajasthan. They do this by managing natural resources to tackle climate change, providing reproductive health care and fighting for children's rights.

Working in a developing country is very different to working back home. At times it can be painful slow to get tasks completed, even though my office is open 7 days a week. Only my boss speaks English in the NGO, so all my work must go through him with him translating from Hindi and the local Rajasthani languages. But eventually things do get finished and the sense of satisfaction is immense. In the 5 months I’ve been in placement, I’ve developed a new website, written all the content and launched it; produced a new logo and slogan for my NGO; been on multiple field visits and collected case studies; written the annual report; produced reports for donor agencies; written a brochure and helped with fundraising. All this work will help raise GVNML’s visibility, spread their good work and attract more funding, ultimately making a difference to the lives of villagers in Rajasthan.

My living conditions are also a change from the luxury of British homes. I live with my boss’ family in a 350 year old fort with 30 members of his family. There’s not a huge amount of electricity, or water, there are no showers or western toilets and in the summer it got up to 49 degrees Celsius. But, I’ve gained a new family, new brothers and sisters and parents, I’ve learnt their customs and beliefs, I eat their food, wear traditional clothes and have benefited from a new sense of perspective on life, like how much water we use in England, and how reliant we are on electricity.

I won’t pretend things aren’t hard. They are, but it’s a challenge and I’ll emerge stronger than ever. I live in a village, I have no social life except for occasional weekends away to see volunteers in other parts of India, the internet is slow but it’s one of the things that keeps me going. I’m looking forward to going home in 2011, I miss my family, friends and boyfriend, I miss normal life and the freedom we take for granted in England, but I wouldn’t have changed this experience. I know it’s one of the defining years of my life.

Yesterday's three celebrations in Laporiya

1) The inaguration of my boss' new badminton court, built within the boundary of our house over period of weeks. Ribbons were tied around the court and a holy man called in to bless and officially open the new toy. Family and GVNML staff laid coloured powder in lucky patterns on the surface, which with last night's rain have now been smudged beyond recognition.
2) A cow festival. As with most of the small festivals my family celebrate, I don't know exactly what we're celebrating, but yesterday the women of our house and some villagers put on their best dresses and gave thanks for cows, led by a lady Brahmin (Priest). Offerings of curd, buttermilk and ghee were placed near a cow statue, and later were put in a carefully shaped cow pat.
3) A pond party, to celebrate the lakes of our villages being full courtesy of the monsoon. All family members, even baby Pinku, and all GVNML staff were shipped to a temple 15kms away, sat atop a mountain overlooking the flat countryside and watery patches, and cooked a sumptious meal. I was very forcibly encouraged to dance to live music with a gentleman from another party using the famous shiva temple.

Together again

It's been over three weeks since I last posted on this blog and during that time there have been a few notable events. The main one being something I had been looking forward to for 5.5 months, ever since I landed in Delhi on the 3rd March 2010- a visit from my love. After time delayed conversations on skype for 165 days, where speaking too soon could result in 30 seconds of half started sentences and requests of, "no, you speak", I was ready for the real thing. It had been an emotional build up. Having planned the holiday months in advance, having booked all the hotels and transport, I wanted it to be perfect. But alas, in India things don't always go to plan and the week before he (my love) was due to come I was told my visa extension paperwork was not complete and I needed to come to Delhi immediately or I would have to spend our precious few days together in the Ministry of Home Affairs before I was deported. I had visions of seeing Rob for 4 days until my visa expired then being sent home while he had another week's holiday without me. Luckily all it took was a day's work with the assistance of VSO's resident visa expert and I was legally allowed to stay in India during the holiday, which meant I could check into hotels without arousing suspicion.

I got to the new Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport early and during the hour of waiting, anticipation came out in tears. When he (my love), finally walked through the sliding doors we both had a short desperate sob and a clinging hug before I put a flower garland around his neck and we caught the prepaid taxi to our luxurious hotel. People say that VSO gives you a vicious sense of assertiveness. Living, travelling, eating, shopping alone creates self-reliance that is hard to shift. There's no one looking after you, so you have to look after yourself. When Rob offered to carry my bag later on that evening I almost cried. It's those small touches that you don't realise you miss but you do. Like carpets, full length mirrors, duvets, clothes that don't smell of mould, walking bare foot on your bedroom floor, a world without flies. When I woke up in this world trapped in the lunar landscape of the Hilton Garden Inn I turned around and with a shock realised he (the one I'd missed for so long) was in my bed. It took a couple of days to settle back into one another, to become comfortable together again but by the end the last thing I wanted was the go back to jilted conversations and an internet based relationship.


We saw the inside of a mall in Delhi, the lake city of Udaipur, the sandstone fort of Jaisalmer, the desert grains by camel and arrived in Laporiya exhausted to a duvet free environment, one that was also water free and electricity lacking, one with walls dampened by freshly fallen monsoon rains. My love was sick but we celebrated Rakhi with my adopted family a couple of days later, Rob was welcomed into the clan with puja and we took a tractor ride to the farm. 2 days was enough to want to revert back to cold duvets for three days in Jaipur at a business hotel just in time for Rob to have fever again. Saying goodbye we tried to keep things light-hearted, and although that particular day wasn't especially hard for me, it's the days that have followed which prove to be a challenge. The reality of where I'm living and what I've left behind sets in, the loneliness, the routine of endless reading, the struggles of my existence. But as ever, I'll get through it. After Rob left I celebrated my 25th birthday, I worked in the office writing an annual report for a donor organisation. I compared the day to a year ago and I fought the raging inner battle to stay positive.

Photos (top to bottom): The dusky pink sky in Udaipur; Dunes near Jaisalmer; Welcome puja in Laporiya; Playing the part in typical Rajasthani clothes; Heavenly hotels; My birthday card collection.