india
project 2006

"We all met at the Guildford YMCA and travelled together to Heathrow to take an overnight flight to Colombo where we had a five-hour stopover before flying on to Chennai. We arrived in Chennai very late and it was an interesting drive through the town with Asir from the Boys Town to the YMCA in Vepary - then we fell into our beds. We had the morning to acclimatise before meeting Dr Ebinesan (Ebi), the YMCA boss, who would agree what we could spend our donated money on. It was then out to the main Boys Town in Kottivakkam (where the land is flooded) to meet the boys, see where they live - and the few personal belongings they have. The boys were happy to see us and were excited about the trip to Yelligari. The other Boys Town at the Fort, where we met Daniel the superintendent, is a tiny place which is a school by day and their bedrooms at night. The smell from the toilets was horrible. That evening we had our first meeting to discuss how to use the money we had raised.

The next day we headed for the hills with the 11 of us spread over three buses which had no windows, doors, or seatbelts and the boys could even stand in the doorways. It was a twisting road up to the hills with big drops down the side, which we found scary but the boys enjoyed it. After we had settled in our rooms we went out for our first session of playing games and getting to know them - sorting them into groups that we would be working with each day. We found the language barrier made singing songs difficult and when we learnt we were to run the church service the next morning we had a bit of planning to do!

We had to be on the field by 6.30 every day for morning jerks. The church service was very interesting, and long, as everything was translated into Tamil. We taught them many songs including Great big God and The Simple Song, and we realised just how Christian the boys are as every song sung was related to God. After the service our work really began with the activities we had planned for the boys over the next four days. These included making name badges, decorating cotton bags, playing bottle ball and rounders (we needed an interpreter for this), face painting, making balloon dogs and paper birds.

During our time in the hills we had the opportunity to take a tour of the local villages and to visit the guide's father's house. This father does the gardens at the Yelligari Hills campsite and he showed us his garden full of exotic plants - he even picked us a fresh coconut to drink and eat. We saw the local houses which are very small but sleep six people in about the same area as the Vestry, with one light bulb and one mat for everyone. The locals use cow dung as a bug repellent! We also saw a man grinding rice by hand. It was a very interesting tour and it made me appreciate the little things in life which we take for granted. It was then back to the campsite for a manic scavenger hunt - 140 boys rushing around.

Other activities included a puppet show at morning devotions, animal picture bingo and playground games. On the last evening we had a spectacular campfire which they lit by running a flame down a wire from a tree. They then poured petrol on it! The boys then danced around the fire for us to Indian music and we all joined in.

When we visited the village we learnt that the YMCA provides transport to take locals to hospital down the hill so we decided to give a donation towards setting up a medical centre in the hills.

Then it was back on the buses and back to Chennai to spend the weekend with the boys before they returned to lessons on the Monday. We paid to take them to the circus on the Sunday night, all 140 of them, where they had a great time and lots of popcorn. During the rest of our time in the city we visited both Boys’ Town's on a regular basis and we visited the boys’ school at Kottivakkam. This is very interesting as the classrooms are tiny but used by 55 to 60 pupils, many of whom had to work in the corridor. It was very different ethos from British schools as the boys are so keen to learn that they just get on with their lessons even when the teacher is not there. We also visited two YMCA community centres.

• Mosquito netting the whole of the main Boys Town and putting in doors to keep the bugs out!
• Tailored school uniforms for every boy
• Medical supplies for a year e.g. painkillers, scabies lotion, bandages, antibacterial soap, etc
• A fridge for the main Boys Town
• A mixer and grinder for the Fort
• Sports equipment for both Towns
• In the main Boys Town we are having the sump replaced and sealed. This will mean the boys get fresh water and don’t have to buy so much in, saving money and making them healthier. At the moment they have to use salty water because flood water is leaking into the main supply of drinking and washing water.
• We are also concreting the back of the toilets so the boys can see what is in the flooded water- mainly snakes! This will not stop the water being there, however
• Giving the boys fresh milk every day for a year
• Beds for the intended move of the Fort boys to Kottivakkam

Our final day was spent preparing a big party that we funded for all the boys which included the feast (so much food they could even have seconds). Balloons, traditional party games and face painting. The previous day we had given out the packs that we had made up for the boys before we left the UK which contained pens, pencils, rubber, sharpener, notebook, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, tennis ball, shirt and a toy. The boys were overwhelmed by this, so much for them but so little for us, and they wore their shirts to the party.

It was really sad to say goodbye to everyone we had met during our time in Chennai. It was an amazing experience and I felt that I had managed to make a difference, however small, to these orphan boys of the city. Our life is luxurious compared to theirs but they are happy with what they have. The memories that I have brought back with me are of the friendliness and neighbourliness of the Indians that I met – a smile goes a long way, costs nothing but means a lot in Chennai.

I would like to say the big thank you to everyone who supported me in my Chennai Challenge
and I can assure you that the money went a long way and was well spent!"