So the whole morning was about getting a form (pictured below) completed, signed, paid for and submitted at the police station for my visa extension. We also went to enquire about Olive's visa extension and get that all going. This entailed going to a treasury office (twice), paying the 'challan' at the State Bank of India, getting more stamps than you really need to officiate ANY document before finally submitting it to the relevant visa authorities which we also had to visit..twice!
Me and Olive got it done though despite it killing our mornings in 30 degree heat and humidity around the dusty streets of Berhampur. Today felt exceptionally warm to me out there...I've become perhaps a little less desensitised to the exposure to heat due to spending a month in England. Our driver was an absolute legend of a guy called Babula who I have greatly missed whilst in England and he happily obliged to take us to all the destinations and wait when needed etc. He is a good source of banter and like many of the people here finds it amusing, to say the least, that my name sounds like Recharge instead of Richard which yeah, despite being really annoying, stopped me from raging at the craziness of the situation itself. Really cool guy who seems very proud of his recently born boy who he has named Sai Sibram. Indian names rock. It never dawned on me how much I have missed everyone here.
I am giving my Manchester UTD football scarf to my good friend Joyu here who has been away for the past few days. He is the tea boy here but he does other things like clean the toilets and surrounding campus. I think he works very hard and has potential for better, more stimulating things. Maybe he could be a guide for visitors when they come and I don't see why he can't be utilised in the field. But, as like everything in India, employment works like one continuous chain where each person embodies yet another link doing whatever task in the hierarchy which without them leads to all sorts of problems. I suppose this has its pros and cons in itself anyway. Happy to have a job but unhappy to not be able to fulfil one's potential. Ah well, he seems happy enough to me. I found out today he earns 2000Rs a month (26 pounds) and has been here for around 7 years doing the same thing. I expect he gives the majority of his salary to his mum, sister and relatives. He lives in a local village very close to the GV headquarters, Lathi, where Gram Vikas attempted to implement it's 100% water and sanitation program but failed due to many problems including poor community participation, local politics and I'm sure many other things too. This in itself has been a situation to baffle me and many volunteers that have spent time here. Why would you reject the offer of an NGO to commit to years of engaging, long term and potentially life saving work to improve the hygienic and water supply situation in your village? Its really sad to see the kids and parents crapping out on the sides of the road when the NGO is so close and many villages have been revolutionised in comparison to such degrading practices as this. But that's the whole point, if you are habituated to do this since day 1, do what you want not what someone tells you is right or better. If they say no, we say no too.
Had some lunch, back to the office, quick jaunt to the art section before finalising my Tata application and sorting a few things for the Saturday trip to Puri which should be ace. It's Jane's 2th birthday.
Love to all
Rich
Me and Olive got it done though despite it killing our mornings in 30 degree heat and humidity around the dusty streets of Berhampur. Today felt exceptionally warm to me out there...I've become perhaps a little less desensitised to the exposure to heat due to spending a month in England. Our driver was an absolute legend of a guy called Babula who I have greatly missed whilst in England and he happily obliged to take us to all the destinations and wait when needed etc. He is a good source of banter and like many of the people here finds it amusing, to say the least, that my name sounds like Recharge instead of Richard which yeah, despite being really annoying, stopped me from raging at the craziness of the situation itself. Really cool guy who seems very proud of his recently born boy who he has named Sai Sibram. Indian names rock. It never dawned on me how much I have missed everyone here.
I am giving my Manchester UTD football scarf to my good friend Joyu here who has been away for the past few days. He is the tea boy here but he does other things like clean the toilets and surrounding campus. I think he works very hard and has potential for better, more stimulating things. Maybe he could be a guide for visitors when they come and I don't see why he can't be utilised in the field. But, as like everything in India, employment works like one continuous chain where each person embodies yet another link doing whatever task in the hierarchy which without them leads to all sorts of problems. I suppose this has its pros and cons in itself anyway. Happy to have a job but unhappy to not be able to fulfil one's potential. Ah well, he seems happy enough to me. I found out today he earns 2000Rs a month (26 pounds) and has been here for around 7 years doing the same thing. I expect he gives the majority of his salary to his mum, sister and relatives. He lives in a local village very close to the GV headquarters, Lathi, where Gram Vikas attempted to implement it's 100% water and sanitation program but failed due to many problems including poor community participation, local politics and I'm sure many other things too. This in itself has been a situation to baffle me and many volunteers that have spent time here. Why would you reject the offer of an NGO to commit to years of engaging, long term and potentially life saving work to improve the hygienic and water supply situation in your village? Its really sad to see the kids and parents crapping out on the sides of the road when the NGO is so close and many villages have been revolutionised in comparison to such degrading practices as this. But that's the whole point, if you are habituated to do this since day 1, do what you want not what someone tells you is right or better. If they say no, we say no too.
Had some lunch, back to the office, quick jaunt to the art section before finalising my Tata application and sorting a few things for the Saturday trip to Puri which should be ace. It's Jane's 2th birthday.
Love to all
Rich
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