So I haven't posted in a while and this is due to various reasons, none of them being in the least way negative! I am so ridiculously happy to be back here, I am now 100% sure that thriving in this positive workplace whilst pursuing my career was by far the best idea over staying in the UK and only doing job applications.
I need to feel useful and determined to achieve and I have that here in bucket loads. There are a few more volunteers on our little campus here now. Matt from USA has arrived back from working in the field in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi. I'm happy to hear his tales about the conservation areas where some of the villages are situated. He feels the same as me in that it is essential. He went off on little treks to find massive natural gardens and shining streams in the troughs of undulating scenery. It really has to be seen. When I head out there I intend to get this on camera. Matt is working on Forest Rights work and I am excited about our collaborative work. He seems interested in my work and I can tell he has a great attitude. This is the second time he's been at GV too so I'm sure he is full of tales. The past few days have also seen the departure of volunteer Niklas from Germany who was amazing company whilst here. He spent his days teaching English and I expect coming from a psychological studies background helped inform his work and time at Konkia tribal school. His stories were also really entertaining. We had one or two nights of staying up late in my room listening to tunes and having a few too many beers and sips from my cheeky bottle of Jack. He has now continued on to Delhi where he will eventually meet his much missed girlfriend and do some more amazing places in India. There are literally too many things to see in this country. Spoilt for choice.I've been getting to know the new PMED (Planning Monitoring and Evaluation) departmental co-ordinator, Dorothy, and I'm loving her company also :) Also from an amazing background, I think we have a lot to learn from each
other and share. Here's hoping. In addition to these guys there is also Jack who is currently in the field and from South Wales, Marcus from Cheshire! and of course Olive....who I owe wine gums for checking over my last application for a job at Save The Children. Fingers crossed for that one. Anvesh is currently out hiking and then off to some training events as part of his ICIC fellowship and I eagerly await his return and photos. He makes a damn good chai too!
So yeah, an influx of new faces and a burst of new energy into the office. This is exactly what motivates me to keep pushing so I'm very happy. As much as Gram Vikas is a pioneering inspiring place people often lack motivation and drive but I feel a real energy amongst the volunteers and Dorothy too. I expect I can take a lot of inspiration from her here.
My posters are almost finished now and I am waiting to see the full sets before I go about asking for modifications. Sadly, Mr. Swine's wife died last week and that put quite a downer ont the guys in the Art Section with no work being done full stop...to look after him and go about procedure for the funeral etc. I've found it difficult to approach them and push them for work since. I suppose I'll leave it some time and just be respectful. I hate seeing these guys upset, it's not nice. I've been pursuing professional advocacy training and have Paul from Kolkata asking some people for me. It's surprisingly difficult to find training in India whereas in England right now I know there are two or three courses I could attend. Ah well, Jo from Trocaire NGO in Bhubaneswar has sent me, very kindly, over some documentation from previous training events her colleague took part in so I plan to study those. It seems quite extensive and I am contemplating paying for it all to be printed. Printing is a bit of an issue here as obviously it costs quite a bit so I actually hate approaching and
asking for print-outs of anything above 30 pages. I still hate reading from a laptop screen though. Not so nice.
My visa extension documentation has all been submitted now and I have to wait a month - ending 20/October to see if it has been accepted. Again cross everything as if it is rejected or other complications arise, I will have to either return to England which I don't really want to do or go to Sri Lanka to request another 6 month tourist visa to re-enter India. If it comes to this, I will go for this tactic. Plus I'm becoming quite a fan of everything tamil so....yeah. The big Dad had his birthday yesterday and I was eagerly awaiting a call to wish congrats and make silly comments about the family conquering Snowdon in Wales. I hope you guys had a good day, I miss you lots.
I need to find some time to learn more Oriya and also Hindi. I love how Hindi sounds, it just rolls off the tongue with lots of kinda breathed in and out sounds. I would say it sounds far nicer than Oriya! In relation to Tata I have heard that they called through to GV to check my details but I am STILL awaiting some kind of confirmation that I have been accepted as a fully sponsored participant. I would love this opportunity to not only travel India but to gain some great Inspiration from the directors of pioneering developing NGO's in India. Amazing for my career, perspective and experience. Really hoping this comes through. If it does, celebrations!
My health is good apart from decreased appetite, I believe this is due to the heat somewhat peaking the last few days and the rains coming less frequently. It needs a good rain here. I have a bit of pain due to one of my wisdom teeth coming through which can be very painful. Saying that, today is actually quite okay and I think drinking warm drinks (there are now 4 types of tea in my room) is working well.In relation to my room entertainment, I've been having evenings where my amazing headphones and amplifier have been passed around like how my Jack is being consumed! It's great to have amazing quality, load, base and I can't get that through my dodgy little speakers. So happy I brought this hi-fi tech with me to India. Oh also, Marcus has brought an amazing little projector with a micro SD card input so you can play films directly from this little box gadget and get a really cinematic feel. We watched Train Spotting last night and hooked up some speakers. Worked great.
I would also like again to thank Joanna for her advocacy documents and her CV editing. She has done the similar routes I am currently taking to get into International Development and along with Dorothy who is also very knowledgeable, I think my chances of networking and finding other contacts to send applications to has increased. I hoped this would happen by being back here and it has so again...happy. Dorothy has contacts at UNICEF and despite their strict application requirements, I think I might have a pop and do some tactical name dropping and emailing with her contact. That is an exciting prospect to me as like I have written in my last covering letter, ''Experience has shown me that when able to thrive, young people represent a great potential for leading development campaigns and triggering social change. Every child should be able to realise their rights to education, health care, nutrition and employment opportunities'' I like the idea of working for a youth centric NGO. Lots of potential for interesting projects.
Right, now for music.
Opeth have a new record out which I am enjoying. I'd describe it as a death metal band who want to try something different and mellow out..here is one link to a good track off that:
I have also bene listning to the new Laura Marling album and this track a wonderful jazzed up folk track. I like the jumpy timing and her vocal melodies:
Of course PJ gets some air time, banging the last record, Let England Shake, a lot!
Right, that's that!
Love to all
Rich
I need to feel useful and determined to achieve and I have that here in bucket loads. There are a few more volunteers on our little campus here now. Matt from USA has arrived back from working in the field in Lanjigarh, Kalahandi. I'm happy to hear his tales about the conservation areas where some of the villages are situated. He feels the same as me in that it is essential. He went off on little treks to find massive natural gardens and shining streams in the troughs of undulating scenery. It really has to be seen. When I head out there I intend to get this on camera. Matt is working on Forest Rights work and I am excited about our collaborative work. He seems interested in my work and I can tell he has a great attitude. This is the second time he's been at GV too so I'm sure he is full of tales. The past few days have also seen the departure of volunteer Niklas from Germany who was amazing company whilst here. He spent his days teaching English and I expect coming from a psychological studies background helped inform his work and time at Konkia tribal school. His stories were also really entertaining. We had one or two nights of staying up late in my room listening to tunes and having a few too many beers and sips from my cheeky bottle of Jack. He has now continued on to Delhi where he will eventually meet his much missed girlfriend and do some more amazing places in India. There are literally too many things to see in this country. Spoilt for choice.I've been getting to know the new PMED (Planning Monitoring and Evaluation) departmental co-ordinator, Dorothy, and I'm loving her company also :) Also from an amazing background, I think we have a lot to learn from each
other and share. Here's hoping. In addition to these guys there is also Jack who is currently in the field and from South Wales, Marcus from Cheshire! and of course Olive....who I owe wine gums for checking over my last application for a job at Save The Children. Fingers crossed for that one. Anvesh is currently out hiking and then off to some training events as part of his ICIC fellowship and I eagerly await his return and photos. He makes a damn good chai too!
So yeah, an influx of new faces and a burst of new energy into the office. This is exactly what motivates me to keep pushing so I'm very happy. As much as Gram Vikas is a pioneering inspiring place people often lack motivation and drive but I feel a real energy amongst the volunteers and Dorothy too. I expect I can take a lot of inspiration from her here.
My posters are almost finished now and I am waiting to see the full sets before I go about asking for modifications. Sadly, Mr. Swine's wife died last week and that put quite a downer ont the guys in the Art Section with no work being done full stop...to look after him and go about procedure for the funeral etc. I've found it difficult to approach them and push them for work since. I suppose I'll leave it some time and just be respectful. I hate seeing these guys upset, it's not nice. I've been pursuing professional advocacy training and have Paul from Kolkata asking some people for me. It's surprisingly difficult to find training in India whereas in England right now I know there are two or three courses I could attend. Ah well, Jo from Trocaire NGO in Bhubaneswar has sent me, very kindly, over some documentation from previous training events her colleague took part in so I plan to study those. It seems quite extensive and I am contemplating paying for it all to be printed. Printing is a bit of an issue here as obviously it costs quite a bit so I actually hate approaching and
asking for print-outs of anything above 30 pages. I still hate reading from a laptop screen though. Not so nice.
My visa extension documentation has all been submitted now and I have to wait a month - ending 20/October to see if it has been accepted. Again cross everything as if it is rejected or other complications arise, I will have to either return to England which I don't really want to do or go to Sri Lanka to request another 6 month tourist visa to re-enter India. If it comes to this, I will go for this tactic. Plus I'm becoming quite a fan of everything tamil so....yeah. The big Dad had his birthday yesterday and I was eagerly awaiting a call to wish congrats and make silly comments about the family conquering Snowdon in Wales. I hope you guys had a good day, I miss you lots.
I need to find some time to learn more Oriya and also Hindi. I love how Hindi sounds, it just rolls off the tongue with lots of kinda breathed in and out sounds. I would say it sounds far nicer than Oriya! In relation to Tata I have heard that they called through to GV to check my details but I am STILL awaiting some kind of confirmation that I have been accepted as a fully sponsored participant. I would love this opportunity to not only travel India but to gain some great Inspiration from the directors of pioneering developing NGO's in India. Amazing for my career, perspective and experience. Really hoping this comes through. If it does, celebrations!
My health is good apart from decreased appetite, I believe this is due to the heat somewhat peaking the last few days and the rains coming less frequently. It needs a good rain here. I have a bit of pain due to one of my wisdom teeth coming through which can be very painful. Saying that, today is actually quite okay and I think drinking warm drinks (there are now 4 types of tea in my room) is working well.In relation to my room entertainment, I've been having evenings where my amazing headphones and amplifier have been passed around like how my Jack is being consumed! It's great to have amazing quality, load, base and I can't get that through my dodgy little speakers. So happy I brought this hi-fi tech with me to India. Oh also, Marcus has brought an amazing little projector with a micro SD card input so you can play films directly from this little box gadget and get a really cinematic feel. We watched Train Spotting last night and hooked up some speakers. Worked great.
I would also like again to thank Joanna for her advocacy documents and her CV editing. She has done the similar routes I am currently taking to get into International Development and along with Dorothy who is also very knowledgeable, I think my chances of networking and finding other contacts to send applications to has increased. I hoped this would happen by being back here and it has so again...happy. Dorothy has contacts at UNICEF and despite their strict application requirements, I think I might have a pop and do some tactical name dropping and emailing with her contact. That is an exciting prospect to me as like I have written in my last covering letter, ''Experience has shown me that when able to thrive, young people represent a great potential for leading development campaigns and triggering social change. Every child should be able to realise their rights to education, health care, nutrition and employment opportunities'' I like the idea of working for a youth centric NGO. Lots of potential for interesting projects.
Right, now for music.
Opeth have a new record out which I am enjoying. I'd describe it as a death metal band who want to try something different and mellow out..here is one link to a good track off that:
I have also bene listning to the new Laura Marling album and this track a wonderful jazzed up folk track. I like the jumpy timing and her vocal melodies:
Of course PJ gets some air time, banging the last record, Let England Shake, a lot!
Right, that's that!
Love to all
Rich
No comments:
Post a Comment