Last full day at Avalanche. Gutted but excited to be going home too…..Deep fried chapattis and jam for brekkie this morning – delicious! Kids loved them. The cooks – ah yes I said I would mention something about these guys….But how can I convey what these guys are like.(Pics) They leave their families in Ooty to go to each camp that happens, live in a tiny hut and wake very very early and sleep very late and just serve serve and serve!! They cannot do enough for us and aks us every what they can cook us, treat the kids to Milo in the mornings an evenings, are the happiest people in the world, look after and care for my kids equally as much as I did at Avalanche and are just all round amazing guys…..I was so impressed by them I cannot explain how impressed. For those that gave some money for us to give away, we left a little money with these guys just to say how much we had appreciated all they had done for us and all the campers. They have nothing at all and earn a pittance at Avalanche but have families to care for
and have chosen to serve in this way. Just before I left one of the big bosses at my organisation e mailed me to say ‘to serve is the greatest privilege of all’. Well I saw this in these guys like I am not sure I have seen in anyone before. Again I cannot convey this well enough in a blog but we experienced the care these guys gave. They especially loved Josh and wouldn’t let him go, letting him and Es sit in the kitchen (a ramshackled shed with a fire to cook on and full of flies!) by the fire when they had got cold and wet and dried their clothes off and gave them Milo to drink. They just sat whilst these guys stared at them and smiled. Lovely, lovely people.
Kids went off on activities this morning. Josh was due to do abseiling and gorge walking but having seen this first hand I decided it was too risky for him and took both Es and Josh on team challenges, river crossing and kayaking. They had a great time. I had a go at the river crossing (pic)Sessions again (they love their sessions) in the afternoon and evening. They then had a kind of talent show in the evening which was fun. Es and Josh loved being involved.
Learnt this evening from the group leaders that my talks had has significant impact which was a very humbling thing considering how little I felt I had to give!
Spent a few hours in the back of the Beast (truck) with Raj and the founders/leaders of J team supporting them, encouraging them and helping them to think and plan long term to try and ensure that the special things things that kids still have in India (innocence, appetite for learning,
respect for elders, big view on family etc) stay for as long as possible as India seems (to me) to be racing to follow the western way of life (something that really concerns me when I come out here). J team are a fairly big organisation that works with kids and could have a key role in watching where western culture is going to try and see what they can avoid for their own Country. I tried to encourage/challenge them to do this and get their sights on the future growth of what they need to do to ‘stem the flow’ of the rubbish that our society can kick out and the kids are starting to follow that, as far as I am concerned, is starting to get into Indian culture and it’s not good!!There….rant over!!
Plan to stay in touch with the guys at J team. They are desperate for good quality youthwork/kids resources from the UK and I love to get resources!!!!
