(Le francais suit!).
Mini-blog of my "Delhi" life (my "daily" life... hahah)!
I came back from the state of Gujarat on Sunday and now am planning to spend 3 weeks in the throbbing metropolis of Delhi. Staying at a pretty decent hostel, the Moustache, that serves breakfast, has hot water, and has the added benefit of being fairly close to where I am volunteering.
I am spending 3 weeks as a volunteer fundraiser-cum-strategist-intern with ASTHA, a charitable trust set up in 1993 which advocates for greater inclusion for children and people with disabilities, in the slum areas of Delhi.
ASTHA folks are quite welcoming and learning everyone's name has become quite the game for me. My colleagues are very amused at my struggles to remember and correctly identify the 15-odd staff that I have met, from Jyoti to Kaushlendra, to Bimesh and Rakesh.
A shocking number of children with disabilities never go to school in Delhi, despite the right to education being clearly enshrined in the country's legislation (see Right to Education Act 2009). The various laws and policies specify that children cannot be turned away by pretext that the school does not have adapted facilities or special educations - although this is often done in practice. Since ASTHA has been around for 20-odd years it has shown some pretty good results, and the kids who grew up with the organization have now formed their own youth advocacy wing which helps people with disabilities in various manners, such as supporting the obtention of disability certificates.
It is the little things that can throw one off when working in a foreign country... I have learned now to count in 'lakhs' (1 lakh= 100,000, and people will indicate for instance that 5 million is 50 lakh or 50,00,000 ). Also people in this office share all their (home-made) lunch items...even me although I have to ask the office cleaner/manager if she can kindly go out to get my lunch. I was told not to wash my own dishes as that is her job... so all this is a bit of an adjustment although there are benefits to working here as well. Such as that since I dont speak Hindi, it is actually much easier to concentrate on what I am reading or working on, since the general conversations don't distract me, hehe.
There is lots to do on weekends and weekdays as well as work. Last night I checked out the trendy Haus Khaz village and ate Tibetan food with an LSE friend. I am also hoping to get to the Darbah to hear the Thursday evening Sufi singing, the qawali which is apparently a truly lovely experience. The hostel folks are all enthusiastic and the hostel is located near a lot of cafes and bookstores so guess where I am heading tonight :)
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En resume... Je fais du benevolat pendant 3 semaines avec une ONG qui travaille en plaidoyer pour les enfants handicappees. C'est tres bien comme experience et j'apprends beaucoup sur la culture indienne. ASTHA, ou (Strategies alternatives pour les personnes handicappees), oeuvre dans les quartiers defavorises, et ce depuis 1993. En Inde il y a plusieurs lois qui visent a assurer une education de base a tous les enfants y inclus ceux qui sont handicappes, mais en pratique cela se fait difficilement. Mais ASTHA persevere, et en fait produit des bebes... les jeunes qui ont ete aides par l'ONG par le passe ont maintenant cree leur propre organisme pour aider les gens, notamment pour l'obtention de certificats et de documents necessaires pour prouver son statut de 'handicappe' et pour mener des activites de plaidoyer.
En plus de cela, je m'amuse bien. Hier je suis allee dans le quartier tres chic de Hauz Khas pour y manger de la nourriture tibetaine. Je vais essayer d'aller entendre des chants sufis dans un temple qui s'appelle un 'dargah'. Mon auberge de jeunesse est tres bien situee pres de plusieurs librairies et cafes donc je vais bien en profiter!
Gros becs, je vous embrasse,
Mia
Mini-blog of my "Delhi" life (my "daily" life... hahah)!
I came back from the state of Gujarat on Sunday and now am planning to spend 3 weeks in the throbbing metropolis of Delhi. Staying at a pretty decent hostel, the Moustache, that serves breakfast, has hot water, and has the added benefit of being fairly close to where I am volunteering.
I am spending 3 weeks as a volunteer fundraiser-cum-strategist-intern with ASTHA, a charitable trust set up in 1993 which advocates for greater inclusion for children and people with disabilities, in the slum areas of Delhi.
ASTHA folks are quite welcoming and learning everyone's name has become quite the game for me. My colleagues are very amused at my struggles to remember and correctly identify the 15-odd staff that I have met, from Jyoti to Kaushlendra, to Bimesh and Rakesh.
A shocking number of children with disabilities never go to school in Delhi, despite the right to education being clearly enshrined in the country's legislation (see Right to Education Act 2009). The various laws and policies specify that children cannot be turned away by pretext that the school does not have adapted facilities or special educations - although this is often done in practice. Since ASTHA has been around for 20-odd years it has shown some pretty good results, and the kids who grew up with the organization have now formed their own youth advocacy wing which helps people with disabilities in various manners, such as supporting the obtention of disability certificates.
It is the little things that can throw one off when working in a foreign country... I have learned now to count in 'lakhs' (1 lakh= 100,000, and people will indicate for instance that 5 million is 50 lakh or 50,00,000 ). Also people in this office share all their (home-made) lunch items...even me although I have to ask the office cleaner/manager if she can kindly go out to get my lunch. I was told not to wash my own dishes as that is her job... so all this is a bit of an adjustment although there are benefits to working here as well. Such as that since I dont speak Hindi, it is actually much easier to concentrate on what I am reading or working on, since the general conversations don't distract me, hehe.
There is lots to do on weekends and weekdays as well as work. Last night I checked out the trendy Haus Khaz village and ate Tibetan food with an LSE friend. I am also hoping to get to the Darbah to hear the Thursday evening Sufi singing, the qawali which is apparently a truly lovely experience. The hostel folks are all enthusiastic and the hostel is located near a lot of cafes and bookstores so guess where I am heading tonight :)
--------------------------------------------
En resume... Je fais du benevolat pendant 3 semaines avec une ONG qui travaille en plaidoyer pour les enfants handicappees. C'est tres bien comme experience et j'apprends beaucoup sur la culture indienne. ASTHA, ou (Strategies alternatives pour les personnes handicappees), oeuvre dans les quartiers defavorises, et ce depuis 1993. En Inde il y a plusieurs lois qui visent a assurer une education de base a tous les enfants y inclus ceux qui sont handicappes, mais en pratique cela se fait difficilement. Mais ASTHA persevere, et en fait produit des bebes... les jeunes qui ont ete aides par l'ONG par le passe ont maintenant cree leur propre organisme pour aider les gens, notamment pour l'obtention de certificats et de documents necessaires pour prouver son statut de 'handicappe' et pour mener des activites de plaidoyer.
En plus de cela, je m'amuse bien. Hier je suis allee dans le quartier tres chic de Hauz Khas pour y manger de la nourriture tibetaine. Je vais essayer d'aller entendre des chants sufis dans un temple qui s'appelle un 'dargah'. Mon auberge de jeunesse est tres bien situee pres de plusieurs librairies et cafes donc je vais bien en profiter!
Gros becs, je vous embrasse,
Mia
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