York India Trip 2006

Homecoming. Thank you FFC!!

2006-03-22T02:38:00.000-08:00

Our amazing adventure is almost at an end. We are presently in Chennai on a 12 hour layover and are waiting to start the next leg of our long journey home. The students are exhausted and rightfully so, they have given all of themselves over the last three weeks and have pushed their physical and emotional boundaries.

Ms. Willis and myself wanted to take this final opportunity to comment on just how proud we are of these nine students and the work they have done. They arrived here three weeks ago and jumped right into this amazing place called FFC. Their energy and warmth was contagious. As we left this morning, the tears in the eyes of the children are testament to the impact they had while they were here. They painted, played, sang, laughed and danced as hard as they could over the last 20 days and they should feel very proud of their work. It was indeed our pleasure to watch it unfold each day.

Of course all of this would not have been possible if not for the help of some very important people. A big thank you goes out to Melanie, Ashley, Sunbeam, Sandra, Kalyani, Lauren, and the entire FFC staff for all of their support over the last three weeks and for making us feel so welcome. Without you the trip would not have run so smoothly.

This trip is an shining example of what meaningful outreach really is, and that it does not have to travel in one direction but rather is a partnership that benefits all who enter into it. It is our sincere hope that this trip runs for many years to come and that there continues to be students with big hearts who are interested in making the journey. The proof is in the words,thoughts and ideas that these students have already begun share with us and soon will with the rest of you.

Not long now, we are on our way home.

Sincerely,

Justin Medved and Katie Willis

I guess I won't be serving anyone lunch in the cafeteria...

2006-03-20T05:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

So, today we got up really early to spend time with some of the older girls before they had to write a few of their school exams. Following breakfast, we were invited to the opening of a new building being opened for the younger girls, the silk project and other various projects. At the inauguration we were asked to cut the ribbon and light celebratory candles. Then, we volunteered for a few hours. Chantalle and I finished our mural paintings of Jungle Book at the Small Boys house, while Preena, Graeme, and Chris started the mural in the newly opened house. Andrew, Tahira and Ali, waited for the babies to wake up. For the rest of the afternoon the majority of the group spent time with the babies. After a wonderful catered lunch - THANKS FFC!!! - we headed off to Coimbatore shopping - yay!!!!!!

SHOPPING:

Okay, so the afternoon began at this MASSIVE and amazing Saree/DIAMOND :)/and silver shop - megastore. After touring the jewelry departments the girls headed into the saree store to aid Preena and Tahira in their shopping extravaganza. Saree's are the best things to shop for it was soo much fun. Chantalle and I are pretty certain we were being made fun of by the VERY FRIENDLY shop clerks but in the end Preena bought a GORGEOUS saree for some girl named Meesha (who is she?) and Tahira bought the store out with a few equally beautiful saree's.

Now we're back (not before stopping off for some icecream Yummmm) for some more volunteering and then its off to bed. Tomorrow being our last full day of volunteering we look forward to seeing everyone again.

byeeee...

Alex

Andrew's Indian Birthday, March 18th - All pictures for all posts now up! :)

2006-03-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

Andrew's Birthday

The night prior to my birthday, the electricity wasn’t working at the boys house so we had a sleepover at the girls house. My birthday started at 12 o’clock midnight when I was awoken by the boys wishing me a happy birthday. When I woke up in the morning there was an awesome poster made by Alex and Chantalle that said Happy 17th Birthday. Upon the arrival to breakfast, all of the trip members and Lauren and Ashley were standing outside the canteen. They sang happy birthday to me and was the first of many birthday blessings. The inside of the canteen was decorated with colorful streamers that Alex had brought all the way from Toronto (Thanks again Alex, you're awesome). Also on the table were gifts for me which included, many packets of pop rocks, a Jamaica wristband and a beer. Don’t worry about the beer mom and dad, it was a non-alcoholic beer.
Throughout the day of volunteering many of the kids at FFC were told that it was my birthday and they all wished me a happy birthday and sang to me too. It is a nice change having my birthday with a group of my friends and many new friends, which differs from me having my birthday on a beach in a resort. It is the first birthday in a long time where I actually saw more people I know then my family.
Lunch was great as usual and I had my non-alcoholic beer with lunch and I don’t remember the rest of the day (just kidding). At the end of lunch I was presented a phenomenal cake that was baked by the infamous chef LAUREN!!! (thanks for the cake Lauren, I was full before dessert came but it was so good that I had to eat it)
After lunch everyone did more volunteering until 4 o’clock when we started getting ready for dinner. Why did we start getting ready so early? And why was everyone putting on clean clothes and why were people shaving? It was like we were going out for dinner that night. Don’t worry I never picked up on any of the hints. We walked to FFC and there was our bus and bus driver ready to go. As we got on the bus someone whose name I wont mention, cough Mr. JUSTIN MEDVED, yells out something about us going to Pizza Hut. I had NO idea that we were going there until it was yelled out. It’s ok though I would have found out soon after. The food at Pizza Hut was just as good as in Toronto except we can’t eat meat. After dinner Alex handed me the gifts from my parents (Thanks mom, dad and Jimmy for sending them over and thanks Alex for bringing them over) and also the card that was signed by everyone on the trip. Thanks everyone. Also Tahira and Chantalle gave me the giant elephant tea cozy that they had bought for me in Cochin. You may wonder why they bought this for me. It’s because I wore it as a hat and it’s a good look on me. (Thanks Tahira and Chantalle, it kept my head nice and warm the WHOLE night) I wore the tea cozy for the rest of the night which made me stand out even more than without the tea cozy. The Pizza Hut employees then came over with a cake and a candle in it. They made me stand on my chair (with the tea cozy on my head) and they got the entire restaurant to look at me while they sang their intense Indian version of Happy Birthday to me. It was a truly unique experience which I will never, EVER forget. Then from standing on my chair, I had to blow out the candle that was all the way on the table. It took me a few blows but I eventually succeeded.
After dinner we did some shopping and all the store clerks laughed at me (elephant tea cosy), and then we went back to the girls house to watch Mr. And Mrs. Smith. All in all it was a fantastic birthday and I want to give a huge thanks and cyber hug to everyone that was involved. I have to go now before I start tearing up in front of the computer because its just too touching writing about the whole day. THANKS EVERYONE!!!

Andrew Cupcake Cardinal

The Danceoff Day

2006-03-19T05:40:00.000-08:00

As usual we had an early 8:30 wakeup this morning. After breakfast we split up into different volunteer stations. These stations consisted of playing with the toddlers in the playground, chilling with the babies, painting the murals, and finally a dance/sing off with the older girls. Andrew, Jordan and Ali competed head to head with the older girls in what could only be described as a slaughter. The girls were no match for the vocal and dance ensembles of these 3 stylin kids. As well the volunteers who spent time in the baby room had the opportunity to bring out new toys donated by Glebe students. It was hard to leave as the babies broke into tears as they saw us leaving :[ . After these stations we had lunch and what a lunch it was. Every lunch at FFC seems to outdo the one before it. After lunch we were exhausted and took a rest hour consisted of sleeping and doing laundry. Before dinner we watched a Bollywood movie with the older girls. For dinner we were served delicious Indian noodles, chapatti’s, and ripe mango. The volunteering continued after dinner and yet another India trip day was concluded.

- Jordan, K. Will, Ali

Cochin Adventures

2006-03-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

Cochin!!

The blog of the century

For the last 3 days we were in Cochin so we were unable to put up a blog about the trip. But now we’re back and finally blogging. On the first day of our trip we did some much needed shopping (not like we’ve done that before…) and then we went to our hotel. Our hotel was 300 years old and very beautiful. After we settled into our hotel we went out and saw a Kathakali dance performance. Kathakali is a type of dance which includes exquisite costumes and amazing muscle control of the body. The first part of the performance was a demonstration of how different words were shown through dance. After a very long presentation of how breasts are shown through Kathakali (which seemed to take up half the performance) and some amazing demonstrations of emotions the dramatic part of the performance began. The story was about the gods Arjuna and Shiva. It was amazing to see the costumes and the dancing, but the show seemed to drag on for a long time and our stomachs did not seem to be able to wait. So we very slowly and quietly snuck out of the performance. We then went across the street to a very nice restaurant at which the food was amazing. After filling up our stomachs, we slowly made our way back to the hotel, stopping along the way to do some last minute shopping. The night was fairly uneventful aside from a few girls trying to act like they were ghosts (it didn’t work).

The next day we headed off to do a backwater tour of the waters of Cochin. That was a very peaceful experience and a lot of us found ourselves “resting our eyes”. The tour stopped at a place where we were able to get fresh coconut from some of the locals. Some of us attempting to climb the tree ourselves and that was when Andrew finally realized he was not a monkey. The tour ended and we spent a peaceful afternoon and evening back at the hotel and around the village. During our shopping, we met a local store keeper named Meer. He was a very funny man who we ended up spending a lot of time with.

We woke up bright and early to head off to a temple and an elephant sanctuary. The temple was quite beautiful on the outside but sadly people that were not of the Hindu faith were not allowed inside. So as Preena went in on her own, the rest of us headed around the temple receiving a lot of stares from the locals (some things never change!).

After that we went to the elephant sanctuary which was absolutely amazing. In total there were 47 elephants in the sanctuary and one trainer for each elephant. We were able to get close to the elephants and even pet them. The elephants were surprisingly very hairy and we got to see some of the elephants in action. One of the elephants was commanded by his trainer to pick up a couple of coconut trees, which had already been cut down, and with his huge tusks and snout he managed to pick them up and bring them to wherever his trainer wanted. This was the most amazing feat of strength I have ever seen. The elephant’s trunk is so strong and powerful. The trainers told us that they have over 10 000 muscles in their trunk alone. We ended up spending a full 2 hours at the sanctuary.

We then headed home, back to Coimbatore. The guys were very excited to relax in their house but we came back home to no power. Apparently the person who owned the house forgot to pay his electricity bill. But that was no problem, because we quickly took all of our beds and carried them to the girls’ home where we had a York school slumber party – girls on one side of the house, guys on the other. We made some Kraft Dinner (another first) and headed off to bed. That was the end of our very exciting three days, and we’re looking forward to having a few more fun days before heading home. Miss you all.

- Graeme

Pictures to come tonight!

The Chinmaya IB School experience!

2006-03-16T05:18:00.000-08:00

Hey it’s Preena!!!!

Although Mr. Medved has already given a brief description of our visit to the IB school, I thought it would be great to write about our experience in detail. Once we arrived to the school we noticed the sufficient amount of security. There were guards at every corner and there certainly was not a way to get out! The landscaping, partially because of the hot weather, was beautiful. For the most part, the school was built with an open concept. It was completely different from York! At first, we were escorted to the lobby of the school and were introduced to the principle. Subsequently, we were served tea and had an opportunity to talk to a few teachers. Then, we were taken to a room where all the York students along with the Chinmaya IB students, IB coordinator and other teachers discussed our experiences with the extended essay. It was interesting to learn about the diversity of topics and it was certainly evident that the teachers there were fascinated to hear about our topics. After this, we went to their library and were given time to talk to the IB students. There were only about 16 of them in total. We were informed that the students are from various places around the world such as Singapore and Bombay. Their IB schedule is dissimilar in that their exams are in November as they have an eighteen-month program as opposed to our two-year program. Similar to York, they have four houses that compete with each other for points. Most of the students practiced Hinduism and spoke several different languages such as Hindi, Gujarati and French. They were all fluent in English so it was an immense change for us to be able to talk other students who understood us! After chatting with the students it was time for lunch. The students were constantly complaining about the food yet I thought it was delicious! They eat in a massive room and the food is placed in the middle of the table. It is extremely dissimilar to York in that they have servers who, if you put up your hand, bring you whatever you want! Having lunch there was an experience on its own! After lunch we went back to talk to the IB students about CAS. We were informed about the amazing things they did. One girl, for example, raised about $20 000 on her own for an incredible cause. Their great fortitude was apparent. After we discussed our experiences with CAS we watched a brief movie regarding the school. All of us then had a discussion with the greatly respected swami. He was especially keen on discussing the prominence of India and the dissimilarities between Western values. After a profound discussion, it was free time. While the girls were given a tour of the school, the boys played a game of soccer. The school was remarkable! It had a huge complex with tennis and basketball courts, along with an outdoor track, soccer field and several other facilities. Given that it was Holi, a Hindu celebration, the entire school gathered in the front of the lobby to acknowledge the celebration. The swami placed himself at the front of the school and told the story of Holi. Throughout this portion of the night the students chanted Hindu prayers. At this point it was clear that each student had a great amount of discipline. They had ample respect for the school as well as the swami. Personally, this was an overwhelming experience. Seeing that I am Hindu, it was astonishing to celebrate Holi with hundreds of other students. It was an immense experience to be with numerous other people who shared similar values as me. Although it may have appeared to be diverse for the other York students, the numerous prayers and rituals were ordinary for me. Finally, there was one last ritual and then we had pizza for dinner! It was totally different from our regular pizza yet it was a nice change. Subsequently, it was time for us to leave. We took pictures with the students and exchanged emails. An additional ritual of Holi is to throw coloured powder on each other. It’s a great deal of fun yet unfortunately, we were not able to experience this due to the timings. Nevertheless, people on the street pestered Andrew and me the next day! There was coloured powder all over our face, clothes, and hair! It was a great deal of fun yet I have to admit that it was especially difficult to wash it all off! On the whole, the IB school, because it is so dissimilar to York, was a remarkable experience. Individually, since I am Hindu, it was great for me to have an opportunity to interact with an abundance of students who share comparable values. In general, it was amazing to see the diversity of the IB program. We definitely had a great time! Hope everyone’s enjoying the blogs!!!!

p.s. meesha/mom/dad missing you guys!!!!! you too shiv!!!

Two days ago we returned to the Chinmaya IB school for the second time (since last year) and once again were warmly received. We were treated to a fabulous day of tours and discussions with their IB students and staff. The students made some great connections and friends. I will leave it to them to tell in the next post. Right now we are in the coastal town of Cochin in Kerala and will be returing to FFC tomorrow. Look forward to stories from the trip and from the pictures below.

Mr Medved

Handing out shoes and shirts at Harry's House

2006-03-16T05:05:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago we were able to make it over to Harry's House (small boys house) to hand out some of the lower school link donations. The t-shirts, shoes and toys were a hit and as you can see from the smiles were very well received.

A very fun night!

Meditation, Waterfalls and Nilgris Ice Cream

2006-03-13T05:39:00.000-08:00

Jordan and Graeme reporting in:

Today was a very eventful day of our India journey. Breakfast consisted of Tutti Fuiti French toast which was an experience of its own. We then headed off towards the temple which took one hour to reach. This temple wasn’t like most temples. First off, it was non denominational (no religion of choice), also it’s sole purpose is for meditation. The temple itself consisted of a dome with magnified sound and a black rock in the middle. This rock was supposed to create vibes and energy to enhance meditation. We all walked in and found individual cubbies in the wall of the dome, see picture. We then attempted to meditate for 20 minutes, which for those of us who were trying to suppress coughs and other bodily functions (Cardinal) seemed to last like a day. Others were much more successful at meditation.
After, we thought it was time for some fun and we headed off for a waterfall. The waterfall was absolutely beautiful and we began to explore it climbing up the rocks. Soon after, an old man wielding a stick came and started yelling at us in Tamil to get down from the waterfall. We then began our decent down and made it safely to the bottom (except Graeme who experienced some minor setbacks). Medved being the lazy person he is, decided that it would be a lot quicker to slide down the waterfall instead of actually walking down it. In the process his wedding ring went astray causing us all to gasp and frantically search the pool. Luckily for Medved, the water parted and all the light shone down on the ring – sort of. He found the ring and all was well.
We then headed to Nilgiris for lunch (Coimbatore's best grocery store & cafe), stopping along the way to pick up some sandals for Tahira, who seemed to have misplaced hers in the falls. After an excellent lunch and a short shopping trip we headed back to our homes to take some nice cold showers and discuss Medved’s potentially devastating trip to the waterfall and the days adventures.
Until next time, this is Graeme and Jordan signing off.

Sizzling Sunday Soccer in the Sun (now with pics!)

2006-03-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

Last night, we went into our house and were approached by flying "man-eating" cockroaches. (Just Kidding - (about the man-eating part)) Just when we thought all hope was lost "Graembo" came to the rescue. 8 dead cockroaches later, Graembo was victorious for the time being. We had a well deserved "sleep in" until 8:30 AM and had breakfast at 9. After breakfast we split up and went on our way to different volunteer opportunities. These opportunities consisted of playing with the older babies, yoga with the younger girls, the older girls, and sketching a Jungle Book outline for a mural. After lunch, we hung out with the babies and toddlers until 3 o'clock. It was then time for the big game. TYS vs. FFC older boys lead by the ferocious BABU!! (an older boy). Blood was shed, Andrew took his shirt off, and York was victorious with a score of 4-3. This is only the beginning of the TYS india crew sport's odyssey. We plan to "own" the Chinamaya IB School in Basketball. OOOOHHH-RAAAHHH!!! After that our stench pushed us to our rooms for cold showers and the water and soap put up a good fight. In the end, Soap + Water 5 ; Stench 0. Once again TYS india crew prevailed. To be continued . . . with pictures . . .

(- Ali, Jordan, Graeme, and the shirtless "cupcake" Andrew)

(p.s. comment if you love us)

pictures now added!!

More pictures from TYS Sports Day

2006-03-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

Fun in the sun

2006-03-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Last night the girls had an interesting experience. As Preena was showering, she came across a massive cockroach on the wall next to her!! She screamed and ran out of the bathroom. The rest of the girls came running in to find out what happened. We all saw the huge cockroach. Chantalle was brave enough to take a shoe and kill it, while the rest of us were extremely scared. The cockroach lay dead on the bathroom. We were too terrified to pick it up, so Ms. Willis decided to cover it with toilet paper. Thankfully, this morning Mr. Medved came in to get rid of the cockroach for us. It was a horrifying experience and we’re definitely hoping we don’t find any other cockroaches in our house.

Today, we began our day with breakfast at the orphanage. The cooks made us some delicious French toast. Then we handed out roses, which we had bought in Ooty, to all the girls. The first part of the morning was spent with the girls and babies and a few people headed into town to by a DVD player for the younger boys. At around 11:30am, we headed over to the older boys’ house to watch an award show. There were many performances and a professor from a university also came in and told some jokes in Tamil. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it, yet unfortunately, we didn’t understand any of it. Part way through we had to go for lunch, but came back as soon as we could and witnessed the last part of the show. We saw the younger girls perform a dance. After the awards were handed out, we headed over to special care to hand out academic and sport achievements. Then we rested for a little while before having an afternoon full of sports. We took the younger boys out to the park to play cricket and soccer with the new equipment which we brought for them. The older boys joined us part way through and we played a huge game of soccer. Then, we had to take the boys back in time for their lessons. As a special treat, we handed out lollipops to all the boys, courtesy of the Tanna family. It was a big hit!!! After that we had dinner, and then spent the rest of the evening playing games with the girls. Today was definitely an amazing day!

Miss you all so much, but we are having an awesome time!!

-Preena and Tahira

p.s. Meesha: I’m a better bargainer than you, Mommy/Daddy: miss you so much too!!!!!
p.p.s meesh make sure mom/dad/bella are reading this...thanks!!

Another great day!

2006-03-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello Andrew Cardinal here;

On Thursday we traveled into the hills of Ooty (from our luxurious hotel) to spend the morning leaning about tea at the tea museum and tea factory. We watched as the tea leaves were dried and then fed into the long conveyor belt which moves the tea through various stages of preparation. At the end of our tea tour we bought many large bags of different tea to bring home, the taste of India in Masala tea form. We then drove into the city of Ooty to do some shopping and eat some PIZZA!!! The afternoon of shopping started as a few of us found a magician selling magic tricks. We were amused for minutes before getting suckered in to buying his tricks. After the magic tricks we walked around and went in lots more shops.

There was one very interesting shop that I feel is worth mentioning. WARNING: if you are easily shocked do not read after this point. A group of us was walking down the road with the chilly breeze of Ooty that ripples through our clothes. I see a little shop that is at the bottom of stairs going down on the side of the road. As I peer down to see what is being sold, I see a little black and white tiled little room at the bottom of the stairs. I notice that there are some red marks on the tiles and that the tiles are not clean at all. On the only shelf down there sits four white severed goat heads with their eyes open. I tell the rest of the group and a few look but others stay very clear of looking at the heads.

Then we shopped some more and met back at the café and went back to the hotel. We hung out at the hotel for the rest of the day playing some hacky sack and showing each other our magic tricks. We decided to go to bed very early because the next morning we were to be out the door at 5 am. So yes we were at the door at pitch black 5 am driving down the steep hairpin turns. No one was awake enough to understand exactly how terrifying that drive was. We drove to the animal sanctuary to see elephants and some other wild animals. During the chartered tour we saw some elephants and peacocks at the beginning but then after about 10 minutes it was just a lot of trees and bushes.

The real fun started when eating breakfast. We decided it would be nice to walk down to the river which the elephants were being washed. We pulled out our bread and nutella and started to spread the nutella on the bread. We looked over to a creature that was moving towards our bread and to our surprise it was a group of monkeys. They ran after our bread but Jordan picked it up before they could run off with it. Then most people ran up the hill to eat their breakfast in peace, but a few of us stayed back. We tried to taunt the monkeys by making loud noises and jumping around. This only excited them more. We got scared and ran up the hill. After eating half of their nutella sandwich, Jordan and Graeme worked up the nerve to go back down. The monkeys looked as if they were just hanging out and gave up on the food, but they started to run at the two boys. The boys turned and booked up the hill as fast as they could. So did the monkeys. The monkeys were now among us all with our sandwiches. We were surrounded and they wanted blood, or nutella. Our bus driver came to save the day by picking up a stick and waving off the blood or nutella thirsty monkeys. We got back in the bus and continued our drive back to Coimbatore.

On the trip back, we decided to take a train for about an hour. It was a nice scenic trip that was thoroughly enjoyed by all. After the ride we were met by our AMAZING bus driver again who was already waiting at the station for us. When we arrived back at our house we decided to take the night easy after having got up so early. We went to bed and then had splendid dreams of the day that had past.

Andrew Cardinal

Ooty!!

2006-03-09T04:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, it's Chantalle!
We've had an amazing trip so far (as Im sure you can gather from the below posts) and Ooty has been another wonderful experience. This morning we went to a lookout point - the highest peak in Tamil Nadu- which offered a stunning view of the hills and the town of Ooty. While we were walking around the look-out we saw a wild monkey, of which we were taking pictures when it started getting feisty. After watching the monkey eat carrots from a man's hand, try to climb onto Ali's backpack (Ive never seen Ali run so fast after he realized what has happening), and try to steal a woman's purse- we went back down the mountain.
Next we went to the Tea factory and museum. Here we learned the history of tea both in the world and in Tamil Nadu, and got to see the five stages of tea production. The leaves are withered for 10 hours, and then ground in various stages into a fine pulp. It is then left to oxidize, and roasted at a hundred and fifty degrees before it is sifted. We even got to taste the tea at the end of the tour. The tea-lovers of the group (everyone) bought teas at the exit of the factory, and may have even bought a few presents. The visit to the tea factory was both interesting and very tasty.
Then, we finally got to experience the amazing Ooty shopping that the last India trip told us so much about! Preena is officially the best bargainer in the world; I dont know if Ill be able to shop without her ever again ;). I wont say much about the shopping because I dont want to give anything away, but I think a few of you at home will appreciate our shopping today in a few weeks!
Now we're back at the hotel, enjoying the scenery and the slightly cold weather. We've been practicing our non-skills at hackey-sack, and playing the habitual cards. Id also like to add that the guys had a very manly night last night, watching 'Maid in Manhattan' until 11.. haha.
Anyway, hope you are all enjoying march break back at home. To those who have commented, thanks!! We miss you, comment again!
~Chantalle
(ps: hugs and misses to the girls and to my Gaik =) )

York India Trip 2006

2006-03-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

York India Trip 2006
Hi everyone!
India is incredible! The food is great and this experience is so overwhelming! On Tuesday we had the wonderful opportunity to distribute the donations, particularly the toys, to special care. Their look of appreciation blew us away! Not only did they enjoy playing with the toys and clothing, but they were just as excited to spend time with us. Spending time with the disabled children granted us a whole new perspective. We've been told this numerous times, but now it's definite that we undoubtedly take things for granted...from toys and clothing to food and toilet paper! Later that evening, after a scrumptious dinner, we had the opportunity to spend time with the older girls. They were especially excited to sing, dance, and spend as much time with us as possible. Some of the girls applied henna on myself, alex and chantalle, while the others had an amusing time playing games. Subsequently, we were soo tired and it was also time for the girls to eat supper. Yesterday, however, was just as icredible! On our way to Ooty, we stopped at a water park called Black Thunder. It was certainly one of the coolest water parks! After we had lunch there, we went back onto the van and had a 3 hour drive up to Ooty. On the way up we stopped to see the monkeys on the side of the road. Finally, after about 20 hairpin turns we arrived at our hotel which is higher up on the mountain. It is a nice little place with a british look as Ooty is the British colonial hill station. It was made for British people to have a cold place that would seem like home. It is as cold as they say. We see Indians with toques and mits and this is considered "freezing". After arriving we relaxed with tea in the garden and had a peaceful dinner by the fire. To see the hotel visit: www.kingscliff-ooty.com. We're off to do some shopping. Take Care and we miss everyone =[ !!!!!

- Preenz and Ali

A few fantastic days at FFC!

2006-03-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

2006-03-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

We were awoken at 6 AM to have an early yoga session and Integral Yoga Centre. We found out that yoga isn't as easy as it looks. It was quite the stretching experience. After an hour and a half of beginner yoga they made us a "western" breakfast consisting of oatmeal and fruit salad. There was a short meditation session after the meal for fifteen minutes, in which many of us fell asleep. Okay only me. A worker from the yoga center gave us a tour of the Shiva temple in Perur. It was a 2000 year old temple made from stone. Walking in we came across an elephant. Yes, a real elephant. The elephant blessed us all for one ruppee coin each. (pictures to follow) We took a tour around the temple and performed many of the ceremonies that the followers of the Hindu religion would as well. From there we drove back to the orphanage to have lunch. The food here has always been amazing and this meal wasn't an exception. After lunch the group split and half of us went to the baby room and the other half to the toddlers. We hung out with them for a bit and picked up some bags to take over to the Special Care Centre and to Harry's House, where the younger boy's stay. None of us had ever been to the Special Care Centre and it was amazing as we were giving shirts and toys to all of them. There was a lot of excitement from all the kids. We walked over to Harry's House which is right next door and setup cricket equipment for the younger boy's while they were at school. The younger boys don't have any sporting equipment at all. This was going to be a great surprise for them which we were all anticipating. The kids started strolling in and eventually it turned into a run. They were going crazy! We had four different games going on with all the india trippers playing too. Ms. Willis found her sport and was awarded the Most Inconsistent Cricket Bowler. The smiles stayed even though it was time to go do their homework. The infamous Raj came by for a visit in his York Athletics shirt. Sadly enough we weren't able to have him for this trip as he started his own company. He will be our travel agent with bookings and all throughout the trip. Tomorrow we are off to Ooty, the Hill Station community to see the tea plantations and breathe in the mountain air.

P.S. Kraft Dinner in India tastes twice as good with half the ingredients (no butter, no milk =[ )

- Ali, Jordan, and Andrew

Student Volunteering at FFC

2006-03-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

TYS India Trip Journal - Day 1 - 4

2006-03-06T01:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents and Staff,

After two long flights and several bus rides later, we finally arrived at FFC and then immediately jumped into life here. After getting settled into our accommodations and the hot climate, we promptly headed over to FFC and met the kids. The news of our arrival had traveled far and as a result the children were very excited to see us. Over the last few days, we have become familiar with the various branches of the orphanage.

Since October, the India trip students have done a fantastic job of soliciting donations from the community for sporting equipment to be donated to FFC. Yesterday they had the opportunity to put some of their hard work into action. In the afternoon we made our way over the older boy’s house and showered them with soccer balls and cricket equipment. The afternoon was spent playing games and laughing. It was a very special afternoon. Please see some pictures attached.

This morning we made our way into Coimbatore, a small city of 16 million, to do some shopping and have lunch. The traffic and density is something to behold, but the city is alive and very friendly.

We are now back at FFC for an afternoon of volunteering and hanging out with the kids. The students have been fantastic ambassadors for the school and have made Ms. Willis and I proud to lead them. Tomorrow we will spend the morning practicing yoga and meditation at a world famous Yoga studio and then visit one of Coimbatore oldest temples. We are all very excited!

We will continue to send out trip updates by email but a log of our trip adventures can also be found at http://yorkindiatrip.blogspot.com/ . Please free to send out the link and share our news with the York School community and anyone who is interested in FFC.

All the best,

Mr. Medved and Ms. Willis

The York School Outreach Trip To India

The York School India Trip 2006

2005-12-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Tucked away in the southern province of Tamil Nadu, India, there is a very special project that has captured the hearts and minds of Canadians who seek to assist those less fortunate than themselves – the Families For Children (FFC) orphanage in Podanur, near the city of Coimbatore. For the past few years, York School families have been involved in various acts of charity directed to the orphanage, which houses some 400 children ages newborn to late teens.
Upper School students – eight to ten from grades 11 and 12 – have the chance to travel with experienced York teachers to the orphanage to work with staff there, assisting with child care, working on construction and maintenance projects, and taking part in various education efforts with the children. The three-week expedition over March break includes excursions to a number of culturally significant sites, and interaction with students from the local International Baccalaureate (IB) school, Chinmaya International Residential School.

The International Service Expedition to India is a unique leadership and community service opportunity for students that will challenge their world views, and lead to personal growth, greater international understanding, and increased sensitivity to the needs and perspectives of people living in developing regions of the globe.

JM