JABBED

Just over three weeks until I board that plane to India.

Isn’t that crazy?

I’m pretty horrendous at keeping up to date with my blog. I will try to better myself, promise.
So I guess I better start with the great news. As of 10th January (the final fundraising deadline), my total for Raleigh/ICS stands at £1555! Absolutely incredible and far surpassing my £800 target. The money raised facilitates our project through the ICS programme and, because of that, we can work at the grassroots of international development to change the world. To everybody who has donated, to everybody who has given their time, their love, their support and spread the message, from myself and on behalf of our community in India, THANK YOU!
I cannot wait to get going now; I’m jabbed, I’m insured, I’m visa-ed – all I have left is to finishing collecting kit and then it’s a waiting game. I’m pretty much ready with regards to kit but there’s still a few things I have to get. Buying enough sun cream to last for three months isn’t a cheap affair.
My coach to Heathrow is booked, as is my hotel for the night before. I’m sharing with the lovely Jess who I met at my training weekend, and I’m damn sure that we’ll enjoy those last bits of luxury before we head back to basics. There’s a bar, and there’s a bowling alley next to our accommodation. I’m sold.

If you want to keep up to date with what I’m doing over there, while I’m on project site, then check out the official Raleigh ICS blog here. Also, keep yourself up to date after my placement by coming back here, where I’ll be posting up my entire India journal, as well as continuing to share travel stories from my onwards travels.

Now that brings me nicely to my next big news – my flights are booked! I’m heading back to South East Asia! At last! I’ve been craving a return visit since, well, I stepped off my flight at Heathrow in 2012. As I fly into Bangkok, I’ll be spending some time chilling out and visiting friends in Thailand before travelling through Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and wherever else funds allow. I can’t wait to finish the trip that I feel like I started last time.

What else have I tackled in the time since I last posted on here? Christmas and new year.
My alcohol resistance level has been severely affected and I think it’s time for an India detox.
Do leave a comment or two and give me your thoughts. I like to read thoughts. Psychic, you see.
Happy 2014!

FEELINGS

Hello world!

Alas, many a day has passed without a blog.
I do apologise, but I doubt you care.
(If you are that traumatised then thank you, but get a hobby)(and maybe a better role model)
Well, what’s been happening then?
Nearly two weeks ago (I know! Bad blogger should go back to blogging school) I held my main fundraising event for India, That Friday Feeling, a night of ska, reggae & soul.
After weeks of organising, Friday 15th November came along faster than a tube train coming out of the tunnel. They do appear very quickly, don’t they?
With a lot of help from my friends, family and in particular my cousin Romy, the night was a complete and utter success! Word had been spread and more and more people came through the door! If you’re reading this and you’ve got a public fundraising event planned or you may do in the future, I can assure you that the best feeling is that which runs through you when strangers attend said event! By the looks of it, my persistent littering of noticeboards and shop windows with posters seems to have paid off. Other humans gone done attended!
Along with the DJs, I ran a raffle through the night with prizes including vouchers for Choccywoccydoodah (check out their show on GoodFood channel if you don’t know who they are) and Peter Andre’s New York Coffee Club. This helped bring in funds and the raffle alone raised around £100.
The Hassocks, where I held the event, were incredibly hospitable, allowing us the function room for free and even getting involved in the evening themselves. A big thank you to them!
The drink did flow and the music did play, so much so that friends who’d only ever dance to Britney Spears were joining in with the talcum powder floor fun (it’s a northern soul thing, Google it)
A special thanks also to Grapevine sound system for DJing and compering the evening!
All in all, we raised well over £400 which takes my total over and above £1000 now.
To everybody that came, helped, danced, drank and gave, THANK YOU!


Other stuff! Other stuff!
Well, as of today, I’ve got my departure date – Thursday 7th February 2014.
Shit just got real.
It’s all so, like, HAPPENING.
I seem to go through spells, as I’m sure everyone is, of being incredibly excited followed by moments of incredible fear and “I can’t get out of this can I?” It’s a very odd feeling knowing that you’re intentionally putting yourself out of your comfort zone. I guess I’m feeling it a lot more because of how I felt at points during my stay in Thailand (being sick and having escaped a crap time at home were big influences). I need to stop relating it to how I felt then!
As I don’t return to the UK until the 17th April, it means I get my 22nd birthday out there! WHAT! My birthday in India! I don’t say this word ever, but that’ll be SICK!

So, I go in 70 days exactly.

MADNESS

Leave a comment and let me know about your life




or not





whatever





do what you wish





it's your life





bye

GUESS WHAT

Guess what..
It's been ages since I posted a blog, that's what!

What's been happening?
Well, I've completed my "luxury free for three"
The second week involved me living below the line, on less than £1 a day on food and drink.
Now, I love me some cake and some beer so I knew beforehand that I'd find this difficult. However, to my surprise, I wasn't actually that hungry in the week.

I managed to get two tins of chopped tomatoes, a tin of mushy peas, a bag of frozen vegetables, a bag of rice, a packet of custard creams, a bag of porridge, a jar of (unsure how it'd be) curry sauce and one of value jam, a bag of pasta and 6 patronizingly small apples. The total spent came to £4.99 - one whole penny clear of my £5 limit!
To make the week easier for myself, I measured my purchases out equally beforehand and planned out my meals. Now, for a fiver, there's no way anybody could expect a medieval banquet. Each day began with porridge made with water, followed by pasta with chopped tomatoes for lunch (on Wednesday, I allowed myself curry sauce instead of tomato - thrilling stuff!) and an apple to snack. Dinner consisted of rice and mixed veg with curry sauce, and exactly 7 custard creams for dessert.
I have to admit, aside from feeling very lethargic by the end of the week due to my lack of any real nutrition, I found myself enjoying the taste of plain foods. I have, however, very much enjoyed being back on my normal diet and surprisingly, I do appreciate the foods I have a lot more, even after only a week.

 

The third and final week was dedicated to me sacrificing my bed. The intention was for me to camp outside, however at the beginning of the week there may or may not have been hurricane force winds - camping got scrapped! Instead, I took to the living room floor. I can't say I found this one particularly challenging, but I did learn that roll-out sleeping mats are extremely thin and nothing beats my comfortable, pillow-soaked bed. Three months in rural India will be fun then...

Things are starting to come together with preparation for the trip, I'm amassing kit (with donations from my cousin), I'm studying Indian customs & culture and I'm slowly coming to terms with being without a hair straightener or eyebrow pencil for 1/4 of the year. I'm still finding it a bit weird that I'm actually going, I'm so excited for it but, as I'm sure everyone is, I'm nervous about quite how extreme it'll be. It's a completely different world within those small communities and our experiences will be life-altering. I've been reading on the Raleigh India blog that the latest teams to arrive have been given their placement villages and are settling in. How bizarre that the next group going out will include little ol' me!

The most astonishing news in the last week is that I'm now over £700 on my JustGiving page, which means I've got less than £100 to go until I've hit the goal! Thank you everyone who has donated! What's even more special, is that this is before I've even had my main fundraising event, which isn't until next Friday. Organisation for That Friday Feeling is going well and it's looking like it's going to be a great night!

 

What's coming up? Well, before TFF next weekend, I've got my pre-departure training in Dulwich this weekend. I have absolutely no idea what this'll involve, but I'm guessing it's learning the basics and participating in team-building exercises. I'm looking forward to gaining a bit more knowledge of the specifics of the programme and discovering what to expect of India in a bit more detail...

Anyway, I must run! Thanks for donating, thanks for reading my quick blog post and there'll be more soon - x


RABIES

What a week! The busiest pre-India week yet began with the start of my luxury free for three challenge. This is a task I set myself to surrender luxuries for three weeks. The first five days were to be lived iPhone-less. Now, as any iPhone or smartphone user will know, that little machine of wonders is the new-age Holy Book. Aside from the obvious lack of tweeting and the annoyance at myself for my instinctive search for the thing in-between clients at work, I generally found it quite easy. It is incredible how much we use smartphones within this digital age.

I'm now in my second week of "luxury free for three" - the living below the line part. Over the next five days, I will be living on less than £1 a day on food & drink. My good friend & colleague Aziza took me to do my shop and, with her help & nutritional advice, I managed to get a weeks food on £4.99 - a whole 1p spare. I'll update you on how it goes in my next post.

As much as this will be good practise, there is a purpose to going luxury free - fundraising! If you wish to sponsor me, visit http://www.JustGiving.com/BambiRaleigh and please give what you can!

What else is happening? Well, I'm 1/3 more protected from Rabies than I was 7 days ago. There's something exciting for you. I've begun the immunisation course for this and fortunately, because of my backpacking trip to Thailand last year, it's the only jab I need this time round.

I've had medical clearance from my GP, so I'm officially fit enough & insurable for India. The doc was kind enough to countersign the med form free of charge as it's for charity - that was nice.

Another huge moment from the past week has been successfully hitting over 75% of my fundraising total! Completely overwhelming - even more so as this has been raised in less than 4 weeks! This takes the total sum to over £600 and I'm now only £200 away from my goal.

Thank you so much to everybody who has donated, you're changing lives and changing worlds. Thank you!

I've been continuing to organise That Friday Feeling and have been busy advertising, sorting a press release and selling the first tickets. If you want to find out more or purchase tickets, visit the Eventbrite page

It's exciting arranging my own event and I can't wait to throw one hell of a party!

As I write this, I'm clawing my eyes open to avoid the temptations of sleep. The weekend just passed has been fantabulous, celebrating my dear friend Millie's 22nd birthday alongside her friends and family with a superb meal on Friday night at Little Bay in Brighton (a wonderful hybrid of opera and food, being serenaded over a tantalizing three course dinner) followed by an antic-filled Saturday night of live music and Tuaca. We headed to see Brother & Bones - this uber cool bang Mill & I saw in Camden a few months back, imagine a cross between Mumford & Sons and Red Hot Chilli Peppers and you're halfway there. Fantastic and utterly ear-pleasing. After heading onto a club and the kebab shop, the night ended passed out on the living room floor. I love Saturdays.

All-in-all, the best weekend in a long time and too much craziness for me to write (or even want to write #whathappensinBrighton)

So, yes. Another week of preparation ahead, and I can assure you I'll be very hungry and still hungover!

Please excuse me, my bed and Footprint India are calling..

Ciao

SOMEONE ELSE

So I just wanted to share this with you quickly.
This is a first-hand account of somebody else's Raleigh ICS experience in India; what they did, how they did it and how they continued their work.
It's given me a buzz about it, and will hopefully explain a bit better than I can what I'll be doing..
Annie - ICS volunteer

Annie joined Raleigh’s International Citizen Service (ICS) as a volunteer in South India to work on a project promoting sustainable livelihoods in rural communities, as well as raising awareness around women’s issues and health awareness. Annie was inspired by the women she met in India and decided to focus on women’s issues for her Action at Home project.

Annie was a UK volunteer in India, in Spring 2013.

 

“I volunteered with Raleigh ICS in the South Indian villages of Attapaddy, Odamandai and Segatti. We worked with Raleigh’s long-term project partner MYRADA, which works with marginalised farmers, women, youth and disadvantaged community members.
The villages are based in a rural, mountainous environment surrounded by dense forest and there are high levels of illiteracy among the adult population. These remote communities are highly dependent on agriculture as a means of income.
The UK volunteers and Indian volunteers worked together to carry out many activities such as research, awareness raising, and developing resources and infrastructures for the community.
The aim of the construction phase of the project was to help to maximise the potential profits farmers could make to benefit their families and their community, building sustainable means of making the most of natural resources, including the building of cow sheds and vermi compost tanks. Vermicompost is a farming technique which uses worms to create nutrient organic fertilizer. We raised awareness around the use of these components with the wider villages as we felt they were long-term farming solutions which were kind to the environment and would also improve crop yields.
I think the aspect of our project which caused the greatest, long-term impact were the awareness raising activities we undertook. We talked about relevant issues such as the importance of education, child labour and various health issues, and our most successful campaign focused on maternal and child health.
Building on the responses collected from our research in the community, we designed a targeted campaign which raised awareness of the value of Vitamin A, iodine and iron in the diet of expectant and breastfeeding mothers, and using oral rehydration solution (ORS) in treating children with diarrhoea. The response was very positive. One lady told us ‘When my children aren’t at home, I don’t cook vegetables and that is when I have the most problems with my eyesight. Now I understand why.’
After witnessing a positive response educating women in the village of Attapaddy, we extended our campaign to include women in many of the surrounding villages. Overall, the campaign ran in 8 villages and reached 162 women.
It was really great to start seeing positive changes in the village such as children who started proactively brushing their teeth regularly.
I feel the ICS placement has opened my eyes in various ways. Firstly living in a remote village, I have learnt about a way of life very different from my own; having to spend the first hour of every morning collecting water, watching cows plough the crops, getting involved in villagers daily conversations, family structures and their various religious undertakings and festivals.
Secondly, the relationship between UK volunteers and the local volunteers has been a learning curve and a great way of bringing people from different cultural backgrounds together and learning to live and work alongside each other, despite different ideas on the ways thing are done.
Thirdly, my idea of development has heightened through the training I received, but also living directly with the village and understanding different ways to improve lives in a sustainable manner.
Since the programme I have developed a greater tolerance and patience regarding working in a group, and a greater awareness of the negotiation and open-mindedness that is needed in order to co-operate and work together as a team in order to try and gain the best outcome.
It has been a huge learning curve of personal development as well as understanding development in an international setting. It has inspired me to learn more about Indian society and potentially to look to do more charity work.
One of my greatest moments from my ICS experience was, after having given an awareness lesson at a school outside our village, a woman was looking over the school wall with a beautiful, friendly smile. We greeted her and swapped names and smiles. She then invited us to have tea at her house. We sat and spoke in broken language, but she was so warm and giving that we were able to understand each other without words; her excitement to see us and our gratitude for the tea. Most importantly the welcome into a stranger’s home, which highlights the universal act of kindness and openness that can act as a bridge between people from different countries and languages.
For my Action at Home project I decided to raise awareness of an issue and to involve others in taking action. I decided to focus on women’s issues, in particular violence against women.
Whilst I was in India I feel I was witness to certain perceptions of gender and issues regarding gender inequality and also women’s space in society. It made me think about my own society and the treatment of women in the UK.
Although women may be to some extent more “free” in this society, there are still mass inequalities here that are apparent in everyday, such as unequal pay in the workplace. I therefore decided to organize a flashmob in connection with the campaign One Billion Rising – a campaign to raise awareness about violence against women worldwide. My ICS experience has inspired me to focus more on women’s issues and understand the inequalities that are present in today’s world.
I am currently volunteering with vulnerable asylum seekers in my community. I am also raising money to go back to India and find some more voluntary work out there that is connected to women and girl’s empowerment."








Women's rights is something very close to my heart, having been raised in a single parent family by a strong mother and having grown up around strong female role models. I hope to work on gender equality issues during my stay and Annie's story has given me more hope that I can make a difference!
Please donate towards Raleigh & ICS and my trip to India at http://www.JustGiving.com/BambiRaleigh



L8rz h8rz xo

GLASS HALF FULL

Halfway! I'm halfway there!
In under two weeks, I've raised £425 - I'm over the halfway point!

http://www.JustGiving.com/BambiRaleigh

Thank you so much to everybody that's donated so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm completely overwhelmed by people's support and generosity! No words can express.
A large amount of the money has come from the fantastic clients in the salon, who have been incredibly giving. What's been great for me has been telling the story again and again, not just for fundraising but for my own head, it's helped me get my head around what the hell it is I'm doing! The customers at the shop have not only been wonderfully loyal but also become like family. As much as I'm glad to be taking the next step in life, I'm really going to miss the wonderful ladies of Hassocks!

In the past week, I have continued to organise That Friday Feeling. I'll be postering around the area within the next week, and I have contacted local papers and magazines in search of a feature or an advertisement. I've also been emailing local businesses and companies asking for raffle prizes - and let me tell you, it's boring as hell sending email after email. However, it's all worth it! I've got a couple of prizes already (one from Choccywoccydoodah, which is fantastic!) but there's more work to do on that front..
My colleague has also handmade cards to sell, for which we take 50% of the profits each, and on Friday I had a bake sale in the salon in return for a small donation to the cause. Both of these have made a definite footprint in the funds total.

In terms of my life, well... nothing much has really happened. The thing about going away for 3 months+ is that I need money, and to have money I need to save, and to save I can't be the social beauty that I normally am. I did allow myself funds last week to have one last night out with one of my oldest and best friends before she moves away. If there's one thing I love about clubbing, it's the allowance to look glam without being judged. Now, I generally look glam on a daily basis, but some people can't be as fabulous as me, darling!

It was also my two bestest best best friends birthdays in the week - they share the same date - so drinks and laughter and VIP Skype-ing was had. I've had such fantastic support from my friends for India and it's when something like this comes along that you really can tell when you've got the right people in your life.

This week, I have to start buying kit! I figure that if I start early, there'll be no last minute rush and I'll have excess money to put into savings before I go. I've also got my travel nurse appointment on Wednesday and - oh what's that, more saving and no fun?
Oh, go on then!

*exhale*

THAT FRIDAY FEELING

I'm throwing a fundraising night!

 

Today I printed out what seems like millions of these posters to litter the windows of my area. It should be a fantastic night!

I'm now in the process of emailing and harassing companies and businesses for raffle prizes - fingers crossed!

HELLO

Welcome to my blog! It's fancy isn't it?
I uploaded the picture myself, y'know?

I decided to start documenting my life over the next few months (or however long I stick to writing a blog) as I embark on a whole new chapter of my life. Let me set the scene...

As of this date (Sunday 29th September 2013) I am a 21 year old qualified hairstylist from a small village just outside Brighton, along the south coast of England. I live in a stunning area of the world, I have amazing friends and family and, as cliché as it sounds, I'm blessed to have this. I'm incredibly driven and have the fire inside to succeed - but at what? The day to day world I live in has been getting me down for a long time, and since I spent a month and a half in Thailand last year, I've wanted to do nothing but see the world.
So I made a decision; either I stick inside my comfort zone with a lost aim or I pick myself up, do what I want to do and gain a wider perspective on life & living.

A few weeks back, at birthday drinks for an old friend, I was briefly told by said friend about a trip that she'll be taking in January to volunteer in Burkina Faso with International Citizen Service. Instantly my ears perked up. "What is this community service-sounding thing that they speak of?" I set about researching the organisation she's going with, found out how it works, filled out an application (ticking India as a preference) and, before I knew it, I'd clicked Send. I've had an interest in volunteering abroad for years, and I've always wanted to go to India, so this seemed like the perfect choice. A few days passed and I received an email back from a charity called Raleigh International, inviting me to an assessment day in Elephant & Castle on the next Wednesday.
This was a day filled with group activities, discussions, tasks and a one-on-one interview, to determine whether we'd be suitable to volunteer. Now I don't mean to sound cocky, but it was a complete success and my team slayed the whole day! We had to show that we were positive, committed and willing to step outside the box. I'm still perplexed as to how I did it (I never succeed at these sorts of things; interviews, auditions, workshops - I almost always get a no) but a week later I got an email confirming my place - I'm going to India!

Now that I've pretty badly explained the previous month or so, let me explain what's happening...

In February 2014, I will be boarding a plane to Bangalore, India, to volunteer in remote communities for ten weeks, with Raleigh & ICS. The exact location of the village we'll be working in will be determined when we arrive, but it will be within the Tamil Nadu/Karnataka regions.

That's here

Our project will be aimed at developing a sustainable environment for these small, isolated communities. We will be particularly focused on the crucial needs of the villages: health, education, sanitation, environmental issues and civil issues within developing rural areas. The sorts of things we'll be doing include (and excuse me if this list is long, remember this is only some): building toilets, taps & water flow systems, running health camps, vet camps & teaching on how to be clean & healthy, constructing fertilisation systems for farmers to sustain their land, redeveloping schools & community centres, running self-help groups and conducting surveys on the local area.

This won't be easy and, typical me, I picked the hottest time of the year to go! We're going to be working in sweltering heat and living in extremely basic conditions - no perks. Home comforts will be at home, along with hot showers and western toilets. Oh, western toilets. How I'll miss you!
Upon our return, we'll implement what we've learnt as well as tackle any issues within our own communities, through the Action At Home project.

If you want to find out any more or wish to donate towards my trip (I have to raise a minimum of £800 to go), then check out my JustGiving page. You can also donate via SMS! Text BMAN92 followed by the amount you wish to pledge (£1/£2/£3/£4/£5/£10) to 70070.

 

 

This is definitely not all the travelling I'll be doing next year. I have my eyes set on returning to Thailand and the rest of South East Asia. I'm so excited, yet absolutely terrified, to start exploring and properly experiencing the different ways in which people live! After all, we're all in this together.

Sorry for the long first post! I promise to make it more fun next time, with updates on my fundraising and my journey to India. I aim on keeping this blog going as long as I can and, even though I won't be able to post when I'm volunteering, update as much as I can when I return.

 

YOU'RE ON THE JOURNEY WITH ME NOW - DEAL WITH IT.

 

Note: This is all actually an elaborate ploy to get a real tan - something that I don't possess.

(I'll miss you too, fake tan)