Day 11

To All Our Loyal Fans,

Our last day in Kolkata was certainly a good one!

We began our day by sorting all of our clothes, medication and resources in order to donate them to the Edmund Rice Foundation.  The Brothers are thrilled with the amount of supplies which will go to such a good cause.

We then took the metro to 'Maidan'.   We managed to find a shop called Pantaloon, known for their 'Indian clothes Western style'.  We found Mrs Hackett and Therese struggling to get all of their bags out of the shop, as per usual.

Accidentally of course, we came across a 'Pizza Hut' which tickled our fancy.  We sat ourselves down and ordered Margarita pizzas all round. A few girls were adventurous enough to try the Chef's recommendation which was called 'Masala Lemonade'.  When it came out the girls were shocked and taken aback by its murky appearance and grainy texture.  The smell drifted from one side of the table to the other.  Everyone who was lucky enough not to have ordered the drink could only imagine the taste of sweet lemonade mixed with garam masala.  When in came an attractive, saucy, hot and steamy... pizza... everyone's mouths were watering.  Everybody found it extremely difficult to eat their weight in dough and soon after we rolled out the door to an indoor market.

We were met by a colourful and intriguing sari shop.  Finally on our last day we managed to source the typical Indian women's clothing style.  The colour choice was endless, ranging from bright yellow to golds and purples.  After the stampede had lessened, most of us had purchased our very own sari.  The indoor market included numerous jewellery shops which attracted many of the girls and their wallets. Gifts were bought all round and it didn't take long to satisfy our shopping cravings and tire all of us out.

We found ourselves back at the Maiden metro stop by mid afternoon and finally came up with a strategic solution to our metro mishaps. We separated into our three groups and managed to make it back to Central alive. Our very last route to return to St.Josephs was fortunately uneventful and we gave ourselves time to nap and refresh before our dinner with the brothers.

By 7.30 pm everybody had arrived down to dinner, some dressed in their newly purchased saris and we settled down for our final meal of a delicious Indian take in. Some of the brothers we had met on our travels also managed to make it to the dinner and we all enjoyed their company as it felt like a final closing before our departure. After the dinner, we had a requested performance of songs and music.  Some of our acts included Katie on the concertina, a group performance of many different songs and solos on piano by Lily and Sarah.  It was a lovely evening for all involved. We all sincerely hope that we will get have an opportunity to travel back in the future.

We would like to thank all of the teachers, parents, families and students who prepared us for coming and supported us throughout the year. Overall, even though we have had our own ups and downs, the positives definitely outweighed the negatives and it was an amazing experience.

See you all tomorrow,
Lots of love,

Niamh, Lily, Gráinne, Sarah L. and Molly xxxx

Day 10

By all accounts, today was a great day. It started with teaching songs and nursery rhymes to the St. George kindergarten group.  Everyone enjoyed the manic dancing of the hokey pokey and the funky actions for "Five Little Fish".  The children especially had fun playing with the different coloured play-doh, making snakes, spiders, flowers and worms with it.  It was over all too soon with a number of sad goodbye hugs, photos, and smiles.

After break we returned to the school to talk to the adolescent girls in classes 6, 7, and 8.  Everyone here had different experiences.  Some of the girls were less willing to open up and talk to us, while others were very eager to describe their aspirations for the future.  All of the girls told us that they were eager to go to university, some to study English and others to study maths or science.  There was a general consensus among the girls to leave India and travel to places like the UK, the USA, and Ireland, of course!

This gathering was ended by a number of songs, in Hindi, English, and Irish.  The Holy Child girls were enthralled by the beautiful singing and in turn sung a lovely, lively rendition of "Molly Malone".  Another round of goodbyes were said and with heavy hearts we reluctantly returned to St. Joseph's.

However, after lunch our spirits immediately soared at the news that two henna artists would be visiting us later that afternoon.  We sat in anticipation all afternoon and we were not disappointed.  Everyone was amazed at the speed they worked at and in less than two hours everybody had one or two hands completed.
At six thirty we filed into the chapel.  Mass was said for us by a priest from Delhi.  He spoke to us about the amazing warmth and hospitality that the people of Kolkata had, despite many of them having very little.  He reminded us that sometimes a smile is often all that is needed to make someone feel better or feel welcome.  We reflected on the support of our families, our teachers, our school community, and of course, the support that we have given each other during our trip.

After mass we ate our delicious traditional Indian food and, need we say it, a game or two of uno!

See y'all soon
Rosa, Sarah O'D, Katie, Leah, Becca xx

Day 9

Many groans were to be heard in St. Josephs this morning when our alarms sounded at 4:30 AM this morning. Bleary eyed and dazed, we made our way to the Mother House. After a lovely mass, we were treated to a Full Indian Breakfast (a slice of white bread and a green banana). We were then designated our positions for the day, with group A going to the Missionary orphanage and groups B and C going to a home for women with special needs.

Group A was split between the special needs children and the kindergarten children. Those with the kindergarten children played with them, dressed them and fed them. They did plenty of singing and dancing but found the day challenging with the children becoming more hyper as time went on. Four of the girls were with the special needs children, though nervous at first, they soon saw how happy a place it was and were immediately comforted. They each latched onto a child as soon as they walked in and enjoyed playing and singing to them. Grainne, Niamh and Lily were commended by their 40 minute impromptu concert where they performed lots of nursery rhymes with 'Row Your Boat' being a big hit. After their break they helped feed the children as most needed to be fed by someone else. They were then put to bed for their midday nap and this was when the girls had to leave. They had a great time there and were very sad to say goodbye.

Groups B and C were convinced by Sarah Maher that our day would be lucky after a bird pooed on her shoulder! This proved to be untrue almost immediately after when we discovered that we would be taking rickshaws to the the Missionaries of Charity women's centre, guided by a young Spanish priest in training from the Mother House. Many girls were very apprehensive and found the day challenging- doing laundry and caring for the women and girls who came from sometimes abusive families living on the street. We took a break at 10 after our long morning before restarting at our volunteer work. Our 12 o'clock finish couldn't come quick enough!  Exploring our way home was interesting and we got to see a different side of Kolkata. Once home we indulged in plenty of dairy milk and 7up after our long and arduous morning. 

We will be returning to teaching in St. Georges school tomorrow and looking forward to a great day!

We have no photographs today as cameras are not allowed in Mother Theresa's Missionaries. 

Day 8

All's kool in Kolkata,

The 7 o'clock wake up call was a shock to our system as we had become accustomed to our one-day lie in. We staggered down dazed to have our usual toast and peanut butter (sorry Leah). The majority of us went for a nap after breakfast to re-energise. We set off for the metro at nine o'clock but were disappointed to find that the metro didn't operate until ten o'clock. With the help of our handy map we bought yesterday, we decided to trek our way to the Mother House, Mother Teresa's Home, where we got to see Mother Teresa's tomb, her preserved bedroom and the museum. Our total step count for the day reached 20,000 steps. We also spent some time in the gift shop buying multicoloured rosary beads and tacky Mother Teresa statues for our parents. Thankfully, we were able to get them blessed at her tomb. Throughout the thirty minutes we were in Mother Teresa's, we were attempting to come up with routes home that did not involve walking down open sewers or market streets. It was easy to find our way home due the Hansel and Gretel trickles of everyone's sweat.

By the time we got home for lunch, we were barely able to make it up the eight flights of stairs to our rooms. Once we finally made it up the stairs, we happily took our usual two hour siesta and had ice cold showers. We were reluctant to leave once again to face the thirty degree weather and two hour walk (thirty minutes). It was off to a bad start as four students got left behind, Lily, Molly, Rosa and Sarah L. Amazingly, the walk wasn't as bad as we had anticipated and we finally arrived at our destination, the Missionaries of Charity Orphanage. We split ourselves into two groups, one group to play with the special needs children, the others with the malnourished. We were nervous at first but soon became at ease with the children as they were delighted to see us and we spent an hour playing and feeding them their dinner. We all found our one true love and were ready to bring them home with us. We considered how many children we could fit in our suitcases!  We walked home with melted hearts and nothing could explain our excitement when we came across the bakery, Mio Amore, the Kolkata famous cake shop. A lucky trio traipsed in with Therese while the others sauntered home. The three were under a lot of pressure selecting the cakes but they did very well and it all lived up to the expectations.

We are a bit apprehensive about our 04.45 wake up call tomorrow morning for our morning Mass at the Mother House. All will be revealed tomorrow... T-3 days until we're home.

Good bye for now,
Niamh, Lily, Grainne, Molly and Sarah L.

day 7

We started off our day with a well needed sleep-in before we set off on our tour around the city. We were delighted when Therese announced that we would be having a private bus, fully equipped with air conditioning. A tour guide joined us on the bus and told us in detail about the different sights and buildings we were seeing out of the bus windows. We got the opportunity to see a side to the city we had not seen before and were fascinated by the organisation of the street markets. Our excitement soon escalated once we saw a shopping mall with signs for Gucci and Armani.

Our first stop was to a Jain temple. We were given a few minutes to explore the grounds of the temple (which consisted of beautiful gardens and statues) before we ventured inside. Upon entering the temple we were all in shock by the alien form of architecture. Every wall was constructed out of coloured shards of glass and mirror. It was beautiful to look at and the mirrors were almost entrancing. We had to take our shoes off entering the temple which we were not used to but we followed our tour guides instructions. On our way out of the temple we made sure that some quick retail therapy was done in the gift shop.

The next stop was to an old house belonging to the late Rabindranath Tagore who was awarded with a Nobel prize for poetry. The building was made of red brick and the gardens were beautifully decorated with flowers. We next travelled to where the Mulick Bahadur family lived. This is the richest family in India. We were all amazed when we were told that the family had a zoo in their garden.

After our trip to the house we went to an authentic Indian restaurant where we dined like kings on the best food of the trip so far. After being here for 7 days, we finally had our first portion of Naan bread.

Our last three stops were to St. Paul's Cathedral , The Victoria Memorial and the river Hugli . A vast amount of photographs were taken at the Victoria Memorial, surprisingly the majority of them were not taken by us but by our many Indian fans who whipped out their cameras and asked to take photos with us at any chance they got. The last stop was the river Hugli where we took a stroll along the banks with the Howrah Bridge in foggy sight due to the heavy smog of the city. Until our walk along the banks of this river we hadn't seen a single public bin, however, we quickly realised that the river was their bin. People come to this river to pray, worship, clean and collect drinking water, the sight of this was a bit of a culture shock.

We really enjoyed our day and learned a lot about the city from a tourist point of view. Tomorrow we are back to work in The Mother House and orphanage.

Best wishes your loving daughters/friends xx

Day 6

On today's episode...

The day started off very slowly for some, with Emily's nap at the toaster leading to the tragic loss of many a slice of toast. 

It was our last day officially teaching in St. George's, but as we've enjoyed our time with the kids so much we will definitely be visiting them during break times to play. We made friendship bracelets with the masses of wool brought over. Watching the children discover all the ways they could use the different colours and beads (or beans/stones as they were called) was fascinating. It was beautiful to be able to see the creative process happening in their heads, as well as their creativity. 

We came back to St. Joseph's with plaited bracelets up to our elbows. Many students wrote thank you cards to individual girls they had connected with during the week, which absolutely melted our hearts. 

After a quick turn around we started for the Hope Foundation Café for lunch. The cafe was set up to give (disadvantaged people) a chance to learn invaluable life skills and gain experience in a professional working environment. We were ecstatic to see western food on the menu, (safe to say) there were cheese toasties and chips all round. 

The Hope Foundation also coordinate a small boutique, which all 18 of us descended upon with great enthusiasm. I'm sure they were very glad to see us indeed (especially Mrs. Hackett, who revealed herself to be quite the shopaholic!) 

After this we were taken to the hospital run by the Hope Foundation. We were taken on a quick tour but unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to speak to patients individually for very long. However, seeing the ambulance bought by the heroic fundraising of Ms. Mooney made us feel exceptionally proud to be one of her students in Killiney. 

The ride home in our very own air conditioned private bus (no sweaty men in sight!!) was spectacular. If Kolkata traffic is unnerving during daylight, in the evening it's another experience entirely! 

Tomorrow we have the luxury of a much needed Saturday lie in, a whole two hours before we embark on a cultural tour of the city. 

Until next time folks!!

Whats the craic in Ballybrack?

Golly gosh! Sights, smells and sweat in the city sending us insane. The day began with the usual early rise for a 7am breakfast. Once again, the groups were divided up between the Mary Rice Centre and St.George's. Group A and B spent the day teaching and the majority of the lesson plans revolved around space, animals, body parts and clothes. We also made animal masks and Niamh's famous spacecraft which went down very well, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. We ate lunch after all our lessons and had a short break.
Later that afternoon, we experienced a mishap when we accidentally added an hour onto our daily supermarket trip. We were extremely relieved when we finally reached our destination and were able to gather our daily rations (2 litres of water and of course, chocolate). Our trip home included a very tight and sweaty metro ride. Needless to say, we were delighted to get back to the house to shower. We were all really tired and had a well deserved rest after all the walking before dinner.

Group C had a really lovely day with the children as they were able to bring their well prepared lesson plans and resources with them. The children were very happy to see the array of art and craft supplies that they would rarely come across. Paints and stamps were in high demand and appreciated the most. As the previous group explained, all the girls were extremely comforted to see the patients in the Mission of Charity centre off the streets and in a safe environment. However, some people did feel overwhelmed by the physical nature of the patients appreciation of their presence. They were blessed and entertained by the women living in the Missionary of Charity home in Greenpark.

None of us can believe that tomorrow is our last day of teaching. We hope to see the St. George's children next week during break times for some very competitive skipping competitions in the yard and have already arranged a basketball match with the boys from the Mary Rice Centre.

Looking forward to a fun filled final farewell to seeing the children in the classroom tomorrow,

Niamh, Lily, Grainne, Molly and Sarah L.

Day 4

Today we travelled along the metro line to Dum Dum, where we worked with the mentally disabled children of the Mary Rice centre. Each of us were paired with a child who we spent the morning with, helping them with their classwork assignments. We were all quite apprehensive at first, but, had to agree that after a few hours of painting, competitive aerobics and messing with play-doh, we had nothing to worry about! Despite the language barrier we managed to communicate well through a variety of hand signals and smiles. At one o'clock, we reluctantly said goodbye to our new friends. Next, we individually spoke to our 5th year Indian contemporaries.  It was eye-opening to compare the vast contrast in the youth culture of India and Ireland.

We were then faced with the daunting experience of riding a public bus amidst the chaotic Kolkata traffic. Needless to say, it was an experience we will never forget, and, despite a few bruises caused by the abrupt stops, we survived unscathed.

We were met by Mother Superior in the Mission of Charity centre in Green Park, about a twenty-five minute bus ride from Dum Dum. We met with different patients who suffered varying levels of mental disability. Some suffered from emotional trauma and others needed constant care and suffered from extreme psychological issues. We all found it very hard to see these grown women suffering and living with conditions such as these. Although we were saddened by this, we also felt grateful that they had a safe and comfortable place to live, as the alternative would be life on the streets.

After our visit in the Mission of Charity centre, we travelled back to Dum Dum. Brother Tino allowed us to distribute food from a soup kitchen that had been set up by the Christian Brothers. This was one of the most uplifting activities of the day.  It gave us a great insight into what life can really be like for many people in Kolkata, many of whom might receive only that one meal of the day. The leader of this outreach programme prepares the food throughout the day and serves it in the evening. He hasn't missed a day since it first opened in 2011. We observed the strong bond he has with the people he serves and the kindness he shows them, from young children to the elderly.

We travelled back to St. Joseph's and finished the evening with a wonderful mini-concert for the brothers, with Katie on the concertina, Rosa with her solo, and the group, with our great selection of Irish songs. We are all looking forward to tomorrow and can't wait for the week ahead of us.

Love from Rosa, Leah, Becca, Katie and Molly xx

Day 3 

A hot day from dawn to dusk. To no surprise, after our first hard days work yesterday, some girls were pronounced dead at the bedside due their failure to react to their blaring alarms. 

Today was Group A's rotation visiting the Mary Rice Centre for intellectually disabled children and St. Mary's School . The journey to Dum Dum, where the school is situated, is an experience in itself. Livestock and rickshaws careening through crowds of people as well as the jam packed Metro ride, where we cram into the designated Ladies Area until we're literally cheek to cheek. 

As actively engaging as teaching in St.George's, the Mary Rice Centre is a very fulfilling place to work in, as the children could otherwise be excluded from their communities due to their disabilities if not for the admirable courage of their parents seeking a future for their children.

Today we (B&C) decided to introduce a small part of our mountain of teaching resources to the students in St. George's. We decided to err on the side of caution and only bring a small amount of very simple worksheets and colours to start with, as not to overwhelm the children. However after lunch we found ourselves scrambling to gather as many colours, bubbles, sheets, and stickers as could fit in our bags. The children were involved in our activities with such enthusiasm that we quickly got through all the lessons we had prepared for the morning. Already this trip has instilled a new level of admiration for our teachers! 

Being Valentine's Day, we thought it would be a nice idea to teach the children about the festival and make Valentine's cards with them. This was one of the most enjoyable activities of the trip so far - no one need worry about us Killiney girls feeling lonely without a Valentine! We all came back to school with arms full of the most gorgeous hand made cards. 

After lunch we were brought to an event called 'One Billion Rising' by St George's students. En route, we experienced the Kolkata metro at rush hour. We were greeted by two little monkeys as we exited the metro station, which made us regret our decision of not receiving the rabies vaccine! Of course, this was just a typical HCK over reaction. This is an international event calling for solidarity with women who are victims of abuse, oppression, rape, and injustice. Students from local schools performed traditional Indian dances inspired by the theme of women's liberation. We were completely taken aback by the talent and grace of the children, many of them from the public free schools. There were also some less impressive karaoke-esque performances of songs like 'Mysterious Girl' and 'Closer ' by Indian 'celebrities'. In typical Killiney fashion we danced along with great gusto, drawing the attention of more than a few spectators. As an example of how energetic the atmosphere was, Sarah "dozed off". We also started a new fashion trend among us as we adopted the bandana as a protective measure for our exposed hair lines from the blazing sun. 

Among the dancers were a group of very proud St. George's students, delighted to perform in front of such a large crowd. Their talents are endless- from their graceful dance moves to their impressive arts and crafts skills. 

We had another amazing but exhausting day and are looking forward to a good nights sleep. 

Sarah Maher, Emily Cullen, Ellen Doherty, India Kelly, Kiara Wigzell (Group C) xoxo

Day 2

Greetings to all our fans! 

Last night was certainly one to remember, between the car horns, the fireworks, the dog barks and not to forget our noisy air conditioning, we were restless. We got up at 6:30am for breakfast to begin at 7am.  We were somewhat apprehensive for the day to begin however we were all excited for our first day.

Group A (Lily, Sarah L, Grainne, Molly and Niamh) and Group B (Leah, Becca, Rosa, Sarah O'D and Katie) spent the day in St. George's school which is the local public school.  We taught 4 different classes, with the children ranging from 6-13 yrs old. We began at 9 o'clock and had two breaks throughout the day.  The minute we saw the children, we knew it would be a great day.  They gave us a warm welcome and couldn't stop smiling.

We didn't use our prepared lesson plans for the day as we were helping the children to prepare for their upcoming exams.  To our surprise, we were all challenged by their English grammar book. Our mass theme, 'In Teaching We Learn and In Learning We Teach' rang particularly true when we discovered the meaning of 'continuous past tense' and 'conjunctions'.  We were gifted with paper oragami birds and hand-drawn pictures.  'Cinderalla', (known as Sarah O' Duffy to some) stole the limelight with her long blonde hair.  She was demanded to make the rounds at almost every group. It was a great start to the teaching in St. George's and we're looking forward to tomorrow. 

Group C spent the day in the Mary Rice Centre, Dum Dum, where they worked one on one with children with intellectual disabilities. They also met the older students from St. George's, studying in Dum Dum, who are completing a state final exam. As the students were the same age as ourselves it gave us an insight into the differences between people so similar but in such different circumstances. 

We also took a trip to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies.  On the walk down we felt like celebrities, with every man, woman and child trying to shake our hand.  It was also shocking to see some of the street sleeping arrangements which is considered the norm in Kolkata.  The sheer number of people is most definitely eye-opening.  The hustle and bustle on the streets is nothing we have ever experienced before in Dublin.  To say it is a challenge to cross the streets without getting hit by two busses, a couple of cars, a motorbike and a rickshaw is an understatement.  Thankfully there have been no accidents... so far!!

Xxxxx

Day 1

After a long day of travelling, we have finally arrived safely.  We almost missed our connecting flight in Dubai to Kolkata but thanks to our great fitness levels, we sprinted through the gate and thanks to our charming smiles we made it.  However, ironically, we needn't have bothered sprinting because our flight was delayed by another hour.  We even managed to take fifteen polaroid photos with the help on the Emirates flight assistants.  

It only took us an hour and a half to get through customs and after that we were well on our way towards St.Georges.  We were met by Brother Tino, who joined in our laughter when we spotted Dominos Pizza and KFC.  We were amazed by the organisation of the chaotic drivers who paid no attention to pedestrians and only cared about getting to their desired designation as quick as possible.  

When we arrived we were slightly dismayed at the prospect of climbing up five flights of stairs with thirty kilogram bags.  Luckily, we were given the opportunity to lie down and rest, which was much needed!

After snacking and napping, we left the school and went for a walk to the nearest supermarket.  We were quite unnerved by the stares we received and also by the strange currency.  The street markets were full of traditional clothes, foods and interesting people.  Our senses were bombarded by the unusual smells and sights.  We found it difficult to catch our bearings as everything was completely new and unlike anything we had ever seen.  

When we arrived back we were greeted by the delicious smells of our dinner- noodles, chips, rice, vegetables and an Indian potato dish.  It was a tasty end to a tiring but satisfying day.  

Love to all our friends and families,

Rosa, Sarah O'D, Katie, Leah and Becca xx