Who's using who? What should we do? Well, you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too.

PAR

The second week of March was the annual Program Area Review for VSO. It was held in Puri, a touristy beach town that is about 50k from Bhubaneswar. This meant that ALL the VSO volunteers from across the country came to talk about the future of VSO (at least for the next few years). The days were filled with meetings which entailed power point presentations, brainstorming and role playing. Nights were filled with fun mischief. It was nice to meet up with old friends and greet the batch of new volunteers that had arrived just days before. There was much time spent swimming, drinking, playing music and eating. Memorable highlights were the magician, Marco-Polo (poor Tim (a new vol) just couldn't catch anyone!) and a combo game of spin the bottle/truth or dare. The one down side to the time spent in Puri was the food poisoning... about 15 volunteers (OF COURSE including the VEGAN!) got pretty ill.


Paul and Mark jamming.


Oryian dance show.

Weather

It's getting hot and hazy here in Bhubaneswar. For instance, there is a high of 44 today. It is a bit of a struggle. I mean, I am alright with limited exposures... even a few hours out in the middle of the day is fine as long as I get back to my AC'd room. I'm so glad that I was able to purchase one... it is a real luxury item but I'm pretty sure I would be miserable with out it. Work is becoming difficult due to the heat as well. I really start to feel it around 2pm and want to go home. The two ceiling fans in my office just don't cut it so I have been working from home about 1-2 days a week lately. Also with the approach of summer there are regulated power cuts to save energy. Like clockwork the power in my half of the city goes out at 5pm and comes back on at 6pm. (I've heard the other side is cut from 4-5...)

Check out the graph!

Let's take a walk: tidbit of everyday life

It was suggested in a media presentation at PAR to try and capture moments of everyday life to share. I decided to video my walk to the gym. Enjoy!
(I'll try to include these tidbits more often)



Song from title: Icky Thump by The White Stripes

If you're drowning you don't clutch no straw.

OAB Update

Late in February the OAB lost one of its members. At the age of twenty-four Amrendra Prasad died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. He was an active member of the OAB who helped organise workshops and conferences. I had only met him a few times but I remember him as motivated and positive. Members of the OAB consider each other family and it was tough to see so many of my colleagues and friends grieving. Prasad's body was even brought to the office/hostel on the day of his death so that all had a chance to say goodbye. This entailed lining up and placing flower garlands around his neck. While the loss is very sad it allowed me to see just how connected everyone at the OAB is to one another. Prasad will be missed.


Body wrapped in flowers.


Memorial ceremony.

My work has been going well. I was asked to make a report about my contributions so far and I thought it necessary to also comment on the things that I have planned to achieve. I feel that this is helping to focus my role. My boss was impressed at some of the things outside the scope of my placement objectives that I would like to change. Waste management being one of them. I am finished scripting my database and now I am moving on to writing a web application. This web application has to be accessible for those who are completely blind. I've been researching and I have a plan but any resources or tips from developers out there would be much appreciated.

Holi

March first was the Hindu festival of colours called Holi. To celebrate people take to the streets armed with coloured powders and water. The morning is spent adorning everyone in sight with the colours either by rubbing it on faces or shooting it from guns. I spent Holi on the beach in Puri with great company and we had a blast decorating each other.

Holi Wikipedia


Holi ammunition.


Getting hit.


Holi posse.

Cautionary Tale

Late in the afternoon on Holi I left my friends at the hotel to have a short swim at the beach. I knew that going solo would entail answering lots of questions from locals about where I'm from and what I am doing in India. I actually was having a nice time chatting with some people I met out in the waves. After I had moved on and was enjoying the water a man stalked me and when I wasn't paying attention he waited for a large wave and then dove at me. He was hugging my waste as I was recovering from the wave. I reacted quickly by standing up, swinging him around, and socking him one on his jaw. I was yelling and causing a scene as he stood there looking shocked. I felt provoked and it put me in self defense mode. I'm fine and luckily nothing else happened afterward. I left the beach shortly after the incident. This is the sort of thing that can happen anywhere and I thought it would be wise to tell of my encounter to remind other volunteers and people in general to always be aware of their surroundings.

Song from title: Lazy by Deep Purple

This is one for the good days and I have it all here in red, blue, green.

Delhi Trip

I came to New Delhi on the 14th of February to participate in the PAR (Program Area Review) planning meeting for Disability. My roommate Jen accompanied me and we went to work hard all day and shop hard all evening. Woohooo for Sarojini Market!


Sarojini Market.

We also had a very productive time at the VSO office. We will be helping facilitate the meeting in Puri next month. The meeting will help flesh out the general direction of development projects for VSO over the next few years. Very exciting!

Wedding Season

OK, so the winter months are the wedding months. I've heard it is because the weather is comfortable enough to celebrate properly... otherwise it is way too hot. I have been seeing wedding parades almost daily since my arrival. Weddings entail loud music, tonnes of guests, mountains of great food, intense dancing and fireworks. They really know how to party here.


Bride and groom at a wedding I was randomly invited to near the OAB.


Reception with lots of great food.


Parade!

Song from title: Videotape by Radiohead

Our robot masters will know how to clean this mess up and build a better world.

Tribal Fair

I had the opportunity to attend a tribal fair and it was really interesting. There was much to do and see about the day to day living of people in rural areas. I enjoyed dances, sand sculptures, paintings and many pickle chutneys. Mmmmm.


Tribal dancing.


Figures depicting cultivation.


Giant sand sculpture.

Life Gym

I joined a gym that is very close to my home. I can walk there in under 5 mins. I have been going regularly for the past month and I am quite pleased with the facilities. I thought that I wouldn't be able to exercise in this capacity in India and I am happy that I can stay fit. I have been having some trouble with the dress code. I was told that tanks and shorts are not allowed. BUT I have seen many men wearing tanks so I asked why this rule only seems to apply to me. They could give me no reasonable answer so I informed them that when they enforce the dress code for the men that I will comply. I've been wearing tanks since and I have had no problems from management or other members in the gym. It is hot as hell in there!


Check out the sexy posters that cover my gym.
AHHHHHHH!.
Make your babies run abnormally fast!.

OAB Update

Work is still slow going. I finally got an internet connection at my desk. This is because I went out one day while frustrated and bought a wireless router and set it up myself. I am currently waiting for reimbursement for my purchase from the OAB. I still have to sit down with the secretary and flesh out the details of the web application that I would like me to write. I have started scripting the database side of it... because it seems straightforward.

All I want is to get my Secretary alone for twenty minutes without the interruption of phone calls or others dropping in. So far I have yet to do this. Like I say every week, "maybe this week". Despite not getting alone time with the big cheese the OAB keeps me busy. I have been helping teach the functions of Zoom-Ex/Office to staff so that they can scan books and convert them to audio or printable Braille format. I have also been teaching the computer instructor more functions in Access. As well, I have been helping with general computer inquiries from administrative staff.

Here's some faces from work... "Madam likes to take snaps".





Song from title: Citizens Of Tomorrow by Tokyo Police Club

In space two receivers turn away.

Puja Time

January 20th was the puja for Saraswati, the god of learning and wisdom. I spent the day at the office although little work was done. I accompanied my counterpart to the "receiving" part of the ceremony. Basically this involved food offerings and a blessing. I was anointed with a red mark on my forehead and clavicle. Hindus believe these marks represent the essence of the god within you, meaning that she would be in my thoughts and in my words for the rest of the day. After the markings I was presented with a candle tree where, after watching everyone else, I swept my hands over the flame and brought the heat over the top of my head. I'm pretty sure this signifies the receiving of the god. Afterward I was given flower petals which I threw at the statue of the deity.

(picture to come soon of me with the red dots... currently on the roommate's lent out camera)

Pushin' in at the bank

I went to the bank and the line ups were utter chaos. I was with an employee from the OAB who volunteered to stand in line for me while I waited. Good thing because I don't think I have what it takes to get to the front of the line. The lines were long and loud and when a new window opened up it caused a stampede of men. Insane! I did not see a women in the 60 or so people.

All Orissa Student Union of the Visually Impaired

On Saturday the 23rd I accompanied the OAB to the 4th annual function of the All Orissa Student Union of the Visually Impaired. This event was held in Cuttack at Orissa's oldest university, Revenesha University. My role was to show the honoured guests how to use a piece of hardware and accompanying software called Zoom-Ex/Office. This system can take any printed material like a book, magazine or prescription bottle and scan it into the computer allowing for text to speech and magnification functions. My small presentation was well received and hopefully it will lead to a workshop at the OAB for members of the different universities to come and learn how to use this system first hand.


The line of presentations of visually impaired technology. You can see Samad giving a JAWS demonstration.


OAB members interviewing about the conference.

Republic Day

Tuesday January 26th was India's 61st anniversary as a country free from British rule. There was a flag hoisting ceremony at work that I missed because I like sleeping. It seems that when there is a holiday people show up to the office around 7 or 8 … far from the normal time of 10. I did however capture a few shots of the flag and the blessing powder surrounding it. I basically went into the office, greeted my co-workers, ate and then had the rest of the day off. I don't think that I have worked a full week in the 7 weeks that I have been at the OAB.


Flag.


Blessing powder.

Song from title: Two Receivers by Klaxons

That far off feeling. That up close kind of ache. Some white screen reason to look the other way.

Inside the Government

OK, so I am starting this blog post from within the Orissa State building. My secretary has abandoned me to represent the Organisation in a meeting about the rehabilitation scheme that I wrote.... I was not aware that I would be the one proposing it to the government... without anyone else from the OAB! I am in a room with mostly men... about 15 of them and one other woman. The meeting was to start at 3pm … we showed up at 3:10pm to an empty room.


Scary government building.

It is now 3:46pm... still not started. I had no idea that I would be doing this upon arriving at the office this morning. Also, everyone in the room is casually chatting, in Oriya, and none of them have made an effort to say hello to me... hence the blogging. Oh and about 15 mins ago a man handed me a sheet to “sign in”... after I wrote the details like my name and organisation, he took it over to his seat and read it with his neighbour for about 5 mins before actually passing it along. He could have just asked me what the heck I was doing here.

After all was said and done there was not much to report about the meeting. It was more of an open discussion about a power point presentation they gave. The presentation was in English and the discussion was about 50/50 of English and Oriya. They presented a draft of ideas for the rehabilitation scheme and the NGO representatives were there to critique them. I did my best to pipe up and make sure the vision impaired are included in the scheme but it was hard. There were multiple conversations happening at once and they all seemed to talk over each other... not like any meeting I have had in Canada.


Feeling better on the lawn outside, after the whole ordeal.

OAB week 3 and 4

The last couple weeks at work have been a little slower. I have done some training with Samad on how to write queries in access and I am still attempting to find a suitable and free email client for someone who is 100% blind. I was disappointed to learn that gmail is not very accessible. I have also started to download books for the OAB from free online sources and I will be printing them in Braille for the library here. As for work that is about it. I finally got the chance to sit down and talk to the secretary this week about starting to clean up the computers in the lab and begin designing the job matching software that they need. Exciting!

Cave Exploration

Jenissa, Lucy and I took a trip to the Khandagiri Caves which is the site one of many temples here in Bhubaneswar. These caves were carved into the side of a hill and lead up to a temple. It was nice to do something that was equivalent to hiking back in Canada. The only downside being the garbage everywhere. We did take a wrong turn and exited the grounds via a construction site with a helpful man who let us pass through.


Ahhhhhhh! Face rock!


Jen(my roommate) and I posing at the caves.

Happy Birthday Louis Braille

It was the 201st birthday anniversary of Louis Braille on January 4th. The OAB had prepared a remembrance and celebration ceremony that night. Again, I got to light candles for the puja and was presented with flowers. Most of the speeches were in Oriya so I tried hard to listen for words that I knew and just clapped when everyone else clapped. The OAB was presented with some materials for learning by one of the Orissa state ministers that I had a chance to sit down and speak with for a little while. He told me that Canada has one of the best (if not the best) democratic system in the world. He seemed to have nothing but good things to say to me about my country and he was very eager to do so.


Louis Braille puja table.


OAB members making music.


Receiving stereos.

KISS Sports Awards Ceremony and Cocktail Dinner

A simple request to grab a drink on the weekend turned into an unexpected series of events. I had asked my friend Vicky if he wanted to meet some of the other volunteers in the area over drinks this weekend and he invited us all to a cocktail dinner at the Mayfair in honour of some university students from England.

That afternoon we also went to KISS (the tribal school) for a sports award ceremony. Little did we know that we would be as involved in the ceremony as we were. On the way in we walked past a massive field filled with children waiting for the ceremony to start. As we raised our cameras to take a few pictures ALL the children started to wave at us. It was a wonderful greeting by the 1500 or so kids. We were sat on stage with the esteemed guests and we were presented with garlands and a gift of a painting made by the students. We were acknowledged in the greetings and the closing words. After the awards were handed out we were etertained by songs, dance, yoga, and gymnastics.


Clapping students.


Sitting on stage with all the other esteemed guests!


Crazy kid pyramid.

Afterward, we went home to get ready for the dinner... which was easy since Vicky lent us his fancy car and driver for the afternoon and evening. How generous! The dinner was wonderful... it was nice to enjoy a cocktail with food and not have it seem out of place. We got the chance to meet the British High Commissioner who was surprisingly easy to get on with... I was the only person who's country he didn't poke fun at. Go Canada!

Song from title: Map of the World by Monsters Of Folk

Oh the weather outside is frightful.

Christmas at the Mayfair Lagoon

Two other volunteers (Jennifer and Lucy) and I stayed at the wonderful Mayfair Lagoon for the nights of the 24th and 25th. We dined on fancy food and lots of it! On Saturday we all had booked spa treatments to help distract us from being so far away from our families on Christmas day. I had a pedicure and a very interesting massage.... I left that massage feeling tenderized (that tiny Indian woman had fists of steel) and slightly sexually assaulted... ask me for the details if you want them. Haha. I swam on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day... in the mermaid pool! Santa greeted me at the pool and presented me with a mint. I was really hoping for a candy cane but it did the job.


My feet and the mermaid pool.


I want to be where the people are...


Best Christmas gift ever: (lyrics below)

Oh AnnMarie

[chorus]
oh annmarie, you are the one i'm dreaming of,
though you're far away today, there is no other that i love.

oh annmarie (oh annmarie), it is to you i sing this song,
though you've travelled off to india and took my heart along.

[verse]
the days are long, the nights are cold, my love is far away.
but i'll stare down all this lonesome time, and to the hours i'll say:

through tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow for a year,
i'll be waiting back in canada, and loving you from here.

[chorus]

[verse]
oh you've gone to teach the blind folk how to use computers well,
and you'll write petitions, man, you'll give their government some hell!

and you never give up hope through all the trials that you face
you're an inspiration, darling, to the human raaaaace,

[chorus]

We had Christmas dinner at the Chinese\Thai restaurant and we ordered a bottle of sparkling wine. It was the first time that I have ever spent Christmas outside of my parent's house. While I still would have rather been home I had a good time and skyped with my whole family for a couple hours that night.


Christmas dinner. (clockwise: Me, Prangya (my colleague at the OAB), Evans (VSO), Jennifer (VSO), Lucy (VSO))


Perhaps after the wine?

Christmas night while at the bar we were approached by another foreigner, Daniel, he was claiming to have not seen foreigners in Bhubaneswar even though he had been here for two months. It turns out that he is also involved in development work and is volunteering for a tribal school called KISS which takes the poorest of the poor tribal children and educates, feeds, dresses and houses them for free. He introduced us to his Indian counterpart Vicky who is currently a UN employee. Vicky invited us to tour the tribal school and it's sister university KIIT (which I believe supplies the funding for KISS). It was a great opportunity so we accepted and went to see what they do. All the kids were curious about us as we walked the campus. Many of them gladly smiled for photos. Vicky was interested in becoming professionally involved with VSO India and hopes to be a partner eventually employing VSO'ers in the school. We are putting him in contact with the VSO India head office.


KISS students smiling for the camera.


KISS students cooking their dinner.

Happy New Year

Just want to wish all of you out there a grand welcome to 2010. The volunteers had a small party at my place (beach plans fell through). We spent the night eating, drinking and watching the blue moon lunar eclipse. Sorry you had to miss it Canada, it was the middle of the day for you but it was not a full eclipse and was only interesting because of how rare it is. We cooked naan, pakoras, stirfry, salad, hummus, and I managed to bake an awesome banana bread for the occasion. I baked without any measuring equipment, half of the ingredients missing and in a baker that has a dial but no temperature indicators. It turned out surprisingly well, everyone loved it. Everyone was stuffed... we were eating leftovers for a couple days.


Yeah, I'm that proud.


For those of you that missed it. (Photo from http://newshopper.sulekha.com/philippines-new-year-lunar-eclipse_photo_1107776.htm_)

Puri

I finally got the chance to visit Puri, a small seaside town about an hour and a half bus ride away. (60k, I think) I went with Lucy (as she lives there) and Jen, the same vols from Christmas. We spent our time there eating at a diner on the beach and shopping in the touristy shops. Puri has a vast beach and I was able to wade in the warm waters at sunset. It was quite beautiful... too bad that the sand is covered in garbage.... as is everywhere in India. I think I will be heading back there despite the garbage for some swimming... fully clothed swimming of course but it will be nice when the 50 degree weather hits.


I'm standing in the Bay of Bengal.


Puri sunset.

Song from title: Let It Snow by... everyone?