January in Action - Internal E-Bulletin

Welcome to our second ever internal e-bulletinfrom DiA and the first of 2010! We hope everyone had a great Christmas break and is looking forward to all there is to come over the next year. The Committee have already been busy this month planning fundraising events and attending recruitment fairs across the country. There are a lot of exciting things happening to DiA this year so it's great to have this bulletin to share the excitement with all of you!

So, for January, here goes...

News from DiA in the UK

• The Committee recently held its January Committee Meeting at Imperial College London. The focus was on new fundraising ideas and recruitment as the application deadlines for future volunteers are fast approaching.The Committee are planning to hold a 2010 fundraising raffle and are currently sourcing prizes. If you would like to donate anything or have any good contacts with companies that might be able to assist please get in touch! 
• IVC Emma has just flown back out to India to see you 5 month volunteers through to the end of your placements. Whilst in India she'll also be researching and visiting new placements that we hope to launch in 2011; including one in Pune and two in Indore.
• On Saturday 9th January DiA held a debrief for the returned Summer Volunteers. Due to the Committee handover this happened a little later than normal but five out of the seven volunteers were able to attend and it was a big success. As volunteers are such a big part of the organisation it's key to hear your feedback and advice for the future.
• Co-ordinator Kate conducted a training workshop in Cambridge for our new group of UK volunteers. The training enables these volunteers to go on and deliver talks to schools and universities about responsible volunteering and global citizenship.The group is moving from strength to strength and have recently secured further workshops with Engineers without Borders, a Cambridge School’s International Development Day and at a Conflict Resolution Course in London.

Spotlight on India

This month your snippets really highlight just how varied and relevant the work you're all doing is. The spotlight section is great this month so a big thank you to Kate, Ben, Kate, and Ali for your contributions.

• Kate Warburton fills us in on the hazards of volunteering in Pondicherry...
  "Children - the children at the creche in Angalakuppam village may look all cuddly and cute but watch out! The creepy crawlies, which inhabit their hair, unfortunately are not as delightful as I recently found out for myself. Monsoon Madness - As November hit Tamil Nadu so did the rain. The roads turned to rivers and it felt like I should be swimming to work rather than cycling. It's at this point I thought a pair of goggles would have been more useful to bring than sunglasses. The Ants - They can only be described as the worst housemates ever. They eat your food, (and have an amazing ability to burrow through plastic!), definitely don't do the washing up and always invade your personal space. It's a good thing we have Vijay the lizard living with us to help with these unwanted pests."
• Ben Redmond, ASA Bhopal, outlines the highs and lows of fieldwork:
  "All has been going great in Bhopal. Have been churning through data and writing reports after spending a fortnight in the field. The fieldwork itself was challenging due to language barriers, prolonged power cuts, and torrential rain. However, the hospitality of staff members and those I met in the villages more than made up for this. Going for Jalebi in the morning and huddling round Chai stall bonfires late at night made it a great experience."
• Kate Evans, DGS Pune, updates us on what Pune was doing for World Aids Day:
  "World AIDS Day is one of the most important dates for DISHA (Deep Griha's Integrated Services for HIV and AIDS) and for Wake Up Pune which in the fortnight leading up to December 1st held 'Join the Fight Fortnight' where other volunteers and I leafleted the streets of Pune, ran information kiosks in malls, and helped out at fundraising events. The culmination of our efforts came with the World AIDS Day rally attended by over 500 people! Then on 4th December came DISHA's 'Celebration of Life' - a stage show in the Tadiwala Road slum where HIV+ people in the community performed plays, dances, and spoke about their experiences. I was even talked into Bollywood dancing on stage as part of the volunteer dance finale! Overall it's been an exhausting but very rewarding few weeks."
• Ali Berks, Seva Mandir Udaipur, discusses the challenges of training both youths and trainers themselves:
  "I have now held 4 training sessions in Seva Mandir's Youth Resource Centres. We've had a great turnout from the youths and have been discussing how boys and girls are treated differently, child marriage, STDs, HIV/AIDs, hygiene, and women's reproductive health. Whilst there we've found that the Youth Volunteers running the centres need further training as they lack the skills needed to lead effective discussions, challenge youths to question and analyse information, as well as knowing how to encourage youths to talk about sensitive issues. Alongside this there have been some rewarding highlights. At the start of a mixed session the girls were so shy they could barely tell us their names but half way through, after a game of 'Cat and Mouse', the girls started to enjoy themselves and it was fantastic to see one of them reach over and snatch some picture cards from the boys' hands! I have 2 more training sessions remaining and my task is to analyse feedback data and plan a training session for the Youth Volunteers in January."

The Wider World

• News that affects all of you current volunteers is that India has tightened its rules for long-term tourist visas meaning you can no longer return within two months of leaving; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8427798.stm. The decision comes after the arrest of a US man charged in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks. David Headley, a Pakistani American, is said to have travelled to India several times last year to help identify targets for the attacks. Visit the FCO website for more information.

Cultural India

• January in India means the annual Gujarat Kite Festival! The festival, Uttarayan, marks the day in the Hindu calendar when winter turns to summer and the gods, who hibernate throughout winter, awake. On the 14th January every year all normal activity is suspended as people take to the rooftops to fly kites of all shapes and sizes in competition with their neighbours.
• Here's a link to a great website that tells you about all of the festivals happening across India each month; one to remember when planning your travels... http://goindia.about.com/od/indiabymonth/tp/india-in-january.htm
  

That's all from us this month, have a great January and we'll be back with more news in February. If you want to be part of next month's bulletin or just have a photo or two to share then contact Anna on secretary@developmentinaction.org

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