Namaste
Posted February 4, 2013. 8 Comments
Namaste! My name is Sam and I am delighted to introduce myself as part of the Educate for Life team. I have long been interested in social justice and development work and after spending 6 years studying (B.A. in Spanish and Sociology, M.A. in Gender, Development and Rights) I thought that it was about time I put it into practice! I must also, at this point, say thank-you to my two great girls who have encouraged me on this journey.
I have not yet arrived in Bakhel but I will be working closely with the women’s groups there where I aim to raise awareness of their rights and entitlements in relation to maternal healthcare. Liaising with government officials and service providers will also be a significant part of my work. Hopefully we can then begin to understand and address the issues that affect women’s ability to access maternal health services.
I arrived in India almost 3 weeks ago from the small island of Ireland. It is my first time in India and what an experience it has been so far! India is chaotic, crazy, noisy, dirty, colourful, intriguing, special and amazing! After spending 2 nights in Delhi I arrived in the wonderful city of Udaipur which is about 140 Km from Bakhel. I am based here for about a month while I take on the challenging task of learning as much Hindi as I can in a very short space of time! I have been taking lessons with a guy called Aditya, 2 hours a day Monday-Friday. I also try and speak to the locals every day and I am certainly making a little progress. It’s not easy though!
Nonetheless, it’s important that I can communicate to some extent with the women and my work colleagues so I will continue to try my best.
I’m so excited to go to Bakhel and meet the people who live there. It will be about another 2 weeks before I do so and I will be sure to update you then on how things are going. Until then……….
February 4th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
Well done Sam! Great to hear all the news and look forward to lots more – its truly inspirational.
February 4th, 2013 at 7:17 pm
Hi Sam
Very fluent and eloquent blog,great reading and cant wait for the next episode!You are very brave and an example to us all.It has been very wet and windy here for as long as i can remember(probarly not long then!) and the surf has been blown out for my ability for weeks!All very well apart from Anne who is on the second day of a hangover and the cat who thinks she is a human.
Loads of love,Tim and anne.
February 4th, 2013 at 8:36 pm
Well done Sam. I’m sure all your efforts on the Hindi front will come to fruition when you benefit from better communication with Vishnu Priya and Kanku bai.
February 5th, 2013 at 9:35 am
Sam Hi what a lovely read this morning while having brekki and coffee in the SNOW!!! Must light a fire today for your plants.
Avril was asking for you, only yesterday and all the news I could give was ‘she is learning Hindi’ so it”s great to hear your chirpyness throughout the blog and it’s so true that you will give it your best shot.
Looking forward to your next blogg, Oh and the site looks great, going to have a dread of it now! Best wishes….x
Keep well and happy and I look forward to reading your next blogg
February 5th, 2013 at 2:29 pm
fabulous stuff, What an adventure. Fair play to you! It looks a very interesting project.
All the best and I look forward to following your progress
Cheers
Rob x
February 5th, 2013 at 3:26 pm
You have two very proud daughters thinking of you back home mumzy….keep up the good work and remember to always cling on tight when you are wizzzing around on crazy moterbikes lol!! india is lucky to have you…looking forward to next blog. Love you so much xx
February 16th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Hi Sam,This blog is a great insight to what you are doing and seeing. You will be heading to the village soon, so all the best…enjoy. Shona x
February 16th, 2013 at 5:18 pm
hi sam!
great to read your blog and keep in touch with you. just been riding in the wind and rain…….loads of love from clare x