Hey everyone hope you are enjoying the spring or autumn, where ever you are.
Alot has happened since the last post and the weeks have gone really quick, it's hard to believe i've been over here for more then a month, i'm over 1/5 through my time here.
I don't know if i've written this somewhere else, but I'm involved in a student community service group called D.O.S.T. One of the projects we are doing is supporting a village called "Dunda". You might have seen on the news a couple of years ago, that there were incredibly bad floods in northern India, the event was called a cloud burst, it's basically where a incredible amount of rain appears in a super short period of time. This cloud burst really affected the Dunda village because it lies in the bottom of the valley. The village had really sophisticated irrigation systems that made the land very fertile, but since the cloud burst, there had been landslides that completely destroyed the irrigation system. This ruined all of the crops and made the land really hard to grow on, This severely affected the village's food supply and there source of income. The landslides also ruined parts of the village, most importantly the school.
So we went to the village on thursday and had a talk to the residence about what they wanted to see in the village and what there priorities are, because there priorities are our priorities. They said they really wanted to have a new school and a community centre for meetings (We were having this meeting on someone's verandah) so we took down that information and were gonna see what we can do for them.
Alot has happened since the last post and the weeks have gone really quick, it's hard to believe i've been over here for more then a month, i'm over 1/5 through my time here.
I don't know if i've written this somewhere else, but I'm involved in a student community service group called D.O.S.T. One of the projects we are doing is supporting a village called "Dunda". You might have seen on the news a couple of years ago, that there were incredibly bad floods in northern India, the event was called a cloud burst, it's basically where a incredible amount of rain appears in a super short period of time. This cloud burst really affected the Dunda village because it lies in the bottom of the valley. The village had really sophisticated irrigation systems that made the land very fertile, but since the cloud burst, there had been landslides that completely destroyed the irrigation system. This ruined all of the crops and made the land really hard to grow on, This severely affected the village's food supply and there source of income. The landslides also ruined parts of the village, most importantly the school.
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| The remains of the irrigation system |
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| Half the school building (They still use it) |
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| One of the many landslides |
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| #roadsidesnaps |
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| The view from the village, it's quite beautiful |
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| The D.O.S.T Team, minus a few other students
On saturday I went on my second hike, this time to Benog Tibba, It was roughly 35km and took us from 8:30am to 5:30pm. It was probably the furthest i've ever walked in a single day, and I really felt it afterwards. The hike started from school and we walked through the Bazar and around the back of the mountain and then up it. It was such a beautiful hike, but it wasn't the best day for it because it was pretty foggy at some moments. Here is a link to a Flickr album with the best photo's from it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/127409953@N02/sets/72157647104174955/
If you don't have time to see the album, here's a cute puppy we found on the side of the road to cheer you up from your busy day. |
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| He was alive if you were wondering.
On that same Saturday the legendary Hugh Evans was visiting the school, for those who don't know, Hugh attended the same primary school and secondary school as me, as well as going on the Woodstock exchange from Carey, which I am on now. Hugh Evans co founded the Oaktree foundation and is the CEO of the "Global Poverty Project" an organisation that aims to end severe poverty in our life time. Hugh is a big inspiration for me and is one of the main reasons I chose to go on this exchange in the first place. So when I heard he was coming to Woodstock I was really excited to meet him. He was scheduled to have a afternoon tea with students at 3 and my hike was supposed to arrive back at 3, so i went on the hike, thinking i'd meet Hugh after it. But unfortunately the hike went until 5:30. I got to school and frantically looked around for any sign of him but I couldn't find him. I was severely bummed about not meeting him, but I guess things like that you can't really control.
I'd like to end this blog with some words from the bible that have really helped me through my time here, and I hope it can have some sort of significance in your life. This verse for me solidifies the fact that everything happens for a reason, and that God knows what is best for us, contrary to what we think is best for us. "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" Jeremiah 33:3
Stay well,
Lachy Wild |
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