Projects Abroad India had their Diwali celebrations at the Vallalar Illam in Srivilliputhur. Diwali is the most important holiday for millions of Indians. The festival been referred as the Festival of Lights during which oil lamps are placed in houses and streets to honour Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and beauty. Actual day of celebration falls on 26^th of October 2011 since most of our staff won’t be available on that particular day, we had the celebrations four days ahead with the Children.

On 22^nd October 2011, about 31 volunteers from Projects Abroad arrived at the orphanage to be greeted by 70 children who marched to the entrance of the gate. A boy banged on the drums to welcome them. All the volunteers and Projects Abroad staff were given a lime as a symbol of welcome and a Kumkum (red paste mixed with sandalwood) to put on their foreheads.

Rose Yelland from the UK office of Projects Abroad was there to join in the festivities.  She had the pleasure of cutting a ribbon to open a newly built kitchen at Vallalar Illam.

After the welcoming march by the kids, they brought us to their Prayer Hall to commence their daily prayers as a symbol of starting the day. And then the children performed Yoga positions before the staff and the volunteers which was an wonderful moment to be recorded.

Then we headed on to the real celebrations by planting tree saplings to the field which they have asked for. And then we started to organise few games for the Children. We organised nearly four games for the children.

During lunch time, Volunteers were asked to serve for the Children. And the food was absolutely delicious. Then in the evening time, we had some fire crackers infront of the kids and the volunteers. The kids loved that and was shouting because of joy. After the crackers we left Vallalar Illam by thanking the placement and donating £100 to Vallalar Illam . All the volunteers and the staff enjoyed the day so much.

The children at Vallalar Illam were asking us when we will be back again there. So we are sure that the children also enjoyed the day so much!

We had a wonderful feedback from Our administration staff -  Mrs Rose Yelland and here is it “Brilliant day, Seeing the children so happy and excited makes me realise just how worthwhile these projects are”

Projects Abroad India wishes everyone a great and blasting Diwali 2011!

Contributed by Nadia Chellam | India Social Manager

When I was asked to do a workshop on journalism and creative writing for students, I didn’t doubt for a second. In my own country, I’m a primary school teacher and I study journalism, so the combination of teaching and journalism sounded very appealing to me.

Three students, just a few years younger than me, were waiting for us in the room. Some volunteers came along to the workshop because we were going to an interview afterwards. Later on, two female students joined us. So in total, 5 people attended the workshop. My workshop was a combination of creative writing and journalism, all revolving around the subject, ‘The future’. I didn’t know what these students did and didn’t know, which made it difficult to estimate what information was new for them and what was not.

I started with a story about a girl who accidentally ended up in the future, in the year 2021. The story had no ending. She walked outside and saw how everything in her street had changed. I let the students fill in what had changed. They had to use their imagination, their creativity. Luckily, they did. They came up with a lot of answers, like aliens, flying cars, no more trees, no more fuel, big skyscrapers et cetera. The students were warmed up for storytelling and creative writing now.

Referring to the story, I asked them what they thought the qualities of a good story were. A lot of good answers came out; they really thought about it and named examples like the element of surprise, creativity, realistic dialogues, personality and other similar aspects.

Referring to the future, I asked if the students wanted to be a journalist or writer when they were older. Most of them wanted to do another profession, but wanted to include writing in their profession or everyday live. So we talked about the qualities of a journalist, like honesty, criticism, general knowledge and language skills.

We also talked about the profession of journalism in the future, and if they thought the profession would change. They were aware of the fact that newspapers and magazines are disappearing, and journalism was rising on the internet. Most interesting was to hear that their opinions on this differed. One said he liked the development, while the others preferred to feel the newspaper in his hands when he was reading it.

Now the students knew the qualities of a good story and we spoke a lot about the future. They had to go to the future and see themselves 10 years from now. What where they doing? What did their world look like? Who were they living with?

It was very interesting to hear what stories the students came up with. Some stories predicted a negative future, while the others described a perfect world with peace and love everywhere. The students showed their creativity and writing skills, making beautiful sentences, using beautiful words and making up beautiful details. 

The students and the other volunteers were positive about the workshop, and told me they enjoyed it. I myself enjoyed it very much, to listen to the creative and interesting inputs of Indian students. It was very inspiring.

Contributed by Ms Lisetta Wouters | Journalism

I was overwhelmed to partake in the Voices of the World workshop at the American College, Madurai, as I have always believed that organizations such as these have the potential to really move the society forward. Three students attended the workshop, in which we discussed the future of journalism and specifically, how it is becoming more and more intertwined with Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogging.

I briefed the students about how these tools have been used in the revolutions around the world, specifically in Tahrir Square, Cairo. This was exciting for me as it is social media combined with the aspiration of young journalists that has and will play a huge role in social change.

At the beginning of the workshop however, I must admit that I was slightly taken back by the fact that none of them had a Facebook account, and only one knew about twitter and blogging. I explained how Facebook, Twitter and Blogging work, and then moved on to talk about how they are now being used, to bring people together for social movements. We also discussed how major news corporations are using them to get opinions on articles, and how freelance journalists are able to broadcast their stories, as well as get to the core of social issues by intercepting posts from people in the midst of social movements.

After this, I quizzed the participants on whether or not they thought this was a good change, and where they see it going in the future. I must admit, I did not get the answers I expected. One of the participants gave a very intelligent answer by looking at the opposite side to the obvious benefits, and that was the reliability of this new method of journalism, and people abusing it for their own agendas. The other two were slightly reserved at first, but then gave very interesting points about how, even though there are obvious downsides, it was still a tool that could get the voices of regular people into headlining articles and spread influential messages across the world.

When the discussion was over, we told the students to write an article about their thoughts of this media revolution, it’s merits and demerits and where it will take Journalism in the future. I was pleased at how attentive the students were and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I look forward to working with them again which, I expect will be soon.

Contributed by Adam Al Ghafri | Journalism

The Voices of the World workshop started blooming in recent days. And recently, Projects Abroad India is concentrating to bring our workshops reachable to the College students in Madurai.

And we approached the students of American College which is based in Madurai for the Workshop.The students turned up really well and we started to conduct workshops two-weeks ago.

The first ever Voices of the World workshop was lead by the volunteer - Ms Lisetta WOUTERS.She did really well and made the participants to think about India in 2021.We got many innovative stories during the workshop. And the students were happy and informed us these kind of workshops will enrich their Journalism career. Also  requested us to continue organising the Workshop in their college.During the next week, we received articles from the students as well.

Last Week, the second Workshop been held at the American College which was been lead by the volunteer - Mr Adam Al Ghafri under rge title - Is Social Media an advantage or disadvantage to the Journalist?. The workshop went on really well and again we got some good stories from the Students.

Projects Abroad India submits their sincere thanks to the volunteers and the students of American College for their continued support for the Voices of teh Worls initiative.

Contributed by Nadia Chellam - India Social Manager

Model Farm volunteers were taken for a School visit to Holy Cross Convent at Batlagundu.This week, volunteers explained the students about the environment. Also the volunteers taught the students to go for the natural items which can be consumed as Snacks instead going to preservatives.

Also the students were encouraged to write about their opinion as an essay. Also it was announced that, the best essay will be rewarded with the gifts.

We got many good essays and this helps the students to bring out their imaginative power.

Contributed by Nadia Chellam - India Social Manager

Deepavali or Diwali is a festival of lights symbolizing the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness.  The word “Deepavali” refers to rows of diyas, or clay lamps. This is one of the most popular festivals in the Hindu calendar. It is celebrated on the 15th day of Kartika, according to the Hindu calendar. And this year, the festival falls on 26^th of October. The festival commemorates Lord Ram’s return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile. The myths around Rama and Ravana are told during another holiday, known as Dussehra or Vijaya Dashami.

Many people decorate their home and workplaces with tiny electric lights or small clay oil lamps. Bowls of water with candles and flowers floating on the surface are also popular decorations.

Many people make a special effort to clean their homes and yards before Diwali. They may also wash themselves with water and fragrant oils, wear new clothes and give gifts of sweets to family members, close friends and business associates. Fireworks are set off in the evening in some areas. Melas (fairs) are held in many towns and villages.

People in different regions in India may celebrate Diwali on various dates. This is because traditional lunar calendars can be interpreted in different ways.

Contributed by Nadia Chellam - India Social Manager

Last week, Model farm volunteers combined with the veterinary volunteers and made the Masala Ball day as a great successful one.

Masala Ball is a ball made up of herbs and spices. The herbs and spices were grinded and made to a paste.From the paste, the masala balls will be made. When cattle consumes these balls, they yield better quantity of milk and also good for their digestion.

Actually when we purchased these masala balls for the cows in our Model Farm, it costs 150 rupees for 1 cow. Probably this amount cannot be afforded by the local village people since they are very poor.

So Our conservation Program Manager suggested in organising the Masala Ball campaign in the village of Chinnupatti.Hence fingers were crossed for the activity day.

The day was scheduled on 27th of September 2011. The previous day volunteers grinded the herbs and spices with the traditional grinding apparatus(which is actually a very tough work). On the particular day, four volunteers participated for the day. And we(volunteers and staff) went for each and every house in the villages namely Chinnupatti and Rettiyarpatti, and helped them in feeding the masala balls to their cattle.

All the chickens, cows and goats got benefitted by the camp. And we finished the camp by the Breakfast time.The day was really good and all the volunteers enjoyed it so much!

Contributed by Nadia Chellam - India Social Manager