What has happened since last time I wrote a blog post? I saw yet another birth, a girl. Meredith, Sophie and I were allowed to show the mother her baby. Meredith carried the little baby and it was so good to see the expression on the mom's face when she saw her baby for the first time. Meredith left on Saturday, home sweet home for her. If you define sweetness you get Meredith. Anyway, now it is only me and Sophie in the house. Atchi has been gone for a few days and it is a bit scary being home alone. It is strange and a bit funny how much comfort it is having atchi around, even though she is 70-something and almost deaf. ;)

On Sunday we went to an orphanage and painted the walls in a hall. Then we painted the walls in the hallway. Afterwards we decorated the walls with loads of colors. Was loads of fun, had paint from head to toe, and there were children everywhere.

I've had a bit of the blues, feeling homesick. Oh well, it was bound to happen. Nothing a movienight, a candy bar or a phonecall can not cure :) It is strange what you find comfort in. On the way to work I pass several shops. One of them have a candybar called Lotte Choco Pie. Little princess Lotte in Netherlands and syrran Lotte <3 Yesterday I was sick so I decided to watch National Treasure. That movie reminds me of a comfy sofa, a cup of tea, heaps of candy and the ever so charming Miriam.

I'm off again. Will update when I can :)

I took part in the journalism placement at the Madurai Messenger magazine in July 2011 for one month. The best part of this placement was that I was completely thrown in at the deep end! I was asked to do the cover story, and with only a little journalistic experience to my name, it was quite daunting at first. However, as my stay was a relatively short one this allowed me to get the most out of my placement and I appreciate a good challenge! I learnt many new skills that I know will be useful in the future. As well as improving my general communication skills, interviews were a great help to me as I need them for my university dissertation next year! Interviewing also gave me the opportunity to meet new people, unearth amazing aspects of their life and explore small, rural villages that I would never have seen otherwise. For example, whilst accompanying another volunteer to an interview, we met a woman who was a pioneering and influential figure in the field of Indian medicine and constructed a programme to give rural children adequate healthcare. I also developed skills I didn’t think I would be good at, such as photography and creating titles, photo-captions and lead-ins to articles!

It is hard to find the words to sum up my first impressions of India – chaotic, intoxicating, enriching and sensuous are to name but a few. Amid the hustle bustle of the streets, and the many stares you get as a foreigner, I found there to be a peaceful slowness to the Indian people. At times this can be frustrating as we are used to working strictly by the clock in the West, but I soon adapted to the so-called ‘Indian Time’, and I soon found I quite liked it! In particular, I found the tailor market and the streets in and around the Meenakshi Temple to be the ...

Our Model Farm volunteers completed the construction of vermi-compost pits in the friendly farmer's plot last week.

As per the request from one of our neighbouring farmer, our volunteers and Projects Abroad constructed the vermi-compost unit for them for the future use.

It went well also it was a great success in the community! We thank all the farm volunteers for their endless support.

Contributed by Nadia Chellam - India Social Manager

Sometimes it feels like I am in a dream because beeing here in India is so surreal. Everything here is so different from back home. The thing I miss most about Norway is the fresh air because in Madurai there is lots of airpollution. Still, I like it here and am happy to be here. As expected the healthcare is also very different from what I am used to.

Yesterday I witnessed two births! It was intense seeing how women give birth here. Compared to back home there is little mental support, the women do not get any painrelief and they are on their own. They lie on a tiled bench with only a little pillow. Their families and husband are not allowed to come in during the birth. About the mental support - the doctor have more than enough to do though, so they cannot be blamed.

One of the births was extremely scary because one of the babies didn't breath for a while, so he was "slapped" (not abused or hit) until he started crying and they had to lie him down in a tiny bed and intubate him and try to get him back to life. To see this little baby come out all lifeless and the few minutes from when he was born until he started breathing was awful. Though, utterly magical when he did start breathing. After this he was carried into another room and put in a small bed thingy and got oxygen plus he had a heatlamp above him so he wouldn't be cold. He is so gorgeous, looked at me with his huge brown eyes. Did he melt my heart? Yes :) Me and the girls came home from the hospital around 3:00 am, completely knackered because we went to a fare well dinner for a guy and then after this decided to pop in at the hospital to check if something was going on, then there were two women in labour.

Oh well, I have to go. I bought National Treasure 1 & 2 today and gonna have a movienight with Sophie ...

J-1 avant le depart.

J ai pu faire mes derniers bisous aux bebes ce matin et cet aprem est ma derniere avec les enfants de l orphelinat. Ca me fait super bizarre de rentrer en realite , je ne realise pas ce que je vis ici . Je sais simplement que je me sens chez moi et que certaines attaches qui j ai pu forgees vont me manquer .

IL y a 2 jours les enfants, lors d une distribution de gateaux, m ont offert un sari rose. En plus de mon emotion , mon visage etait rouge ecarlate .

Je suis impatiente de vous raconter mon experience en detail et de vous montrer les photos.

En esperant recuperer cette fois-ci ma valise a bon port et ne pas louper mon avion , je vous dis a dimanche soir.