Training week

At last- some more info!

I now know that I will be spending the majority of my stay in the city of Chennai, on the south east coast.



I spent last week up in Derbyshire at the Oasis training week where I met the lovely people who are in my team: Helen and Sabrina. We will all be sharing a flat in Chennai and will probably be working together for much of the time.



There is another team of three going to India who will be in Bangalore. All six of us will be flying out together on the 2nd of October and will spend the first week in Mumbai together.



We still don't know exactly what we will be doing- it sounds quite flexible and dependant on what our abilities are and what needs to be done. But we did get to hear about what previous teams have been involved in:

- Running football / sports clubs in the three slum communities in the city.
- Tutoring and teaching in maths, english, life skills, etc.
- Helping out in the office.
- Helping to run kids clubs and after school clubs.

In general, I think the most important 'work' will be building relationships with the people we meet out there, rather than trying to get loads of stuff done. "People matter more than things."

Some beautiful photos of the Derbyshire Dales early one morning:

The epic cycle ride!

THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored me!

Here are the photos from the Alton to Clapham sponsored cycle ride:


We set off from Alton bright and early at 7:30am.


Alton to Godalming was along the roads, so Kerry got to practice her map-reading skills.






Here the road layout had changed. After crossing this main road we got slightly lost, adding a few extra miles and hours to the day.


Finally in Godalming, the start of the (VERY LONG) River Wey tow path.


The path got dangerously close to the river at some points- the number of times we nearly cycled into the water!




Kerry in her shades.


This path really did go on forever, with plenty of signs informing you that you hadn't gone nearly as far as you thought you had.


Yes, I wore a helmet ALL the way there.


The Thames cycle path took us past Hampton Court Palace.




And finally, a very un-spectacular end to the route in Putney. From here we had to get to Clapham, where we arrived at 7:30pm. Burger King has never tasted so good!

Sponsored Bike Ride

This September/October, I am going to India as part of a small team, organised by a charity called ‘Oasis’. Oasis has projects in Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai, reaching out to over 900 women and children. These include community development programs, medical and health care services, literacy and education programs, vocational training schemes and work amongst people living with HIV/AIDS. I will be there for 7 months, until April 2008, and will be volunteering at one of these projects.

I need a total of £3,500 to cover the cost of my flights, visa, insurance, living expenses, etc. To help me raise this money, I will be doing a sponsored bike ride on Monday 2nd April to London. If you are able to contribute in any way at all it would be much appreciated!