Today was our last full day in Kolkata as we set off extremely early tomorrow morning to the airport to catch our flights home. As has become customary, the final day has become a sports day celebration for all the schools to come together to take part in fun activities, an event which was the brainchild of Miss Gill nearly 7 years ago. The event took place in the grounds of the La Martiniere School, a fee paying school with a long history ( founded 1836) and colonial style architecture. It seemed like a different world for the Hastings children. There were a number of activities to enjoy including:

The children were given a nice packed lunch

And then they got into the back of their trucks and headed home.

A great day was had by all. Bye bye Hastings children, I will miss you!

Today involved 2 visits to Hastings School. The first was my final visit to teach the children. We learnt about days of the week, weather and seasons as well as singing songs and playing games. They especially liked ‘duck duck goose’!

I was also given a beautiful present by the teachers – a carved Indian boat in a glass case.

In the afternoon I returned to Hastings with all the other teachers as they had wanted to see a different school setting to the ones they had been placed at. I think they were shocked at the extreme levels of poverty and I think everyone felt a little uneasy being ‘tourists’ in such a place. However it was the first time that I had been able to look around more of the neighbourhood and get an insight into the community in which the Hastings pupils live. It was lovely to meet the enthusiastic pupils again and it was especially great that we were able to video link live with the South Darley pupils. In 8 years of our link it is the first time our pupils have been able to say hello to each other live in real time which is a really special thing and one I hope they all remember.

It won’t be the last time I see the Hastings children as they will travel to a special ‘sports day’ event we are organising tomorrow. If they display the same energy they did with duck duck goose it should be fun!

Today was another day back at Hastings School. We taught the children about opposites and made shakers out of cups and rice so that the children could use them in their songs and other activities. I can’t believe it will be my last day in the school tomorrow. In the afternoon we went to the busy market – it was fun being able to do a live link with South Darley so that they could experience all the sights and sounds at the same time as I did. There were plenty of food stalls and so I thought it would be a good idea to share some food pictures of my visit so far.

There is a wide variety of fruit available at the market.

More curry.

Overall the food has been really good and nobody in our group has had any stomach problems. I look forward to seeing what our last couple of days bring.

Today we had to get up early as we were going on a 3 hr journey to visit one of CRS’s rural projects. It was a great opportunity to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and see a calmer way of life. The journey was interesting in itself. Even though there is now a toll motorway, it doesn’t stop cows from wandering alongside it, and cars still don’t stay in lane!

It was also an opportunity to see some of the small towns along the route. They were all such busy places and it is not difficult to see why India is now the most populous country on earth. There are currently over 15 million people living in Kolkata, making it the 17th biggest city in the world. This means Kolkata has nearly the same number of people as London and New York added together!

We eventually arrived in Geonkhali where we were treated to a welcome with garlands and some singing and dancing by the children and women who take part in CRS programs. One of these is called Naridana and it teaches women skills in sewing and needlework which means they can sell their goods to earn money. The ladies showed us some of their craft work which was amazing.

We were treated to a lovely lunch and then strolled back to the cars to begin the journey back to Kolkata. The village was so peaceful with rice fields and houses which often had a yard, pond and some animals. We were lucky enough to see some monkeys – I just about managed to get a photo before it scampered off.

On the way back I was able to make a video call back to school from the car, and the children could see in real time what I could see out of the car window. Technology really is amazing and shows how the world is becoming more connected than ever before.

Tomorrow is back at Hastings School to see the children again, which should be fun.

The second day at Hastings school was a little less intense as I arrived before the school day started and was able to watch all the children arrive. I was told that for many of the children they have to get themselves washed, dressed and fed as their parents are out for the day working and then come to school by themselves. Not as many children were there today as there was a festival where people go down to the river to wash themselves before baking and eating sweet treats. For the children who were there, we taught them about how to use a or an before an object depending on the initial sound of the object. They also learnt the current bun song and made paper boats ready to sing row row your boat.

It was interesting to find out more about how the children lived as I saw some of the shelters next to the school. There is no electricity in the houses so children generally go to bed at about 6pm when it gets dark and then wake up at about 5 am when it starts getting light. Also there are no rubbish bins so people burn their rubbish like a camp fire right outside the school which was a bit smelly.

I asked the children what they liked outside of school and some said football and cricket. I asked the teacher if they are able to watch any on tv as they had no electricity. She said most had access to mobile phones and that they are often charged by solar power. Technology is certainly making a difference to the school as the teachers are using Bluetooth speakers and YouTube to teach songs and actions in a much more fun way.

In the afternoon we went to kumartuli where potters make all the sculptures for the festivals. There are festivals all the time so they are always busy. The next festival is for the god of education.

Following that we went to see Mother Theresa’s house where she is buried. It is easy to understand why she felt the need to dedicate her life to helping the poor of Kolkata – it is just sad that there still seems to be so much inequality and extreme poverty despite her efforts.

Finally in the evening we went for a meal and then went on a tour of some of the streets by tuk tuk. It turned into a bit of a race but it was good fun.

Today was my first day back at Hastings School. The entrance to the small school building is the same as before – can you spot it on the picture below?

But inside it is much brighter and more colourful than when I was here last time. There are posters attached to the wall and bright decorations too. There are also desks and chairs, which weren’t here 6 years ago. The children welcomed me with dances and songs and I then taught them some of the songs we sing at school as well as playing some games we like to play at South Darley too. I gave them the exercise books that the juniors decorated which they really liked.

It was interesting to read about some of the children that had used Hastings school as a stepping stone into being accepted into a mainstream formal school. All of the children shown below have been in the classes when our teachers have been here in recent years.

After the morning we joined the teachers at CRS to plan about the rest of the week. We were able to do a live video link to school where our children could say hello to Shanta and Jaysuree, the Hastings school teachers.

After that we went to buy teaching supplies and snacks at a shopping mall and then drinks at a rooftop bar. There couldn’t be a bigger contrast in the places we visited in the morning and afternoon/evening.

Interesting sights on the way to the shopping mall.

The view from the rooftop bar.

Day 4 will bring another day at Hastings followed by a visit to the former residence of Mother Theresa and the pottery area.

Day 2 was a busy day. It started by us all going to the Sunday Service at the Cathedral before a visit to the impressive Victoria Memorial. Even though I have been before, it is still beautiful and a popular place for the locals to visit.

After a brief return to our accommodation, we headed out on a boat trip up the Hooghly River on a beautiful golden boat to the Ramakrishna temple which was especially busy due to it being the birthday of one of the founders of the movement. There is so much variety of life to see from the boat but I t is still surprising to see people swimming in what is clearly a very polluted river. But the extremely high pollution levels do make for good sunset pictures! Not that my lungs are pleased – you can feel yourself breathing in toxic air all the time which is not very pleasant. The air quality index is currently giving Kolkata a rating of 248 which is classed as severe. For contrast in Chesterfield and London right now the rating is 58.

Monday will be my first of 4 days at Hastings School so I will tell you all about it in my next post.

After lunch on day 1 we ventured out to some interesting places. The first was the eco park which contained many fibre glass constructions of famous places in the world. If you ever wanted to see the pyramids, Great Wall of China and Taj Mahal and didn’t want to travel very far then this is the place for you! Do you know where these are supposed to be?

Following this we went to the beautiful Jain temple and surrounding area – one of the things we saw was a giant bees nest crawling with bees.

We then traveled back to the hotel to get some well needed rest. Some of the sights from the car were interesting. See below.

I’ll post about day 2 soon and hopefully we will be able to do a live link into collective worship tomorrow after a morning at Hastings School. Keep comments coming in.

6 years since my last visit, I am now back in Kolkata ready to support the pupils and teachers of Hastings School and our friends at the Cathedral Relief Service of Kolkata in providing an education for those less fortunate than ourselves.

I’m sure I will write a lot more about them in future blogs so for now I will tell you about our trip to get here. We left Birmingham Airport on an Emirates flight to Dubai before having a very quick bus shuttle across the huge airport to the Kolkata flight which was waiting for us. The food and entertainment was good but I wasn’t able to get very much sleep which means I am very tired as I am writing this! We arrived in Kolkata at 7.30 in the morning (which was 2am in the UK). It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Bishop’s Inn which is where we are staying. It is quite basic accommodation but suits our needs. We then had a little bit of rest in our rooms before lunch and a visit to the Eco Park and Jain Temple. But more of that in the next blog.

As I sit on the plane looking out of window to see the sun set on Bulgaria we already feel a long way from Kolkata yet all of us know that the experience will be close to us forever.

I don’t anticipate making many more blog posts after this so I feel in this one I need to round things off and make some kind of sense as to what the week has all been about.

Firstly can I thank all of you who have been reading the blog. By knowing you are able to share this experience with me makes it even more worthwhile and I especially thank those who have taken time to message or comment on my posts.

Secondly I had requests for pictures of the money and the hotel so here you go.

So where do I begin to sum up these 10 days? I suppose I will start by sharing the things that have surprised me. I have been lucky in my life to travel some some amazing places around the world but I don’t think I have ever been anywhere as polluted and dirty as Kolkata. I felt I was getting ill just by going outside for half an hour on the roads nearby the hotel and so who knows the effects this is having on the local population who have lived here their whole lives. The amount of litter is astonishing and people were dropping it on the floor outside without any care for the cumulative results.

Initially I was really surprised by how the locals would walk (and even herd goats) all over the busy roads, often risking their lives but then it occurred to me that this is because the pavements had essentially become people’s houses and businesses and it was actually far easier to walk in the road than step over everything that lay in your path if you went on the pavements.

A pleasant surprise to me was the contrast between city and countryside – just as the city seemed to lack any control, the surrounding villages seemed to have structure and order.

Pleasantly, considering the amount of poverty and the amount of people on the streets, Kolkata never seemed a threatening place and all the people we met were genuinely friendly.

When considering all of the above, the thought that comes to mind is that someone should be doing something about it. Well that is what Rig and the team at the CRS are trying to do. It might only scratch the surface but if they can make a difference to just some children’s lives then the future of the city will be brighter. The team Rig has assembled are dedicated to improving lives and I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to support this in a small way.

So farewell India, farewell Kolkata and farewell Hastings School. I will not miss worrying about getting ill from the food, or having to constantly use hand sanitiser, but I will definitely miss you and look forward to having the opportunity to visit again at some point in the future.

This is the baby I asked you to spot in a previous picture.

It is children like this for whom school is the only structured part of their day.

A busy market place with Spider-Man keeping watch!

Having a morning wash in the road.

Farewell India.