saying goodbye

sometimes just saying it is not enough...its believing it...and believing it takes time, takes family, takes friends and most importantly takes yourself...

and finally i believe i can say goodbye

thanks...you know who you are and you know what you did for me

and for that i hope someday i can return the favour somehow, sometime, somewhere

-dave-

Cybering in good ol Dahanu cafe

hey all,

its Saturday, nearly a week since i landing in the heat of a coax called mumbai (read previous articles to learn more about that) since then, ive been based in Nareshwadi, surounded by 20 so eager students to enjoy a short break period they fondly call Summer Camp. What is Summer camp, i tried to define last night as i lay in my room apartment without (light) electricity coming in, just my cool music from the doors n 1 rupee candle burning the darkness away. Summer camp is a time of liberation, liberation from the monotones life or a boarding school to the daily 9 to 5 routine of work of others. Its a time when u get to express yourself and find the inner child coming out to play in the mad heat of the Summer. Its a time to learn new things about yourself and push yourself further when possible just to recall that you can do this and this is possible. Its a time to have fun...that is the summer camp in Nareshwadi. Tho this time around, im only here for 2 weeks, everyday is a new day and a new begining...tho something at the small corner of my head (close to my bold spot im sure ;)) keeps reminding me me that it is slowly coming to an end...and the door lyrics come along..."is this the end?"

a day in the life of charlie brown

Greetings from Nareshwadi gang,

yup there is internet connections in Nareshwadi, one of the guys is using the local mobile providers to surf the net and it works! Well its day 3 now in Nareshwadi and how it feels like i never left at all, even the grocery shop guy who i only must met just once during my stay here last year remembers me! Tho I lieing when i say nothing has changed much, in actuallity much has changed, a couple of new teachers here and there, a computer room with 40 odd computers, tho dont get me started on those pc, I mean uncle jeff if u r reading this, i may need to bring u along the next time i come and hopefully we can sort this computer mess out ;) There is also a new library abt 80% completed. The classrooms look well maintained and after my conversation with Patricia there is also a couple of new management procedures set in. So overall there are visible improvements to Nareshwadi in the last yr or so. The kids loved the watches Ravi and now happy wishing me good morning/afternoon/evening ;)

Ive also started a morning routine with them with the help of Rita (ah that poor thing, going true some sort of midlife crisis rite now) anyway...we start the morning as early as 7am (malaysian 9.30am) whereby i take the kids for a jog a couple of rounds round the field. then while the rest its morning story time nwhereby i read to them till abt 8am..then its maths for an hr and a half. the kids have a break at 9.30 till 10am. Then its art classes as such till abt 1pm whereby the have lunch and chill till at 5pm. Then there is quick class till 6pm whereby after that its hockey or football till 7pm. After dinner abt 8pm we will have a couple of activities before lights off at 9.30pm...n the day is done.

well ive not uploaded any pictures just yet, maybe later in the day i will comeby to upload some.

till then regards from a small town named Nareshwadi...

Dave Sir is back

hey morning man,
day one in mumbai n what the hell ride it was to get here!
i mean dont get me wrong, the flights were swell, the transits were good, the customs were kind but
darn i should have knew it something worse was on the corner...
well here i am finally arriving to mumbai, india with the loads of bags n such n being pretty impressed with myself for surviving the trip
THEN i enter the airport from HELL
yup the indian airport authrities decided on that evening by the looks of it to step up their procedures for the swine flu pendemic.
hence some great champ decided to just put up loads of barriers n abt 4 counters to interview every poor chap who gets down of the plane that day. so imagine this, my flight from singapore was a full load aka abt 150-200 pax getting down n being ushed to this massive cluster of people that look to be themselves shocked to be see the big cluster n everyone has no idea who what or where to go inc of elderly, pregnant, parents n such all carring their hand luggage thru this massive cluster of lines leading to good knows where, n the scary thing as u approach there 4 tables its just caox...anyway after like standing in line for an hr or so any most likely getting the swine flu in the process, i managed to divert out of this mass n make my way outside just to see the madness that is mumbai!
due to the mad lines inside the airport everyone waiting outside had doubles n so had their cars, rickshows, taxis, n whatever not they felt they had to park there n join in the fun....tho i did manage to find lee n marie quite easyly, the only 2 white ladies there ;)
n managed to get on a cab..who turned to had a couple to drink that nite n just survived the trip to lee's place.
had beer n called it a nite
now im up at 6 their time, 8ish my time sipping my kopitiam coffee n awaiting my driver to drive me n all this stuff to nareshwadi ;)
well joe will keep all of u guys posted on more stuff as n when they happen or when i have the joys of using the net.
till then stay tuned n God bless ;)
dave sir is back!
ps my local number is +919769236743 i will text u guys from this number hence forth

Current status

A bit more older, not sure abt the wiser bit ;)

Ok all here is the status of collections since my last entry

Cash donations

Jeremy Eu

Jas

Bob

Ravinder

Terf

Other donations

Loads of cloths for the girls from mum ;)

Kids toys and such from manju masi

Thanks all.

Sincerely

Dave

Bye-bye 31, it was nice knowing you…

(a little bit more older….desperately trying to be wiser)

Hi all,

Yes its that time of the year again, I’m turning 32 years of age this April 2^nd. Thus this year, I would like to request, that anyone and everyone wishing to buy a gift for me or even a card NOT TOO.

Instead donate in kind to my trip to Nareshwadi on May 2^nd. Yup, I’m off to Nareshwadi again this year, tho this time around due to work obligations I will only be spending 2 weeks there instead on 2 months alike the last time. And thanks to the good people over at Nareshwadi, we have already started the planning and preparation for the 2009 Summer Camp.

The activities lined up (all suggestions from the kids themselves so I’ve been informed ) is as follows. So if anyone has any suggestions or ideas on the activities listed below, I’m all ears…

1) Warli painting (local tribal painting)

2) Karate

3) Tailoring

4) Singing

5) Drama

6) Cooking - compilation of simple recipes

7) Landscaping

8) Carpentry

9) Model building depicting Warli tribal life

10) Trip to Usgaon and Usgaon children's visit to Nareshwadi