With the weekend trip over, we started our work back at school. It has been an up-and-down week but I have come out on top and sometimes, going through low points makes you appreciate the high points even more and puts things in perspective. We had to work really hard at school for a big fair at the British High Commissioner’s residence on Saturday. Our main job was to sell the artwork donated from the artists that volunteered at the school and make a display for them. Everything the teachers do is with great passion and perfection we learnt. We had to re-do our display again and again, as a certain words didn’t quite fit or the font was too small. This meant we stayed for longer hours and even took work home, especially when confronted with the task of stapling together 3,000 price tags! On top of this, we discovered a rat in the kitchen of our hostel and the food seems to be getting worse as we almost have to beg to be fed, making us late for work in the morning. Yet, after a bad day, I looked at a book I bought from the charity Youth Reach and realised that it really isn’t that bad. It doesn’t matter that we have rats, that my hair looks crap and I’m mindlessly stapling price tags because I am actually helping a great cause and my experience is not a patch on what certain children go through in India.

The book is called “If I were rain” and I would strongly recommend buying it as all proceeds go towards organisations working with disadvantaged children in India. The website is www.youthreachindia.org . The book contains some amazing photography of children on India’s streets with quotes from the children themselves and some alarming facts. Here are a few excerpts:

“ As many as two million children between five and fifteen years of age work as child prostitutes in India’s major cities.”

“40% of children in India live in poverty and extreme hardship.”

“India is home to 400 million children. The largest number in any country in the world.”

“ The Government of India spends 18% of its National Budget on Defence. It spends 3.25% of its national budget on Education.”

Rani, 12 years old: “If I were rain, I would go where water cannot be found.”

The fair on Saturday was a huge success. We raised 500 pounds ourselves from selling the artwork which we were ecstatic about. The whole day was an amazing experience and I was so happy to be part of it. There were hundreds of stalls with clothes, food, jewelry, silks, hand-made paper, soaps etc, all to raise money for our school. The children did a dance to open the event where the disabled danced alongside the abled. The director, Dalmia spoke of how the school has developed from when it was established in 1988 with one floor and only a few lessons, to a 4-storey building with a huge range of vocational courses and a wide network of support. I met some lovely people, including a guy who worked for the Singapore High Commission and a Canadian who was selling cookies for the event and bought a huge painting from us. He also gave us lots of free food at the end which was much appreciated! The children all helped us pack up at the end of the 10-hour day and it feels like we are really getting to know them now. One sixteen year old boy has decided he wants to marry me which Amy and Luke find hilarious so that should provide some entertainment for the weeks ahead!

Today is a rest-day and I unfortunately have Delhi-belly. It was going to happen…but in the early hours of the morning when only the long drop is available, it was not the most pleasant of experiences. Yet I have managed a trip to the internet so I’m not bed-ridden and it wouldn’t be India without it!

Sorry for the huge amounts to read in one go! I haven’t even mentioned everything, including Fiona’s birthday on Thursday which was a lovely evening where we went for a meal and drinks.

I’ll stop now!

I hope you are all well. The newspapers are full of Shilpa winning Celebrity Big Brother, thank goodness for that after what Jade apparently said! It’s just great how the British are portrayed

xxxx