My dear Mr.Hamish,

Hope and pray that you are doing well and busy with your work.Here all of us are very happy with the volunteers you sent to our school. The students were very happy to have them among us and they interacted wonderfully well. The bond was so much that when they were leaving the students read out an appreciation letter which I am going to attach with this letter. They really helped us with the classes and the burden of the teachers were lessened while they were here.

I would also like to thank the people who sent the sports equipments for the school and we are really happy to have more things to play. Thank you for giving us such wondwerful  and useful things.Please give their email id so that I can contact them some times.Thank you once again for helping us with the volunteers. Please thank Anna on behalf of me because of her all these was possible in the first place

Sr. Celia

Principal

St. Mary’s High School

Letter from the students of St Mary’s School, India 1

Letter from the Students of St Mary’s School, India 2

Two days left in India… What a journey it has been! Working at St Mary’s School was a brilliant experience and it will definitely stay with me for a very long time! My dad said its an opportunity where ‘you get out what you put in’. I couldn’t agree more. Teaching the children was so much fun but also really rewarding! I was able to teach a class but also gain friendships along the way with both the teachers and students! One of the most satisfying moments was when Milly and I had a class test on the science lesson we had taught the day before. The whole class got full marks!!! Definitely put a massive smile on  both the students and our faces! Its an achievement that’s pretty unheard of!

We can only hope the children enjoyed our stay as much as we did. Its an experience where you laugh till it hurts, create memories that will last and feel proud at what you’ve achieved!

During our last week in McLeod, Milly and I had one of the best! On tuesday morning we woke at 6am, slight bleary eyed with some very dishevelled hair. We heard the Dalai Lama was giving a service at the nearby temple early that morning so knew it was a must! Having shuffled down to the temple, we both sat in the temple courtyard surrounded by colourful prayer flags and masses of people chatting away amongst friends. Next thing we know, a small, elderly and cheerful man walks through the crowds! It was the Dalai Lama! It was amazing to see him just stride up through the crowds… Both of us think he smiled at us… There was definitely a connection!

Next day, us girls being the explorers we are, decided to visit the hot springs! Our trusty taxi driver, Sanju, offered to take us and walk us 2km to the hot springs from the car park! The car journey there was full of banter with ‘sanjybabes’; first he thought we both had kids, then he told us he was flying to england for our weddings, and then he asked if we would stay in Mcleod and live with him! Was brilliant! So 2km, after our walk to

Triund, easy- at least we thought! 10 minutes into the walk and the 3 of us were wading through waste deep water. Milly’s exact words were ‘hot springs? Hot springs? There’s nothing hot about this’! During her mare, Milly’s flip flop broke! Whilst Sanju and I were both in hysterics watching Milly struggle, she decided to hitch hike a lift off a passing lorry! Next thing we know, all 3 of us are in it thinking we had managed to skip the rest of the ‘walk’ and were headed straight for the springs. Hell no! 5 minutes later we were back out and walking through bushes with no path and soaking wet! Again Milly had a bit of a mare, fighting off mountain goats this time! It wasn’t her day! Finally, we arrived at the hot springs… They were in a temple/grotto but were boiling hot! Before Sanju had a chance to tell us that we had already jumped in! So worth the trek! Even Millz agreed!

The two of us met some awesome Tibetans who worked at a restaurant and having met up with them a few times we were soon roped into waitressing at theirs for a night! So much fun! We managed the orders and shock horror, we didn’t spill anything! The night ended with a few drinks and free meal! So so good!

So as you can see, we are really going to miss Mcleod! Teaching at the school, friends we’ve made, chai and tibetan bread have been awesome and are only a few of the reasons as to why we will return!

It goes without saying we owe a massive thanks to Hamish for setting this up for us! The past 3 months have been unforgettable and more than what I’d hoped for! For all your organisation and hard work, thank you VERY much!

Lots love

Elly xxx

We are now 3 weeks into our volunteer work at St Mary’s School and I can easily say it feels like a part of heaven in India. I found the history of how Tibetan refugees came to be living in Dharamsala alarming at first and couldn’t help but sympathise with the families who had been driven out of their homes. Nonetheless, during my stay I have been constantly graced with the generosity, kindness and free-spirit of the locals. This incredible welcoming has helped me create a little home whilst away from Hertfordshire!

Life here at St Mary’s school did nothing but shock me during my first week. Sister Celia- the school principal- is one of the calmest and most level-headed women I have ever met and I was only excited to be helping her with teaching at the school. The students shocked me at how keen they are to learn and how respectful they are of us. Their uniforms are crisp white, hair is perfectly combed and handwriting is immaculate. Although teaching the Year 1′s has proved tricky due to the language barrier, I can honestly say they know more capital cities than I ever have. At times I feel there is a complete role-reversal in class! Although my main aim during my volunteer work at St Mary’s was to introduce a new sport and enhance the already existing PE programme, I feel there is so much more I can do at the school. Teaching Maths, English, singing or dancing as well as sport has been brilliant and I myself am learning so much along the way.

Dharamsala has also been brilliant for meeting people! McLeodganj is packed with volunteers, climbers, skiers and travellers all meeting and greeting at our local restaurants of cafes! A couple of weeks ago, new to the area, the four of us ventured into a bar wearing our Ireland shirts for St Patrick’s Day. Slightly unsure of our whereabouts and knowing we were at the foothills of the Himalayas- quite a way from Ireland- we expected a chilled night out. However, a round of drinks later and our table had doubled in size with people who came from all over joining us for a drink to celebrate St Patrick’s day. What a night it turned out to be!

Last week, I attempted to cook! Quite a momentous day seeing as I can hardly boil water. Milly and I decided on poached eggs and baked beans. Whilst Milly put her feet up, I started cooking. Low and behold, when it came to serving up, I had managed to lose the whites and only had two yolks to accompany our baked beans. Hardly the most filling of meals, so we both made the decision of getting a rather large pudding in town. At the cafe we met two girls from London who we ended up chatting to till closing time over chocolate cheesecake and milk teas! Maybe mucking up dinner was fate? All week long Milly and I have met with the girls to wine, dine and of course shop! It’s been amazing to have some proper girlie time.

We also went to the Monastery to watch the monks debate… It was brilliant to watch as they have a completely different style of debate to home. McLeodganj also has a fab cinema with viewings 3 times a day. We all went down there to watch Alice in Wonderland- the new Tim Burton film! It was such a laugh as during the film people would be walking on screen in and out of the cinema- of course it was a pirate copy! Such a good film and an amazing place to go to chill out after dinner! Milly and I have found new love in Mint Tea, Milk Tea, Munch Bars, Momo’s and Cold coffee! If nothing else pulls you to this little heaven on Earth, that should!

So just had our second day at the school and it was awesome! We have all slotted into their routine really well and have been allocated certain lessons each day! Today my first class was maths and boy did I underestimate their ability! I was expecting fractions and multiplication but ohhh noooo….. it was my a level syllabus from last year!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly cried! I was supposed to teach it but there was definitely a role reversal in that class! I have the text book so am going to read over it tonight before tomorrow.

Lacrosse sticks arrived and the children are loving them! Their faces were so excited when we showed them! Anyway, we got their at 830 and left at 5… with a 30 minute break! So am absolutely shattered but loving it!

We have a library of video footage related to all our projects at http://www.youtube.com/user/mindthegaptravel

These videos will give you more of a flavour for the stupendous settings in which our programmes are located and a feel for the people and cultures we are working with to deliver real and sustainable benefit.

Become a fan of mindthegap by clicking on the following link http://www.facebook.com/pages/mindthegap-volunteering/285001796607

Great excitement here at mindthegap hq – our first group of volunteers (Elly, Kieran, Milly and Tom) are two weeks away from beginning their life-changing experience at St Mary’s, the countdown begins!