Life moving on

Its two months now since I left good old blighty, it feels like its gone so fast but there is still a lot of things to come I am sure of that. I have had a request for a picture of me on my bike so will of cause honour the request to prove yes I am riding this mean machine on crazy Indian roads and amazingly getting the hang of it. May build up to taking passengers soon we shall see, so hopefully I will add a picture next time.

Work has become very busy I am starting to get into a routine and am progressing with my handbook and assessments. The kids have prayer time in the morning then lead a routine exercise class to warm up before their studies, they seem to enjoy this very much.

I had the pleasure of going toy shopping on Saturday to find some fun ideas/toys to use with the pre-school children to improve hand function and arm strength I added some sensory toys and was very happy with my finds. Cannot wait to use them with the children next week, will have to get some photos as always. I am learning their are aids and adaptations around but not where you would think to look, its like most things you purchase here, you go to a shop front greeted with a smile and ask for it nothing really is on show. Its taken me two weeks to find a swim hat and don't I look good in it!

My friends Herish and Venita showed me round one of their businesses over the week, they own what they call a hostel. it is a boarding lodge for children attending school near by, as their families live to far away to send them to Ranchi daily. Its important for Indian families to send their kids to a good school and therefore many families use this method. They looked so young and vulnerable, but the hostel was very nice they keep three dogs, cook, house-made and two managers to oversea the children's care and studies after school. It was very peaceful and pretty place.

If you haven't seen I put some pictures up on Facebook of some cue cards I came across at work for daily living skills, I think they are great in showing how different Indian culture can be compared to UK. I especially like this shot.

Toileting in India

More on the Ranchi club, I will keep singing its praises as so happy I have this outlet to relax and have fun, played some badminton and squash last week, one game was completely wiped but had the pool to jump in after, followed by a jacuzzi. Trialled a new restaurant they have opened last night and had tandoori chicken, I've got to say it was the hottest thing I have eaten since being in Ranchi and I've not had the best of stomach's over the last few days. All of this should has lost me a few pounds though so maybe worth it.

Herish showing how its done!

Got to get my visa extension next week so wish me luck as I want to stay a bit longer yet!

My Ride

Finally as much anticipated i have a motorbike on rent to get me to and from work, its been 13 years since i rode a bike so taking a little while to get back into it and build my confidence on these Indian roads. Why cant i find neutral i don't know! It a little heavy to what I'm used to but I'm sure i will get the hang of it with a little ride each day. The indicators are not working and i think the horn is broken so might have to rectify that as it is essential to honk your horn every 10 seconds, not so worried about signalling no one does that here.


So as i said before my social life has picked up considerably with
the very much appreciated help from my hostesses Venita and Herish i have Ranchi Club membership, so am off swimming every night now and can play racket sports when i want. Doing less cooking as eating out alot as a guest or at the club. Went to a karaoke night the other night you'll be glad to hear i didn't sing, but Venita has a lovely voice. It was tombola night last night which means bingo back home.

















I have also employed a maid very cheaply to take care of my chores. It gives someone a job and you free up your own time, i am getting some help in May and cant wait. I attended a wedding last week, not seen so much food before and very little alcohol. The bride and groom looked amazing and the whole thing lasts about three days. I only attended the evening gathering but enjoyed seeing this part of Indian culture very much. I felt like a bit of a celeb as the only white person in Ranchi everyone is intrigued by me.

Furthermore i have not laid dormant, i have booked 3 new adventures. In two weeks i go to the beach in Puri Orissa where i hear it is unbearably hot at this time but i cant wait to see the sea. At the end of May i have booked a jeep and elephant safari to spot tigers at Betla National Park for two days and finally at the beginning of June i go to see Kolkata. So very excited to see more of India.

On the work front I'm struggling a little, as an OT i need to work with beliefs, values, culture and meaningful activity all these things are rich here but very different from my UK practice, understanding of these areas will come with time and trial and error I am sure. Even when thinking of adaptations its very much make it yourself or design it and get it made nothing is accessible in the shops. This I hope to activate my brain and problem solve but if I make anything I will of course take a photo and put it up here for your comments.

Work culture is different here time management can be poor and motivation from government employees low, the volunteers I must say are very keen though. So will have to wait to see how this pans out, I do have lots of ideas and am putting an OT Handbook together for the NGO explaining some of the disabilities they come across, how they can assess, set goals and provide interventions. I'm looking forward to demonstrating the practical applications of this booklet as I will be getting it translated to Hindi for staff to use when I leave. I have to plan some workshops with parents to educate them on disability and for the teachers to get to grips with my handbook. Its quite difficult having not worked with children in this capacity before. I like to give myself a challenge!

As you can see I'm doing pretty well for nearly two months in and can honestly say I'm enjoying myself. I hear the weather back home is wet so wont go on to much about how hot I am here, it gets a bit unbearable at midday Ive got to say. Ive also included a photo of my pet lizard who does not want to leave my kitchen what ever I try to do.

Punjabi New Year

As time goes on life is improving in Ranchi, I am getting to know my neighbours very well and am having daily Hindi lessons which I’m sure if it was anyone else they would have learnt a lot more by now than me. I have decided to become a member of the Ranchi club to keep up a busy social life as well as have regular swims, so am awaiting my membership confirmation. In the mean time I have been as a guest on several occasions and this weekend I attended the celebration for New Year. Where I even got up for a dance! Need to say after a few beers of course. The place was beautifully lit up for the event and was a really good night with my friends Harish and Venita, also shown in the photos.

I am slowly getting into my new job and face a lot of challenges I suppose most of which anyone would face in a new position over the first month. The children are lovely and friendly and I have spent some time at the school playing recreational games and watching them learn how to make short films. This board game is called Carrom which I remember playing in primary school in London when I was a kid.

I think the hardest challenge is setting your own structure and day to day work, I’m still a bit unorganised at present, need to do myself a timetable. This week I should also be getting a motorbike, which Deepshikha have agreed to lend me for a year while on placement. I have bought a helmet in preparation and hope the saying you never forget rings true. I am looking forward to having my own transport as this gives me a degree of independence. I’m not so much looking forward to the traffic jams and chaotic drivers but I will learn to negotiate in time. Currently this is much better than the shuttle autos I’m catching as I get ripped off every time I catch one and the drivers are really unfriendly, this is much different to my experience in Delhi.

The School Bus

Deepshika School

I’m managing to go shopping on my own now, and have also set up a bank account, so slowly but surely my life is moving forward. In the next few months I will be doing some weekend travelling as always will keep you updated. Take care and keep reading.

Living in India

This week so far i have had a few ups and downs and i think that's just part of settling in to a new place, new job and culture. I have spent alot of my time in my new pad, this is because i am at present quite reliant on my director at work. Being away from the town and my work setting has its draw backs until i get used to the transport shuttles. This is difficult because i don't know the language that well yet to get where i want to go. My flat is fully equipped now having spent double what my budget entailed, i had a water filter fitted yesterday so i can now save on the bottled water funds. Getting used to boiling the water after the filter and bottling it myself. I also have to boil my milk this is because alot of the time its unpasteurised or you just don't know. So far I'm having three cold showers a day as no hot water, got to say this is not too bad in the climate but the morning one is a bit of a shock to the system. Its a bit like running into the surf on a cold day. I have bought an immersion rod to heat water in a bucket to hand wash my clothes, when the days get cooler i think i will be having warm bucket washes. I am still anticipating the arrival of the curtains i am having made as waking up at 6am is killing me with so many windows and so much light.

I'm top left, balcony in middle windows either side - Asha Deep Apartments

Work so far has been a bit sporadic due to lots of religious festivals in between, so far i have been placed 3 days at a school for special education and 2 days in an outpatient clinic in town. I have been given a nice office space with an overhead fan. At the school they have a pre-school class, autism specialist class, school aged and a vocational class. All the children are also given a 1:1 trainee special educator who works with them a couple of hours a day with individual goals. I have so far been observing and asking questions to get an idea of what they would like me to do. I believe that my role will be to input into the special educators trainee programme with theory lessons and practical interventions with the children. I think then the plan is to establish some kind of handbook that they can work from when i am gone, and all this will have to be evaluated. The difficulties with this so far is the language barriers, not all the teachers are confident in speaking English and the trainees currently would struggle with an English spoken lecture. The challenges i am facing are really to get to grips with the Hindi Language as soon as possible to make this placement work. I am currently a bit unclear on what is expected of me at the outpatient clinic. There is a physio on site who i think i will be working with most of the time. But i think more here they are requiring me to work as a therapist. Working with the relationships between children and their parents, the stigma associated with the disability and functional problems that are effecting their everyday lives. Again the trouble is i don't speak Hindi and these are quite sensitive issues, here i may have to go much slower and i certainly need more time observing. Really I'm starting to realise its going to take a couple of months to settle in before i make any head way.

Treatment office



The Office at School







Outpatient Centre

This week has felt a very long one, although i have made some definite progress in settling in. I have met with a VSO colleague who lives a couple of hours away and have established that we both want to see some of India while we are here. We are organising our first trip in May to Betla national park to go on an elephant safari and spot tigers cant wait. I also plan to visit Nepal in October to visit another volunteer and am considering travelling overland so may stop off in Varanasi or Darjeeling for this trip, October in India and Nepal is festival time so lots of leave from work. Yesterday i was also introduced to an English teacher in my apartment complex who has agreed to spend some time teaching me Hindi starting this weekend. Her and her husband have been very nice and have offered to help me with settling in to Ranchi. They have links with the Ranchi club in town which has cinema complex, holds cultural and food festival events, sports complex and outdoor swimming pool i am hoping they can get me an honorary membership. There is also a bar and they both drink as they are what they would call cosmopolitan Indians.

Special educator trainees getting their final projects bound and showing me how to get home.

I picked up my residency permit this week so am officially Indian now, have to go and extend my visa in may and do this all again as embassy only gave me a six month visa but the police station i registered at think it will be fine. Getting a bank account my next biggest hurdle their is alot of red tape and bureaucracy but all this helps if your being introduced by someone respected in the community, it also means bribes are less likely. I also now have unlimited Internet, its not as fast as England, but is working fine. My next blog i will try to show you some pictures of the school and work i am doing. I may have also improved my social life and am considering getting a motorbike for ease of transport.