OzGREEN's India Trip 2009

Dear All OzGREENers,


I’m sitting at Melbourne International Airport. In a couple of hours the engines will start spinning and jet fuel will be combusted as Thai Airlines flight TG980 perpares for take off. I will be on that flight and in so being I am going to blow my eco-footprint out of the water (sigh!), but I will be heading for the wonderful Varansi, India (yeah!).

You have all heard about Varanasi and OzGREEN’s partner organisation, the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF). Some of you have even been lucky enough to visit. The city, the SMF Team and their campaign are such an essential part of OzGREEN and Sue and Col have been there almost every year for the last 15 years. One could safely say that OzGREEN might not exist if it wasn’t for the profound experiences they had on their first trip.

I will be meeting Sue and Col, and Jodi, in Vara in about a week and I thought for this trip, it would be a great idea to share the experience with you all so that you can get a sense of what goes on, why and how. I shall endeavour to introduce you a little more personally to the people and I will do my best to describe the sounds, smells and sensations, but believe me I won’t do it justice!

Some of you will know that I lived in India for 8 months volunteering with SMF in 2007/8. It was a challenging and fulfilling experience and different in so many ways to what I expected. Perhaps, some of these experiences will be revisited over the next month and I’m sure there will be entirely new ones as the context of this trip is quite different.

Only two months ago (10 months after returning from Vara) Sue and Col sent me a simple email: “we are going to Varansi in March, can you come?”. Without need for much contemplation I replyed a day or so later: “YES!!!!!” It almost suprises me that I am at the airport waiting to leave now, it has all been so quick and easy. It makes me think of the Qualities of a Leader section of the Youth LEAD/ Leading with the Heart workshops, where we are asked to think of a time when everything felt “right”; this trip feels exactly that, I have been extremely fortunate in the support that OzGREEN have shown to have be a part of this trip and the result is that I’ve not questioned the decision once..

Time jump- Well I’m now burning up the carbon at 11,000 feet. I’ve already switched my watch to India time in an attempt to convince my body that it is really only 8.30pm; its perfectly natural that I’ve just had a second dinner and that I can settle down to watch at least one movie before its sleep time. I am enjoying relative luxury on this flight. My long legs are stretched out over three seats all to myself and I’m loving the brightly coloured upholstery and blankets. I’ve had a little wine to go with my meal and I’m drinking lots of water (apparently it helps with the jet lag). It’s a high cost to travel internationally (and I’m not referring to the dollar), but a wise friend taught me of the priveledge that we have in our society to be able to travel. It is a priveledge and should be undertaken with thanks, respect and an awareness that your experience brings experience to those who can’t travel. So, acknowledging my grievances
(and these are shared by the Lennox’s also, believe me the decision to return to India once again was not made lightly by them) I am perfectly happy, enjoying this flight!

So what to expect if you wish to keep reading these emails:
I arrive in Delhi on the morning of the 4th (India time). I’ll need to haggle with some taxi drivers to figure out a fair price to take me into the city, wait for an hour or so while I meet with Deepa Gupta, a director of the Indian Youth Climate Network (the AYCC equivalent for India) and then drive me the three hours or so it takes to get to Vrindaban. Like Varanasi, it is a Holy Hotspot. Here I will be taking a bit of a personal journey and doing some sight seeing (its not far from the Taj). From Vrindaban, I’ll be heading back to Delhi to get the overnight Shiv Ganga Express to arrive in Varanasi on the 10th and to meet up with the wonderful SMF Team, Sue, Col and Jodi.

We will spend three weeks in Varansi. In this time we hope to have some conversations with the Team about how they are going with their campaign, what role they have in the climate change world and what direction they want to head over the next few years. We will be using a lot of Strategic Questions and one converation may last for several days as we allow for the constant but irregular interruptions that come with working alongside a highly respected High Priest in a city that is based on mostly disfunctional infrastructure (eg electricity cuts everyday).

On the 22nd of March is World Water Day(WWD). The Foundation have been organising the residents of the city to form a Human Chain along the banks of the river in solidarity for a Clean Ganga for many years now. This year we are hoping to run a climate change focused Youth Leadership program and then a Youth Forum in conjunction with WWD (which is why I am meeting with Deepa in Delhi).

Aside from the work, I hope to be visiting my Indian dance teacher on a regular basis and making a couple of trips to Dashaswamed the main market place for innocent tourists. Jodi and I have suggested a Bollywood film would be in good order and I’m very much looking forward to chai on the ghats and hot sizziling chocolate brownies at the chinese restaurant around from where we stay (mmmmm, hot sizziling!)

So, stay tuned for more, feel free to send questions, dare me to try something out or whatever else might interest you in this blog.

Lots of love

Angie (aka OzGREEN Correspondent!)