The Student "Challenge"

At Kalypso Adventures we are veteran adventure organizers and have just started facilitating schools from abroad to come down, have an adventure and do some volunteer work as well. This past month we brought down six schools from the UK to participate in what we call a Student Challenge.What happens is these groups have about 4 days to work in a local school to do simple projects that help these schools. So we sent 3 groups to a small village called Germalam near Satyamangalam to help out in the local government schools and I was sent along to “coordinate’ the whole thing. My task was to make sure that everything went smoothly acting as the middle man/translator between the schools and the groups.

At Germalam we had a campsite run by Mr. Daniel who had been in the area for the last 25 years. Originally a farmer, Daniel had for the last five years set up a campsite on his property and ran it with the help of his wife and daughter. The campsite was beautiful with the hills in the foreground and forests on either side and the sound of elephants to keep you company at night. I was told that we had three layers of fences two of which were electrified to keep out the elephants that were apparently known to stroll by. I arrived two days earlier to make preparations for the groups coming.

'Wild' Valley Farm

The first 2 groups were from a school called Kingsley. They would both work in the same local school, group 2 finishing the project that group one started.

The first group consisted of 13 girls, 1 teacher and 1 expedition leader. They arrived on the 20^th of July after a long bus journey and were relived to find that the campsite had bathrooms equipped with WC toilets and lots of toilet paper. After the long queue to the bathroom diminished and the girls settled down we had a cosy dinner in Daniel’s dining hall and I briefed the girls about what they would be doing for the next 4 days.

Dining Hall

These girls would be working in a local school half a km away. It was a government school with only three teachers and way too many kids. The school had only one tap which was used for 130 students, their bathroom, kitchen and teachers. So the group would build them a pipeline that would give them more taps and a connection to their bathroom and kitchen. Also a new building was being constructed and the group would paint the front façade. The local school had just received 5 laptops but unfortunately no one at the school knew how to work them so the group would have to try and teach the teachers some computer basics. Finally they would have to interact with the students teaching them some English and playing games and other activities.

The Germalam School

With this long list of tasks to be accomplished the girls looked worried but also excited as they went to bed to get a good night sleep before their early start the next day.

The first day started at seven with a short walk to the school to meet the teachers and to take the measurements for their project. The students of the school would not arrive till nine and this would give the girls some peace to take measurements and talk to the teachers. The teachers were very happy to meet the group and wasted no time listing out the long list of maladies that the school suffered from. Unfortunately it had to be explained that they were only here for 4 days and they would do as much as they could. After taking the measurements for pipeline and painting projects, the girls returned to the farm for breakfast and a surprise. It was one of the girl’s birthdays and Kalypso had bought a cake and Mrs. Daniel had decorated the dining hall with balloons and streamers. Breakfast and cake boosted morale and the girls were eager to start their projects.

Walk through farms to school

Breakfast birthday Cake

Materials for the project had to be bought in the next town 15 km away and so the group hired 3 sumo taxis for the ride. There was a Tibetan colony near the town and so the group decided to visit the monastery and use the tranquility there to plan for how much material they required. After some hard bargaining the pipes and paints were bought and by two in the afternoon the group was back at the farm for lunch. After a quick bite the group decided to go back to the school to begin work on their projects.

Zen planning at Tibetan Monastery

Haggling in different languages

They reached the school a little wary not knowing what to expect and were greeted by a mob of smiling children who stared at them in awe. For most of the students these were the first fair skin-blond hair people they had seen. After the teachers managed to get kids in order, the girls got down to the tasks at hand.

I was a little apprehensive about how these 16 year old girls were going to dig trenches and paint walls but these girls surprised me with their enthusiasm and were quickly dirty with mud and paint. The rest of the day was spent in clearing the area of rubble, digging the trenches for the pipeline and applying a coat of white wash on the walls. Some of the girls even started playing with kids teaching them a few action songs. The girls worked till six o’clock before they returned to the farm.

Digging and Painting

The next 2 days were a little more relaxed with work staring at ten. By now the students had become friendly and ran to greet the girls as they walked up to the school. The group divided themselves into 3 teams-- digging, painting and teaching. More trenches had to be dug and the digging girls took turns getting their hands dirty. Even I gave it a hand and trust me it is not easy. The girls were digging along the back of the school connecting taps along the way as well as digging a trench to the main line along one side of the building and a line to the kitchen. Trench digging was slow and tiresome but the girls didn’t give up. The painting girls had to apply a coat of white oil paint as a base coat before they could paint more. Every time I checked on them though, they seemed to be getting most of the paint on themselves. The teaching team made the most noise surprisingly, with loud action songs and lots of fun games.

Putting their backs into it

The hokey-pokey

After digging the trenches the girls had to measure, cut and lay the pipes. Daniel showed them how to do one and then it was all up to the girls. The painting girls had decided to paint some alphabets and pictures of fruits and vegetables and spent some time trying to decide which fruits and veggys( The ones chosen were the easiest to draw) would make it on to the wall. Everyday after 4 when the school children went home the teachers were free for their ‘introduction to computer’ class. Hard work and two days later most of the work was done.

Daniel showing how its done

A for Apple

Even i want to play Pinball

The finished wall

The final day, and the girls had a few feet of pipeline to complete and some finishing touches to the painting. With some determined effort they finished their work by twelve and went back to the farm for a quick lunch and to prepare for a sports day they were organizing for the school children. The school kids arrived at the farm at one thirty and it took all the groups energy to try and maintain some order. They split the children into different groups and organized different events like a sack race, tug of war, dodge ball, cricket, football and just random running around. The kids enjoyed themselves and when it was time to go there were tears in both the girls as well as the student’s eyes.

Sports day

Saying goodbye

Kinsley Group 1 ended their time at the farm with a BBQ dinner, a bonfire and lot of stories about their time here. They were all sad to leave but were looking forward to their next project in Kollam. In the beginning I was afraid that there would be too much work for these teenage girls from the U.K, but at the end of four days I was afraid that the next group would not have enough to do…

Skinning the Chicken

BBQ!!

The second group from arrived on the 26^th of July a lot earlier than the previous group and this time there was no beeline for the bathroom as they had a pleasanter journey. It was another all girl group with one teacher . This group was going to complete the pipeline started by group 1 and paint the other half of the front façade.

Their schedule was similar to that of the previous group with half of day 1 spent purchasing the materials. This group had to connect 2 overhead tanks on one building, connect one tap assembly on the back of the school, and complete the connection to the bathroom. I was told that this group had more artists among them so the painters were encouraged to do a more elaborate job.

The school kids by now were also familiar with the routine and wasted no time, this time around being shy. They ran to the group as soon as they saw them; climbing, hanging and hugging these girls who were quite taken aback by the welcome. The second group again got down to business from day one as soon as the materials showed up.

A warm welcome

Accurate measurements

Day 1 Digging

Once again they split in to 3 groups— pipes, painting and interaction. And over the next three days they worked remarkably hard. The diggers had to extend the trenches to the bathrooms. This involved going through a big stone that proved no match for the Irish will power of Kabir, the expedition leader. The group also had to fix the overhead tanks which involved getting 65 bricks on to the roof. I played catcher as they threw them up to me. The mason also needed some help inside the tank.

The Man and his Mountain


An inside job


Trench Warfare

The painters decided to paint an “Under the Sea” mural on the wall. This was a big job and the girls got down to it from day 1. It was really interesting to watch how the mural took form. From just a coat of white to little fishes and dolphins popping out I was impressed and the kids loved it.

Evolution of the Dolphin


Looking for treasure

The girls in charge of interacting with the kids taught them lots of action songs with Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes being one of the favorites. While the children picked up English words quickly. The kids were allowed to play with the computers and it was evident that they learnt much faster than the teachers (Although it was pinball and paint for the kids and word and excel for the teachers). The teachers were taught after four everyday and were very grateful for the lessons.

Computer Basics 101


Granny Crocodiles

The last day for the second group was again similar to the previous group. Half a day’s work to finish the project and then return to the farm for another sports day. The painters put on the finishing touches. The diggers had got the tank in place, the connection to main line complete and taps connected but….. No Water!! There was no electricity for the pump. With a shrug and hopeful that they would see water out of the taps before they left, the group returned to the farm for a quick lunch and to prepare for the sports event.

The children from the school arrived post lunch at one thirty and were quickly divided into seven teams, each with its own color. One of the events was a relay race where the girls tried to explain the rules. Unfortunately with the blow of the whistle all the kids in the line ran from start to finish. Once the chaos was controlled and the hysterical laughter subsided the other events like tug of war, balloon race, wheel barrow race were conducted. At the end of the event we were told that the electricity had come back at the school so we could go check if the pipeline worked. The kids were so excited and determined to not let this second group of girls leave that they clung to each one of them on the walk back to school. We all waited with baited breath as the first tap was slowly turned on and Splash!! We had flowing water. The kids went berserk starting an immediate water fight. Unfortunately it was getting late and it was time to go. Once again faces were wet not just with water from the taps but also tears as the girls realized that they had to leave.

I'm guessing Orange team?


Relay Rules not Relayed


"Sports"

Water!!

Koala bear goodbyes

Under the Sea

The last night was spent with the girls turning hosts and cooking dinner for everyone on the farm. Stir fried noodles, baked potatoes and lots of Sprite filled us up nicely with the girls talking excitedly of their next week of relaxation.

Young Chefs

The third group was a large group of 22 from a school called Charters in the UK. They arrived early evening on the 1^st of August and like the previous groups were immediately taken aback with the beauty of the farm. The group was a mixed group with boys and girls, 2 teachers and the expedition leader. They quickly settled into their tents and were soon about exploring the farm. The boys finding the volleyball court for a quick game before dinner.

The Charters group was larger, here for longer and had a bigger budget than the previous groups so we decided that they could do a lot more for a school. They would be working in a school 10km away and would have to be bussed there and back everyday. The next day being Sunday there would not be any kids at the school but just the Principal, so they could visit the school and find out what the Principal wanted them to do.

Drive to School

It was a scenic drive in the morning to the school and the kids were quiet in anticipation of what they were in for the next week. Andy, the expedition leader, quickly took charge identifying projects other than the pipeline and painting that the group could undertake. It was decided that they would level and landscape the playground, paint the nearby health centre and nursery, wire a classroom and pay for a few upgrades for the school. The group was divided into different teams and each task had a leader who was in charge of getting it done. They measured lengths of trenches to be dug, area of wall surfaces to be painted and determined other materials that they would need.

The next day was “shopping day”, and a delegation went to the next town to buy all the materials required. The group had also decided to buy benches for the school as well shoes and sock for each kid. The materials would only arrive the next day so the group used the remaining afternoon to do some much needed laundry.

The materials were delivered to the school the next day and the group got cracking. This school had a similar water problem as the previous one with only one tap for the entire school. Thus 2 tanks were going to be installed and a pipeline was going to be dug to connect the bathrooms, the nursery next door and a separate line to the kitchen. Since the task was bigger than the previous group a plumber was hired to help out.

Babu the Plumber

Lift with your knees

The painters had many different tasks this time. They had decided to paint the local health centre with some informative pictures, the nursery, the playground equipment, a new gate and a sign post. Andy being supervisor would keep checking on the different groups to make sure things were going according to plan.

The health center

The nursery

Boss man Andy

Leveling the playground was a huge task and few local men were hired to help out. For the landscaping bit of the project, the group had decided to construct an embankment between two levels on the playground, a bench around a tree for the students to have lunch and steps to make it easier to get to one of the classrooms. The group hired some masons for the construction and had to help by clearing the field of stones and carrying materials to the masons.

Heavy Lifting


Team work


Lunch tree


Steps to knowledge


Colorful swing

Each team took turns to teach the children some English as well as few songs and dance routines. The students at this school were a lot younger than the previous school and were a lot more timid the first few days. But like they say, familiarity breeds contempt, it was not long before they were yelling, screaming and climbing all over the group. The teachers more or less abandoned classes the time the group was there, as the students were uncontrollably curious to watch all the stuff happening at their school.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes..


Picture card learning

For six days the group worked hard from nine to five everyday bringing the projects closer to completion. The last day that the students would see the group was Friday so they decided to organize a small activity for the children. They got the kids to play Frisbee, tried teaching them how to skip and taught them the Macarena. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and even the teacher joined in the fun. To end it on a high note the group then distributed the shoes that they had bought for the children. Most of the students didn’t know how to put on socks and needed help with laces. It was wonderful to watch the sheer happiness in their eyes as they received their gifts. Unfortunately it was time for the children to leave and so once again I had to watch the sad goodbyes as the kids left.

Jump and catch


Macarena


Next teach her how to tie laces

Kodak moment

The last day was a Saturday and the group came to school to finish up their projects and to clean up. The pipeline was ready and we had water in the taps. The paintings looked good and the teachers were very happy. The playground was ready and the group inaugurated it by sliding down the slides and swinging on the swings. The principal was thrilled and couldn’t thank the group enough. The group proud of what they had accomplished left the school for their last night at the farm.

Simple pleasures


It's my turn!!


Quality control


Leaving after a job well done

Once again the group turned hosts. They decided to do a BBQ with some noodles and chips. After dinner everyone sat around a big bonfire reminiscing of the week spent and looking forward to the week ahead. They were pooped from their week of labor and it was with (I’m guessing) contentment and exhaustion that they collapsed in to their tents for their last night at Wild Valley Farm.

Almost four weeks and three pipelines later my work was done and it was time for me to return to Kochi. Leaving the tranquility of the forest for the hustle of the city was difficult but i was looking forward to my bed. My time here taught me many things--- plumbing, never underestimate the ability of 16 year old girls, Tamil(the language i was supposed to be translating) but more importantly how just a few people and some hard work can make a difference to this world. So if you are reading this, stop what you are doing and Take The Challenge.

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Even the Rains couldn't stop us...

I was super excited about my first ever trek in Munnar but at the same time also extremely apprehensive about whether I would actually be able to go through with it. I do enjoy a tad of adventure in everything I do. But seriously, this was the real deal. I didn’t even know if I had the stamina to walk long distances, let alone trek! But one thing I had decided was that I was going to give it my best shot, try to enjoy it and come back triumphant.

For those who don’t know much about Munnar, it is one of the most picturesque locations in Kerala. Munnar is at an elevation of about 2200 metres above MSL and is mainly a tea country. It is also a wild life sanctuary for those fleet footed nearly extinct Nilgiri Tahr. These gently undulating hills also turn a sea of violet once every 12 years with the rare blooming of ‘Neela Kurinji” (Strobolanthus).

Day 1
I was told that the vehicle would pick me up at 6 am. Considering that I was home on holidays, I hadn’t really seen those wee hours of the morning. Surprisingly, I was all packed and ready to go by 05:30. You can imagine how excited I was.
It had just been a few hours since we had departed Kochi, the scenery was spectacular. It was nothing like the city and it was almost like we had reached a different place altogether. This place, it was a breath of fresh air. Well, not for too long really. The winding roads and the uphill climb were causing all this exotic scenery to revolve in my head. We pulled over and I purged my stomach of the breakfast that I had had that morning. Yes, I threw up and it was disgusting. My stomach behaved itself for another two hours but the only question on my mind was “Are we there yet?” Thankfully, by noon, we arrived at Suryanelli. A blanket of thick mist covered this beautiful town even at midday and the weather was simply perfect, albeit the incessant drizzle.
My empty stomach welcomed the so called ‘light’ lunch and we geared up for our first trek of the trip. We pulled up our leech socks (whose worth I would only realize on the day I decided not to wear it) and grabbed a few bottles of water and started our trek. During our climb, we covered a distance of 8 kms uphill from Chinnakanal to the camp site at Suryanelli. It was almost impossible to traverse the steep descents without any support. I managed to grab on to the elephant grass (rightly called so, visibly much taller than I was) for support unaware of how sharp they were.

going down...

We then made our way across what the guides called a ‘bridge’. It only looked like a sad excuse for one to me. It was simply three wobbly eucalyptus trunks laid down with a flimsy metal wire between two standing trees on either side to hold on to. Luckily, we managed to get through to the other side safely.

The 'Bridge'

During the last leg of the trek, we noticed Das, our driver, waving out to us. Boy, were we glad to see him!! That last stretch was indeed the easiest. We binged on the snacks especially the local peanut ‘chikkis’ that Das brought us and were back on our feet with renewed vigour. A little while later, we could see the road. The guides assured us that we would be at the camp in no time. Clearly, we differed in our sense of distances. I’m positive we walked more than 2 kms till we finally reached our destination. With the camp staff cheering us on, I think we almost sprinted towards the camp. The camp overlooked the idyllic shola grasslands and provided a magnificent view. After lazing around and whiling away sometime, I took a refreshing shower and gorged my dinner. That night I slept like a baby.


Day 2
The next morning, after a game of key punching we packed our bags for our next trek. I was told that we would be taking a downhill route to Anaerangal. We began the trek on the road but took a route that landed us on giant rocks. The previous nights’ rains had caused the rocks to become very slippery. We slid down the rocks, which I thought was a very innovative way of getting past them. We watched the mist gracefully lift, slowly revealing the splendid scenery.

before we started slipping and sliding..

We then carefully made our way downhill to the Muduvan Tribal colony. We had brought a few sweets to give the local children to coax them to take pictures with us. They took the sweets all right. But literally headed for the hills thereafter.

And then there were none..

One tribal accompanied us to our next road interception as the area we were going to cross was known for its wild elephant population. He wore a lungi, flip flops and carried an umbrella. I must admit we felt a little stupid in all our trekking gear at that point of time. To me, he certainly didn’t look like he could save us from the elephants but I liked how confident he was. We managed to reach Anaerangal an hour later and as luck would have it with no elephant encounters on the way.

Since we reached the camp ahead of time, we decided to play a few games. However, the rain played spoilsport and we called it a day. We had successfully completed our second trek. Just when we were about to retire for the night, the elephants decided to pay us a visit. Fortunately, our guides burnt crackers and Das (to the rescue!!) chased after them with the jeep. Too terrified to even come out of our tents, we missed all the nights’ action.

Day 3
The next day, we started our trek at the Anaerangal dam and made our way through the well manicured tea plantation. Although the climb was tough, it was really worth it.

through the planations.

We entered the cardamom plantations with our local guide, Jayan stopping at almost every plant to give us its specifics. It was nice to see his enthusiasm, but we were only too happy when he finally finished with his discourse. We enjoyed a quick lunch with the plantation labourers.

lunch at the plantations..

It was good fun listening to the girls and the labourers exchange pleasantries. The girls were trying out the few words of Tamil that they had learnt and found it very amusing to hear the labourers reply in the little English that they knew. We proceeded to the Shanthanpara camp. During the steep climb, we wondered how the camp staff and the guides actually managed to lug all the camp stuff to the site considering the fact that there was no jeep route (all hail the Kalypso supermen!!).
That night the guides decided to scare us a little with their story of ‘Elizabeth’ the friendly ghost who apparently regularly visited the camp site. It was pretty clear the story was bogus, but I must say we were a little creeped out when we saw moving shadows outside our tents at midnight.

Day 4
We were already told that the trek on the fourth day would be the longest and toughest of all the treks. After leaving the camp site at 08:30, we walked for about 5 kms on the road before we finally reached Chaturangapara, where we would be trekking.

Strategizing ..

The climbs were very steep and the winds were against us. Along the way, two blood sucking leeches decided to tag along with me. This is when we tried a very interesting way to get rid of the leeches - tickling them. And it worked!! This trek was indeed the most challenging. But once we reached the summit, it was just brilliant.

its all about the grip.

We were actually walking on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The topographic contrast between the two states was evident and the view was out of this world. Moving down was a whole lot easier because the winds were literally throwing us that way. It was near impossibility to go down together so we divided ourselves into groups of three. The groups locked hands and were accompanied by the guides one by one. I’ve got to say, these guides are insane. We were cribbing about climbing up once and these guys climbed up and down thrice. Their energy was insane. Hats off to them!! ( you know who you are, go on give yourselves a pat!)
We treated ourselves to a well deserved lunch and continued to our Chaturangapara camp site. Once there, we tried our hands at fishing. Sadly, the fish weren’t very interested to be a part of our dinner platter. Thereafter, we lit a camp fire. The landlord’s children presented before us the traditional art forms of Kerala, only that the sword was substituted with a spoon and the shield with a vessel lid. The performance was definitely entertaining. It was then decided to have a dance off between the girls and the guides. I really don’t know who deserved to win but the night was definitely a lot of fun. An honorable mention goes to Das, whose break dance performance was the highlight of the night.



Day 5
As this was a last day, we loaded all our stuff into the mini-van, bade goodbye to all the camp staff and left for what would be our final trek. We had to take a couple of deviations, since last nights storm had uprooted trees, blocking our beaten path.The trek lasted only 45 minutes and seemed like child’s play to us now. After the trek, we boarded the vehicles and left for Kochi. I was adviced to sit on a newspaper to prevent myself from throwing up (I successfully managed to bust that myth by the way). The journey took us about 5 hours, which we spent relaxing (read: sleeping).


From stopping to pluck wild fruits to take back to camp to singing all the way to keep us going, every aspect of this trip will be etched in my memory forever. Despite all the sweating and panting and weariness, we managed to enjoy every moment of the trek and surprise ourselves each day. This was indeed the experience of a lifetime. Not only did I complete the trek and thoroughly enjoy myself all along, I brought back a whole lot of wonderful memories. Well, apart from leech bites and the cuts on my hand courtesy the elephant grass. But then again, I guess that’s what a REAL trek is all about, right?