My highlights in India, SEPTEMBER 2013
“On 5th September I arrived in Mumbai, and started the 2nd part of my world trip. After my 15 month trip in South America, this time I will be travelling in India for nearly 6 months. The continent has changed, but my aims are the same: to discover new countries and cultures, meet the people who live there and spread the values of solidarity and sustainability.
Volunteering at Shelter
In order to get acclimatised to the new environment, I decided to spend the first month in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. I worked as a volunteer in a so-called “Shelter”, an institution that takes care of ex-street children, offering them a place to live, education, counseling and help. Around 65 children live in the Shelter and live together as a big family with competent and loving staff that takes care of them. So, after spending weeks and sometimes months living in the streets, they finally have a home again.
I spent a lot of time with the children, playing games, teaching English and helping them with their homework. This way I had the opportunity to learn about their lives and their dreams. I had a lot of fun doing sport and art activities with them, especially during a “hair-style body-painting” workshop.
My time at Shelter Don Bosco was wonderful and I am really grateful to the Fathers, the staff and of course to the children for the opportunity to spend such an amazing time together!
Discovering sustainability in Mumbai
Mumbai, formerly called Bombay, is a megacity with around 20 million inhabitants. Many of them live in slums, which are heavily populated informal settlements characterised by precarious housing and poverty. The environmental situation in the city is very bad: the intense traffic causes high levels of air pollution, green areas are cut down to build new houses and garbage recycling or collection is barely present. Even if the situation is rather bleak at the moment, many committed people are being pro-active in order to improve it. I had the pleasure to get to know an environmental NGO called GreenLine, which focuses on awareness programs within schools. I accompanied them on a day-trip to a National Park organised for 80 school-girls. We learnt a lot about the local flora and fauna and had a great time. In the next part of the newsletter you will find out more about Green Line and at the end a bonus video featuring their staff will present the story so far and the current projects, so keep on reading!
The trip goes on
After spending a wonderful month in the city, I left Mumbai to attend a 10-day Vipassana meditation course. Since then, much has happened and I would like to share it with you.
There are monthly updates in Italian and German - if you are interested in getting my articles, send me an email: massi@sustainablecouch.org or check out my blog in English.
Full report as OCTOBER NEWSLETTER OF SUSTAINABLE COUCH
“On 5th September I arrived in Mumbai, and started the 2nd part of my world trip. After my 15 month trip in South America, this time I will be travelling in India for nearly 6 months. The continent has changed, but my aims are the same: to discover new countries and cultures, meet the people who live there and spread the values of solidarity and sustainability.
Volunteering at Shelter
In order to get acclimatised to the new environment, I decided to spend the first month in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. I worked as a volunteer in a so-called “Shelter”, an institution that takes care of ex-street children, offering them a place to live, education, counseling and help. Around 65 children live in the Shelter and live together as a big family with competent and loving staff that takes care of them. So, after spending weeks and sometimes months living in the streets, they finally have a home again.
I spent a lot of time with the children, playing games, teaching English and helping them with their homework. This way I had the opportunity to learn about their lives and their dreams. I had a lot of fun doing sport and art activities with them, especially during a “hair-style body-painting” workshop.
My time at Shelter Don Bosco was wonderful and I am really grateful to the Fathers, the staff and of course to the children for the opportunity to spend such an amazing time together!
Discovering sustainability in Mumbai
Mumbai, formerly called Bombay, is a megacity with around 20 million inhabitants. Many of them live in slums, which are heavily populated informal settlements characterised by precarious housing and poverty. The environmental situation in the city is very bad: the intense traffic causes high levels of air pollution, green areas are cut down to build new houses and garbage recycling or collection is barely present. Even if the situation is rather bleak at the moment, many committed people are being pro-active in order to improve it. I had the pleasure to get to know an environmental NGO called GreenLine, which focuses on awareness programs within schools. I accompanied them on a day-trip to a National Park organised for 80 school-girls. We learnt a lot about the local flora and fauna and had a great time. In the next part of the newsletter you will find out more about Green Line and at the end a bonus video featuring their staff will present the story so far and the current projects, so keep on reading!
The trip goes on
After spending a wonderful month in the city, I left Mumbai to attend a 10-day Vipassana meditation course. Since then, much has happened and I would like to share it with you.
There are monthly updates in Italian and German - if you are interested in getting my articles, send me an email: massi@sustainablecouch.org or check out my blog in English.
Full report as OCTOBER NEWSLETTER OF SUSTAINABLE COUCH
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| peace begins with a smile |
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| Shelter kids in Mumbai |
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| Gate of India, Mumbai |
