Global Awareness in Action: India 2011

Yesterday we took a day trip to Pangong Lake, a brilliant turquoise salt lake that marks the India-Tibet border.  We hope you enjoy the group photo!

Hello!! We are happy to report that we are safely and soundly returned to campus after 10 days traversing the Himalayas on foot. We trekked from Likir village, where we were greeted by a beautiful mountaintop monastery at our trailhead, to the villages of Yangtang, Uley, Hemis, Ang, and Teya. By day, we carried our packs through the Himalayas’ high-altitude deserts and rocky peaks, and by late afternoon, we found ourselves in village oases of grassy pastureland, irrigation canals, tinkling Buddhist prayer bells, yaks and cows and dzhos (a yak-cow hybrid that serves as a draft animal), and Ladakhi mud-brick homes trimmed with hand-carved wooden windowsills.

Many of the students were surprised by the physical challenges of the trek, as we were summitting mountain passes at 13,000 feet or more in sandy terrain, followed by steep downhill hikes and more summits. However, group morale was high at the end of every evening, when we proudly reached our village homestays. Each night, students stayed in
groups of 2-4 with obliging Ladakhi host families, with whom they learned about Ladakhi culture, namely cooking, harvesting food from the garden, milking and feeding livestock, and tending to the composting toilet (we are happy to report all our students are now
experts in the art of turning human waste into rich garden soil). The Ladakhis are incredibly self-sufficient, with some families wholly separate from the cash economy as they grow all their own food, raise animals, build homes from local materials, and irrigate using diverted glacial streams. It’s been an educative and rewarding experience.

The trek culminated in a 5-day village stay, where the students had a more immersive experience with their host families and, each afternoon, contributed labor to a service project spearheaded by our Ladakhi trekking guide, Tenzin. The students helped construct a recycling and garbage separation system for the village on the grounds of the local school– first by hauling 100 mud bricks to the site, then by collecting and breaking stones to build a foundation, and finally by mixing natural concrete and laying mudbricks for a partitioned garbage structure that encourages the recycling and reuse of waste materials. Our last day in the village, Tenzin led us on a garbage pickup, and we walked throughout the village picking up waste and dumping it at our new site (rather than in the streambeds and walking paths of the village!). All of the students were happy to contribute something long-lasting to the village that they came to know quite well.

Our last few days back at the school include more assistance with English conversation classes, cooking for the school’s students and staff, and a day trip to the famed Pengong Lake at the border of India and Tibet. We return to Delhi on the 24th for our last few days in India.

Julley!
Claire and Kartikeya

Students at Likir Monastery, shortly before starting the trek.

Harry and Yan, trekking.

Tenzin, our indispensable Ladakhi trekking guide. He is pictured with a prayer flag, on a cliff above the Indus and Zanskar Rivers.

Leaving the desert and approaching one of our overnightvillages.

Students working on our service project.

The service project, complete!

A note from the Putney barn:

We were thrilled to get a short call today from the Global Action India leaders, Kartikeya and Claire, from the middle of their trek.  We don’t usually hear from the leaders during the trek, so it was great that they were able to call out.  All is well!  Students are healthy.   The hiking portion of the trek went well.  Muscles are a little sore after all the hiking, but everyone is happy.  They hiked through extraordinary bucolic landscape, and were able to lend a hand on small community service projects in some of the rustic villages they passed.  They are now heading into a longer village stay where they will undertake a larger community service project and stay in pairs with families for a few days.  The group will return to their base at the school on the 19th.

The students are doing remarkably well and maintaining extraordinarily high energy levels (according to the school staff who’ve seen previous Putney groups come by and struggle with the altitude!).  Since our last post we’ve had the opportunity to do a bit more “practice” trekking.  Two days ago we went to a beautiful village called Phyang. Imagine quiet village lanes passing through beautifully terraced farm fields, flanked by carefully laid stone walls and mud brick homes colored with brilliant vermillion, indigo, and white dyes.  Windows and doors are embellished by intricately hand-carved woodwork.  A fine network of canals is laced throughout the village in order to provide water to everyone’s fields.  Wherever possible, small gardens are planted with hollyhocks, snap dragons, and lilies.  Several white stupas (Buddhist structures) are also built in strategically elevated locations dotted throughout the village.

Amidst this tranquility there are evident signs of the destruction of the 2010 floods in Ladakh.  Several homes are being rebuilt which look much better than the temporary prefabricated shelters provided to the locals.  In Phyang, each Putney student was paired with two Ladakhi students to go on a photo scavenger hunt and explore the village. Students were also asked to collect stories from the villagers of their experiences with the flood.  Several students were asked to tea by the villagers, but unfortunately they had no time as it took over an hour for them to wind their way through the village to the stunning Phyang monastery.  This large structure is visible from many parts of the village as it sits atop a high ridge.

Students were greeted with chai at the monastery.   Monks wearing red robes navigated the students through the monastery temples, explaining to them the different Buddhist deities and rituals.  The students were overcome with a sense of wonder through this whole experience. Following this amazing excursion, the next day the students had the option of walking down to the Indus river or up to a mountain. Dipping toes into the icy Indus was an experience that won’t be soon forgotten, and those that went up the high mountain claimed that they were going to be well prepared for the trek in the days ahead. Everyone has also been helping out with daily service projects and English classes around the campus, following the lead of Ladakhi students, who board here and keep the school’s facilities in shape. Our Putney students have been feeding, cleaning and milking cows; beating dusty carpets; scrubbing homemade solar panels; chopping vegetables and rolling out dough for chapatis (flat Indian bread) with our cook, Binoi; digging irrigation trenches; and moving rocks out of the way for masons who are rebuilding the bridge at the school’s entrance, which was washed away in last year’s flood.

Today the students will get a proper introduction to the wildlife of Ladakh when we visit the conservation group in Leh city.  This organization does great work trying to protect the wildlife by creating programs and advocating for policies that minimize human-wildlife conflict.  It is through them that our home stays have been organized for the duration of the trek.  The idea is that communities can get  additional income by opening up their homes as guest houses.  This will more than compensate them for any losses they may incur from wildlife– who occasionally pick up a stray goat or sheep– and reduce families’ compulsion to kill the wild animals.  If we’re lucky, we will get to see some during our trek.  Whatever the outcome, the students are excited and they know that their footsteps will be watched closely by the animals, aptly called the “ghosts of the mountain.”

Cheers,
Kartikeya and Claire

After an early morning departure from Delhi to Leh yesterday, the students looked out the airplane windows with great anticipation as the Himalayas unfolded before their eyes. It took some time but the students have started to acclimatize to the high altitude of the mountains. They embraced the Ladakhi hospitality and the rustic setting of our school campus with open arms. The small campus is nestled amongst the brown, rocky Himalayan peaks with glacial caps visible in the distance. The mighty Indus river runs but meters away from our lovely campus which is flocked by poplars, willow, apricot and apple trees. The rush of the river down the valley brings echoes of the ancient civilization to our ears. This is it: 8,000 years of history flows from Mount Kailash at the Indo-Tibetan border through Ladakh and Kashmir through Pakistan before it joins the Arabian Sea.

The mud brick traditional architecture of the school makes the buildings of the campus fit seamlessly as if part of the local ecology of the region. Students are lodging in small groups of three to four per room with views of the mountains through their windows. Though the dry-composting bathrooms are quite an adjustment for the students, they are taking it up quite well. It is amazing how the whole campus is an example of how humans can live in perfect harmony with nature.

Students have been helping out by participating in “conversation class” (English) with the local Ladakhi students (see two attached photos of English class). This will help them have a better cultural exchange with the students and eventually they may even pick up some Ladakhi phrases. In addition, students have been extremely enthusiastic about helping with the cooking and chai (tea) preparation on campus, where over 60 people reside (see two attached photos of Caleb, Paige and Titus preparing chai, and two of our new Ladakhi friends drinking it during campus teatime). During the evening dinner, the Putney students introduced themselves officially to the local students, thanking them for their hospitality and expressing their excitement for getting to know the Ladakhis and their culture better.

We’re looking forward to a few more days of playing pick-up soccer, singing along, and playing on the campus’ beautiful space (see attached photo of boys from our trip playing on the roof of the meeting room), as well as helping with the campus gardens and animals, and walking to a few local gumpas (Buddhist temples) in preparation for our trek.

Cheers!
Kartikeya and Claire

We’re settling into the rhythm of Indian life in the subcontinent’s most frenetic city after a seamless journey from the states. We arrived late on July 3rd to 90+ degree temperatures and 100% humidity and a lovely hotel in the Greater Kailash neighborhood of New Delhi.

Today (July 4th), much to our students’ chagrin, there were no fireworks to celebrate America’s independence, but we did have a long day of learning about Delhi’s most historic sights. Our first stop was Humayun’s Tomb, a 14th century mausoleum built by the wife of Emperor Humayun for her husband, where everyone walked the building’s beautiful grounds and appreciated calligraphy and restorators’ work on the exterior. We held our orientation under an obliging tree.

Our orientation meeting

We proceeded to lunch, where the students ate naan and roti with paneer tikka tandoori, butter chicken, dal makhani, aloo ghobi, and more. Then the students made their way to Fab India, a local store, where everyone bought Indian clothing, transforming the boys into
sahibs and the girls into sahibas. Photos forthcoming!

Finally, we toured the Qutb Minar, a 14th-century minaret and complex of Islamic buildings with more beautiful calligraphy  As jet lag started to set in, we returned to the hotel. Everyone is in great spirits, as you can see!

Titus

at Humayun’s tomb

We’re off to Ladakh on an early flight tomorrow morning and will write again from the mountains.

Cheers,
Claire and Kartikeya

We’ve received word from the leaders that the group has arrived safely in Delhi.  Everyone
is in great spirits.  Tomorrow they will hold orientation at Humayun’s Tomb and take a trip to Qutb Minar and India Gate.

We know that parents love to keep up to date on their kids’ activities during our programs.  While we expect that most of our participants will take the time to be in touch occasionally, we have found that it is helpful to parents for our leaders to post periodic updates on this blog.  Obviously, blog posts will not provide detailed information about your child, but they will let you know about some of the group’s activities, projects, and excursions.

The frequency of blog posts varies from program to program depending on internet access (which can be limited), and each group’s itinerary and busy schedule of activities.  Please rest assured that we can reach leaders at any time and that we will discuss any important issues concerning your child directly them and with you.  As you know, you can reach us by phone at our office during business hours, and on our emergency line 24/7 if necessary.

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Have a fantastic summer!