We arrived in Delhi and then started our long journey to Tarsaal. We started by taking an overnight train to Kusani which was quite an experience. The train station was incredible; people everywhere and the trains absolutely bursting with people.
Once we arrived in Kusani we stayed in a nice hotel overnight and this was to be our last night with any kind of luxury (like a bed). The next day we split into seven jeeps and did the penultimate leg of the journey. Travelling in the jeeps through the mountains was amazing; unfortunately the roads are not quite up to English standards and were incredibly bumpy. At about midday we arrived at the beginning of the trek. The trek lasted three days and was a fantastic experience; we saw some incredible sights and managed to get to 9200 feet. About halfway through the third day we finally reached Tarsaal and got the first look at the new school. It was a lot less finished than we thought it was going to be so there was a lot of work to do over the next five days. We also set about improving their current school by painting the whole thing. We met all the children and then headed down to the camp. The camp was lovely right next to the river. For the next five days we slaved away building and painting, it was great fun though. The locals would always come and watch and all the women would help out (all the men did was drink). By the end of the day we had made fantastic progress; we had finished painting the old school and the building of the new one had come on a lot. By the end of the five days and smelling pretty bad we went to the closing ceremony. At the closing ceremony the young children sang a song and we gave out our gifts which they were very thankful for as they have literally nothing. We then left Tarsaal to make the long journey home; we weren’t taking the train on the way back so it was a bus. We stopped in various places such as a big temple and we then saw the red fort in Delhi. That was the end of our trip and although we were tired we felt extremely satisfied with our work.
Thank you all very much for your contributions and making this all possible.
To all our family and friends,
Hi everyone and many thanks for visiting our fundraising page.
During the Easter Holidays 2010 we will join a group of 25 Winchester boys for a life changing experience. We will visit Jamba, which is a remote settlement in the middle of the very hot and arid desert of Rajasthan, India, and together we will start to build a weekly boarding school!
Many of the children in this area travel up to 15 miles a day to attend school, so accommodation for them during the week would mean a much higher attendance rate. Initially the school would cater for 80 children but in the hope that this will grow to 100.
This project has captured the imagination of the Winchester boys as we have such a great time at school. All the money raised on this website will go towards building and equipping the school with, for example, computers.
Please help us - in the UK we do not realise how lucky we are. Building the school will take 3 years and we are the first of three Winchester groups who will contribute. We want to build the best foundations possible.
We are hoping to do a number of fundraising activities including a mega walk, a quiz evening and working free on a school summer camp in return for donations.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Lotus Flower Trust gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
Please help us help the Jamba school children - we will update this site regularly with news of our progress
Thank you
Nick Baines and James Parker
