24/09/17

To start the day we enjoyed a yummy breakfast, and then headed off to a church service with lots of rock music. We visited a Sikh temple, wearing head scarfs and removing our shoes we toured the temple and were able to make some bread with the local volunteers. Following lunch, we went to the busy Old Delhi. In Old Delhi we rode a rickshaw down the chaotic streets, visited the spice market, watched a parade and bartered at the jewellers. The streets were full of people everywhere, dogs roaming around, monkeys climbing and people selling things. Before going back to the hotel we took a bus tour around the imperial buildings including the presidents house and listened to our fantastic tour guide Sanjay informed us of some interesting history. We enjoyed a refreshing swim in the pool and went to a tasty dinner to finish a great day.

Meg Eishold

25/9/17

As our alarms went off at 6am in the morning, some chose to simply hit snooze and catch a bit of extra shut eye while others dragged themselves out of bed to get ready for the big day ahead. After a breakfast fit for royalty, everyone loaded their luggage and themselves onto the bus for a 4 hour bus ride to Agra. Sleep seemed to be at the top of everyone's list of things to do on the bus ride. Upon arriving in Agra, we were greeted at our grand hotel and sent to our rooms to settle in. It wasn't long after that we set out again for the day's activities. A stop at a Pashmina fabric shop filled everyone's eyes with colour, made jaws drop and wallets open. After perusing the hundreds of handmade scarves, the select few were purchased and we were off again for lunch. Once everyone had satisfied their hunger, the excitement in the group was buzzing. We were off to the Taj Mahal! The 33 degree heat had nothing on us, we were ready. 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' filled the air as the sight of the great Taj was revealed. After a brief history lesson from Sanjay, our tour guide, we were all off taking picture after picture. We all learnt a lot, some more than others.

We all learnt that white marble makes the sun burn twice as hard and Miss Frame discovered that Mrs Paul needs to take a photography class or two! A lap of the inside of the Taj was the perfect way to finish off the visit. We loaded onto the bus again and headed back to the hotel for a quick break before yet another expedition. After a swim in the super photogenic pool, we all freshened up and headed to the foyer, ready for the marble workshop, Bollywood show and dinner. The marble workshop was a highlight for many as they had their breath taken away with the craftsmanship that had gone into the marble goods that were being sold. We all found out pretty quickly that marble was not a cheap buy, but some bartered down their prices and walked out with a few goodies. Next door was the Bollywood show so we headed over there completely oblivious to what we were about to see. As the show began we were blindsided by the glitz and glam of Bollywood. The dancers twirled and sang their way through the love story behind the Taj Mahal. The show even included a not so miniature Taj Mahal replica weighing in at about 8,750 kilograms. We concluded our night with a nice dinner at a local restaurant.

Mia Oberin

26/09/17

We woke early, but Caitlin and I still managed to rock up late to a ripping buffet brekky, chockas with Indian cuisine and some real Aussie goodies. We hit the road at 8am and ventured to the Red Fort, where jaws dropped and noses pinched from that lovely India smell. We went inside and saw the abundance of red sandstone and then heard the Mogul history of the place, but got quite distracted by some friendly squirrels. After taking hundreds of pictures and sweating up a storm,

We left and made our way to an embroidery and jewellery shop. Sanjay, our tour guide, told us that this place had some of the finest jewellery in India, and it sure did. They had even been mentioned in the National Geographic for their 500 year old necklace, earrings, bracelet and ring that the Empress of India wore in the Mogul era. We were then back on the road and continued our journey to Kalakho, but had a quick pit stop at Bharatpur for lunch. While we were there we saw a puppet show, in which all puppets were hand made, and we also made a few purchases on some other handmade goodies. We then made our way to the Abhaneri Stair Well, which was as cool as it sounds. We were greeted by some very young school girls and boys who were smiling and just as stoked to see us as we were them. After a quick stop we were back on the bus and before we knew it we were off again, enjoying a high tea at Baswa. We devoured some biscuits and some fried veggie fritters and enjoyed some traditional Chai tea. Our last stop was Kalakho. We pulled in to what was a massive red sand stone building. We got our roomies, unpacked and made our way straight to the pool. A quick freshen up and we were back in the lobby learning how to cook some Indian favourites, Naan Bread and Okra. We were then split into groups and had 15 minutes to prepare a dance for everyone. We were dressed in Sahri's and Turbins and performed our dances. After a massive dance off involving all students, teachers, bus drivers and Sanjay, we were zonked, and hot. So a quick swim and a few rounds of shoulder fights, and we were ready for bed. Day five was too good!

Marni Rickard

27/09/17

After a quick play on the swings and seesaw, where some injuries were almost caused, we jumped onto the bus and headed off around 8am. First stop of the day was the Amber Fort, where we were all disappointed by the fact we couldn't have our elephant rides due to a festival. But no worries, Sanjay went and picked us up a couple of jeeps to get up to the fort. It was a tight squeeze and a bumpy ride but an amusing one also. The door on one jeep continued to pop open terrifying Mrs Paul. Before leaving the restaurant after lunch, all 13 of the girls got some henna done. Daniel first refused to participate in this "girly activity", but then decided he wanted Shrek on his forearm. All pumped to see the result, we were only disappointed when the henna lady told him she couldn't do it. The following hour was full of strange movements and stances by the girls in trying to avoid smudging the henna. We then proceeded to the City Palace, where the king of Rajasthan lives. As the flag was flying we knew he was in town and Caitlin was ready to met her future husband. He is only 17 years old and is completing his last year of schooling. The boys were finally happy to look at something more suited to them in the weapons gallery. In the textiles room we were all astonished by the size of one rulers clothes, they were enormous! They called him the giant, and no wonder as he weighed in at approximately 250+kg. After looking at the Friends of the Museum section we headed off to do our final bit of shopping. First the handmade textiles shop, where the winners of the dance off got their prizes; a tie for Daniel and scarves for the girls. The boys were ecstatic they finally got some 'Thums Up' as arranged by Sanjay. Daniel, the biggest spender of the trip by far, got a formal shirt tailer made for himself. After this we headed to our final shop stop; the Mall. The boys were intrigued by the 'singing bowel' that made chimey, echoey sounds. Mrs Paul's response to this- "you could do that with any bowl at home don't waste your money", but who do you think bough it? Yep Daniel. Just before leaving, Meg went into an extreme laughing fit as we discovered the shop owners thought she had stolen something (she hadn't); she couldn't get out of that Mall quick enough! Back to the hotel for 2 hours for a swim and then it was off to the sound and light sound at the Amber Fort at 8pm. And this was certainly something interesting; very loud for sure. Dinner was full of excitement, girls dancing with pots and fire on their head, and standing on nails. The girls were, some forcefully some wilingly, pulled up by the dancers to do and learn some dancing. That evening we dropped two members as the upset stomachs began to kick in. Getting back to the hotel at 11pm, we were all well and truly worn out and in desperate need of sleep!

Mr Tim Bowles

28/09/17

After a great breakfast we all hopped on the bus to head towards Jaipur airport, passing some landmarks like the Prince Albert Palace. After we said our goodbyes to our tour guide Sanjay and the two bus drivers, we made our way through the airport. After a short 1 hour flight we arrived back in New Delhi where we would be catching another plane into Pune. At the airport, the boys discovered that the chicken maharajah mac was not anything like the big mac in Australia when it left them all with a fiery taste in their souls. After a very close shave for some, everyone made it to the boarding lounge for a two hour trip to Pune. After collecting all our bags we then jumped on a bus and headed for a two and a half hour bus trip to Mukti. On arrival we were greeted by both the people at Mukti and the heavy rain that barrelled throughout the night. After a nice dinner and introduction we headed off to our rooms in need of some sleep.

Nick Phillips

29/9/2017

Today was our first offical day at the Mukti Mission. Some of us were up bright and early ready for a shower using bucket water, while some others were asleep until we forced ourselves out of bed quite quickly at 7:25 for a 7:30 breakfast. We all chowed down on our cereal and toast in preparation for the day ahead. The first item on the agenda was a church service led by the special needs children of Mukti. The service involved lots of singing and dance which was a very nice welcome to our group. After the service we walked over to the freshly painted assembly hall, where the Australian ladies that volunteer their time at Mukti were given great thanks for their efforts and contributions to make the hall look like new. After this, we made our way to the new children's kitchen where we were told that 450 children would fit in the small area where our group decided that we thought only 50 Australian children would fit. A trip to the junior college was next where we got to see the year 11 and 12 classrooms for subjects such as science, arts, and commerce. This was interesting to see the different layouts and systems of the Indian learning culture. Following this was a brief trip to the hospital across the road to look around and have a quick visit into the sunshine family, where the elderly women of the hospital stayed. A full packed morning called for lunch so we made our way back to the dining hall for lunch. Some of us also found time to visit "Lydia's cafe," ironically not run by someone named Lydia, where we scored some soft drink and ice cream. After lunch we travelled five minutes on bus to the primary school to look into some classes. We attempted to answer any questions that the children had about Australia, but most of them were very shy and not many questions were asked. Although shy, they were very welcoming and loved having us in their class. We then made our way back to Mukti and visited the "display room," which was a small shop filled with goods made by the girls of Mukti, where some people made some purchases and others made plans to come back later to buy some goods. By this time it was late afternoon and the heat was coming down on us all, so we retreated to room 12, which was a room where we could all just sit around and chill out. It was here that we waited until 7:00 for dinner, and then all went off to the dining hall and dug into our dinner consisting of rice and various curry and vegetables. Dinner was followed by more time spent in room 12 where some games of uno took place before people slowly made their way to bed.

Lachlan Ross

30/09/17

We knew this day would come, the day that would hurt some, grand final day. Touring the beautiful property of Mukti we were pausing every 5 minutes to check the scores. Squashed on the bus in our way back from the farm we hear a cheer from the boys just before breaking into the tigers theme song! “Oh we’re from tiger land”

That afternoon we had our first encounter with all the children of Mukti. Waves of laughing and happy kids greeted us from all directions each with their own unique bubbly personality. They were all incredibly excited to meet us all and so grateful that we have come to visit their community. We’ve all made many “class friends” as they discover what “standard” (year) we are each in. Benice, one of my class friends also close to finishing her yr 11 science course never left my side, always holding my hand while paying games. Grace, from Frangipani family was much younger but also never let go. Their loud contagious laughs filled me with joy and I will be forever grateful to meet these incredible girls. Just after one day with the girls, I would have to say I have fallen in love with Mukti and would love to return to see the faces of all these beautiful girls. I will cherish this experience for the rest of my life.

Rachel Kerr

01/10/17

Pins pins and more pins. The day started with Mrs Paul dressing twelve girls in sari's ready for the two hour church service. After 'thousands' of songs in Hindi and a group performance by us all, the service ended with all of the MAGS girls running back to our rooms to unpin our sari's soaked with sweat. In the late afternoon we were all reunited with the girls from the night before. They taught us many more games, songs and dances which made it impossible to take the smiles off our faces. I feel that rest of the week will be filled with many more unforgettable memories.

Tia Andrews

02/10/17

“We’ll see you when we get home,”Meg stated to the solemn Indian girls as we left for a day in Pune. A public holiday allowed for the masses to flock to Pune as we ventured throughout the bustling bazaar on the quest for cheap goods. Sunglasses, earrings, trackies, shorts and jasmine were all bartered and bought. In honour of the holiday for Mahatma Gandhi the memorial was visited exploring Gandhi and his vision. Surrounding the palace memorial for Gandhi, the swinging vines were too hard to resist which resulted in the swift evacuation after being whistled at by the guard.

Lunch consisted of all the western food unavailable to us in order to get many through the week. Due to some tired legs a trip to the fort was cancelled but ultimately paid off as we were all graced by the presence of some glorious juices ranging from pomegranate to dragon fruit to custard apple.

Plants were also purchased on the way home for the Elam Garden at Mukti leaving little to no room for movement during our 1.5 hour bus trip back.

The day finished rather peacefully with a quick chat to the girls and a short singing practice for the next days devotions.

Caitlin Paul

03/10/17

The day once again started with the girls arriving to breakfast on time at 7:30am and the boys still in bed and arriving late to breakfast again like most days. We then split up our group for the first time at the Mukti Mission, the girls split in two groups and visited the specialist school. Mrs Paul and Miss Frame hopped on the whipper snippers and the girls gardened and played games with the special school students. Whereas the boys headed to the farm, myself and Lachie braving the heat with our churning stomach's. There was no doubt the conditions were hot, with sweaty faces and a pool of sweat forming at our toes expressing our discomfort in the heat. 'Tim the Wizard' aka Mr Bowles and Sceddy (Scott) brought out their inner farming skills and experiences and rallied our team together. Our morning involved digging holes in the soil which was harder than Australia's soil as we were helping with construction of the Green-house project at Mukti's farm.

The afternoon consisted of sitting at Lydia's cafe where everyone spent a solid 30mins eating at least a refreshing ice cream. The boys continued to pour all their money into Lydia's cafe buying endless amounts of soft drink. Lydia's Cafe is run by a former Mukti student so we are contributing to a good cause. Unfortunately Lachie fell victim to Delhi belly or Mukti belly and spent the rest of the day in bed while everyone else continued with their group activities. The girls headed back to the special school and played with the students. The 'farm boys', one person short began to paint the fence surrounding the greenhouse and we relished the cool change that had come.

Our evening was extremely informative and the highlight of the day for some with the mission directors Anil and Lorraine Francis telling their story about how they got involved in Mukti. Their story involves 29 years of service to the Mukti mission, where through their guidance have seen numerous young Mukti women grow up to have children of their own which call Anil and Lorraine their grandparents. Mukti's motto in two words is 'Shaping Lives' and their core value is offering 'Freedom'. A message that all staff at the Mukti Mission express. We are grateful to be able to hear the stories of the people at Mukti.

Mitchell Stephens

04/10/17

The day started with the sound of laughter due to lack of sleep, this was going to be a long day. We were all excited to start the day and get some jobs done. The boys were off to the farm again and the girls went to Elam Garden to plant some plants for the families. The girls got creative in their digging, using stones and a bamboo stick to dig our holes. After about getting five holes done someone decided that enough was enough and went and got a pick axe to finish off the remaining holes. Meanwhile while we were digging holes, the boys finished painting the fence and putting up more hooks in the display centre to hang jewellery and bags on. That afternoon we went to the nursery for a long awaited visit. Unfortunately, we were unable to play with the 3-6 years olds because they were asleep but we did get the opportunity to hold two adorable babies in the nursery. They were both so happy to be passed around and it was very easy to make them smile. We all loved this experience and hopefully we will be able to go back when the other 3-6 year olds are awake. While we were cuddling the babies, the boys were at the farm working hard on a doorway for the goats pen and putting posts in the ground, cementing them in the ground for the new green house. I think all the boys enjoyed their opportunity to go to the farm and get their hands dirty. At around four every afternoon we all get to go out and play and talk with the girls. This is a great experience and we all love it a lot. The girls all get a laugh when trying to teach us Marathi or a game which we fail miserably at. This afternoon instead of games we got to get henna decorations from the girls. It was beautiful and they are very talented. Afterwards we went to their family devotion. Mr Bowles presented this evenings devotion. All of the Mags students took part in the service by singing a song. Today was a great day and we all feel blessed to be experiencing this amazing place.

Ellie Strong

05/10/17

The rise this morning was a struggle for some. After a late night from the boys drinking thumbs up, the boys (mainly Daniel) had a real crash this morning, but that didn't slow anyone down. Daily devotions were attended by the group and yet again we tried to impress the staff with our singing skills. It was the effort and enthusiasm that got us through the songs. The boys then walked the short journey to the farm as usual. We went over the railway lineand started digging holes for the new fence on the farmland. With a crowbar and shovel, we sweat our hearts outs. Fifteen holes were completed and they were filled with rocks and every hard bit of earth possible which made the digging quite difficult. A quick spell let us recover and then back to work. The sun hit us hard but we were prepared with sunscreen and plenty of water. We battled the heat and cemented all the 15 posts in. We made a huge step forward for the mukti community by putting up the posts for the fence. A Canadian team will arrive soon and will put up the wire. Upon arrival back at the dairy the boys got a surprise as the girls were occupied and amused by the baby Roman Head goats. After pulling the girls away from the three day old goats, we had a brisk walk to lunch. This was followed by relaxing at Lydia's Cafe while others went to visit the shops.

Back at the farm it was amusing to watch the five boys try to hang a door. The job took its time but eventually the door did swing. Adding wire to fence off the goat pen our work was done. After a long day we spent time with Mr Darce and his son Jubel around the yard drinking yet again, Thumbs Up. With our time done at the farm we said our goodbyes and walked back the Mukti.

We met the girls for one last play in the courtyard. Then we all went into the church for our final devotion for the day. We had dinner and after met in Room 12 for story time and Rutika told her story to us. It was an emotional story, but we were all grateful to her for sharing so openly with us.

The girls had yet again a busy day ahead. They went to the special school this morning and finished off the garden bed they started and planted some veggies for them to grow. They then went and had a tea break. After a quick spell they went and visited the sunshine room and sung to the elderly ladies there. They really enjoyed their visit. They also strolled down to the farm to visit the baby goats. After lunch they visited the local shop for some snacks and supplies. After a snack break they walked to the tech styles room and had a look around. After a quick look they walked down the road to the nursery where they played with the little children. Enjoying games of Jenga and Hungry Hippo. Then across the road they went to play with the girls for one final time.

Scott Eddy

06/10/17

Today was our final day in India. After getting up and having breaky at 7:30 as usual, then we all set to packing, saying goodbye and doing some small jobs. The girls got ready before meeting and doing a final tour of Mukti. We first visited the blind ladies, then the children at the special school, and lastly Anosh and Laxmi in the nursery. We then said our goodbyes to all the girls we met before having lunch. After lunch we said fair well to all the staff at Mukti before getting on the bus to go to Mumbai airport. After a long 6.5 hour bus ride we got to to the airport for our flights home.

Nicola Danher

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