Two weeks ago I posted about my upcoming adventure in India… Yesterday we finally started – after preparing, pimping and tuning our Rickshaw Clare, Tom, Sofia, Phil and myself are off – 3000 km from Cochin, Kerala to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
Already, after having covered barely 10% of our journey I can tell you that this is an insanely bumpy uncomfortable ride in a vehicle (actually two) with notoriously tricky clutches!!! It’s an experience of a lifetime to stand in the middle of a hyper busy crossing: buses, trucks, rickshaws, cars and bikes all humping at me… and all i want is to desperately find the right gear!!
But these two days have also showed us the immense diversity of the country – the smiling and often stunned faces of the locals, the curiosity of the almost overwhelming kids, the tasteful meals, the hospitality (endless invitations for chai), the crazy driving (ever stared into the front lights of an Indian bus at full speed?) and, and, and…….The next two weeks will hopefully see more of the same and even more crazy!
However we are not just doing this for ourselves – we want to document and highlight girls education in India – so far we have only covered Kerala, which has an good record in getting girls to school. However during our first rickshaw breakdown this afternoon ( we almost lost our engine…) we met a local teacher that in her free time organises an education and reporting hotline. There people can notify if they observe incidents of child labour etc… It was extremely interesting to learns about the measures taken, but also about the ones not taken to get girls into school… we will continue our exploration as we slowly drive further north (were the problem is apparently much more pressing!)
If you want to support our cause – we have partnered with Rajasthan based charity EDUCATE GIRLS and also with UBS, who is doubling every donation! Best go through one of our two links:
Support in USD: https://www.ammado.com/community/150473
Support in GBP: http://www.gofundme.com/educationexplorers
Please also LIKE us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/educationexplorers
More soon!
