Home, Land and Sea// Brimful of Asha

Today, we went home. Well, sort of. For two hours and 12 minutes (trust me, we savoured every moment), we were lucky enough to be hosted by the outstanding people of the New Zealand High Commission. At just over halfway in the trip, it seemed an appropriate moment to transport ourselves back into the land of the long white cloud (the irony of this name is not lost on this writer, given the smog currently hovering over Delhi). Following this was a fantastic afternoon as well, with some equally impressive people. However, before I get into the finer details, I must report that we are sickness-free no more. George Skinner has been hit with a spot of Delhi belly, but less than 24 hours in is already massively on the up. Digression aside, here is how our day of contrast played out:


Wednesday 20 December




7:30am - after a late night last night, not much of a sleep in was allowed as we had a coach to meet at 9am sharp. The group headed up the road to Cafe Festa again for a 'quick' breakfast of omelettes, muesli and cappuccinos.



9:00am - after a lengthy battle over the phone with the coach driver, which at one point required a local to get involved to translate, we eventually located the coach. Our destination? The New Zealand High Commission for morning tea. After passing the American, French, and even Sudanese High Commissions, amongst others, we made it to Sir Edmund Hillary Marg (Hindi for Road).



10:00am - photos were taken outside the main entrance in front of the New Zealand Code of Arms, and we were cheerily greeted with a Kiwi-accented hello from the High Commissioner's husband. The compound itself, which is boarded by 3m high walls, contains four residences, a large office building and quarters for a number of staff who work on site. Standing proudly outside the front door of the main residence sits the New Zealand flag atop a flag-pole. Inside, the group was quick to notice the New Zealand power points - not an adapter in site - and Christmas decorations covered walls and ceilings. Removed from the outside world and away from all the horns, it very much felt like a little slice of home. High Commissioner Joanna Kempkers then welcomed us, initially detailing her personal and professional background which has culminated in her current role. She spoke of the influential role New Zealand currently has in the area, particularly given our reputation for being an ethical nation of great soft power, as well as the challenges she is currently facing in her role. Interestingly, she noted India's relationship with China being perhaps the most important for India at the moment, despite the age-old concerns with Pakistan.



10:30am - we then moved outside for photos, followed by a mihi and haka led again by Nikau Reti-Beazley. Both were received well - it seemed the staff appreciated our own little slice of New Zealand - and they returned the favour by performing a Christmas carol.



10:45am - morning tea was had, containing cheese scones, jam slice and cups of New Zealand tea. As great as the scones were, claims were made that perhaps they were not quite as good as Josh Hamilton's special recipe chocolate-frosted rose cupcakes. With this said, it was nevertheless still a great opportunity for the boys to chat at length with NZHC staff. Many queried their roles in particular, how they had come to be in the positions they were in, and what an average day for them looked like.



11:30am - we were then treated to a tour of the compound by NZHC staff. Many of the staff have been working for the High Commission for over 15 years, which Mrs. Kempkers noted was very useful in keeping a strong handle on the current state of Indian culture and politics.



12:00pm - with the taste of pineapple lumps still lingering in our mouths, we reluctantly departed for arguably another taste of home, Bikanervala! If you'll remember back a couple of months, we all dined as families at the Mt. Roskill branch of this India-wide establishment. Although not the finest meal in the world in Mt. Roskill, the Delhi version provided a great stop-off, as the boys cleaned them out of all samosas and paneer pakora.



1:00pm - our next stop was Asha. Before I detail the events of afternoon, let me give you some insight into this spectacular organisation. Founded in 1988 by Dr. Kiran Martin, Asha (meaning 'hope' in Hindi) is an NGO aiming to empower and develop slum communities. It's influence currently touches over 600,000 slum community residents in 71 different slums in Delhi. Dr. Martin started off working as a doctor in a slum here in Delhi, and realised that her medical work, whilst necessary, was doing little to stem the issues upstream. So, she set about affecting change by empowering members of the communities to be leaders of change themselves (more to come on this).



2:00pm - after our drivers got woefully lost, refusing to use Google Maps, we finally arrived, greeted by Fancy and Ayesha, to of the senior staff members at Asha. They showed us a quick movie (you can watch the same one here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YorQJFYzDVg) and we handed over the children's knitting we had been carrying over with us from New Zealand.



2:15pm - we were then taken to one of the nearby slum communities which Asha has been involved with for a number of years. Here, we saw first hand the power of what the organisation has been doing. One of their key values is only helping those who are not wanting charity, or handouts. Instead, Asha prefers to offer opportunities, and engages the residents to lead the tasks and roles required. A key example is that of the elderly women in this community. Known as lane workers in English, these often uneducated women are now responsible for carrying out routine health checks and undertaking sanitation projects. As Fancy detailed to us, for Asha to come in and dictate how these communities should change and live their lives is far less powerful than them giving the people themselves the tools to affect change from the ground up. Indeed, this develops leadership skills and a sense of responsibility within those individuals. The elderly women spoke of the confidence they had received from these roles, stating that the biggest change Asha had brought was the removal of fear in their lives - they felt comfortable to leave their homes, to talk to police, to be who they really were. All of this comes back to an entire shift in the culture of how these slum communities operate, which has only been achieved through incremental change.



4:30pm - after an all too short period of time, it was time for us to leave. We detoured via the hotel on our way to Palika Bazaar, an enormous underground market place situated in the heart of Delhi. The boys were given an hour to barter and shop, particularly for their secret santa present. Side note, we cannot believe it is Christmas in less than five days.



6:00pm - at this time, we have an announcement to make - we think we have found the most efficient restaurant in India. Located just south of Palika Bazaar was Life Caffe. This restaurant fed us all with curry, rice and naan, from start to finish in 45 minutes. The staff were literally running as they delivered their final bowls of piping hot naan to the tables of hungry boys. Needless to say, a sizeable tip was left!



8:00pm - after ice creams were consumed on the way home courtesy of Mr. Jordan shouting the group, we broke into debrief. After the somewhat abbrevaited version last night, the boys were hit with two topics this evening. After the visit to the Taj Mahal yesterday, the first question was 'where do you see beauty?', followed up by 'where is home for you?; what are you missing about home?; if you could say one thing to someone back home what would it be?' It was only natural that after the day we had had, there were some small feelings of homesickness, mixed in with an appreciation of the things waiting for them upon their return.



9:30pm - and just like that, another action-filled day in this smoggy city was over, and only one full day remains.



Thought - today, the staff of both the High Commission and Asha educated and inspired us. One member of the Asha staff told us how she had taken a sabattical from a prior job to work at Asha for only a few months, and years later still remains. In her words, her current job is a calling far more worthwhile. How many of us can say we dedicate our time to a worthwhile cause, be it big or small?



MVP - Leo Smith. Now, young Leo, as you are aware, has been entrusted with the mighty job of fine master. He has grabbed this tough role with both hands, despite an early bout of boomerang Delhi belly, and has been handing out fines left, right, and centre, and rightly so. However, he had hit a small hurdle in that few were actually being paid at this stage. This, though, would end today as he appointed a deputy fine master, otherwise known as his fine bouncer, to ruffle a few feathers and retrieve those outstanding fines. I'm not going to mention who the fine bouncer is, as quite frankly this is irrelevant, thi is about Leo, and the raining of dollars he has since received. The man has received the yin to his yang, the curry to his naan, and for that he now truly reigns supreme as king of the fines. A great day for Leo.







Reuben