January's Project Accomplishments Exceed Expectation

Last week, all of Project: Swim International's 24 volunteers who had been working in India returned home, marking the end of the organization's most successful trip yet. Going into each project, there are always expectations as far as the amount of difference our volunteers will make. Not only did this group of 24 meet those expectations, but they went above and beyond anything Project: Swim International could have imagined for this trip!

A SUMMARY OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR SWIM INDIA, JANUARY 2010:

- 4,779 children were taught our Water Safety Education Program in 100 different sessions.
- Tour boat operators in the southern Indian state of Kerala were taught water safety and basic rescues.
- A "how-to" CPR video was shot and used to teach villages with over 1,000 people.
- 42 swimming lessons were taught with 538 participants.
- Successful partnerships were made in Varanasi and Kolkata, paving the way for future projects.
- Long-term plans were made with the Nepal Swimming Association.
- PSI's volunteers and their work were featured in 10 local and national Indian newspapers as well as Indian TV national news.

It's clear from their accomplishments that our volunteers' three weeks were busy and well-spent. Perhaps the greatest achievement is that our volunteers returned with a deep respect and appreciation for people from a different culture. They were able to work successfully in a challenging environment and gave back something that is very tangible and will ultimately result in lives saved.

Project: Swim International is already gearing up for our next round of volunteer projects in India and Nepal this August. For more information and to find out how you can be involved, please visit our website: www.projectswiminternational.org.

Thank you,
Ben Schaub
President and CEO

Progress in Nepal

I've been in Nepal the last couple weeks meeting with our partner here and exploring the region around Mt. Everest. Our partner, the Nepal Swimming Association, first helped Project: Swim International back in August when we sent our first team here to teach drowning prevention programs. Our missions are similar and the meetings went well. We both envision a long-term partnership where we try to provide our drowning prevention programs to as many children as possible across Nepal.

The last few days, I had the opportunity to do some trekking in the Solu Khumbu Mountain region, home to Mt. Everest. It was an amazing experience! One of the best things was to be away from all the smog and pollution that plagues much of South Asia. See some photos from the trek below.

-Ben


Prayer wheels around a stupa in the mountain village called Namche Bazaar.


Tablets with the Buddhist mantra "Om mane padme hum" carved into them can be found everywhere.


Me at Tengboche. Mt. Everest and Lhotse, the 4th largest peak in the world, provide the background.


Presenting Mr. Ashok Bajracharya from the Nepal Swimming Association with goggles and swim caps for the national swim team to use in their upcoming championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

LAST DAY IN INDIA!

Hello everyone! This is our last blog because it is our last day in India. We are all sad that this trip has come to an end but we are glad to be returning home. We have all had such an amazing experience and we are all glad to have had this opportunity. We have gained so much insight to the culture of India and everything it has to offer. We have all made lasting friendships with our group and we are sad to leave each other and return to reality. We will never forget this trip, how it made us feel, and what we have accomplished here. We taught over 3,000 children and adults and we are so proud of this accomplishment. Thank you all for following our trip and supporting us throughout! See you all on the flip side! LOVE TEAM BELIYA!
Becca, Stephanie, CJ, Nicole, Albert, and Stacy

MAMY POKO PANTS! (our chant)

OUR EXPEDITION!

Jenna, Andrew, Hannah, Lyndsey, Bek-Nasty, and Me (Nick) went on our excursion a little farther north in Dendeli and Hubli. We went white water rafting two days ago! It was extremely fun and than had a campfire and a little scare that night in our campgrounds and woke up at 5am to go on a jungle safari! we saw monkeys, bison, peacocks, and a couple different deer. we had a lot of fun and now we are relaxing in the nice town of Hubli before we catch our overnight train tomorrow to Bangalore where we will part ways with Lyndsey and than catch our flight a little later that day! The end of the trip came up so fast! I don't wanna head back and start school:( but until next trip this one was amazing! had a great experience and taught over a thousand kids! I will always remember it! See you all soon! love and miss you :)

The Varanasi Wrap-Up!

Hi everyone,

I know it has been a few days since our last post. Apologies!!! We have been very busy working with two exciting partners- Buddha Smile School and Raj Ghat Besent School.

The majority of our time this week was spent with the Raj Ghat Besent School in Varanasi. It is a very progressive school and the students and staff have been delightful to work with. The school has beautiful campus that spreads across 325 acres, and borders the Ganges River for most it. Although the scenery is exotic with peacocks running all around, its proximity to the river makes it an unfortunate target for drownings to occur (although none, thankfully have!).

We were able to teach all 300 Raj Ghat Besent School students, along with the 50 faculty and staff that run the school. All of the students, and especially the staff, were very excited to hear our lesson. Every class we taught had students asking countless questions!! This truly made the group feel that everyone had understood our water safety lesson, and that it was something that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. The faculty especially, was eager to learn about the advantages of CPR and how it related to drownings.

The school was also kind enough to offer us a delicious Indian meal every day for lunch, as well as many cups of chai and biscuits! At lunch we were able to eat with the students giving us more time to talk and answer questions, which was something very special for all of the volunteers.

When we haven't been teaching, we have been exploring the maze of Varanasi. A few nights ago, the WolfPack took a sunset boat ride down the Ganga to look at the city by night. It was a once in a lifetime experience that offered a great view of the city. Tomorrow, we will be walking a few ghats down to watch the evening Hindu ceremony that takes place every night. Lots of bells are rung, and everyone sends lit candles down the river. We are all excited to see it in action!

With our time in Varanasi ending very soon, I know that we will all be sad to say goodbye. Although the weather (which has been very, very cold) has been a bit of a burden, everyone has gotten a great feeling for this city and, I believe, India as a whole. This group, as a leader, has been a pleasure to work with. They have all done a great job teaching despite the weather and illnesses that have popped up along the way. Everyone should be truly proud of their hard work and dedication to Project: Swim International's mission!!

Until next time,

The Leader of the (wolf)Pack

aka Bree

Today we had a very productive day. We taught about 300 children in a river. Besides the fish nibbling at our legs in was pretty fun. We had lunch in the middle of the jungle which was very cool. The men taught us how to climb the coconut trees and CJ and Albert got to climb about 20 feet up the tree! Then the owner of the school in a local village took us to a very nice lunner(meal between lunch and dinner). It was a crazy but fun day. We will post pictures tomorrow!

Team Veliya

Becca, CJ, Nicole, Albert, Stephanie, & Stacy

Hello family, fans, and friends!!!

Here we are in "little ole'" Kolkata just having a smoggy old time. We continue to teach at the Samaritan Help Mission, with Mamoon our partner. Tomorrow will be our last day with this group as we are all out of students to teach... But we are hoping to connect with another partner tomorrow, and work out a schedule. We are also planning on visiting the Mother's House (An organization of Mother Teresa) which has scattered locations throughout this massive city. This past Sunday we went on a three hour bumpy and scary bus ride to the Sunderban Tiger camp which turned out to have a ton of monkeys but we failed to see any Bengal Tigers... The afternoon and morning boat rides all but made up for the lack of tigers. The "camp" was amazing though, western toilets and actual mattresses to sleep on. No worries we have hard mattresses at our hotel, but we were expecting to be sleeping on the ground. Looking forward to our last week here in Sunny India. :) Over and Out!

Alex, Samantha, Rebecca, Kaitlin, and Momma Dea

Hello again!!!

Sorry it's been so long since our last post!! We've been super busy. So far we've taught over 2,500 kids (not to mention our daily swim lessons, which we don't have the exact number, as it changes every day), and tomorrow we'll be teaching an entire villiage; Wish us luck!! This weekend we had the first 1/2 of our excersion. We got to hang out and shop around Fort Kochin, and go to an Elephant Training Camp where we got to bathe, pet, and ride them. It was an AWESOME trip, and a much needed vacation from our teaching schedules. In addition to the entire day of teaching, we will take a Sunset Hike to a waterfall, where we can swim, relax, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Until next time,

Team Veliya

Ernakulam group in Calicut!

We migrated up here two days ago in search of better teaching opportunities! and Success! Yesterday we taught 18 classrooms and over 600 kids! Yay!! and today our luck was bad and lost our teaching opportunity :( but tomorrow we will teach at an orphanage and than we will head back to Ernakulam and spend Saturday night and Sunday with Nicole's group than they will leave and we will hang out Monday and Monday night leave on our excursion through Bangalore and near Hompi and Hospet! will post again soon! love all! Miss you and times coming short! before you know it we will be back in the light cold of Tucson! Peace and love! -Nick

Leaving Kolkata Behind :(

Today was a sad day; I had to leave the group in Kolkata as I make my way to Kathmandu where I will work on finalizing partnerships there to continue our international volunteer programs in Nepal.

We have partnered in Kolkata with an organization called Samaritan Help Mission. The org. was created by Mamoon Akhtar who grew up in the same slums where the org. is based. His work is admirable. He provides vocational training for women so they can earn a living as well as provides a low-cost school to children who ordinarily wouldn't be able to receive an education. Mamoon has so much drive and truly is an inspiration. He even moved his family to live at the school to save costs!

Mamoon has recognized the value of our program and has even asked to be our Ambassador to West Bengal (the state that Kolkata is in)! He even mentioned to me that he would like us to have an office at the new school he is building (to be done in three years).

The Kolkata group has been having a great time! In the last few days, some have been struck with an illness but they're recovering, slowly but surely. Alex, Kaitlin, Becca, Dea, and Sam: I had a great time with you and am so impressed by your adaptability and confidence in such a foreign environment. Keep teaching hard and I'll see you when we get back.

-Ben
New Delhi, India

       The Wolf Pack has begun teaching, and is lovin' it! We began teaching on Wed at a small school in Sarnoth. (The countryside of Varansi) The school is called Buddha Smile school, and was founded by a lovely couple who opened this school for the less foutninate kids who otherwise would not be able to recieve an education. They not only run the school but the also run a cute little resturant that is attached to the school that has absolutely amazing food! We have all agreed its the best Indian food we have had so far!, Bree thinks its the best Indian food shes ever had out of all 3 of her trips here!

We all arrived at the school Wed morning egar and excited to teach! We had a group of about 125 adorable kiddos, grades 1st and 2nd. It was so refreshing to have such a enthusiastic group of kids who were egar to learn. The kids responded well to all the teachings, although many didn't speak English. We didn't have a translator help bridge the language barrier. After we would teach a section we would have some of the kids come up and demonstarate the various techniques we taught them. The loved that! :)

Our second day of teaching was with a much smaller group of kids, about 25 who were much older and for the most part could understand what we were teaching without a translator. They were very responsive to the teachings and wanted to perticipate in everything! It was a lot of fun! We all are excited for days to come!! Hope all is well back home!
xoxo,
The Wolf Pack

let the teaching begin in the northern India!

Today Bree, Sam and I met with the partners of two of the schools we will be teaching at the next week and a half. Everyone is extremely nice and welcoming of our program! The students seem excited and very curious as to who we are and where we are from. It was quite an adventure today making it to the schools. Even experienced a water buffalo stampede outside of one of them!! It is overcast here in Varanasi and the city is freezing! Im pretty sure we all underestimated how cold it really would be here, and are forming some type of acute Indian cough (nothing serious not to worry, simply a cold).
Teaching starts tomorrow... wish us luck!!

~Jessica :)

First Day Teaching!!

It's Nick by the way! and i am all better, i got some india pills ha. Today we did our first teaching at this B-E-A-UTIFUL school where we taught three classes of about 30 students. I was nervous during the first one but after that it was a breeze! Our group did very well and the kids were very well behaved and loved us very much! After teaching all asked for emails and autographs and than we took a group picture which we will try to post next time! The principle seemed very nice and gave us all coffee (except bekah of course! ;)) and than we played rig shaw tag on the wzay home and Andrew, Bekah and I won!!!:) I cant wait for tomorrow to teach the boat operators how to do simple rescues and cpr! there is expected forty tomorrow and forty the following day! We also teach on our own very island!:)
Namaste for now! Love and miss you all!
-Nick

The WolfPack is alive and well!

The streets of New Dehli

Monkey Temple

Local Celebs(Cameron Diaz)

Varanasi at night

The Wolf pack at the Monkey Temple in Jaipur

Varanasi during the day

The Taj!!

Snake Dancer Man in Jaipur

We have been laggging slightly on the blogging due to our adventurous adventures and some slight travel delays... so to bring you all up to speed!

Jaipur was a fun city- did a lot of site seeing and walking around: saw the monkey temple, the water palace and the pink city. Did some exploring and had a calm, interesting new years where we saw an insight into India culture that varies from our normal new years celebration.

Post Jaipur we hopped on a short train to Agra! On this train ride we became parched and hungry- Bree suggested it would "be a good experience" for Anna-Alyse, Bryan, Catie, and Jessica to venture out at one of the stops to get Chi and snacks. The stop ended up being shorted than anticipated and we all learned a very valuable lesson: when the train starts moving you better be on it or be prepared to run and jump in the nearest door!- needless to say we all got a little cardio workout and an adrenaline rush- but WE MADE IT! even though Bryan's shoes was not so fortunate!

After the train ride excitement we finally got to Agra where we visited the Taj mahal! It was so amazing! Without a doubt it has earned spot on the list of the 7 wonders of the world! Words cannot be said on how beautiful it is and how breathtaking the experience was for all of us. Low and behold we were also local celebrities not only at the Taj but various places in Agra where we were continually stopped and asked to take "snaps" (photos) with the locals. The were convinced that Anna-Alyse was Selena (the singer) and Bree was Cameron Diaz. At times we couldn't even take a group picture because people were jumping in to get in the picture with us.

After a long and fun day in Agra we finally boarded our only slightly late train for our "14" hour train ride to Varanasi. However, when we woke in the morning expecting to only have a couple hours left until our arrival we soon learned that due to delays because of fog and 3 previous train wrecks we still had about 8 hours left. All and all it our train ride turned into a 26 hours adventure! We finally arrived to Varanasi at about 1:30am, but were thankful to have made it safely!

Varanasi has been an incredible experience thus far- we walked around the city all day yesterday and even got to see where they do the live cremations. Even though the live cremations are something taboo to Americans it is a very spritiual and natural way to the end of life here. It is a beautiful ceremony where the deceased are treated with the utmost respect, draped in colorful silks (in particularly the women) and bathed in the Ganga's before their spirits are sent to a higher place.

The city as a whole is old and has a lot of history and charm. It is a very sacred and holy place. There are lots of stairs (we are all going to be quite in shape and have nice buns when we return home!) and alley-way streets. The narrow streets are filled with tons of people and vendors. It is rather cold here, especially at night. But we are all keeping warm and taking in the experience! There are monkeys everywhere here, even on the balconies of our guest house! We have learned they cute appearance is all an act and they are quite fierce! Sadly, Catie has a cold that turned into an ear infection- but is doing much better have we got her some antibiotics from the local chemist!

We start teaching tomorrow which we are all very eager to do! We will teach for about 8 days straight! Can't wait to get that part of our trip underway!

Love,

The 6 Man WolfPack!

(Bree, Catie, Jessica, Anna-Alyse, Bryan and Sam)

Images From Kolkata

We've been doing our best to see everything we can in this huge city before spending the rest of our time teaching!

Langur monkey in the park. Alex's highlight of the trip so far.

The Botanical Gardens in Howrah. A great escape from Kolkata's hussle and bussle.

The Victoria Memorial is one of dozens of remnants left by the British. It always reminds us of the US Capitol.

Off to the races! January 1st is the biggest day of the year for horse races at the Maidan, Kolkata's equivalent to Central Park.

The fearless five! Bravely crossing (and surviving) Kolkata streets for nearly a week!

We're all having a great time, still healthy, and looking forward to teaching and making a difference in the next couple weeks.

-Ben

Major Rockstars

Today we all woke up early and went to the pool (river) to teach our daily swim lesson. There are about 40 students ranging in age from 10years to middle-aged men and they were all ready to start learning. They are so respect and they didn't want the lesson to end. We will be teaching these students for the rest of our trip. Everyday after our swim lesson we go to a different school to teach our water safety lesson. Today we went to Providence Catholic all girl school. We were treated like rockstars! The students all wanted to shake our hands, have us sign their school books, and sing us songs. When walking between classes mobs of students would rush us and it would take so long to get from class to class. Now for the amazing news that truly makes us rockstars...we taught Our Water Safety Education Program, today alone, to 661 students. This means our running total so far between our classroom teaching and our swimming lessons we have taught 831 students and we still have 7 more teaching days!!! Now it is nap time as we are all so exhasted and we will be doing this all again tomorrow. Wish us luck!!

~Nicole, Albert, Stacy, Becca, CJ, and Stephanie (Team Veliya)

Greetings from Kolkata

We've been in Kolkata for three full days now, and we are having an awesome time. Greetings to our fellow travelers! So far we have explored the Indian Museum which was awesome but as Dea put it, "it feels like the Gem Show" fossils we in drawers and just smashed in display cases. Dead animals we in half filled formaldehyde containers, even an eight legged goat. Fossils of a Blue Whale, which was totally random, and a brown Polar Bear... Today we went and checked out the Victorian palace which was massive, back staircases lead to more display areas and a huge wing with tons of information plastered on the walls along with smallish photos to help you understand what you are reading. It was mostly painting so towards the end we felt like our eyes were going to bug out. Well, peace out for now.
Samantha, Dea, Alex, Rebecca, Kaitlin, and Ben

first day of swim lessons

Today (1/3/10) we went to the Arujana Swimming Center. We had an opening ceremony for the pool. Nicole spoke to the whole village about what Swim India does. After that we did a demonstration to the whole village on water safety and swimming skills. Then over 20 kids and adults go in the pool and we did our first swimming lesson. We went to the owners of the pools house after for snacks and Chai. He then showed us many of the plants our his house. They are used for all sorts of things like headaches, bug bites, and diabetes. It was very interesting. Now we are off to finally get Stephanie and Albert's baggage. They are very excited about that. Until next time! BYE!

Nicole, Becca, CJ, Stacy, Stephanie, Albert!

Our first day teaching

Today (1/2/10) group Veliya set out to start teaching at a local Village school called Kavunthra and the Sukritam orphanage. There we taught our water safety education program. Then we went over to the local Temple's pool (pond) and taught a water safety lesson and a beginner swim lesson. We then had tea and snacks with the faculty. We were covered by the local newspaper and tv channel which was very exciting! We loved teaching the children...they hung on our every word...treated us like celebrities...we loved them all!!
Then we went back to the orpanage for a cultural lunch! It all tasted so good!! We discovered that we are all not very savy eaters with our hands. Check out the pictures!! It was all so beautiful and we enjoyed playing with the children who ranged in age from 4 to 13.
Our last stop was to the beach! There was camel rides, clam catching, and the beautiful sea water to swim in! We watch a beautiful sunset and it was the perfect way to end our day!
~Nicole, Becca, CJ, Stacy, Albert, and Stephanie

Namaste

Hello everyone! We are finally in Kolkata, we got in on New Years Eve about one hour before midnight. On our first day we walked around our area and went to the Central Park of Kolkata where we watched families play cricket and made friends with some local kids. We were going to look at the Victorian Palace or the Museum but they were really busy, so we went to a horse race! We walked pretty far to find the Ganges river, but were unsuccessful. I (Kaitlin) made friends with another local named Shaq who talked to us about everything from his philosophy on human beings to what celebrities he thought were attractive.

Today we wandered around the park area some more and went to the museum. It was enormous! It had fossils, dinosaur bones, minerals, fish, coins, artifacts, sculptures, paintings and dioramas of ancient tribes. Then we walked to a huge market that had everything from jewelry to a butchery. We ate lunch on top of a hotel with a view of pretty much the entire city, and are loving all of the food we eat! Especially our breakfast :) So far the people have been very friendly, and eager to talk to us. We were asked for our picture today at the museum, they probably thought we were part of the exhibit!

We are looking forward to teaching next week!

Love,
Kaitlin, Alex, Dea, Samantha, Rebecca and Ben

Ernakulam update!

Hey guys, it's Hannah. So we, in the Ernakulam group, got so fortunate yesterday. We took the ferry over to Fort Kochin and spent the day over there. We got to see the New Years parade--which was amazing. It included music, dancing, an elephant (!!!!!) people dressed up like the gods and tons of locals coming out! We also got to see a snake charmer on the side of the road. Simultaneously one of the coolest and scariest things I have ever seen in my entire life. We also got to help the fishermen pull their nets out of the bay. Those things are so rad. The island is so beautiful and the people are so friendly. I got to use some of my Hindi skills with a little boy in the park!! I was surprised that he spoke Hindi and not Malaylum (but also thankful because I cannot pronounce those Malaylum words to save my life). The city of Ernakulam itself is really cool too. We went to the mall yesterday (which is not like a mall in the US... at all.) And we also just explored a little. It's pretty busy, but much more laid back than Bangalore.
It's insane how different it is here. Just everything, buildings, streets, traffic, dress, cultural norms. Just literally everything. It's so weird, people on the island were like taking pictures of us and wanted to take pictures with us. Definitely never experienced something like that before. I can't wait to start teaching--the kids here are so precious. I already found my Indian son yesterday at the parade. ;) But really, I can't wait. I'm excited we get to teach the boat operators oceanside, too. That will be such an adventure.
Well just a little update. We took a stroll while everyone was napping in the room. And I think we are going to see a Bollywood movie today!

Oh ps, everything is so lush and green... Not like Arizona at all. <3!

Our first day of adventures around Calicut

First we would like to tell you all the name of our group...Team Veliya (Malayalam for Amazing, great, awesome, better than the rest).

First, our day started off with a trip to an art gallery. We were able to learn a lot about the local culture and see the different statues of the Gods and learn who each one of them were and what they stood for. We were also able to see many of the paintings of local artists. Then, we went to the local fish market where we were able to see all the different things they caught today and see many of the locals auction for different items. Stephanie picked up and played with many of the different dead sea creatures. Then, we went out to sea on a local fisherman's boat, where Becca and Stephanie drove the boat for a while and we saw some dolphins. Next, we went back to Mahadev's friend's house to meet his family and enjoy Chai and some yummy snacks! They gave us a tour of their home, and it was very cool to see the way they live and to meet the various members of their family. They had a very beautiful home! Finally, we went to an aquarium and saw many different cool sea creatures; including sea turtles, lion fish, eels, clown fish, small sharks, etc. By the way...CJ loves Mahadev's van and wants to buy one for himself.

After such an amazing day we returned to our hotel to rest. Tomorrow will be our first day teaching!! We will let you know how it goes! Wish us luck!!

We hope you enjoyed the pictures!

~Nicole, Becca, Albert, CJ, Stacy, and Stephanie aka Team Beliya