Discovery Visit India 2014

Me

 

I'm Jon Harding, Housing Projects Manager at Colchester YMCA, and on Saturday I'll be one of the YMCA staff flying to India for twelve days. I should probably start packing at some point, I suppose.

I'd really like to be able to make the necessary contacts with colleagues in India to create a scheme whereby the young people we work with will get the opportunity to visit India to carry out voluntary work. However, I'm realistic enough to know that opportunities may vary, and I'll just have to adapt as we go along.

I've been told to expect a real culture shock: noise, colour, crowds, smells, the lot. I've travelled a little previously, but I'm still a bit trepidatious about this trip. Apart from anything else, I do like to eat. I'm semi-expecting to be ill with the infamous 'Delhi belly' at some point. This will also be the longest I've ever been away from my young son, and I expect to miss him very badly indeed. I'll worry about the project while I'm away, too, despite perfectly able, competant staff here telling me there's no need to do so. They know that I'll worry anyway, of course.