hello from Mumbai!
Sorry for the lack of blogs we've been so busy!!!
A recap of what we've been up to:
Saturday morning we packed for our trip to Thekkady to see the elephants! Then in the afternoon we went to the girls shelter! When we got there there were some Indian girls there who were already doing some activities with the girls (one of them was a pratham worker) so we helped out with the kids doing some paper mache! It was absolute chaos there was newspaper and paste everywhere! Then all of a sudden the girls announced they had to go and just upped and left us with the mess! The girls were all hyper and running around so we tried to get them to tidy up a little before we started our activities! Then we did some activities to do with teddy bears- we used the Teddy Bears Picnic Book and did some colouring in activities with some teddy pictures we had brought! We also played the kids some nursery rhymes from the book we had bought them which they enjoyed- especially baa baa black sheep which they knew the words to! One of the girls asked Claire if she would be her mummy which had Claire running for the hills- very funny! She is such a cute little girl too bless her! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we left as the girls had been so hyper so we headed back to the hotel and had some vodka in bed!!!
On Sunday we had to be up early for our taxi to the airport! We endured a 2 hour journey by car to the airport, then a 1hr 45mins flight and then 6hour drive up in to the mountains to Thekkady at the other end!! Claire just about ended up in a fight with the guy sitting in front of her on the flight because he kept putting his chair back and trapping her legs! The 6hour flight was endless as it was torrentially raining and the road was really bad so we didn't get to see much of the beautiful scenery around us! By the time we got to the hotel we were starving and very tired so we had dinner (Lisa tried Biryani- not very impressed! and claire had sweet and sour chicken!) and then headed to bed!
Monday was our busy day filled with lots of fun things in Thekkady! We headed into the National Park first thing and went on the boat safari! The area is very similar to the Lake District- Lots of mountains and greenery, and they even have a lake (man made though!) It made us feel like we were at home- and even smelled like it! We went on the boat safari and saw lots of animals- elephants and baby elephants, wild foxes, monkeys, wild boars, snake birds, bison, deer and lots of other birds! It was a really great way to see the animals! Then we headed to the other side of Thekkady for our elephant experience! First we went on our hour long elephant ride! It was amazing to think we were sat on an elephants back! They aren't the most comfortable things to sit on thought and we still have bruised bums now!!! Our elephant was called Rubah and she was 28- she was gorgeous! When we were back from that we fed Rubah some melon and had our pictures taken with her! Then we watched Lucky the elephant (a 28 year old male) do some timber dragging! The elephants are so clever and strong, he wrapped the rope on the log around his tusk and put it in his mouth by himself and barely even seemed to notice it was there when he was dragging it! Then he lifted another log on his tusks and paraded around with it! We had out pictures taken with him and then we headed around to the bath so we could give him a bath! He laid down in a big pool of water and we had to scrub him all over with some coconut shells! Then we took it in turns to sit n his neck with his ear in our lap and scrubbed his ear! After that he sat up and we had to climb up onto his back (one foot on his leg another on his tail and then scramble up!)! We had to sit just behind his neck and it was his turn to give us a shower...he sprayed us with his trunk! Very funny! Especially as Claire was wearing a white tshirt...it was like a wet tshirt competition we got so soaked! There are some fantastic (and hilarious) photos of it! After that we went for the spice plantation tour which was quite interesting but definately not the highlight of the day! we went to a spice shop and bought some spices and coffees that were grown in the village to give as presents and then headed back to the hotel! In the evening we decided to dress up a bit as we've felt like complete scruffs the whole time we've been here so we put our maxi dresses on! We went to see a martial arts show which was really good but a bit circus-ey...think jumping through fire and people throwing themselves around! To finish off our chaotic day we went for a relaxing Indian massage! As we went downstairs to the rooms lisa joked that she hoped it wasnt a massage with extras as it felt a bit dodgy going downstairs! Lisa should have kept her mouth shut....we went in the cubicles and the women told us to take our clothes off...all of them..and then gave us some paper knickers to wear! If that wasnt bad enough while we were being massaged they just took the knickers off...very disconcerting!!!! It was definately an experience...!! We headed back to the hotel afterwards for our last night in Thekkady! On the Tuesday we started our awful journey back to Panvel! Luckily the weather was better so we got to see the beautiful views on the way down to the airport (well Lisa did...Claire slept most of the way!) We had a chaotic time on the way back as we had to call at the offices of the company who arranged the trip for us to pay them...except they hadnt told us they didnt take card so then we had to find cash machines at the airport and take money out of accounts here there and everywhere as we both had maximum £250 withdrawrals! It was chaos and definately put a dampener on the experience! Then the flight was delayed, making our already long journey even longer! Then when we arrived in Mumbai the car journey was awful as traffic was bad, it was raining, and then the car started over heating!!! Eventually we got back and had some dinner in be before crashing out for the night!
Yesterday we went to Bandra and Vashi to get some last minute presents for people at home, it was a fairly uneventful day- We are both ready to come home now!
Today we are going to the girls shelter this afternoon and then the boys shelter tonight to say bye to the kids!
We'll try and blog tonight or tomorrow before we leave!
Lots of Love- see you all soon!!!
Love Lisa and Claire XXX

hey guys!
still having a fab time! On Tuesday we went to girls shelter! We did some arts and crafts activities with them- they made windmills, coloured in wooden people to look like themselves, and coloured in wooden animals! The woman who runs the shelter was really excited about the activities we were doing as she said they don't get to do craft activities, they only ever have blank pieces of paper to draw on! We think next time we go see the girls we are going to try and go for their morning yoga session so that we can join in! We might take our nail varnishes as well so that we can give the girls a bit of pampering- dont think they get much of that!! They keep admiring our nails so we think that they'll like it! On Wednesday we went to Madan Pura which was some more slums. We had to change trains 3 times which was an absolute nightmare as it was really busy and everyone was pushing everyone else around! Lisa got 2 hands on her back on her way off one of the trains and they gave her a big shove!!! When we eventually got to Mumbai Central station and met Ruchita and Natski at 11am (we had been up since 6:30!) we were knackered and very hot and bothered as it was a really hot day! We headed to Madan Pura and went around some of the factories that employ children so that Ruchita could speak to the owners. We did that for an hour and then Ruchita said that the Pratham Drop in Centre at Madan Pura was closed on a Wednesday so we had done everything there that we could do (que annoyed Claire and Lisa who had been up very early, travelled on a ridiculous amount of trains, all for an hour following Ruchita about!!) While we were at Madan Pura we saw some funny sights (mostly involving stupid goats!) we also smelled what can definately be described as the worst smell yet! (no idea what it was but it made us both gag!!) After we had finished at Madan Pura we endured the 3 change journey back to Panvel for som hot showers at the hotel and then started planning our weekend again! This morning we heard back from a company we had emailed about Elephant Sanctuaries! So we are hopefully going on Sunday until Tuesday to Kerala in South India to the National Park! We will be staying in what looks like a nice hotel with an OUTDOOR pool (woohoo!) and will be doing an elephant ride (amongst other things with the elephants), a spice plantation tour, a boat safari, and a martial arts show in the local theatre! We're very excited- going to book it tomorrow! Tonight we've been to the Boys Shelter and done some activities there! Had a great night but knackered now as the boys were on top form! We discovered a Dominos on the way back from the shelter so we grabbed some pizzas for our dinner and sat watching gossip girl in our hotel room while eating them!! All in all a great night!!
Hope you're all good,
8 days left in India!
Lots of love,
Lisa and Claire xXxXxXx

hello from mumbai day 15 (11 days left!!)
Today we headed to the Pratham Office to find out what the plans are for the rest of the week! After a few hours of struggling to find reasonably priced flights or any available train tickets we admitted defeat and decided to have a look online tonight instead! We headed into Mumbai for some lunch and stumbled across an amazing Italian restaurant! We had the nicest meal so far- carbonara for claire and tortellini for Lisa...and a shared desert too! It was also the first place we had found Zinfandel Rose too so we were very happy!!! It had decided to rain while we were eating so we headed for a drink in another bar- nice cocktails this time as it was happy hour! Then we went to the cinema which was in the same building as the restaurant and went to see a 3D film- Despicable Me!! Claire loved it and cant wait to go home and watch it again!!! By the time it finished it was 6:30 so we decided to go for a walk along marine drive (the sea front!) The sun was just starting to set so we had a romantic walk (haha!) and then sat and watched it for a while! We're heading to the girls shelter tomorrow afternoon so that will be good! Going to have a look at what we should do at the weekend tonight- hopefully we'll find something good to do so we can see more of India!
Missing you all,
love Lisa and Claire

hey guys decided it was time for an update on here as we havnt done one in a few days! On Friday we decided to have the day off and head to Colaba for some shopping! Got some amazing stuff (and lots of it!!) and some lovely presents for people! We're getting good at haggling with the market sellers- getting things for half the price we are first told! We've also found that u get quite good and ignoring the sellers as they try to attract ur attention as ur walking by (very annoying and very repetative!!) Yesterday we went to central mumbai with the hope of heading out to elephanta island- an island where there are caves full of carvings and sculptures! It also has monkeys, beautiful scenery and market stalls (or so we're reliably informed!) unfortunately by the time we got to Mumbai it was raining very heavily and continued to do so all day (typical!!) and we decided walking around an island in the rain didnt sound like much fun! Instead we found a coffee shop and ordered some coffees and cakes! Then when the rain eased a little we headed for the Taj Mahal Hotel which has shops like Louis Vuitton and Moschino! We had a look around them and the hotel very whistfully!! Claire did very well and resisted some GORGEOUS bags (cost between £700-£3000!!) then we had a wander around Colaba again.
Today we've been at the boys shelter for the day! We had prepared some activities and thought we were going to both the boys and girls shelters but instead they had brought them all together at the boys shelter! So we had to do activities with 72 children which was a bit chaotic!! When we first arrived we headed around the corner to meet up with the boys who were at a religious ceremony in a hall type thing around the corner. We were invited in, had to tie scarves around our heads to cover them and the boys showed us what to do every step of the way! Thank god we had them because we wouldnt have had a clue otherwise! People were really friendly towards us! After the ceremony they all eat, and we were offered all the food, but we just tried one that was like rice pudding! We also had to try 'gods pudding' straight after the ceremony which tasted a bit like sugary weetabix!! After that we headed back to the shelter where we played games like pass the parcel and musical statues! The boys (and some of the girls) showed us their dancing as their dance teacher was there for their lesson! We also did some arts and crafts with them- colouring in masks and building wooden animals! By the time we came to leave we were absolutely exhausted! The children are absolutely gorgeous and so happy, but we were definitely ready for a break from hearing 'DiDi' constantly (it means big sister and everyone calls us it constantly!! very sweet though!) Tomorrow we're heading to CST again to the offices to find out what the plans are for the rest of our time, and to plan our trip to the Taj Mahal hopefully!
Speak soon, Missing you all,
Love Lisa and Claire xXxXxXx

Hey guys!
Day 11 has been pretty uneventful to be honest! We had a lie in as we didn't know what we were supposed to be doing! Then we spent most of the day cooped up in our room bored out of our minds! At about 4pm we decided we couldn't take it anymore and decided to go for a walk up the road! It was really hot today and a bit sunny which was a nice change to the rain- its a shame there isn't anywhere for us to sit outside and sunbathe! We headed back to the hotel in time to go out to the boys shelter at about 5pm. We've discovered that the hotel has a rickshaw that they always use and he knows where the Pratham Shelters are, so we've been using him which saves us the hassle of trying to explain where we want to go! We think we might be coming immune to the scariness of rickshaw journeys as today we were sat in the middle of the highway with cars and buses coming at us and we didn't even bat an eyelid! Definately going to have to video one of our journeys for u all to see!! Tonight at the boys shelter we did some case studies on some of the boys- finding out where they were from, their ages etc and why they were living in the shelter! We read one of the only case histories that was in English from one of the boys files and were a bit horrified at what we read. We've just had our dinner in the restaurant downstairs after fighting our way through the smoke they had sprayed everywhere to kill the mozzies! Havnt heard from Christine or Ruchita for a couple of days now and we're fed up of being stuck in Panvel so tomoro we're going to head to Colaba for some shopping (supposed to be amazing there!)
Missing you all lots
love Lisa and Claire xXxXxXx

Pratham Girls Shelter :-)

Hello from Mumbai Day 10!
We cant believe that it is day 10! Time is flying out here! Today we went to Pratham's Girls Shelter in Panvel! We headed over there at about 2:30 and spent a couple of hours doing some arty things with the girls- colouring in some pictures to stick on the windows (see the pics on facebook!) and we also coloured in some spinning tops! The girls loved the spinning tops especially but they also liked it when their pictures were put up on the windows- they don't seem to have any of their artwork displayed anywhere and the shelter looks quite bare! The girls started off quite shy while we were doing the colouring in etc- a complete contrast to the rowdy boys last night! They offered to show us some of their singing and dancing and once they had started that there was no stopping them!! They completely came out of their shells, holding our hands, putting their arms around us and wanting pictures taken with us (many many manyyy pictures!!!)! Their singing and dancing was really good- we'll hopefully be able to load some of the videos up onto facebook too for you all to see! The girls english was no where near as good as the boys which made things quite difficult but we managed to get by! Before we left we had a proper little photo shoot with them- they all wanted their pictures taken with their friends or with us, and then they wanted to see them after that! The girls called us DiDi all day, which means Big Sister- very cute but grows a bit tiresome when you hear it a thousand times in an hour! The boys kept calling us DiDi yesterday too but we didnt know what it meant until today! Once again we're not sure what our plans are for tomorrow- they seem to have forgotten that they need to tell us where to go! So if we dont hear from them we'll probably just head back to the boys shelter and do some more activities with them! Ruchita was supposed to meet us at the shelter today to translate for us, but she didnt turn up so it was a good job we vaguely knew where we were going!! We're heading down for dinner shortly- think a vodka may be on the cards for tonight!! ;-)! Then it will be time to Skype everyone back home!
Missing you all
love Lisa and Claire xXxXx

Visit to the Boys Shelter :-)

Heyy guys!
Tonight has been amazing! After a day consisting of a lie in, breakfast in bed, and pampering ourselves a little (we felt clean for the first time since we got here!!) we headed to Pratham Boys Shelter for an evening of games and drawing with the boys! They are absolutely adorable, completely cheeky and they loved having us there! We didnt have anyone there to translate for us tonight but luckily one of the boys spoke really good English- although he didnt think it was very good! His name was Mosin, he was 15 and he took complete control of translation (and of Lisa's camera!)! A lot of the boys could speak enough English to get by with a conversation with us about basic things like hobbies, food etc! They love dancing and singing and drawing! When we first arrived they took us up to their recording room- they have sound recording equipment and a laptop so they can make their own songs and add videos to them! They showed us a few that they had made- they were really good!! Then we headed downstairs and had a room each- Claire did some art stuff with half of the kids- colouring in some pictures for us to stick on the windows, drawing pictures etc and Lisa played snakes and ladders and ludo with the rest of the boys! Then we swapped! The boys were also racing around the shelter with the big beach ball we had taken so it was a bit manic! They are all so lovely and they gave us lots of friendship bands which they tied around our wrists as it is world friendship week this week! The boys are all talented in their own way- there are dancers and singers sportsmen and artists...claire even found a fellow fashionista!! When we were leaving they were watching who wants to be a millionaire!! Lisa thought it was slum dog millionaire at first because it sounded exactly the same!! We're not sure what our plans are for tomorrow yet but we cant wait to go back to the boys shelter as we've fallen in love with them all :-)!!
Missing you all,
love Lisa and Claire

Day 8

Hello from Mumbai day 8!
Today we went to the main Pratham Offices in Mumbai to find out what we will be doing in the next few weeks! We were running a bit late as when we got to the train station there were HUGE queues...and they dont seem to go anywhere fast! We met with Kishor at the offices who is the man who arranged our whole trip for us! He seems lovely and was encouraging us to go off and explore more of India as well as seeing the work that Pratham does! So we think we may go and see the Taj Mahal and possibly visit Goa too! Slightly worried about malaria though as we havnt brought any tablets with us (we were told we didnt need them for Mumbai!) although Kishor says it will be fine! We are going to spend the next few weeks doing activities in the Children's shelters near our hotel as well as doing some case studies on some of the children (finding out where they are from, what their backgrounds are, why they have ended up in the shelters etc!) We will then type the studies up and give them to Pratham. We're really excited about getting to do some of the activities that we had planned and taking all the games and activities for the kids! After we had been at the office we had the afternoon free in central mumbai! So we went exploring on foot and found the promenade on the sea front! It was really pretty but a bit hazy (think blackpool plus humidity!!)! We found an awesome pizza restaurant and had gorgeous bbq chicken stuffed crust pizzas! yummm!! Then we got a taxi to the Gateway to India (See picture!) this was something we had both wanted to see and it meant that we got to see the Taj Mahal Hotel as well! A girl tried to give us a sob story about losing her job selling flowers and needing food which put a bit of a downer on things, its so hard as you hear similar stories all day and dont know if people are telling the truth or just taking the piss as you are foreign! She also had the cheek to call claire a liar when she said she didnt have any money- she actually didnt as her bank card hasnt been working!! We saw some gorgeous horse drawn carriages which we were really tempted to have a ride in but we resisted!! Hoping to visit that area again as we saw some amazing shops on our way out- Jimmy Choo, Prada, Fendi, Mochino, Dior and Louis Vuitton! We're excited for tomorrow as we have the day off and then we're going to the boys shelter to meet the boys and do some activities with them in the evening!

Missing you all- 18 days left in India!
Love Lisa and Claire xxx

Bandra Shopping Day!

Day 7- Bandra Shopping Day - Lisa and Claire in heaven!

Today we ventured to Bandra on the trains all by ourselves as it was our day off (had to change trains twice!) We've had a brilliant day- it was nice to have some time just by ourselves so we were able to go in whatever shops we wanted! We love Mumbai jewellery! Our cases will be full by the time we come home!! Bought some lovely presents for the ladies in our lives! In the afternoon we headed to the Chocolate Coffee Shop called 'Theobroma- Food of the Gods'...it certainly lived up to its name! Lisa had her first latte since getting here- delicious...and we both had the most AMAZING chocolate cheesecake/torte type cakes....tasted like heaven!! (see pictures on facebook!!) We checked out the menu and discovered that they served meals...which included chip buttys, bacon buttys, full english, amazing sandwiches, houmous, and every chocolate cake or brownie you could imagine!!! It was like costa meets thorntons! So we headed back there for our dinner once we'd finished shopping at 6:30pm and had chip and fried egg buttys complete with garlic mayo and tomato ketchup yummmm!!!! (Healthy diet we've got going on here..and people said we would lose weight ;-)!!!!) We've bought some amazing things today- gorgeous clutch bags, bangles, rings, dresses! Definately gonna try and head back there sometime! A lovely girl helped us to find the right platforms on the way back to Panvel- some people are so helpful! Its very confusing finding platforms as everything is in Indian and to find the platform you need to know the initials it appears as on the board! We're getting the hang of it though- you should all be very proud!!! It doesnt help when people push and shove each other everywhere including on and off the trains! We've taken some pictures of the inside of the trains today so you'll have to check them out on facebook! The pic on here is of us on one of the rickshaws! Heading back to the office tomorrow to find out what this week has in store for us! Hopefully we'll be heading to the children's shelters- we cant wait to do some activities and games with the kids! Ended a great day with brilliant news- Julies Sandwich Shop has reopened in Cockermouth- now we definately cant wait to get home!! haha!!

Missing you all but having a blast!
Love Lisa and Claire xxxx

Mumbai Day 6- Govandi Dumping Ground

Hello from Mumbai day 6!
Today we have been to Govandi...Govandi was also on the TV show that channel four did- it was the dumping ground where people ratch through the rubbish to find things that they can sell on or make things out of. The morning was pretty rough at first, there were flies absoutely everywhere and it was disgusting!! There are slums on the opposite side of the road to the dumping ground and they are the worst we have seen so far. The smells were really bad and many people didnt seem to make any effort to stay clean. This may have been made worse by the fact that the monsoon was a bit crazy today- it has rained constantly!! We went into the Pratham office and met some of the people working there..again there were other activities going on there, mostly adults learning new skills! Claire used a proper Indian toilet (hole in the ground) again today (she used one yesterday too)! Lisa wussed out both times!! Then we went to a couple of the schools that are dotted around Govandi Slums. The first was the drop in centre where parents can voluntarily drop their children off...they are taught by two women in a tiny little room- the main purpose there is to bring children up to the educational standard they should be at for their age so that they can go to the main school. The drop in centre was a tiny room with a metal shutter that pulled down for the door..it was absolutely full of flies- everywhere, crawling on the children, on the floor, on us....it was awful! They dont seem to notice the flies though. The kids were reading and playing games like ludo on the oldest looking boards we'd ever seen! After that we went to a school which has worked to free children from child labour- it was run by a different organisation. The school was up a really tall ladder (a bit like the treehouse type building from the other day!) as you can imagine Lisa wasnt too happy climbing up so high- so scared of heights!!! The school was really good, and they were teaching them all kinds of indian languages as well as english! They were all drawing posters of the Indian flag as independence day is in August. The last school we went to was the big elementary school but we didnt get to see much of it as the morning classes had finished. what we did see looked like the school had been flooded out! there was water everywhere! The kids were really excited to see us, which was a bit of a contrast to the rest of Govandi as they all seemed quite wary of us! We think it might be because of the dumping ground- maybe they were afraid of people judging them for collecting rubbish off it.
In the afternoon we went to another adult education centre which specialised in beauty- they did hair, make up and henna! There were some lovely girls/women there and they did some henna tattoos on us and Natski! They were all so talented but apparently there isnt much appreciation for it as it isnt considered a valuable skill. We're going to try and visit them again before we come home, and hopefully get our hair and makeup done next time! We tried to give them some money for our gorgeous henna, but they wouldnt take anything- they said they did it out of the love of their hearts as we were their guests! They were so lovely! Next time we go we're gonna try and take them some of our hair accessories- apparently they love kirby grips!! When we were leaving it was absolutely pouring down- the streets in the slums had literally turned to rivers (cockermouth main street stylee but not as deep!!) we had to wade out of the slums in it (trying to block out thoughts of what might be in the water and how dirty it was!!!!) the girls from the adult ed place helped us to find rickshaws to get back to the train station which was really nice of them considering they got soaked in the process! One of them (who is wearing the bright pink outfit in the pictures) was really bubbly and constantly cracking jokes (that we didnt understand!) and when we went to get a rickshaw she had to put on another outfit over the top. It turned out she was Sihk so she had to change into the full black outfit that covers everything except the eyes! It was really bizzare and completely changed how we view the women wearing those outfits- she was so friendly- it just shows that you cant judge people by what they wear- even thought the outfits look intimidating, to them its just something they have to do in public! Claire hasnt had much luck with Rickshaws today- our one this morning broke down and he had to push it along to get it to start!! Then the one back to the train station that her and Natski were in broke down completely so she had to jump into Lisa and Ruchitas- a bit of a squeeze with four of us and completely illegal!!! By the time we got back to our hotel we were soaked and filthy! So tonight we're having Macaroni Cheese in bed curtesy of room service while watching gossip girl on the one american channel we've found! (Thats after we had very long hot showers!!) Looking forward to our day of shopping tomorrow!
Love Lisa and Claire xxxx

Dharavi Slums and Shopping...what a contrast!!

Hey guys!
Well its day five of our adventure in India! Had such a good day! This morning we headed down to the centre of Mumbai to the Pratham Office as we were supposed to meet Kishor, but he was sick so we had a change of plans last minute! Instead Ruchita took us to Dharavi- the slums that were on the tv show a few months back! Anyone who watched it will know how crazy it looked...but nothing could have prepared us for the smells/sights/sounds and the reactions of everyone! We cannot believe that anyone can live in an environment like it and not realise how dirty it is! (dirty being a major understatement!!) We had to cross the road from the train station to the slums which was a near death experience in itself (a road as wide as a dual carriage way complete with bikes/rickshaws/lorrys/taxis/cars all driving wherever the hell they wanted and us 3 trying to get across -road crossings dont appear to exist here and even if they did no one would pay attention to them!!) We got the usual responses from ppl as we walked through- people either love us or hate us! We headed for the Pratham building- next to the school and it has 3 purposes- pratham, a nursery and an adult ed building where adults can learn skills to enable them to work eg working a sewing machine etc! We had everything that Pratham do there explained to us- they do the usual stuff that we had previously learned about -health/education/child labour rescue. they also work with the disabled children that live there- disabilities range from mental handicaps to amputees.
Then we went to explore the slums....we met some of the children who were absolutely gorgeous! They followed us all around the slums- we felt like the pied piper...at one point there was about 20 kids behind us!! One little girl kept copying everything claire did- when claire put a hand on her hip she did etc it was so funny! Claire taught her to catch kisses when they were blown as well because she kept blowing us kisses! The school children were going crazy when they saw us, they all gathered around and were shouting and wooping it was really funny! Theres a gorgeous photo of them all in their uniforms- once we'd taken it they all kept pushing and shoving each other trying to see it on the camera! We also went into some of the factories in the slums and saw some success cases where pratham has helped make them non-child labour factories "green zones" which was really interesting! The only downside was they were upstairs so we had to climb the ladders...really high and not good for lisa who doesnt like hights!!! After we'd finished at the slums Ruchita took us shopping to Bhandra! There was a mixture of shops and market stalls and we bought some gorgeous jewellery! Then we headed for MacDonalds for dinner- I know shock horror lisa ate a macdonalds meal! Claire was VERY happy!!!! We think we might head back to Bhandra on our day off on Sunday for some more shopping and we'll definately be taking more money! stuff is so cheap but theres so much to buy- gorgeous sandals/jewellery/belts/tunic tops etc etc!! Bring on Sunday!
Tomorrow we're heading to Govandi to the dumping ground (as seen on the programme!) should be interesting/disgusting sights!!
missing you all but having a blast,
love lisa and claire xxx

Hello from Mumbai day four!
Today we had a big breakfast to avoid any repeats of feeling faint/sick on the train like Tuesday- the hotel got us proper baked beans in specially so we had beans on toast! (Lisa and Claire = very happy!!) Then we headed off to the train station via rickshaw! We got the train to Raey Road and met Ruchrita and a japanese student who is also working with Pratham called Natski! Then we met Rita who helped us find our way to the Daru Khana Child Rights Desk. The Desk is essentially a few chairs under a canopy right in the middle of some slums! The slums werent as bad as many that we have seen so far though- the smell wasnt too bad and the buildings seemed quite well constructed and looked after! Once again we were the object of many stares and comments...this time we had Natksi to share the stares with us though! We went to a little cafe and Natski, Ruchrita and Rita had some drinks called Lassi and Charr...charr was a spicy yoghurt/milk type drink and Lassi was a sweet yoghurt/milk type drink! We met the women who worked at the desk and learnt a bit about what they do...then they took us out amongst the dwellings to visit some of the mini factories that there are in some of the buildings- laundrettes/leather factories etc. we were looking for children who were working so that Ruchrita and her colleagues could talk to the children and the employers and try to convince them that it would be best if the children didnt work and they went to school instead. Some employers were more open to discussing it, and said they would give the children the option. Others got very angry and told numerous lies about the children. Ruchrita usually ended up shouting at the employers, and things got a little bit heated! One little boy ended up in tears- he was torn between listening to his boss and listening to the Pratham staff. We then visited a 'house' of one of the women, who lived with her husband and two children. Their daughter has special needs and Pratham has helped the family to cope- providing support and putting them in contact with a special needs camp. The little girl was called Bhablna and she was 6 years old but only looked about 3!! It was fascinating seeing how people cope with disabilities in this environment, and seeing inside a family 'home'. The 'house' was about the size of a utility room from our houses it was about a metre by a metre square if that!...it seems unbelievable that 4 people sleep/eat/wash/live in such a small space!
While we were walking around Daru Khana we saw a huge variety of sights- one man was sat having a bath in a huge muddy puddle! There were children in school uniforms on their way to/from school, children with no clothes on running around in the lanes/cats sunbathing on roofs and catching mice/cows grazing on piles of rubbish/ dogs sleeping in the street/ goats wandering around/ chickens in coops directly under the counter where eggs were being sold! We should also mention that Daru Khana has a 'main street' running through the middle of it, where there are many different 'shops' and stalls which are beneath family shacks! While we were there we even saw a few barbers shops complete with proper barber chairs and mirrors!!! we also saw a 'doctors surgery', once again this was in one of the shack stalls!! There were also a few school buildings along the main street where children were taught sitting on the floor in dark looking rooms, with loads of children to one teacher! We had lunch in a room above one of the shacks, which involved climbing up a ladder (going up was fine, coming back down another matter!!) It was like having lunch in a tree house!! after lunch a grandmother and her grandson came up to the childs rights desk- the grandmother wanted to sign her grandson up for some time at the shelters, as she had to work and she needed someone to be there for him while she worked! The rain was torrential this afternoon, so on our way back to the hotel we got soaked which just added to how disgusting we felt after a hot sticky day in the slums!! We got showered asap after we got in and then has a siesta! we've just been down to the hotel restaurant and forced ourselves to eat a bowl of soup- we're struggling to eat so late at night and with such limited menu choices! We feel a bit isolated out in Panvel...there is literally nothing here, so we have no other restaurant options or even shops to have a wander too. Hopefully things will improve!!!
Night guys,
love lisa and claire xxx

day 3!

Hello from Mumbai day 3!
Today we had the day to ourselves so we've spent the day recovering from the last couple of days! We headed out of the hotel to explore the area that we are staying in!There's not much to be honest...a few shack type shops, some car rental places, another hotel and then a lot of rundown apartment blocks! Further up the road there is also some slums complete with chickens, dogs and pigs! (see pics)
We were hassled the whole way..complete with wolf whistling, car horns blaring and the occasional comment in broken english! Some boys accosted us and demanded to know where we were from- the options being australia or usa (apparently the only 2 places they knew about!) they took some photos of us so they could brag to their friends and then ran back off into the slums! (we still dont understand how they had a mobile when they live in a shack with no electricity to charge it with and no money to pay for it with!!) we carried on exploring- we saw a goat- lisa came out with a classic; “why is that dog so funny looking!?”! We also saw some tiny little puppys which were gorgeous! Cant believe the way dogs are treated over here; most live on the streets living on scraps they can find...our dogs dont realise how lucky they are! we've spent the afternoon looking through our guidebooks trying to plan some trips off for any days we have free- we will go stir crazy if we have to spend any more time in this hotel than necessary!! Tomorrow we're heading to the child desk which should be interesting...got to brave the trains again but this time at least we know which carriage to use!! speak soon lots of love lisa and claire xxx

hey guys!
Well, we have arrived in Mumbai! We arrived yesterday at stupid o'clock in the morning after a very long flight! we then had to get a taxi to our hotel which was an experience in itself! as we were driving through the streets we got to see some of the sights of mumbai- first impressions were jaw dropping and not in a good way! roads are like building sites but the buildings are ruins!we slept all morning and then met with Christine who works with Pratham! she told us what we would be doing for the rest of the day and on Tuesday, and she told us about the work Pratham does! we then headed out to the girls residential shelter with Rupert (Ruchrita) whos name we couldnt remember for most of the day so claire nicknamed her rupert! we got a rickshaw out to the shelter which was a bit of an experience! its a 3 wheeled bike/car with a roof over it! they drive wherever the hell they want on the road and the road can turn from perfectly fine to pot holed building site! the rickshaws cost next to nothing to get around (we havnt paid more than 30 rupees which is about 30p!!! it was lovely to meet some more of the staff and to be introduced to some of the girls...until a cockroach ran over lisa's foot!! The girls all introduced themselves in english but that was about all they could manage so they just smiled a lot at us after that!! Then we headed back to the hotel for a siesta and dinner! Obviously after travelling all the way to India claires first meal of choice was of course chinese chicken chow mein!!! there's no chance she will be braving any curries after seeing lisa's face when eating a 'mild' tikka masala! Today we had to bravely venture to the other side of mumbai- we are staying in Panvel in New Mumbai, which is the other side of the sea inlet! Today we went all the way down to the bottom of Mumbai to Chhatrrapati Shivaji Terminus! This involved us travelling in a rickshaw, then train and then taxi! as u can imagine it must have been quite a sight seeing us squished on a train! we managed not to get lost, however we also managed to go into the class mixed sex carriage where we were squashed in amongst what felt like thousands of indian men! on our return journey we realised that there was a womens only carriage...we'll definitely be using that from now on!!! We dont think we'll ever get used to the stares we are getting- people just openly stare at you which is very unnerving! the kids absolutely love us, we get so many big smiles from them and they always give us a wave! Although we hated every minute of the train ride there, it was certainly an experience we would not have wanted to miss!When we were in mumbai we went to the main office of pratham and met with christine again! she gave us more of an idea of the different projects pratham run and are involved with and she gave us some background on where pratham came from and what has happened in the past! we found out what we will be doing in the next few days! neither of us felt particularly well after our train experience (We cannot describe the heat/smells/lack of space!) and claire was sick...day two....this is not a good start!! we were excited to learn what we will be doing this week though! Tomorrow we have a day off, so hopefully we will be able to explore the area we are staying in a bit! Then Thursday we are going to Daru Khana to visit the childs rights desk! Friday we are going to Dharavi- most of you will have seen it on the recent programmes on indian slums...! there we are visiting the disability programmes and the platform programmes (where children are rescued from working on train platforms)! Saturday we are going to Govandi to see some more projects! Ruchrita will be looking after us over the next week which is good as we've found that people dont generally speak that much english. On our return train journey we sat in the womens only carriage! this was a much nicer experience, and it was fascinating seeing all the various saris and fashions! whole families jumped onto the carriage to sell various trinkets/jewellery/food/combs/batteries....you name it you could buy it! It was interesting seeing the children selling things, as this is where a lot of the children are rescued from by pratham! now we are chilling in our room, recovering from what has been a chaotic but fascinating day!

missing you all, lots of love,
lisa and claire xxx

Off on our adventure!

Hey guys,

We are off on our adventure tomorrow (well in a few hours!) not sure how much we will be able to use this but thought it would be a good way of letting you all know what we have been up to and we may be able to get some pictures up too! Feeling pretty nervous now, and dont know what to expect- but cant wait to get there!

Hopefully speak to you all soon! Wish us luck!

Love,

Lisa and Claire

xxx