Here Olivia talks about the start of her volunteering journey... I am currently sitting in the executive suite of a very nice hotel in Delhi and therefore do not feel fully equipped to describe all the wonders of India. However, I can describe my journey so far (in the literal sense – not the emotional X Factor sense).I left my home at 9am on Friday 18th January and travelled to the VSO offices in Putney for my pre-departure training. The journey was made slightly difficult by the snow and the fact that I couldn’t physically carry my luggage (luckily, I met a few saints who helped me up and down stairs).The pre-departure training consisted of all the India volunteers coming together for some last minute information – so not only did I get reunited with people I met at Birmingham, but also met the rest of the India volunteers and the rest of my Delhi team. Then we headed off to Heathrow with our bags and a tube ticket. Unfortunately that is when the smooth sailing stopped. To summarise a catastrophic journey: boarded plane, sat on plane for 3 hours, plane cancelled, not let off plane, eventually get off plane, sleep in Heathrow, try and get in touch with VSO and re-book flights, 20 hours after arriving at Heathrow board second plane, eventually take off, arrive at Delhi, baggage not arrived, queue for infinite hours, get picked up, witness crazy Indian driving, get to hotel at 5am Delhi time without bag. On the bright side, the hotel is lovely and I was by fluke allocated to the executive suite with another volunteer Jess (but I think karma owed us something). We have also got to meet the national volunteers who are really accommodating interesting and pretty funny. It’s great to meet people who are working with SWECHHA and find out a bit more about the projects we will be working on. Today, we went on a trip to Old Delhi and it feels like we are really starting to immerse ourselves in India. It’s truly invaluable having Indian people teach you about Indian culture. The highlights of the day were probably the mosque Jama Masjid and puri aloo! Really looking forward to getting stuck in.
