Countdown to India!

On June 21, twelve intrepid Brooksians (8 students, 2 fathers, 2 faculty members) will leave for 10 days of travel and service in India. We will see the cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Pondicherry and their environs, and will work in slums, fishing villages still recovering from the tsunami, and schools. We hope to be able to post our thoughts, pictures and maybe even video as we go, so you all at home can see what we are experiencing.

Below is a general outline of our itinerary; please check back after June 22 and watch our progress!

Thu, June 21 DEPART BOSTON

· Depart Boston on British Airways

Fri, June 22 ARRIVE MUMBAI

· Arrive Mumbai at 11.15 a.m.
· Afternoon: Welcome Social Interactions With Local Youth


Sat, June 23 MUMBAI OVERVIEW & VISIT TO PRATHAM PROJECT

· Morning: Visit Gateway of India, Victoria Railway Terminus & related sites – an overview of Mumbai.

· Afternoon: Visit to “Pratham”, a Mumbai slum-based NGO whose mission is to ensure that “every child is in school and learning well”.

Pratham leaders will offer a brief introduction about the NGO’s various programs, and will then escort us to a local shelter for slum children; an initiative is underway to rehabilitate and mainstream the shelter’s resident children, a majority of whom were once child laborers. We’ll observe and offer hands-on service as Pratham leaders request/have the need. For more information on Pratham’s background and mission, please visit http://www.pratham.org/aboutus/aboutus.php.



Sun, June 24 FRIENDS OF THE HUMANIST
SLUM SELF-IMPROVERS

· Morning
Through film and dialogue, we place Mumbai slum life in context. Professor Parimal Merchant joins us this morning to discuss his group’s commitment to encourage slum leaders and residents to uplift themselves through entrepreneurship and other creative endeavors.

· Afternoon
Visit the Humanist Center – and then private homes – with a message of goodwill and an emphasis on the need for education; we’ll serve this community at Prof. Merchant’s request.

Today’s most powerful experience will happen when we are guests in community members’ modest homes. For more information on the Humanist Self-Improvers’ background and mission, please visit http://www.fhssi.org/.

Mon, June 25 COMPUTER-AIDED LEARNING
AT AMCHI SHALA MUNICIPAL SCHOOL

· Morning
Amchi Shala School is an underresourced municipal school serving the children of migrant families. Recently, there has been a push to encourage girls to attend school. This is key; many of this community’s families consider it relatively more important for the girls to do housework and care for younger siblings in the home. Significantly, Amchi Shala has also recently implemented a program of Computer Aided Learning; this is an effort to leverage the use of technology to stimulate both knowledge acquisition and interest in learning.

· Afternoon
After lunch, in a field visit, we’ll take part in an Amchi Shala GPS mapping project.


Tue, June 26 BOLLYWOOD

· Morning Visit to Whistling Woods International

Whistling Woods is a brand-new Bollywood studio at
Goregaon East, Mumbai. It boasts a singular filmmaking school, offering courses on film production, film direction, film editing, and so forth. Its filmmaking process employs cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art equipment to produce new films for Mumbai’s renowned film industry. Whistling Woods is attracting film talent from all over the world. For more information, visit
http://www.whistlingwoods.net/.

· Afternoon at leisure.


Wed, June 27 MUMBAI to CHENNAI & WELCOME AT
INDIAN PARTNER SCHOOL

· Early breakfast and transfer to Mumbai domestic airport for flight to Chennai.

· Afternoon: Visit Sishya, a school of excellence in Chennai’s Adyar neighborhood. We’ll interact with Sishya peers through various cross-cultural activities. For an overview of Sishya, please visit http://www.sishya.com/.

Thu, June 28 UDAVI SCHOOL, AUROVILLE

· Morning:
After breakfast, we’ll take an overland coach journey from Chennai to Udavi School in Auroville. Udavi leaders, classroom teachers, and students will welcome us, and orient us to their unique learning environment. After initial welcomes, we’ll take a campus tour and pause for lunch.

· Afternoon:
Following lunch, we’ll serve Udavi as Sanjeev Agrawal, school principal, finds useful. Sanjeev will explain the physical-infrastructure and/or instructional needs at this unique rural school, and may break us into smaller groups for the afternoon activities.

· Overnight in Pondicherry.

Fri June 29 SERVICE LEARNING WITH
LOCAL FISHING COMMUNITY

· Early Morning:
Introductions & informal dialogue with local fishermen at Anumandai Kuppam village near Auroville. These gentlemen and their families experienced first-hand the December 2005 tsunami; they continue to rebuild their lives and their community.

· Remainder of Day:
Service learning in the fishermen’s community, where needs continue to center around retaining-wall repair, boat painting & other equipment upgrades, fishing net repair, etc.

· At the hotel, a South Indian cultural event – music, dance, local cuisine.

· Overnight in Pondicherry.

Sat, June 30 COMMUNITY FAREWELLS & VISIT MUDILIPURAKKAM

· Morning farewells in Auroville

· Return Coach Journey to Chennai: After paying respects to our Auroville hosts, we’ll begin our return journey to Chennai. On the way, we’ll pause for a visit to Mudilipurakkam, a site of enormous cultural and historical significance to South India and its people.

· Overnight in Chennai

Sun, July 1 CHENNAI to LONDON to BOSTON

· Early transfer to the airport.
· Depart Chennai on British Airways
· Arrive Boston at 6:40 p.m.