It’s been over a year.

Reflecting 

One morning, early last September, I left Lincoln in a taxi loaded  to the gunwales (as they say) with bags and suitcases. 

August had been strenuous as I tried to clear my apartment. People who had promised to remove large items of furniture, never arrived and treasured items went tearfully to a local auction-house, to be converted into Indian rupees.

Fully loaded

All the smart shirts that had been purchased over the years, with a promise that “I’ll lose some weight so that I can fit into this one” went to charity shops, where new owners will buy them, only to find they are more than large enough to be used as tents for children’s games.  

Bangalore Suburb

But now I am counting the hours and days until I leave Bangalore, not to return until early next month. 

My first stop en-route is a 1-week silent retreat at the Jesuit Sameeksha Ashram in Kerala.

I can think of no better way to unwind and unravel the stresses and pressures of the last few weeks.  

The stress is self-inflicted, because I find it impossible to refuse to take on new tasks, or to skimp the quality of my work.

Job Description

I wrote my own job description, which was basically all about how we should expand and develop the work of Building Blocks and its associated follow-on programme Project+10. There were some things to sort out before I could start in this in earnest – the most important being the production of a Safeguarding Policy.
Over the past months I have written Impact Reports and Bid Proposals. I have been analysing the effectiveness of our work and I have been impressed to discover that over 90% of our 6-year old graduates then go on to gain admission to good primary and secondary schools. Just remember they all live in slums, mostly without running water, and often with the cooking done out in the street, in a pot balanced on 3 stones, over a small fire of sticks.

The Schools' Play

Our 6-year olds continue their education in one of a dozen schools around Bangalore, but we keep in touch with some of them through our follow-on programme. Every year, most of them join up with those Building Blocks children who will leave next April, and we have an Indian National Children’s Day celebration in November.

I don’t know how I finished up adapting a musical play that I found on the internet, expanding the content and writing new songs, but it’s just another role that somehow crept into my Job Description. In November the children will perform This Planet is Our Home, a story of what we need to do to save the planet, portrayed through a magical journey of three young friends. I cry every time I get to the final scene – so I have no idea what our audience will make of it. 

There’ll be our kids – who will cheer everything – together with the sponsors and benefactors who are our essential supporters, and some of our colleagues from other NGOs. You might know a school or community group who would like to perform the play, so if you are happy to make a contribution to my charity at:-.

https://tinyurl.com/escapefrompovertyNovember19 

and send me your email address to mail@bobharvey.co.uk, I’ll be happy to send you a complete script, with links to possible music tracks.  Having rescued some very needy children, we must make sure we give them a planet worth inheriting.

Never mind where they come from, they're wearing a school uniform, and that will transform their future.

We need regional fundraisers in Britain and elsewhere. 
Contact me if you want to support a truly worthwhile cause.
mail@bobharvey.co.uk  EscapefromPoverty.org.uk