Leaving and Arriving

It's been a month, already...

It’s been 4 weeks since I was in Chester, unpacking, sorting and repacking, and trying to get below the weight limit for my flights on September 4^th/5^th.

There were very few passengers at Manchester

It was a painful exercise, made even more poignant by the fact that I ended up 5kg over the limit when I checked in, and was then obliged to pay a fixed surcharge of US$ 100 (- which would have allowed me an additional 20kg.)

I wept inwardly as I thought of all the things I could have brought in the extra suitcase for which I was now being charged. I could have held on to all the things that I had now left behind, packed in a banana box in Tina’s attic in Chester. It was a very sobering experience, but I was learning to accept the finality of my decision. 
I was realising that this time it was pointless to make mental notes about doing things differently on my return flight, or planning what things I should bring when I came back to India on my next visit, because this was to be the last journey for quite a while. There was no Lincoln address for friends to keep an eye on, and no thermostat to set for frost control. There was nothing lurking, forgotten in the back of a cupboard: Old Mother Hubbard would find that the cupboard was bare.

In Lincoln, my apartment was spacious and I used every inch of it. Here in Bangalore, the apartment is almost too big, and it is taking me time to plan where to hang paintings (the frames had gone to charity shops in Lincoln,) and arrange photographs to humanise the blank walls.

Those of you know me will appreciate that the kitchen has to be a priority, and I now have shelves and smart containers for foodstuffs,  rails with hooks for utensils and the essential magnetic knife rack for my chef’s knives.

I have an almost-new fridge-freezer and a nifty little convection oven / grill / rotisserie that is now conveniently wall-mounted. 
Tomorrow I shall bake bread.

I have a delightful study, situated at the back of the property creating a personal space that is virtually silent, and I have put white nets on the windows, softening the view out onto a vacant lot. The room is the perfect size for a snug study, and well fitted out with shelves and cupboards. I found a sturdy second-hand metal-framed desk online, and it’s the ideal size, without allowing me any space for clutter.

Maybe I can now calm down, because I have behaved like a madman for the past month, working frenetically, as if I had just been promoted to a new post, and had a desperate need to prove to the boss – and to myself - that I was up to the job. Which is, of course, a ridiculous way to approach this opportunity. I am an unpaid volunteer. I paid all my costs to leave Lincoln, obtain my expensive long-term visa and move to Bangalore. I pay all my rent, utilities and living expenses, and I manage on my (rather modest) pension. 
Why on Earth am I behaving as if I were living in the corporate world and concerned about my Performance Review?     
I suppose it’s because it’s been 40 years since I was part of a corporate structure, back when I was International Sales Director for SodaStream. Ever since then, I have lived on my wits, and had to ensure there was always enough money around to put a roof over our heads and food on the table, ( - the latter being not so difficult when I was running a restaurant!)         

Me with members of a Project Plus Ten After-School-Club
for kids who have moved on from Building Blocks

Right now, I need to tell myself that I no longer need to worry. Moving to India has meant moving to an environment where I have chosen to adopt a different way of life, and be perfectly happy to be the only white guy on the street – or in the whole suburb for that matter. That’s not a new experience for me. Back in 1963, Roger, Mark, Keith and I were the only white faces in a crowd of thousands celebrating Madaraka Day (internal independence) on the streets of Nairobi. That’s how you make the memories. I would not create the sort of memories I want if I were to spend my evenings propping up the bar of the Hilton or the InterContinental here in Bangalore, along with the expat crowd who populate the technology parks in this, India’s Silicone City.

With Chaitra and her mother

It’s roughly two and a half years since I decided to be the first donor to my own charity, Escape from Poverty, and sponsor Chaitra’s education. 
This weekend she had her 9^th birthday and I went to her After-School-Club to sing her "Happy Birthday" and have a photo taken with the rest of the gang.

Funding her education – for less than £1 per day - was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done. I get her school reports twice a year; she sends me a birthday card and a New Year card and I usually also meet her mother when I meet Chaitra. 
I know that my modest donation will empower Chaitra to break out of the poverty trap that has always imprisoned families like hers.

If you want to get the full flavour of what I’m involved in, take a week off and come to Bangalore for a few days in November, and join in the Building Blocks Celebration of Children’s Day on Saturday, November 10^th. The kids will put on a great show, and over lunch you can meet sponsors from all over the world. 
Come a day or two early, and see the schools in action: see the size of the problem and judge for yourself what we are achieving. 

Kids with Ambitions

Talk to the kids and discover the size of their ambitions. Join in and be part of making the change. After all the past months of Brexit wrangling, come and breathe in the positivist attitudes of kids who are determined that they won’t look back.

…and I’d love a jar of Marmite if you can fit one in your suitcase.

"Relocation, relocation, relocation."

The quote is Conrad Hilton, responding to a journalist's question about the secret of a successful hotel, and perhaps it is also a good answer to the question: What's the most important factor in being happy where you live?

The street where I live

Well, it's not the geographic location as much as the social surroundings.  It's the warmth, the smiles and the friendliness of both neighbours and strangers. Here,  in Bangalore, a smile makes an instant connection, and if you need help in any situation, then nothing is too much trouble if you just smile, and ask someone.

It's Yorkshire, but with a slightly different accent, - and rather better weather. 

753,7th B Main, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar

This is my home, and my apartment is the whole of the ground floor. 

A vast lounge / kitchen / diner and two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a third bedroom that is becoming my snug and cosy study.

The address has something of an exotic ring to it. You can't say "Kalyan Nagar" without feeling that you are ordering the Chef's  Speciality in a very upmarket Indian restaurant in London's Mayfair. 

"Does your chef put Fenugreek in the Kalyan Nagar? - we had it at the Taj in Mumbai and it was simply stupendous."

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Kalyan Nagar is simply the name of a rather pleasant district of Bangalore. Several thousand locals, and me; the Token White Man. Except for two visits to the Foreigners' Registration Office, I am the only white face I've seen since I left the airport, which is probably one of the reasons I love this location.

The fridge and washing machine arrived today

I seem to be spending half of my time in on-line shopping. I tracked down a site selling reconditioned, second-hand white goods, and bought a fridge/freezer and a washing machine. 

I found a sturdy desk for my study and Building Blocks has given me a huge board-room table, and a room divider that nicely separates the dining area from the kitchen.

Mountains of cardboard , oceans of bubble-wrap

The presence of Amazon in India means that almost anything is available, and often just overnight.  

The Amazon website says I have placed 45 orders in 14 days, and when I fill James' car boot with another load of packaging, I think 45 could be a significant underestimate.

I've bought chopping boards and crockery, pots and pans and shelving units, loo seats, waste bins, and bathroom fittings, bedside lights and whisky glasses.

. . . and cushions.                      

Those of you who know me will realise that this maroon moquette on the sofa may be an iconic statement of taste in the Bertie Wooster era, but I'm afraid it just doesn't  do it for me. 

The matching triple antimacassar and seating mat are now in the storage drawer under the spare bed.

. . .this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,
the Age of Aquarius . . .

I found a cotton-and-silk patchwork throw that exactly fits the settee, and the ten vibrant velvet cushions really change the mood of the place.

The Building Blocks' driver-cum-handyman, (- one of Bob Harvey's former careers, - but that's another story -) is spending the day here tomorrow, and together we'll be putting things up and taking things down. By Halloween the place should really feel like home.

But all this home-making and nesting is not the reason I am here in Bangalore - though it might persuade some of you that I was serious when I talked about eventually coming home as a little packet of ashes.

Kids like her, who are born in poverty usually stay in poverty, just like her parents and grandparents through the generations. Without a change in the way each generation values itself, the cycle of poverty will trundle on. 

A basic education will enable her to scratch a living, but nothing will really change until she, and her siblings, and the friends she hangs around with, all start to believe that they really can do anything they choose if they study and if they gain self-confidence and self-belief.

I am not here to help James and the team churn out factory fodder, shift workers who are enslaved to Mastercard and Visa. We are working together to create a new mind-set of self-esteem amongst children who believe one simple motto : It doesn't have to be like this.

I want to find another hundred people back in Britain, who are ready to part with just one pound a day to help us build a new tribe of dynamic youth who will change the world. Check out the website, reach for your plastic,  or send me an email and I'll get back to you. 

Any of these girls could have been the girl in the above picture . . .but then they became students in Building Blocks; - and they're not looking back.
Please join us and be part of the change.

Reinventing myself - again

Goodbye Lincoln - Hello Bangalore!
When I came back to live in Lincoln in 2012, after four years in the Italian countryside, I started nesting again; stamping my style and preferences on my spectacular bachelor pad in Minster Yard, with its awe-inspiring view onto the East front of Lincoln Cathedral.

The view from my front door

For six years I have pandered to my quirky taste and passion for unusual decor. I covered one wall with wooden spoons from around the world, and I filled my kitchen cupboards with rare cookware.

I have a dozen tiny condiment dishes to contain aïoli for fish soup, and a dozen miniature leCreuset cast-iron casseroles, that would - I decided - be perfect for an exotic dinner-party starter. . . . but I never made that fish soup, nor that miniaturised Cassoulet to serve in those colourful cast-iron leCreusets. So now I am leaving behind most of the design and decor that I have so painstakingly created, and I am going to live in India. 

Reinventing myself
I am at it again; reinventing myself; this time into a volunteer management consultancy with the Indian project for which I set up my UK fund-raising charity, Escape from Poverty. 

Some of the children whose education is funded by Escape from Poverty, together with their parents (all in their Sunday best for the photograph!)

In order to get a good education in India, a child needs to be basically numerate and literate by age six, with some basic knowledge of English in addition to their own mother-tongue. This means that they need to start school some time between 2yrs 6 months and 3yrs 6 months.

There are very few government-funded preschools, which means that children from poor backgrounds stand very little chance of gaining a good education. Building Blocks is an Indian charity which operates free pre-schools exclusively for children living in the slum districts. In addition to a wide range of academic subjects, the curriculum focuses heavily on building self-esteem, encouraging self-confidence and stimulating creativity. 
Escape from Poverty raises 10-year scholarships to support children from Building Blocks when they move on to Primary and Secondary schools, from age 6 to 16. 

My task in Bangalore is to work with James Ambat, the founder of Building Blocks, to define a clear, long-term Vision and Mission for Building Blocks and translate this into a pragmatic 5-Year Strategy.

Right now, my personal   strategy is a matter of auditing every item of my possessions and taking the heart-rending decision as to which items I take and which items I must sadly leave  behind. 

Since my Lincoln apartment is rented, and storage costs are prohibitive, most of my furniture is destined for the charity shops whence it came six years ago. However, it's the low-cost / low-value items with great sentimental value that are the most difficult to part with. 

What to take: what to leave: what to sell: what to give away?

As the Everly brothers used to croon in the 60s "Packing up is so very hard to do-o-o-o-o-o." However, none of these practical hurdles will prevent me from fulfilling my dream of working on the Building Blocks project in Bangalore.

Finding a New Home
My colleagues in Bangalore are finding me a 2-bedroom apartment located near the Building Blocks offices, and in less than a month I shall be personalising it with some of the possessions (and maybe a few wooden spoons) that I am taking with me from Lincoln. However, what matters is not whether I can get QI and The Last Leg live from Britain on my computer, what matters is how James and I, - and all the team - are going to give kids from the slums the opportunity to break free of poverty and really believe in their own future.

I know we can achieve that, because I know the kids can.

6 year-old "graduates" from a Building Blocks Preschool, April 2018

A Building Blocks Success Story

Our aim at Building Blocks is not to teach only the basics; we want our students to excel, and to know that they can achieve whatever they desire if they work hard at school and focus on their dreams

This four-year old has everyone believing that he can alter his own destiny!

An article about a Building Blocks student, contributed by 

Sharanya Hariharan an online journalist based in Bangalore

A narrow lane with more sheds than it can hold.

Women, children and dogs clustered in and around each house.

The lane filled with vessels to be washed had someone bathing, someone cooking while another ironed clothes.

Music from a nearby shop, the rattling noises of domestic activities and people talking: - there was much life bustling along this lane.

Who would have thought that this lane hosted a bunch of first generation learners who would choose to study amidst such distractions?

A mother, Ponnamma, was speaking about her son, Bheema Shankar, and his learning at Building Blocks Preschool.

Student Bheema Shankar

Ponnamma stepped out of her humble shack to express her joy in enabling her son to study. She said, "I don't know what subjects he learns, nor can I help him study. But seeing his notebooks makes me proud!" 

Both being uneducated, she and her husband, Aiyyappa, decided to have their only son enrolled with Bluebells, one of the  BuildingBlocks preschools. 

In less than a year of being in school, four year-old Bheema Shankar had shown much interest towards learning in general. Although Ponnamma spends her waking hours around her son, she can barely help him with his homework. She understands that he learns many subjects in school, but she recognises only English, Kannada and Maths. Yet, when Bheema shows his notebook to her, she knows he is doing well and takes pride in his merit marks.

At home, he is the first to rise and step out ready for school. He insists on being punctual; and is sometimes known to check a teacher who may walk in late, a couple of minutes after the bell! Little Bheema is spotted questioning about every event, or any object placed before him. He is often caught trying to frame sentences in English or seen teaching his friends to count. "Bheema is attentive and brilliant. He is quick to grasp new concepts and is always eager to learn." said Asheena, School Manager at Bluebells. For being just about four years old, he is immensely self-motivated and is noted for being helpful with his classmates.

In a conversation with Bheema in his playtime, he indicated that I see his notebook, left behind at school. On reaching his school, I sought help to find Bheema's notebooks. The book he indicated had it all. Page after page, were ticks, appreciation stars and full marks given out to neatly spelt three-letter English words, or Kannada alphabet, one or two-digit numbers, or parts of plants and animals, or days and months in a year. From all the drawings to his midterm results, this notebook demonstrated Bheema's potential to achieve academically. Bheema Shankar stands as one of the top students in class, scoring 100% results across all subjects in all his tests and exams so far. Bheema Shankar's innate quality to learn and excel is promising; he seems to be on the path to a bright future.

Ponnamma and her son Bheema

 When asked about aspirations for him from the family, Ponnamma replied, "All we want is to educate him, for we are no one to make career decisions for him. We are sure Bheema will grow up to be ambitious and make us proud."

This article first appeared the online publication Young Spark: ( http://youngspark.in/#/)

Clamouring for Education

When the word gets around that the local Building Blocks Preschool is interviewing for admissions for the new School Year, residents from the local community pack the crowded meetings to learn more. 

The main qualification for admission to a Building Blocks preschool, is poverty. 

We are looking for cases of genuine need. We have had cases where parents have hidden their possessions with neighbours, before a visit from our social workers. This way they tried to disguise their true financial situation and have Building Blocks educate, feed and care for their child, free of charge, every day.  

Just as in Europe and America, many preschools in Indian cities are established mainly to look after children so that the mothers can get back into work. However, this is far from the principles on which Building Blocks operates. The objective of Building Blocks is to give slum children the opportunity to Escape from Poverty. 

This means that we must be sure that the parents will support their children, give them encouragement with homework, take an interest in what the child is learning, and praise the achievements that are listed in their 6-monthly school reports. 

After drawing up an initial list of children who could qualify for preschool education at Building Blocks, we then set up a schedule of interviews when we learn about the family, their situation and their attitude to their child's education.

This is a gruelling process, and we hear some heart-rending stories of the hardships that many slum-dwellers face in raising young children in a tough and impoverished environment. 

By the end of the day, our team are emotionally drained and exhausted, but they love the challenges and rewards of a job which truly changes lives.

I set up Escape from Poverty in 2017 to fund the ongoing education of kids in Bangalore after they've completed three years at a Building Blocks Preschool.

We are already funding 14 children. Some are sponsored by individuals, three by a school in Devon, others by groups of friends and others are crowd-funded by direct donations to our Scholarship Fund.

It costs less than £1 per day and, - apart from bank charges, - every penny goes to fund the education of kids from the slums of Bangalore . 

Please click on this link to go to our fund-raising page on My Donate

End of Term

Proud Mums, a proud teacher and excited children

Ilsham Academy in Torquay supports  Angel, Taraswin and Saliha

All the mums were in their "Sunday best" outfits last Friday, to see their children receiving their end of year school reports on their last day at Building Blocks Azalea Learning Centre.

These three bright children  have all gained places in good Grade schools and are financially supported through Escape from Poverty by Ilsham Academy in Torquay, where the pupils have guaranteed to subsidise the fees and pay for extra coaching and mentoring for the first year of their education in their new school.

The children dressed up with gown and mortar-board to have  their photo taken with their class teacher, Shehanaaz.


She was also smiling at the weekend when the news came through that she had achieved First Class Honours in the diploma examination she had been studying for part-time, while continuing to teach the top class at Building Blocks Azalea.

It was a very moving occasion to see the Mums arriving at the school, with their faces gleaming with pride at the achievements of their children.

The children all went home with a graduation gift of a "SpongeBob - SquarPants" backpack, ready for their first day at their new school, in June in a few weeks' time.

 When you meet a 6-year old like young Epsibah, brimming with confidence and full of joy, it is impossible to imagine that lively young girl lives in poverty at home in the slums.


Building Blocks takes children who have nothing and gives them pride, confidence and self-esteem.
These characteristics are at least as important as the literacy and numeracy that they learn in their lessons, - and they take these behaviours back to their modest homes in the impoverished slum communities.

Education : Education : Education.

Is it Aitch or is it Huh?

Most children in India learn at least a couple of alphabets, and seem to do so with an infant agility that makes parents and grandparents like me realise how old we are. The next stage is to translate the squiggles into sounds with meaning, but educationalists in any language argue about whether the children should be taught to decipher the squiggles into sounds by recognising the shapes and sequence of the letters, or by sounding out the noises that the letters represent. 

Is it Aitch or is it Huh?

The Building Blocks preschool Learning Centres have prided themselves in the way that they have been using Phonics, which is now taught in over 100 countries around the world, in many of which it is established as the official government teaching standard. 

Building Blocks uses both Phonics and Word-Recognition to achieve high standards of literacy in both English and Kannada by the time pupils are in K5 at the age of 6.

A is for APPLE

The teachers in all seven of the Building Blocks learning Centres are a formidable group of ladies with a positively evangelical fervour for their profession. 

Like James, they are dedicated to helping children to LEARN, which is sometimes not the same thing as TEACHING.

Planning new Projects

Next week I fly to Bangalore, escaping the cold and rain, fleeing the politics of Brexit and returning to working with James and the team, - and the children who love to learn and the teachers who love to teach. Once again I shall come to grips with the complexities of an organisation that offers slum kids the unheard of luxury of a clean schoolroom, running water and a healthy lunch. 
My main task will be working with the founder, James Ambat on exciting new expansion plans to double the size of the operation by 2021.

Funding their Future

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/escape-from-poverty

A secure future for these 12 children

The education of the 12 children pictured here is being funded through "Escape from Poverty" - the charity I set up 11 months ago.
Five students are sponsored by individuals, three by a school in Devon, one by a group of friends in Lincoln and three by crowd-funding through a steady flow of donations to the BT My donate website - which accepts both single donations and monthly standing orders.

Less than £1 per day

The Project + Ten Sponsorship scheme supports children for the vital 10 years from age 6 to age 16, funding 80% of school fees and providing ongoing mentoring and coaching to ensure that these children do not fall behind in the achievements of children from more privileged backgrounds. 
It costs £30 per month for one child - less than a pound a day.
Today there are children who are now in their final month at Building Blocks who have places on offer at a good High School, but who urgently need financing so they can take up places in their new schools in a few weeks' time. 
Email me at mail@bobharvey.co.uk if you are interested in supporting a specific boy or girl and I will send you photos and details. Alternatively click the link below if you would just like to be part of the change, and help to crowd-fund a student.

Help to Crowd-fund a child to take up a place in a good High School

Please share the link and spread the stories

https://bobharvey5.blogspot.co.uk