End of my South Indian Adventure

Home now and sorting my life out in preparation for my next adventure which is when I will next update my blog. Christmas is intense and it is unreasonably cold but it is lovely seeing everyone and catching up. Living in India for 3 months was the best time of my life and has just made me want to travel more. My world seems so much smaller now and since I only get one shot at this life I need to make it worth while. 

Tamil Nadu is a beautiful country, rich with culture and breathtaking scenery. I loved meeting all the people and getting to know more about their way of life. During my time there I taught classes that reached over 1,000 students and our events reached over 1,400 people covering vector bourne disease, sanitation, dental, HIV, diabetes, hypertension etc. After having time to reflect I understand that while volunteering in different countries I want to make a difference but I also maintain want to their way of life, just because it is not the same as the developed world, doesn't mean it is wrong. However, there are things that are undeniably wrong such as women being second class citizens, child marriage, defecating outside, large pools of stagnant water/mosquito breeding sites, sweets being too expensive and being substituted in place of healthy meals, poor dental hygiene, girls skipping meals, sexual assaults on trains/buses etc, littering, water pollution and more. Furthermore, most students will go onto higher education but there are high unemployment rates of well educated youths (mostly boys as girls are expected to marry and become homeowners) as they do not have sufficient positions for them resulting in high immigration rates. I saw many examples of the above, so many young people with the potential to make a difference but not the means due a big poverty divide. I have shown many wonderful things on my blog but please do not let that take away from the fact that the people I lived with/helped have a very difficult life. 

Thank you to everyone who followed my first of many journey's on my world tour. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! xx




















Most Indian thing I saw


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