Day 5: 17th KIP A.I.R/JNU

2nd May 2011, May.

1st  we visited  the All India Radio (AIR). Each day my excitement just grows so much more. We received a tour of the grand radio station. 
Fiji is a very small place compared to India and so our radio stations in Fiji are on very small premises. 
We were welcomed into the conference room with roses (one for each one of us) and sweets. 
And these were very delicious sweets. nomnom!! We were briefed on what AIR is and what they do. So some information I noted were:

AIR is the only radio station that has a Youth Channel where they discuss Youth issues.
They do not have a specific English station but allocate slots where they play English music.
They have 7 channels: 1) Main AM frequency 2) Rajdhany (alternative channel) 3)Urvanu Channel- exclusive for Youth. 4) Vivid Bharit- commercial 5) FM Rainbow 6) FM Gold 7) DTS- connecting other district stations. 

The panel from the radio station engaged us in question and answers. they asked us about media in our respective countries and we asked them more questions about theirs. It was a constructive session and a good learning experience for us. 

2nd we visited Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 
The KIP members attended a short lecture on the programs and courses offered by the University and the opportunities it offers for International students. 
After that we were given a tour of the University- the very large library and the small book shop stalls. I got very excited by the range of books offered there. Bought 2 Psych books and one on gender and community all for $40FJD (Equivalent to about $20USD). 

The University halls had a great deal of Advocacy posters on the halls and important notices everywhere. 


Another great day well spent. 

PYC Project 2: Happy Home

This year (2012) the Know India Program (KIP) Alumni's in Fiji have formed a Youth Club called Pravasi Youth Club. The group has planned to embark on Community Projects and Charity work.

The second project done was on 17th November 2012 (as a Diwali initiative) and some of the members visited Happy Home (on Flectcher Road, Vatuwaqa). 
President of PYC Shaiza lended us her kitchen. Thank you for the kitchen and expertise (Master Chef Vineet). The cooking and chatting was great fun. 

      

 


We are grateful to the wonderful people at Matua Taxis's who drove us with all the food and dropped us safely to our destination in Vatuwaqa. 

The members (with some financial assistance from Indian High Commission, Fiji) cooked lunch and bought sweets for the residents of the Happy Home.

 

 

 

 


Elizabeth looks after Sujit Kumar and a few other kids at her wonderful home. She is looking after children who are at risk so most of the children come from abused backgrounds. It is really sad to see the statistics of children being abused at the hands of family members or someone the child trusted (family member or family friend). We are really proud of the work the trust is doing for Sujit Kumar and the other children. We are glad that we got the opportunity to visit these children and share a meal with laughs with them.


So that was our Diwali project and a Saturday well spent.

Until next blog . . . 
Alzima Elisha Bano 
Media and Public Relations Liaison
Pravasi Youth Club
Fiji

PYC Project 1: Lunch distribution

The Know India Program (KIP) Alumni from Fiji has formed a Youth Club called Pravasi Youth Club. The members decided on their first community outreach project as a Lunch Distribution to the poor and homeless on the streets of Suva. 

The members contributed towards the purchasing of the roti curry lunch parcels. The delicious lunch was purchased from Navintis catering (This wonderful restaurant is located at the University of the South Pacific Dinning Hall, Laucala Campus, Suva). 

Many of the members are students and employees and have busy schedules. All of them are unable to attend the projects but they do contribute in whatever way they possibly can. 

For this particular project the President, Shaiza Janif and the Vice President Shelvin Karan together with the support of Vineet Ram distrusted lunch to the poor people on the streets on Suva. 

If you would like to keep up to date with the projects of PYC you can click on this link, like the page and keep yourself updated :-) 

Unill next blog :-)

Alzima Elisha Bano
Media and Public Relations Liaison
Pravasi Youth Club
Fiji

Day 4: 17th KIP Kingdom of dreams

1st May, 2011 | Sunday.

After all the partying last night we were a little worried about waking up today and gearing up for more visits BUT once again we were so lucky. Our Sunday was treated well because we went to visit the Kingdom of dreams, Gurgao, Haryana. 
It was a great experience for all of us. 
There was food from the different corners of India under one roof and we had a feast =) *Buffet much*

The pani puri we ate was mouth watering. And since it is my favourite thing in the world wide world I was super excited!!! We managed to get our hands on some Kurta's (indian long tops) and bangles. A few of the participants got clay/pottery made for them or friends. 

In the late afternoon when we returned to the hotel we had so much energy left. And we were super lucky because the Chef decided to treat us to a roof top dinner (SCORE!!) He made pasta and some Indian food for all of us. We mingled with the chef and his other staff and had a good laugh among us as well. Im not sure who brought out the cards but we played that for a while as well. 

There is this sweet rice dish called KHEER and the chef made that for us. It is also one of the many things I love so of course I was super happy.

Overall today has been a lot of feasting and having some of my favourite food there made the day even more special. 

Day 3: 17th KIP Mall/temple/disco

30th April 2011 | Saturday

Today we had a day off (probably because it is a Saturday) and so we went to visit Select City Walk Mall in Delhi. It was a very huge mall (since the only mall I had visited in Fiji is just 3 floors and can be covered in less than an hour). This one was huge and we only checked out one Wing!! 

Later in the afternoon we visited the Akshardham temple. It was a such a wonderful temple to visit. we were not allowed to take cameras and cell fones inside the temple so could not take pictures there. And it was one of those places where I wish I could take pictures with my Eyes. Sigh. . . I learnt a little about the vedics  and there way of life. We took a short boat ride inside a very well structured building. It was a tour of how the vedics were the first gurus and how medicine, astrology, physics, wars and settlements came about in India. We stayed at the temple till the evening and saw a light show there as well. 

When we got back to the hotel we were all very tired. But we all turned into energetic monkeys once we were told that a 'disco evening' had been arranged for us. A dinning room was set out as a disco floor with a DJ and disco lights. The food was yum! and the music was awesome. 

At midnight we celebrated my favorite Peruvians birthday. Aarti's first birthday away from home and I am glad we made it a memorable one for her. Cake. Candles. Birthday song - the works. 

It was a great day :-) 

Day 2: Gandhi Smriti (Delhi)

29th April _ Day 2 of 17th KIP, 2011

Today we visited the Gandhi Smriti in Delhi and visited the Delhi Metro.

The Gandhi Smriti has been converted into a little museum which retells the life story of Gandhi's life. This is the place where he lived the last days of his life and was shot at the back yard of this very place. We were allowed to see the place where the great man himself was killed. I found it very interesting to walk around and read the things about Gandhi's life. there is a small room which has walls covered with details of the LAST DAY of his LIFE. Also amazing was the technology used to making information easily accessible to visitors.

Delhi Metro one of its kind in Delhi. This was my first trip on a metro (as Fiji has none) and I am sure my trip to Australia did not include a ride on a Metro.  We were told that the Metro is environmentally friendly and very economical as well as efficient. (I am no expert in these things so I will take their word for it). During Question and Answer session I asked if women were employed as Train operator or was it just men? And I was told that some 25 young women are train operators and these young women have engineering degrees :-) Power to Women. 

A wonderful day. We had lunch at McDonalds in Janpat - and managed to get some Cotton tops because it is extremely hot in Delhi at the moment. 

We are bonding well with the others on the trip :-) 

Day 1: 17th KIP_IIPA orientation

28th April | Day 1 of 17th KIP Program.

India's Institute for Public Administration _ for Orientation.

After we had breakfast at the Rocklan Inn Hotel (where we are staying) we took a bus ride to IIPA. Most of us were just very excited to be out of the hotel :-) We have a very bright Orange Bus ...

The entire day was spent at IIPA - listening to the other participants share information about themselves, their hopes and expectations and we also discussed ground rules (which was a good thing to do)
We also heard from other Professors about the History of India's Economy and things we should know about India's History.

We also had the film crew with us from today ;-) Aditi Dave, Nikhil and others :-)
As we stepped off the bus they were ready with their cameras, mics and whatnots :P

The food was pretty good and some of the sights we saw on our way to and from IIPA were pretty awesome. The first thing that caught my eye was the emence traffic!!! Fiji is a very small place we usually have 2 lanes of traffic BUT here they have 3 lane traffics (for the one way) and at least 4 cars have squeezed into that space. Do not want to be a driver here!!

 

 

The day spent at IIPA was not too bad _ But it was not the BEST orientation either. I had expected a higher level of professionalism from the Professor who coordinated our day. She seemed to think she was one of the 'kids'...

Apart from all that I am very excited about the next three weeks :-)