I am in Bageshwar, after having a difficult time at Rose Kanda. The night I arrived, Nicki (41) and Lola (24) told me a lot of things that had been bothering them during their time there. Lola was leaving the next morning, after 2 weeks, and Nicki had been there a week, and had decided not to be negative any more. The problems for them were that any work they volunteered to do, the family would just go off without saying anything to them, so they would be sitting around all day. Over the last couple of days, they had managed to get out and do a bit of harvesting, some block making, and spend a few hours moving sand into bags - in the heat. The family is not friendly or particularly pleasant, and does not really speak to or include them. So I decided to make my own assessment, anyway. I said to Nicki that I had mentioned to Jeevan that I would like to go to the school to help the day after, and suggested that she come with me (we being the only 2 people left there, the others had all left the week before) and she said yes. So that morning we reminded the young boys (10 and 6), while we were all having breakfast. We all sit on the floor around the walls of the room off the kitchen - Jeevan does not eat with the family, who consist of - his wife Hema (50s), son Jeetindra (30ish) and wife Fabi (23) ( she does all the cooking), Jeevans son Sanjay (18) and the two young boys, who belong to Jeevans other son and wife who live in Haldwani.
Hema doesn't talk to anyone, even though as with the others they do all speak some English; Jeetindra occasionally speaks and can be reasonably pleasant, Fabi makes absolutely no effort to talk, and ignores you if you greet her - except will rarely talk a bit if it suits her while you help her. Sanjay is downright rude most of the time, unless he wants something (help with his phone). The little boys are lovely, but we get the impression they are not allowed to talk to us too much.
It has been hard for us to see the children being hit and yelled at all the time, the dog and cat kicked constantly by Sanjay, and the yelling all the time from wakeup (5ish) till late. Breakfast (chappit and thin soup) is served at 9, lunch (rice, dhal and small veg dish) at 2.30, dinner (chappati and thin curry) at 9.30 - much too late for most of us, but thats okay to fit in with their normal lifestyle. Food is very basic, literally. We had the same dish for each day, the only variation being a quarter of an egg with dinner on Saturday night and - oh joy - on my last morning a little rice pudding, something I had been craving. Nicki and Lola had had some the day I arrived, and I had been hanging out for it, its all my stomach wanted. I had been not eating very much - just not able to after my stomach upset - because the food was very hot most of the time, the last thing I needed, and just couldn't face it. In fact I had decided not to go to breakfast that morning seeing as I was leaving and would be able to get better food in Bageshwar. There was some concern, but not from the family but one of their workers, who brought some in a tiny bowl to my room. Nicki had come running back to tell me the good news and I was about to go over to the house to get some.
I had been going to leave on the Tuesday after a week, but when Nicki suddenly announced that she was leaving early - on Sunday in fact, I decided to go also. The turning point for us both was when another volunteer arrived, Michael from the UK also, and had much more friendly treatment. So boys rule!! Although apparently the young men who had been there earlier with Nicki encountered the same problems - too hard trying to get something to do, and lack of interaction. Most people had planned to stay for a while, but left earlier.
We feel that although Jeevan is lovely, he doesn't live with the rest of his family, and maybe they just can't be bothered with the volunteers. The general opinion is that when he and Hema set it all up 22 years ago it would have been great - lots of enthusiasm and interaction. We certainly did not get that and feel that is part of the bargain - we all pay a big donation plus daily fee, labour (try), and actually don't get much in return except food (so-so) and an uncomfortable bed). It is supposed to be a cultural exchange, and I am sure that most people who go there would be looking forward to that, but if just doesn't really happen.
On the day before we left Nicki and Michael had been asked to go and help move rocks. They were working in the hot sun for 3 hours or more in the heat of the day while the others were in the shade, so not too happy.
For myself - I did go with Nicki to the school (the boys had gone without us) and we had a really nice time helping to teach the children.
The next late afternoon we went and lifted small stacks of hay from where they were partly drying to where they were being stored, it was good to feel useful - but again nobody spoke to us while working although Hema did give us a cup of tea.
So we left feeling we had tried our best, and feeling sad that it could be so good if the family we lived with were pleasant and involved the volunteers. It is a beautiful setting, the countryside is just lovely, the air fresh, and the locals we met on our walks friendly. I understand that Jeevan has plans for a new building soon, so that would be a great project for a group to help with, but he did explain that it is rare these days, and admitted that the website was out of date.
Bottom line - if people go they should be aware it will possibly not be all they hope for, and maybe check first what is happening there. It is a long trip to get there - they charge 5000 rupees for their son to pick up in Haldwani, but you can get share jeep to Bageshwar for 300-400 rupees, then share jeep to Kanda Market for 35 rupees. It is then a 20 minute walk to Rose House.
