Way down south

As I was too busy doing stuff to write my online journal, this has been added after my return.
On Sunday March 19 I took a seven hour train journey (very comfortable, air-conditioned) south to a town called Dindigur where I was met by Mr. Siddick of the communications provider n-Logue.......





who took me on a wonderful 3 day tour around the villages of the deep south where I saw first hand the internet kiosks, the idealistic entrepeneurs who run them, and the farmer-learners themselves - mostly women.

I also visited a veterinary clinic, two farm advisory centres, and two of the local provider hubs that service up to 12 kiosks by terrestrial wireless broadband with video messaging and any ICT services required by the villagers. The local people completely drive the process themselves, and I was very impressed by their obvious thirst for knowledge - kiosk use includes veterinary and agricultural advice from experts on demand by two-way video, CDs on animal husbandry, e-commerce (saris are bought direct from the makers cutting out middlemen), sale of animal-related products and homeopathic medicines, astrology and matrimonial arrangements, help with homework, and even email!
In this picture it's easy to see who is having the most fun - this is the committee that runs the kiosk (we are actually all crowded into the little room which contains the computer, camera, scanner, photocopier and printer) and the lady on the left is the kiosk operator, who earns a reasonable living by charging a small amount for the non-educational uses, printing etc.The equipment is funded by a low interest loan from the state bank.


There was only one thing missing from my idea of heaven - I was already surrounded by women in beautiful saris engaged in a learning community, moving through spectacular countryside.... but then I met her – one of the most beautiful cows I had ever seen!

Out and about...

Tamil Nadu is a tropical, green and very hot region with some dramatic hills up the "spine" of south India called the Western Ghats. One of the great sights in Chennai is Marina Beach, about 2 km wide, and a scene of desolation when the tsunami swept right up to one of Chennai's main streets. Although some were destroyed, there are still many lovely fishing boats to be seen.

I took a bus tour south and inland to a place called Kanchipuram, literally the city of gold, but when I got there the streets were paved with something else...

There are lovely things here, however, including some amazing temples.....

and a handweaving factory making - you guessed it - saris!

One of the most famous holy places in this part of India is the very ancient seashore temple at Mahabalipuram. The massive carved boulders are strange and quite moving.

In another temple, I met the girl of my dreams. This one didn't have a sari on at all, and so I could view her full beauty. But she was devoted to a religious life, and would not leave, even for me. She gave me her blessing as we parted, and as I turned sadly away my bare feet stepped in a puddle. "Strange," I thought, "it hasn't been raining lately..."

Watch for the next exciting instalment of Travels with Terry.... and coming soon, Travels with Tony (he's the one with nothing but a pair of underpants wrapped in a banana!)

Oh yes... and the other reason I came to India!

...was to find out how the Commonwealth of Learning is supporting projects to bring LifeLong Learning (L3 they call it) to rural communities in southern India by means of internet kiosks in rural villages. First stop was TANUVAS... Tamil Nadu University for Veterinary and Animal Science. A huge modern imposing building....
but as I entered the campus I also saw beautiful old buildings that were parts of the original Madras University campus.

However it was at the door of one of the more mundane buildings that I was met by a group of smiling gentlemen with a garland and an amazingly warm welcome! Hey, don't they know I'm just a dog doctor? These were some of the team involved with putting together learning resources to be used in the kiosks, as well as preparing multimedia materials for short continuing education courses for veterinarians. I saw an absolute treasure trove of analogue video that has been used for teaching, and if we ever need to see what a foot and mouth case looks like, we can find it here! (Or Bluetongue, or Rinderpest...)

I presented an overview of Otago Polytechnic, and my past and present roles, and showed examples of Camtasia, CourseGenie, Moviemaker, and our Vet Nursing resource in Director. They were very complimentary about Will's video skills and the "fit for purpose" approach, although their very professional BetaCam unit has done a great job. They also have a complete print shop, with offset presses and lead type compositing... no outsourcing here!

They were also very interested in the vet nursing course as they are just about to start one. There is a lot of nervousness amongst the profession as the regulations defining who can practise as a vet are not well enforced. The fear is that para-vets will take their livelihood (sounds familiar?) but the smart ones are aware that they can be kept "in-house" and a better service may be offered.

Here is the Distance Education team at TANUVAS led by Dr. Sheriff (2nd from left) with Dr. Balakrishnan, Head of the Dept. of Animal Nutrition (2nd from right)........

and just to prove I actually did do some work, here we are in discussion in Dr. Balakrishnan's office.

So there you are, it wasn't all just admiring ladies in saris. However I did get time to do some sight-seeing too, and the next day I took a bus tour to Kanchipuram, the city of gold, and Mahabalipuram, where the famous rock temples on the seashore are really worth seeing. But you will have to wait to see those pics, because it's bedtime and I need my sleep.

Goodnight!

The wonderful sari

Being a man, the first thing I notice here in the streets is not the litter, or the poverty (more of the first and less of the second since I was last here thirty years ago) but the women! Not that you can see much of them, for they are chastely encased in the wonderful sari - so colourful, and no encumbrance at all for motorcycle riding. I look in the mirror and see nothing but grey... no I don't think I'll start coming to work in a sari, but even the white middleclass male could be a little more colourful. Check out these ladies...

and now here is Annie and Terry....

Only two days!

Yes it's only two days since I left Dunedin - but so much seems to have been packed into it. Well, only the last 24 hours was interesting, since Wednesday was almost entirely taken up with sitting on planes - for 15 hours in fact. I arrived in Chennai late at night, into a dream-like scene of heat, humidity and humanity; quite a lot of each. Ravi the taxi driver was waiting for me as arranged, and his ancient Mercedes swung, tooted and rattled its way through the packed streets (3 wheelers, more taxis, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, pedal rickshaws, bullock carts, trucks, buses, people walking all over the road, people asleep on the roadside) ... all with no obvious rules, no obvious delays, and apparent goodwill!
Somehow we arrived at the Radha Park Hotel, supposedly only 3 stars, but very grand and excellent air conditioning, along with an endless supply of cold Kingfisher beer, thank heavens. Fell asleep exhausted and had breakfast late, then spent the morning assembling a Movie Maker montage of pictures from the Polytechnic prospectus. Picked up just after lunch and taken to TANUVAS - Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Science - where I spent a fascinating afternoon talking with Dr. Balakrishnan (prof of Animal Nutrition) and Dr. Balasubraniam (from the Commonwealth of Learning) about the work that is being done there largely funded by CoL. Both organisations have extensive experience in flexible delivery for continuing education of vets, training of paraveterinarians, and Lifelong Learning (L3 as they call it) for farmers. On Sunday I will be taking a 7 hour train trip to a rural community which is involved in this programme, and staying there for a couple of days.
Its ten o'clock now and I have just returned from an excursion with Ravi (he's from Kerala, I'm from Dagenham, and we converse as best we can) to the beach. An eerie experience at night, walking over the wide (about 500 metres), fairly clean stretch of sand where the tsunami wrecked boats and flung people about almost up to the main road. Also visited the impressive St. Thomas' Cathedral. There are some (not very good) pics here... I'll probably do better when I get over my fascination with Indian women in saris on motorbikes. I have to say that I think this country and its people are just wonderful. I'll keep you posted!
Cheers, Terry

Welcome!

Well, I haven't left yet but I'm very excited about my trip to India.