In response to my blog about International Volunteers and the great Pipturesques - Alolfus clicked me from Australia -I found this interesting so maybe you will.
He came as an International Volunteer from the YMCA in India and I love the connection and all the friends I have made over the years - but I have never been.
Hi Pip,
Reading your blog about the tall Bulgarian Volunteer at ...... YMCA and their photo behind the YMCA house brings lost of nostalgic memories..... Imagine if that house wrote a book about BHPs who lived there.
Not sure how profitable is the international volunteer program at YMCA is, but it was definitely a very attractive incentive for promising young leaders of my Cochin YMCA and has help a lot to improve quality of camping and children’s work not just at the Y, but the whole community around it.... to be honest, ..... it also seems to affect our YMCA in terms of young leadership...the attractive 'Life changing international Experience' and the expertise and enthusiasm these young people injected back to the Y is not happening anymore.
Unlike ten years ago when I came ........, prices, life standard etc are not much different to back home. I mean when I came in, i had never seen an automatic door (front door of the Y), card keys, White people who cannot speak English etc.... the change in money value is also notable, coz I remember the weekly pocket money i received ..... was more that what I got monthly back home! but that is not the case now, wages are more or less the same.
I also remember Marion (German lady) asking me where do Indians go on holiday when I told her it is rather impossible for us to get visas, well that story is not much different even now, but there is also notable changes there as well....most of of my friends work for Multi national companies and do regularly travel abroad for business and I also hear that holidays to Thailand, Malaysia etc are becoming popular these days.
One side we hate Britain for colonising us and exploiting us and our resources and turning us into a underdeveloped underskilled country, but on the contrasting side we are thankful for brining us together as a country, teaching us Democracy, Westminster parliament system, Judiciary, Our railways and of course for teaching us English...maybe one question that i ask Ahmeer is, all these applies same to Pakistan as well, but why both our countries still fight.
Adolfus
And after the Wembley excitement today - we are meeting Marina in London town for a meal at Da Mario. She too was an International Volunteer here and met her many times in Bulgaria.
More news on the game and Mariana tomorrow - hey hey
