Indian experiences valued

Press, 15 February 1982, Page 4

Indian experiences valued

For 14 young people, ex- : periencing a Y.E.T.I. ini voiced living on a houseboat on a frozen lake in India, learning to bathe from a mug of water — and loving it.

That was just one adven- ■ ture among hundreds, aci cording to one of the organ- ; isers of a Y.E.T.1.. or Youth I Expedition to India. Mrs ! Barbara Chinn. of I Christchurch. "The whole trip was a : great success." said Mrs i Chinn on returning to ' Christchurch at the week- ; end.

i . "Amazingly enough we all /came: through it magnifiJ cently. I learnt more than . the youngsters, from the j youngsters." she said.

| -' Mrs Chinn has spent the -i last 10 weeks with two other 1 a’dults and a group of CanterI bury teen-agers, riding ele-

phants. clambering about the Himalayan foothills, and having a "fascinating" time.

"We have travelled on Indian buses’ that are absolutely packed to the gills, but they still keep pushing them on. We have lived on houseboats and awoken in the morning to the sight of ice and to the sound of small boats acting as icebreakers. "When we made our way into the Himalayas we became only the third group of white people to enter that particular area in 32 years." The group assumed the local eating habits during its stay, but "without the chilli." "We. visited Mathura, the legendary birthplace of Lord Krishna, then arrived in Delhi and saw a lot Of poverty. "India, is a place of paradox. There is poverty, but there is so much cultural

richness. It was not unusual to see people building tremendous public buildings, while the builders lived in tents, on the site.”

Mrs Chinn believes that the expedition was a big success in every way. "We hope to have’another trip under way in about two years. The young people were sorry to come home. So was I. but then again I know that I can go back." Two pupils who went on the expedition said that all the fund-raising they had to do had been worth it. “Il was worth all the treepruning and pub cleaning." said Jo-anne Stokes, aged 17. a pupil al Christchurch Girls' High School. For her the most valuable part was learning to appreciate the simple life of most Indian people. ' /"Diving their simple life made vou realise that

material things are unimportant." she said. The only "culture shock" she had had was when she arrived back in New Zealand. "It seemed more strange than India." she said. Peler Kara, aged 17. a pupil at Linwood High School, said that every pupil should have the chance of going to India as part of a Y.E.T.I. "Everybody would not be able to participate, obviously. but there should be that chance there." he said. “It has changed my way of looking at New Zealand. It made me realise how much New Zealanders have."

For Peler Kara, the greatest benefit of the expedition was learning to. live and work with people of other races and backgrounds. "1 hope I get to see another lot go off and have the same experience." he said.