The team from Greystones has arrived in Delhi

We left Bray at 8am Friday morning..... It was 8am Sunday morning by the time we reassembled as a team in Delhi. A long 48 hours.
Our planned flight on Friday was cancelled so we had to reschedule.... For 5 of us, that meant flying to Istanbul on Friday, staying in a hotel overnight,  spending Saturday touring Istanbul, then leaving on Saturday evening on a flight to Delhi. For one lucky individual, the route was shorter and sweeter - there was just one seat left direct to Delhi on Friday, and it included a free upgrade to first class. Such a shame they didn't have 5 more seats!
So today was acclimatisation to India..... Snoozing till lunchtime, then a tuktuk across town to buy appropriate Indian style dress for the girls and ladies in our group. And then a team meeting, with all nine of us, followed by dinner in a New Delhi eatery.
We took time out for a live Skype conversation with Greystones Presbyterian church during their Sunday service, saying thanks to all who have supported this trip.
We are up early tomorrow morning to head to ASHA headquarters and then on to the slum for our first day of activities......

Rabies in Delhi slums - one of our projects with ASHA

Rabies is a global problem that causes the deaths of thousands of people and dogs. In India alone, every two seconds someone is bitten by a dog, around 24 people a day suffer an excruciating death from rabies:over half of them are children. India is the country with the biggest rabies problem, with 20000 people dying every year. So-called "street dogs" are part of the urban culture. They play an important role in the ecosystem by helping to deal with garbage: in areas where dogs have been forcibly removed, the urban rat population has become a major problem. But street dogs also carry rabies. Pete Wedderburn, also known as "Pete the Vet" in Ireland, is travelling out to India next week with the Irish contingent to visit ASHA. He will be visiting the Mayapuri slum in Delhi. His aim is to carry out a dog census and rabies review of the area, using observation and a questionnaire. We hope that his efforts may be the first step to dogs in the Mayapuri slum eventually being vaccinated, and in due course, when a boy or girl is bitten by a dog, they will not be infected with rabies. That one child may seem insignificant in the statistics, but to them, the difference will be massive. And if other people take action to help to work towards the eradication of rabies in India, tens of thousands of other children will also be protected against this terrible disease. If you want to support Pete's work in this, click on the donate button on the top right of this page

Pub quiz in Greystones, to raise funds to help slum-dwellers in Delhi - Thursday 30th January, 7.30pm

To find out more about ASHA, click on this link and to watch a short video of ASHA's work, click here.

Just over a month to go - the team is getting excited

We leave for India on February 14th, for a ten day visit to ASHA. Time is rushing on, and we still need to reach our fundraising deadlines so that we can bring ASHA more than just ourselves. We're having a few more events - watch this space - and if you would like to donate at any time, click on the Paypal Donate button on the right, and we'll ensure that the funds reach ASHA. Joyce, Ella, Linzi, Emma, Joanna (in photograph) Plus Gwen, Mike, Pete and Rachel

Indian Evening for ASHA - a great success

The evening of Indian music and food was a tremendous success - our hall was full to capacity, and everyone enjoyed the evening. Thanks to everyone who helped with this.

An evening of Indian food and music to raise funds for ASHA

We're having a social fundraising evening on Sat Nov 9th.... Indian food & music & hopefully the chance to catch up with a few folk - if any of you can come, click here on the Eventbrite link and reserve a place.... hope to see you there!

2013 UPDATE - what's been happening?

Two years on, and we have success to report. The team travelled out in 2011 as planned, and the trip was a huge success. We'll post photos here soon.

And we are now planning the next trip to Delhi - a team of seven of us are travelling out again in early 2014, and so we are back on the fundraising trail again.

Watch this blog to get updates on our activities.....

Pete Joyce Ella Linzi and Joanna