Heads to India to support project

A social work student at ARU Peterborough is part of a group travelling to India to support health and education projects.

A team of 11 students and staff from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) was due to heading to India on Friday (March 22) to provide their time and expertise to help locals living in a community the village of Sainji, in the foothills of the Himalaya, in the state of Uttarakhand.

Sainji, a village of around 400 people, faces many complex challenges, some of which are compounded by a rapidly changing climate.

As part of the Sustainable Sainji programme, ARU volunteers will work with teachers at a local primary school, helping with English language tuition and lesson planning, including encouraging the development of interactive lessons.

Midwifery lecturer Rebecca Percival is part of the ARU team and will be helping with nurse training at the Landour Community Hospital, as well as observing antenatal care in a local village and exchanging knowledge and skills with maternity workers.

ARU will also be assisting the Van Gujjars, or forest nomads, who are a marginalised group of semi-nomadic people. ARU volunteers will be working alongside a charity that is preparing the Van Gujjar children for mainstream school and will also run an antenatal clinic.

One of the ARU students flying out to India, is Uno Masango, a first year BA (Hons) Social Work student at ARU Peterborough. Uno is originally from Zimbabwe and spent almost seven years serving in the UK military, including postings to Germany, Cyprus and Afghanistan.

“As a child growing up in Zimbabwe, I had seen firsthand the international aid agencies arriving in the local villages,” said Uno.

“As a child it was just a curiosity. But as an adult, I appreciated the value of the work that was being done by social workers.

“I am really enjoying my university experience, and thelastsixmonthshavebeena whirlwind,”addedthe41-yearold who will be working with teachers in Sainji to improve English language skills.

“I have subsequently found myself getting involved in things I could have never imagined. I didn’t realise there would be so many exciting extra-curricular opportunities.”

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Uno Masango (inset) is heading to Sainji in India.