HELP! HELP! HELP! KERALA, INDIA

[smallmediumandohmygod]

I have an opportunity to go and volunteer there for a year. Should I or should I not? What's it like? What should I expect? Has anyone lived in Kerala? What is available there (as in food, clothes, accomodation?) What's the weather like?

Please advise

No idea but there are a few MNers who have lived in India. Have you searched the archives? You might be able to CAT someone. One MNer is going to India soon so she may be able to help.

Go
to
Kerala.

Can I come with you? I have never been. I have however taught a few kids from Kerala at our local high school and go to my local church. Their parents have jobs at the local nhs hospital. They are all studious, polite etc.

Dh says that a lot of the more educated workers in the construction industry in the middle east also come from Kerala. They value education highly. A large Keralan workforce is overseas and they send money back to family.

Besides, the food is fantastic and so is the weather.

We're in the process of preparing to go to India for a year. (Tamil Nadu, not Kerala - but not so far away.) Have you been to India before? Some people love it, some find it extremely challenging! In terms of food - I believe you can buy most things (altho' may pay through the nose for things like Nutella, and only get it in big cities), accommodation (you get what you pay for... but don't expect fitted kitchens to our standard), clothes - many of our clothes are made in India, so that is not a problem. (We are going to take out about 2 changes of clothes each, and buy everything out there!) Weather is hot, hotter and really hot.
Do you have children, what ages, where abouts would you be living? India is a place of extremes.
For what its worth, I think it is going to be an amazing experience for our family (ds is 5 and dd is 18m), but bloody hard work!
good luck with your decision.
4

thanks for the information. I'm glad to know someone is going there too. I would be taking my 2 younger children, who are 6 and 10. I haven't decided what I should do about schooling yet. Where would be a good place to look? What do you plan on doing with your 5 year old?

I have worked in Asia, but I've never been to India. What will it be like for the kids? I'm sure they'll learn a lot from it, but what about culture shock??

Do a lot of people speak English?

Hi there,
In terms of schools I think a lot depends on where you are. Big cities have international schools. We're not near one, so will be looking for an English Medium school - where english is language of instruction. And hoping to find something that isn't too formal / learning by rote etc. If that fails we might try a kindergarten, where there might be less pressure. We'll see. I'm not worried about the learning side (he'll only just be 5!) but the social side. We'll be the only white family in the town... and it isn't on the tourist track, so there will be lots of adjustments to make.
Have a look at the expats threads on indiamike... reading some of those should give you lots of ideas.
Good luck with your decision.
4

i went to Kerala for my honeymoon. It is the most spectacularly magic and calm place. I can't give you any advice about going there long term, but it was extremely beautiful, with very friendly people and amazing food.

Good luck with your decision. If I were you I;d go!

I lived in Sri lanka with my kids when they were 10 and 2 - it was a great experience for all of us - but living in this part of Asia is NOT easy living - and very different from visiting for a holiday and staying in a hotel. Where we lived we got out water from a well and had numerous 3 hr + power cuts. The weather mullers all of your belongings - clothes, photos, electricals etc.

I guess I would want to know a little about where you were planning to stay and your facilities. As you know, they are still pretty poor regions. Before I went to Sri Lanka I thought it would be hot hot hot - but it was also VERY wet wet wet ! The monsoons can go on for what feels like months . We also found it hard to integrate properly with the local people, although we did our best) as we were so much wealthier (relatively) than them. The kids did better at building relationships actually.

Despite the above I think it is an amazing experience and I would say go for it. We home educated and it was a huge learning curve. Good luck !

could you ask the agency/organisation who you would be going through to let you have an email contact or phone number of someone who is either volunteering there atm or did recently? I should think they would be happy to do that. Wouldn't they also organise your accommodation for you?