By Dr. Peter Slowe, Director and Founder of Projects Abroad

To carry wisdom and success lightly is a gift.  Rajendran was a wise man and also the most fun of any companion.  He was a very successful man who also always honoured the traditions of the peasant farmers from his village – the village of Rayagiri, Tamil Nadu, India, where he had planned to retire some day but, alas, was buried on Monday 13th April at the age of only 59.  He taught me how to climb a coconut tree and he also gave me true friendship.  I loved him.  My family loved him.  Everyone who knew him fell under the spell of his sincerity, his smile and his charm.

Rajendran was born into a farming family owning a few acres of rice paddy in Rayagiri.  He shone at primary school and made his way to the best secondary school in the nearby town of Sivagiri.  He walked back and forth six miles a day, except for one day when, in an argument with his parents, he climbed a coconut tree and refused to come down. He did well enough to get to university to study sciences and then to study to be a teacher at Sopore College, Kashmir.
 
When he qualified, he had intended to go back to the warmer climate of South India but the College Principal persuaded him to try for a job at the local English-Medium school in Baramulla, Kashmir.  “Do you speak any Kashmiri?” – this was the feared first question of the interview by the Dutch Headmaster, Fr James Borst.  “Only a few words”.  “You’re hired – because you’ll have to speak to the children in English.”  Thus Rajendran got his first job.  He came to owe more than his job to James Borst, a great headmaster, an enthusiast for mountain hikes, and a writer and thinker who combined the best of Catholic theology with the Indian tradition of meditation.  Rajendran learned how to think in a multicultural way, how to organize a school and he learned the benefits of energetic work.
 
In 1977, Rajendran married Vijayrani.  His parents had died when he was young and he had looked after his sisters by remitting as much as possible from his small teacher’s income.  Once they were married, he himself could marry the girl he loved from his own village.  Vijayrani and Rajendran were to have a daughter, Sathya, and two sons Vijaya Prakash (Pabbu) and Deepak Raj (Dippu).
 
Returning to Tamil Nadu, Rajendran worked as an English teacher and then as Assistant Headmaster in the 10,000-pupil SHNV Secondary School in Sivakasi.  While he was still teaching, Rajendran agreed in 1995 to take some English-teaching volunteers from my new organization, Teaching Abroad (later Projects Abroad) and send them to various schools in the Sivakasi area.  Although neither Teaching Abroad nor Rajendran realized it at the time, this proved to be an idea whose time had come.
 
The early days of Projects Abroad were hard.  Communications beyond India were bad and Rajendran would find that he frequently had to work till Midnight or beyond and then be back in school by 8 the next morning.  Still, the numbers of volunteers grew year by year, as medical, care and conservation placements were added to teaching, and as Americans, Canadians, Germans and Dutch added themselves to the British volunteers.  Vijayrani and Pabbu joined him in the work and eventually he himself retired as Assistant Headmaster to work full-time for Projects Abroad.
 
Freed from the constraints of the school timetable, Rajendran was able to help develop Projects Abroad around the world, especially in Ghana, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Nepal.  As the numbers of volunteers climbed into hundreds and then thousands, Rajendran’s steady hand and inventive mind overcame the inevitable crises and created the first band of happy alumni, former volunteers who are devoted to India, who keep going back and, in one case, have even called their daughter “India”.
 
In 2005, Rajendran took responsibility for establishing a new office in Sivakasi which took on all of Projects Abroad’s administration and travel departments.  If any one thing has contributed to the ability of Projects Abroad to keep costs and charges down and to establish itself as the world leader in volunteering, it was Rajendran’s ability to run a successful volunteering outfit while simultaneously establishing a global administrative centre in Sivakasi.
 
On 12th April, my friend was taken from us.  I miss him deeply.  We all do and we will continue to miss him for many years to come.

Volunteer in Ghana

Now how about doing something worthwhile over the holidays?

2-Week Special programmes are the perfect opportunity to experience a gap year taster either in a school holiday or in the summer before starting university.

With the summer looming now is the time to plan you volunteering adventure, the range of projects is wide and varied with volunteers joining journalism projects in Romania, community building projects in Ghana, medical projects in India amongst a selection of twenty different projects around the world.

To find out more about the other projects available CLICK HERE

The new community center, Panadura

Our Sri Lanka team are proud to announce the opening of Modaravila Community Center located in Panadura.

The center was funded by two previous Projects Abroad volunteers, Rosanne van Herksen and Susanne Jongerious, and many of the volunteers in Sri Lanka have helped to paint and decorate the finished building. Staff and volunteers were invited to the opening ceremony last week.

The center is located in a tsunami resettlement area, and it is the first facility for young children in the area. Volunteers have worked on care projects in the area for several years, and volunteers will now also be able to help out at the center.

Projects Abroad’s Country Director for Sri Lanka, Mrs Shyamalee Wijesinghe, commented: ‘I greatly appreciate the help of our volunteers whose generosity has been invaluable to make this Community Center a reality. The main objective of this project is to provide early childhood education to the underprivileged tsunami affected children in the village. It was opened on the 2nd of April 2009 amidst a gathering of Projects abroad staff, volunteers and the local community.’

Ribbing Cutting Ceremony

Water pump project participants, Mandeville, Jamaica

By Bridgette Barrett, Country Director - Projects Abroad Jamaica

Jamaica officially celebrates its one year anniversary on April 1. Team Jamaica would like to sincerely thank everyone for their support over the year and we look forward to working with you all in the coming years. It has truly being a pleasure. Please ensure you see April’s Jamaica newsletter for some anniversary highlights.

How it all Started

Having the spirit of volunteerism entrenched in me since I was small by my father, when I saw the advertisement from Projects Abroad for a Country Director I jumped at the opportunity to apply. The email kept floating through my inbox from at least three sources so I thought “this must be a sign”. I rushed to the website to get some more information on Projects Abroad and find out if “Mircea Samoila”, whose name was on the job advert, was male or female since I needed to address the person properly; Miss Samoila or Mr. Samoila. The picture of Mircea didn’t help much! It is the “he” in the brief description that gave me the hint. I prepared a cover letter and CV and sent it off to “Mr. Samoila” on Friday March 28, 2008.

I was in Montego Bay that fateful Monday morning of March 31, 2008 when a Jamaican number with an unfamiliar Scottish accent called wanting to have an interview that day; it was Greg Thomson, Projects Abroad Operations Director. I explained that perhaps April 1, 2008 at 6pm would be a good time because I was out of town. Shocked, I didn’t know they were actually in Jamaica. With some anticipation I arrived for the interview at 5:45pm. Alas, there was Greg and Mircea (Country Director for Romania), quite casual in their approach but welcoming. This was a little different for me as every interview I have been to there are people in jacket and ties, around an intimating desk in a large office or conference room. I became relaxed but they began to “give it to mi”, questions after questions. Greg then popped out his “scenario book” and I recall getting about seven scenarios to solve. Mircea kept reassuring me that in good time he would stop but he kept going. It is perhaps one of the longest interviews I have ever had but now I can truly understand Greg’s rationale and so I have developed my own little scenarios book. I learn from the best. I was told the following morning I would hear if I was selected. But low and behold, my phone rang at about 9pm and there was Greg telling me I was selected.

The next few days we were all over Mandeville visiting placements and host families and trying to find an office space and equipment. The reception to having Projects Abroad in Jamaica was really positive and still remains that way. The last year has been incredible. The volunteers have given new meaning to what it means to impact the life of someone. From putting a smile on a child’s face, attending to their every need, helping a patient or building a water tank, all of this has far reaching positive implications for “Jamaica Land We Love”. And so I say to Projects Abroad, thanks for having me on the team, to Team Jamaica thanks for the hard work and commitment, heartfelt gratitude to all host families, placements and partners and to the volunteers thanks for all you have done for my country. I am truly blessed to be Jamaican.

Click here to learn more about our programs in Jamaica