Day 17

The day of departure was one of weary eyes and last minute goodbyes. Indian pancakes for breakfast became the vehicle of excessive amounts of Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce as Rob “tries new things” Watkins needed a hand finishing what remained in the bottle. The boys all rushed through packing and cleaning their rooms to secure a final final goodbye with the kids from our neighbouring hostel. As many walked hand in hand to school delaying the inevitable for a moment longer. The final waves goodbye were tough but many of the boys were adamant that they would return in the future turning the goodbyes into see you agains.

With one final stop to Boss Man before our departure Ben “Bovonto” Wilson experienced the sneaky works of Boss Man’s Mark Ups even at the last encounter, with both chuckling to themselves over the sly works. Many boys had received farewell cards and gifts hand made by the children, some cards consisting of multiple pages and names written 100 plus times. After a final group photo next we knew we were on the road to Madurai Airport, only moments into the journey the speakers could be heard blaring typical breakup songs seeing many of the boys lower their sunglasses due to the glare of the morning sun.

Ben “don’t call me major”, “major”, “I do what I want”, “have you even had a girlfriend”, “best night of my life”, “do you even have a wife”, “there’s a man on the moon, f#$% your game”, “smarts”, “I start my own chants”, “safest hands”, “do you need some tissues”, “can’t take a joke”, “I am the cake man”, “I respect that”, “biggest stitch up”, “aye-aye”, “the goat whisperer”, “dog kisser”, “selfie king”, top bloke Eddy was very quiet today. We expect that he has taken the departure from his misso a little harder than we first thought.

With limited time in Chennai a quick tour was organised to see as much as possible. Our guide was one of great knowledge and the boys saw this as an opportunity to find out the answers to some burning questions. Our final stop was at a mall that provided the goods when it came to western food with the boys jumping between KFC and Burger King multiple times. Besides food, the highlight of our extended visit to the Mall was definitely the Scare House providing a true test of courage. Josh Gibbins appeared to be the bravest undertaking the maze twice, he achieved such a feat by relying heavily on sacrificing others and hugging those in front ridiculously tight.

As we board the plane in Chennai, it is undeniable that the young men that landed here 16 days earlier are no longer with us. Instead we stand as one with altered views on life and pride in our hearts. The young men returning possess the maturity and compassion that would make any parent proud.

To our avid followers I thank you for your support in reading of our adventures here in India. I hope it has provided a little clarity as to what this trip has achieved. The boys took much pride in writing the blog with the goal of entertaining the varying audience.

Signing off on behalf of the 2017 India Volunteers

Caleb Bainbridge