More outings

The people at SPREAD work hard.   Really hard.  The travelling can be tiring because of the distances and the state of the roads. Transport and travel can be a real challenge in Orissa where the roads are rough and buses are limited or non-existant.  Even for people lucky enough to have a motorbike, it can take a long time to get places.  Some of the work is probably emotionally draining as well as all the official bureaucracy that has to be battled through to achieve their objectives, to say nothing of the exhausting travel on Odissi roads and buses. 
But they know how to enjoy themselves and yesterday we had another picnic.  This one was in a different part of the district to the last one I went to and gave different people the opportunity to attend.  We were in a jeep-type vehicle and it took us 2 1/2 hours to travel the 80-90km to get there.  We had to have a last-minute change of plan for the venue.  We were hoping to go to a waterfall somewhere by the Machkund Dam but the road had been blocked by naxals so a new site had to be selected.


We ended up in a forest by a very nice river, giving us a water supply for the cooking (all well boiled!), for washing up afterwards and place to play and pose.

A groundsheet was laid out for us to share and Amin directed proceedings from a comfortable spot.  

That knife came into good use again for chopping the vegetables that went into the curries, along with the chicken, herbs and spices.

When it was time to go home we had to make the most of the transport available.  I was lucky enough to be ushered towards the front passenger seat of our jeep.  I think there were 11 of us on board!  One of the twins came and sat on my knee and soon fell asleep.  Fortunately the weather had been kind to us while we were out in the forest but the journey home was through lashing rain making it even slower and harder for the driver.  Potholes get hidden in floods all too easily.

Someone explained to me that the Odiya word for picnic translates to forest feast, forests being the preferred location to gather for the festivities.  I noticed creepers climbing up some of the trees was told were peppercorns (I tried one of the berries and it was definitely pepper) and there were lots of coffee plants growing under the trees.  I'd seen many of these plants growing in Koraput district and had no idea what they were until yesterday.