Well, it's just 3 weeks until the start of my India Adventure!
For those of you who weren't in on the beginning of the story, this is how it all happened...

I did a diploma in Essential Oil therapy for Animals with GEOTA (www.geota.co.uk) and met vet nurses Rachel Wright and Mary Lindo who were also doing the course. Rachel's dream was to start up a veterinary charity in Rajasthan to run a Rabies eradication and sterilisation programme in the street dogs, provide affordable veterinary care for the local people and an emergency ambulance on call to pick up road traffic accident casualties and any other animal  found in need to treatment. We all kept in touch after qualifying in 2004 and within 18 months, Rachel had set up TOLFA (Tree of Life for Animals www.tolfa.org.uk) and with support from the Indian Government, the dream became a working reality.

India has the highest human death rate from rabies in the world with 99% of deaths resulting from exposure to rabid stray dogs.TOLFA's goal is to eradicate Rabies in the street dogs in state of Rajasthan through a vaccination and sterilisation programme which will inevitably have a knock-on effect in the health of the human population. It is important however to keep a stable dog population as they are responsible for controlling the rats that also carry Rabies and add to the problem.TOLFA also run a mobile ambulance to pick up sick and injured animals, usually road traffic accident victims, that would otherwise not receive aid and provide affordable veterinary care for local people and their animals. Alongside this, they are also working to provide education in basic animal care for local farmers and animal owners and run animal education programmes in schools to raise awareness of animal issues with local children.
In less than 2 years TOLFA has not only set up the shelter and recruited and trained the staff but they have also achieved UK charitable status and signed an agreement with the local Ajmer Municipality that allows them to run 20 dogs a day through their Animal Birth Control and Rabies vaccination programme which will be fully funded by them. To be supported by the Indian government in this way is of huge benefit to the organization and the stray dog population as a whole and is testament to the drive and passion of Rachel Wright and her whole team.

So, how on earth did I, a self-confessed nervous traveller who has never been outside Europe, end up agreeing to jet off to India for a month? Well, it was a throw-away comment from me that did it so I have no-one to blame but myself!
About a year ago when Rachel made a comment in an email to me that she hadn't realised just how many large animals they would see at the shelter, such as cattle and donkeys and of course big mouth here, being a farmer said "Well in that case you could do with someone who knows one end of a cow from another!" and Rachel's reply was "So when are you coming???".
I got in touch with a fellow GEOTA graduate from our course, Mary Lindo, also a qualified vet nurse and, knowing she was at a bit of a cross roads, asked if she fancied a trip to India. Her immediate reaction was "Head is screaming NO but heart is saying DO IT!" so after a little thought she decided to come on board. About the same time, my friend Mike who manages my website for me (www.animoils.co.uk and www.pauhla.com) said his wife Brenda was up for the trip as she was desperate to see India and so that made 3 of us. I want to be home for my Dads' Birthday on November 26th and Brendas' is the day before so Mike so coming out to join us for our last day together in India and then he and Brenda will stay on for a weeks holiday while Mary and I fly home.
Sometimes things just fall into place and having got Air Miles for years without ever using them (they don't seem to fly to Dorset or the Lake District), I got an email from them offering two flights for the price of one on British Airways which meant both Mary and I got our flights for nothing and only had to pay about £120 in tax which made the trip even more affordable.

A couple of days ago I decided it was time to think about packing e.t.c so I excavated a suitcase from under a heap of spare pet rat cages in the loft. I'm planning on travelling light and will buy a lot of what I need out there but Mary has done some amazing work getting donations of veterinary equipment together so we will be cramming anything she can't fit into her bags into mine, leaving lots of room for souvenirs (and Christmas shopping!) on the return journey. I had my last vaccination today (Hepatitis B to add to the Hep A, Rabies, Typhoid, Tetanus, Polio and Diphtheria I've already had) and the first aid and emergency medical kit, (Imodium, electrolytes and more Imodium) is bought and ready for packing. I think I'm starting to get organised but I suspect the next 3 weeks will go very fast!

Hi Pauhla, glad to hear you've arrived safely and are surviving the traffic etc. Looking forward to hearing your next entry. Take very good care of yourself.

Eileen xxx