"Daddy, you're going to be so lonely!" was my daughter's response to being told that I was going to India alone. There's no Tom this year who has travelled on the last two visits and has been pivotal in the success of the project. Further questions from Matilda of, "Who will get your orange juice in the morning?" and, "Who will help you put your socks on?" made me realise two things - she's still so very young and Tom was massively under utilised in the past two years.
The truth is, this is a flying visit, a whistle stop tour. In 10 days time I will be back in Derby getting ready to haul camping gear down to Norfolk for our first 'family of four' camping trip. And that is both reassuring and mind focusing. There's a lot to do in the coming days. Previous visits have enabled three pioneering schools to be fully set up using LBQ on sets of devices with the support of Khraw, Jop and Wanlang. A further two schools are using LBQ with our transit devices which visit them each week. It was interesting to read that the East Khasi Hills, where our schools are located, achieved the best English results across Meghalaya ... We can't claim that success but it does give those schools (and us) confidence that they are doing the right things. It will be wonderful to hear first hand the impact of LBQ from those schools.
Heading into the unknown somewhat - this trip will see us expand into Margaret Barr Secondary School. The secondary provision is new to all of us on this India project and so it will undoubtedly provide new challenges.
There are so many parallels between the work out here and that of my day job being Vice Principal-leading EdTech. Here's a couple: Firstly, it simply doesn't happen without good people doing good things. By that, I don't mean the highly damaging notion of people 'going above and beyond' but people with their heart in the right place with a strong sense of purpose. Jop, Khraw, Wanlang, Tom and I as well as all of the teachers in the schools are embarking on something that 'means' something to us. A shared moral purpose is the glue for any success.
Secondly, is that with EdTech you are always trying to future-proof whilst trying minimise future costs - this is tricky in a landscape that's built on constant and often quite rapid, expensive change. The idea of a three or four year refresh of devices may be idealistic but for most schools in the UK and Meghalaya that is an unsustainable cost commitment. That is partly why LBQ has such mileage - there is no requirement for 'latest, high-performance hardware' ... Your 10 year-old smartphone will do the job just fine.
Arriving into India is an assault on the senses. Some pleasant, some not. The temperature in Delhi was a whopping 39 degrees at 2am in the morning and there was the 'not-to-be-underestimated' challenge of a connecting flight to Guwahati to be made in the next 102 minutes. Wiping sweat from my forehead, trying to enter terminal 2 with a boarding card they tell me is not valid, followed by a minimum of five blokes all shouting, "Taxi!" at me is frankly enough to think, 'Sod it.' But as always seems to be the case here, a local came up trumps, guiding me to a 'Help' - fullish desk.
Arriving into Guwahati is different. Disorganised, noisey and fairly overwhelming yes. But there are obvious influences from the neighbouring Nepal and Myanmar the very moment you step off the plane. Bamboo incense smoke drifts through the low-key terminal building and mini display temples line the perimeter of the foyer. There is a feeling of mixed identity too, with large displays showing images of rhinos, elephants and root-bridges but with contrasting Tibetan healing music playing and posters advertising flights to Mount Everest (which I caught a glimpse of on the plane here).
The journey from the airport to Shillong is one long 4 hour, rev counter maxed-out slog. We managed to get a puncture on the way. I'm ashamed to say I offered no knowledge or understanding of how to help, so I did the exact opposite and sat in the car.
The destination, Shillong, is much cooler. The foothills of the Himalayas. I find it slightly odd that I know exactly where I am this time, snaking our way up through the familiar hillside suburb of Lawsohtun to Wanlang's family home - where I will be stopping. It's been a long 30 hour journey all in all and bed is straight where I'm heading. Matilda was almost right though - I'm not lonely - but someone to get me an orange juice and take my socks off for me would be pretty amazing right now.
