A taste of the real India

Lauren Rowe - traveller

They say travel broadens the mind – and Lauren Rowe can certainly confirm that after taking six months out of her studies to live and work in Nepal and India.

Working as a volunteer at a school in Nepal, and helping a charity in Delhi teaching English to street children, she has found herself wanting to do more for charity.
In India she raised around £250 on her Facebook page and bought equipment such as books and pencils for local schools.
Lauren, from Moorside, was part-way through a masters degree in social work at Salford University when she decided to pack her bags and head for the Far East.

“I’ve always loved to travel,” she said. “I spent four months in South East Asia and North America before heading for Nepal and India.
“As a woman travelling alone, India was the most challenging place I’ve ever been to. For the first week I went everywhere with a rape alarm in my pocket – but it wasn’t as scary as I initially thought – though Delhi is one of the craziest places in the whole world! Since coming home I feel a massive appreciation for the western world and what we have. My travels have taught me to become more understanding of people and their cultures
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“I’ve changed the way I feel about people and the world in general, and I no longer worry about trivial things that don’t really matter. I realise my life is great here. I used to get really stressed about my uni work but now I’m just relaxing and just getting on with it.”

Moving on to Kerala in southern India, she lived in chaotic, noisy surroundings and recalls the monsoon season and wading, through sewage-laden streets during her 90 minute walk to work each day.

But Kerala also had lots of beautiful places:amazing beaches, jungles, old Portuguese towns and even the highest tea station in the world.
She also enjoyed sampling Indian cuisine and was a big fan of thali – 12 different dishes with rice for £1, served on a banana leaf that itself afterwards became food for the local cows!
A former pupil of Counthill school, Lauren studied social change, health and social care at Manchester Metropolitan University after A-levels at Oldham Sixth Form College.

Now writing a children’s book about a girl who lives in a slum in India, Lauren works with care leavers in Ashton-u-Lyne, offer support as they move into homes of their own.
On completing her masters degree she plans to work as a social worker ­– after first spending up to three months in South America. She also plans to revist India one day.
Lauren lives with her grandparents, John and Mary Blanksby. Mary is a keen traveller and reckons her granddaughter got the travel bug from her. She recently went to Peru, joined Lauren in India towards the end of Lauren’s stay and is now planning a trip to Cuba.

“I always encourage her to travel while she’s young,” she says. “I worry when she is away but keep track of her on social media.”