This is my personal favorite photo that was taken on the trip… CUTE KID!
Archive for June, 2009
Win Trav’s New Era Staying Alive Cap!
Monday, June 29th, 2009There were only 10 of these caps (pictured below) made, and you could get your hands on one of them!!! 
To be in with a chance, tell us what you’d do with a Staying Alive Grant… What kind of project would you set up in your community to make sure you really got the HIV/AIDS message out there?
Leave your response in the comments section below…
On Friday Travie will pick the best - and if yours is chosen, we’ll send the cap right over to ya…
Get thinking - and get creative!
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How You Can Help…
Sunday, June 28th, 2009Just to echo what Georgia has said below - if you feel inspired by what you’ve seen with Travis on his journey, please consider making a $25 donation to the Foundation. 100% of your money - right down to the last cent - goes directly to youth HIV prevention projects.
You can help people like Bulelani, Alex and Mandakini - and many more like them - continue their fantastic, life-saving work.
I have been truly amazed and inspired by the people I have met on this trip, and I desperately want them to be able to continue with their work with help from the Staying Alive Foundation. We can’t do it without you…
Please visit this link to donate
Other ways you can help:
Please tweet this message:
Please support @travismtv and the Staying Alive Foundation by donating $25 to HIV/AIDS projects - http://bit.ly/Nuhk6
Send an email to Five of your friends with the link to the site and a request for their support.
Post this site link to your Facebook, MySpace and other social networks, encouraging your friends to get involved and spread the word…
THANK YOU
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Back Home - Georgia’s Thoughts…
Sunday, June 28th, 2009I’ve been back at home in London now for about 36 hours. Most definitely still recovering… if you could see the team today, it must be said that none of us are really looking at our sprightly best! But we’ll all bounce back soon - a lot of sleep, a little TLC, and it will be as if the last two weeks was just a dream…
… and how sad will that be. Sometimes I really wish that time could stand still, that you could capture the moment beyond a photo, beyond video… but the sounds, the smells, the heat, the environment… but I guess we haven’t invented the media to allow us to do that, quite yet.
I was talking to my friend on the phone yesterday; she’d been following the blog and my tweets, and was keen to find out much much more. But one thing she said really stuck with me: “it must have been such a culture shock coming home”. And I thought about it and realised that no, not really… I seem to have slipped back into my ‘normal’ life with such ease; breakfast for Covi (my son), our usual rush to get him to school on time… missing my train into the office. And I realised that when I was away, I had promised myself that when I got back home and washed my hands under warm running water, and sat on the toilet… and flushed the toilet… that I would remember just how damn privileged we all are. And how much for granted we all take a tap and a toilet, every single day of our lives.
So I want to leave you with these two simple thoughts:
* Your problems are your own problems, but don’t forget that there are way too many people in the world who don’t have the simple privileges of a ‘developed’ life that we do… access to water, food, roofs over our heads, windows to open and close (and that’s obviously not a complete list!).
* And that the three Staying Alive Foundation grantees that we have had the incredible opportunity to meet on this trip are just three out of 60 grantees that the Foundation supports. And I promise you, each of the grantees are just as incredible and inspiring and dynamic as Bulelani, Alex and Mandakini.
I want to personally urge you that if you have been moved in any way by what Travis & I have been blogging over the last couple of weeks, please please go to our donation page and support our work. We don’t need huge amounts of money from you to do what we do… but we do need your support.
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Final Day in India…
Sunday, June 28th, 2009We were still in Bhubaneswar - and we needed to get ourselves back to Mumbai - so yeah, you guessed it, another plane ride….
We arrived back in Mumbai at lunchtime and had to take another long and hot car ride. The traffic is crazy, people drive all over the roads and there’s the constant sound of honking horns. But we got there in the end - MTV India’s offices…
They gave us a huge lunch, which included these innocent looking potatoes… BUT don’t be fooled - they’ll set you on fire….!!!!!!!!!!
It was then time for a bunch of press and an appearance on MTV India with their very own CONDOM MAN!!!
And Georgia couldn’t resist getting it on… HA
I opted for a more traditional look… (boxfresh)
Then it was on to filming final links for the wrap up of the documentary. It was pretty emotional looking back and talking about the whirlwind last few days - I haven’t really had the time to let it all sink in yet…
Then as I was just thinking about how the time seemed to have vanished I got told we had to be at the airport in 2 hours - so we had a crazy drive back to the hotel (in the crazy traffic), no time to change or eat - it was time for goodbyes 
- WOW - it was really over.
LOVE U ALL - thank you all for following my journey - it’s not over - I’ll update when I’ve had a chance to gather all my thoughts and had time to reflect on this intense journey…
xoxo- travie
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Told You It Was HOT…
Sunday, June 28th, 200944.6 c. PEOPLE…. THAT’s 112 f.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The End of the Day…
Saturday, June 27th, 2009The show that the locals had put on for us ended at about 7pm. It was dark by this time. At the end of the evening there was a small ceremony where Travie presented Mandakini with her Staying Alive Foundation Award. It was quite emotional, but as I looked on and thought about what I’d seen that day, I knew that there wasn’t anyone that deserved it more…
Just when we thought the ceremony was over - Mandakini’s mentor got up and gave a great speech. He thanked the Staying Alive Foundation for all they’d done (not that we’re the ones doing the work here…) and then proceeded to present us all with gifts. Travie got a hand-carved wooden canon - and the rest of us got silver ship wheels - not real life size obviously (!) - just ornaments. We all felt pretty humbled.
After the ceremony it was time to make our way to the hotel. We arrived at about 9pm, showered and CRASHED!
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The Stongest Girl I’ve Met…
Friday, June 26th, 2009Here’s Mandakini and I…
I mean everything I say in this video, she’s truely one of the strongest young women I’ve met…
(sorry for the sound but there was a ridiculously loud fan whirring in the background!)
http://www.vimeo.com/5327526
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The Music of Cuttack…
Friday, June 26th, 2009After my emotional meeting with Mandakini, I took a trip to a local town hall. The kind people I had met earlier in the day had arranged a show of local music and performances for me… I got my tascam out and made sure I recorded it all so I could use it as inspiration for when I got home.
Here’s a sneak peek of what I saw…
http://www.vimeo.com/5343027I want to say thank you to everyone who performed that day - and for those that helped to organize the event, I was made to feel a real part of your community…
While the music was playing, I had a chance to look at a photograhy exhibition that had been organised by Mandakini’s organization. The photos were amazing, but the stories that sat alongside them, even more so…
Oh, and check this - YES - it’s me in a horse costume!!!!!
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