A special word of Thanks to Dungannon's Joanne Casey for contributing this article on our recent trip to India.

Based on a recent poverty index which looks beyond household income, studies have shown there are more than poor people in 8 states of India than in 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the accelerating economic growth of India- around 10% year on year, has left the divide between wealth and the poor even greater. In the slum that we were working in, on the outskirts of Bangalore, there were around 1,500 people living in impoverished conditions, some living in brick houses, some in houses made from leaves and some in tents. Our job was to build a safe, durable house, using cement instead of mud.

Click here for Slideshow of photos from India Trip 2010.

After meeting the friendly Bangalore Habitat for Humanity team we received a welcoming ceremony from the locals where each of us got presented with an array of flowers around our neck along with a bindi! To start, we finished knocking down the existing bricks of the house before we transported blocks to and from the site, dug and filled sturdy foundations, before finally building the bones of the house. We were able to get most of the house finished before we left, with the help from the local mason and family members. The most fun part of the trip was spending time with the local community and families. During the trip we got to experience how the locals made tea and bread, got to understand their culture and gestures and learned to communicate and have fun with the children without needing many, if any words. During the dedication ceremony the elderly community group sang a song about hope, before the families thanked us. To close the ceremony, the families were presented with a new tea set for the house along with a large picture of the group and some Irish gifts, brought over from Ireland. One special night was spent at a local orphanage where the children put on a spectacular welcome- dressing up in camouflage, before dancing to traditional music. We got to spend time with the children- playing football, skipping and blowing bubbles among many fun games. While the work was intense, the craic that we had within the community we worked in and the fun, smiles and joyfulness on the children’s faces far outweighed any pains we felt. A worthwhile and humbling trip that everyone should experience at least once!