Asia
Rooted 2
Bali
Nine-year-old Sophia Adnyana lives in North London. On this trip she visits Bali with her Balinese father, where she stays with her nanek (grandmother) and cousins, and attends a day of Hindu ceremonies at the local temple. She also stays with a Balinese girl Ayu, in a village in the centre of the island, and goes to Ayu's school for the day. She understands nothing in the Balinese language lesson she sits in on, but makes up for this in a Balinese dance class. Sophia thinks her trip has made her feel more "half and half'. She enjoys her experiences in Bali, but still misses her mum and friends in England.
Cambodia
Twelve-year Remi Chea lives in south-east London. In Rooted he visits Cambodia, the country his father comes from. Remi's never been before, and he's looking forward to meeting his relatives, some of them for the first time. During his trip Remi meets some street children in Phnom Pehn, visits the historical site of Angkor Wat, and stays with a new friend, Kosal in his village, where he teaches Kosal to play cricket.
Malaysia
Twelve-year-old Nurul Mohd Shawal was born in Malaysia and moved to Britain when she was six; she now lives in Barking with her parents and one of her younger sisters. On Rooted she travels first to the mega-city of Kuala Lumpur, and then to the tiny island of Pulau Tuba in Northern Malaysia to experience a completely different side of Malaysian life. On the island she goes oyster picking and squid fishing by night, and attends the Madrasah, the local religious school, where she learns more about the dreams of the girls on the island.
North India
12 year old Benice Aulak comes from Gravesend in Kent. Her parents come from the Midlands, but her grandparents came from the Punjab, in Northern India. Benice travels to the Punjab to meet family members for the first time, visits the Golden Temple in Amritsar – the most holy Sikh site – where she helps in the kitchens preparing food, and goes to her cousin's wedding, a traditional Sikh affair.
West India
Eleven-year-old Hemali Shah lives in Leicester. In Rooted, she travels to Bombay and Rajasthan in India, to visit her relatives and to learn more about her family and cultural roots. During her trip, Hemali stays in a small village that's freezing cold, attends school where she takes an English test but doesn't get full marks, and visits the beautiful Jain temples at Ranakpur, to learn more about her religion
Rooted 1
North India
Vijay Pal Singh is 11 years old and goes to Allerton Grange High School in Leeds. He is Sikh and is really interested in the history of his religion. He went to Amritsar in Northern India, where some of his dad’s family live, and he was really excited about going because it is the centre of Sikhism.
On his way to Amritsar he stayed in a village where he met a new friend Randeep, tried his hand at weaving on a loom, and played in a school concert. The highlight of his trip was visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar. When he was there, it was the festival of Baisaki, the main Sikh holiday, so there were thousands of other people visiting as well.
South India
Hemmit Kerrai is 12 years old, and was born and brought up in Cardiff. All his family are Hindus. Both his mother’s and father’s families originally came from Gujarat in Western India.
With us, Hemmit visited a town called Madurai, in Tamil Nadu in Southern India, because it is the centre of Hinduism. He visited some incredible temples and played cricket against the local boys team; they were very good.
Sri Lanka
Shakya Menage is 13 and lives in North London. She went to Sri Lanka, the country where she was born, with her mother. Shakya is Buddhist, and she was really excited about going to the holy Temple of the Golden Tooth in the city of Kandy.
She also visited an elephant orphanage, where she saw baby elephants.
China
Yi Ling Cheng is 10 years old, and lives in Edinburgh. At home she learns Chinese language and dance at the Chinese Saturday school, as well as going to primary school. She went to Hong Kong and Guangzhou in China with her mother and younger brother. During her trip she spent time with her grandparents, went to see the Giant Pandas in Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, and visited the Wet Market in Guangzhou where you can buy scorpions and frogs.
Philippines
Jhuvilyn (also called Shay) Lucero is 12 years old and lives in London. She is a Catholic and she went to the Philippines with her dad because that’s where both her parents come from. In Manila she celebrated her 12th birthday, with all her relatives from both sides of the family. She visited a village near Bagu City on the Filipino island of Negros, where she made a new friend called Len Len and went to a great local music festival.
