[SCAW-E-Letter] August E-Letter - Distributions past and present

[SCAW Webmaster]

Millionth Bedkit - Past and Present
============================
As we celebrate this Year of the Millionth Bedkit, it has been a most
interesting exercise to review Murray Dryden's notes of the last four
decades and reflect on present day practices. The following is a small
sample:

Transportation
===================
This year's assent into the Himalayas in July is an example of the
tremendous changes that have occurred in 28 years. Murray recorded
back in 1981, that  26 porters transported the 10 tons of materials
for the bedkit distribution on foot. The trail was a narrow path that
continued to climb into colder and more difficult terrain. The regimen
consisted of a 5-minute stop every 30 minutes. On the first day out,
the original plan was for a 3-hour trek which ultimately became a
6-hour adventure. As Murray commented, "I sensed that the game was to
kill me off early." When they finally reached camp at dark, the party
was greeted with garlands, eggs, and small bananas. Despite this and
other hardships, Murray Dryden along with Dr. Gordon Brown
accomplished the task of distributing the 1,000 bedkits to needy
children in four primitive villages. In comparison, this year's
assault on the Himalayas (Spiti Valley) might be considered a piece of
cake. Although in many respects very grueling, the trek was
accomplished through the use of trucks that provided little comfort
but did the work over narrow, winding, rough roads.

Although today our travelling volunteers can experience many modes of
transportation, none is quite so harrowing as Murray's use of the
ropeway to cross from the mainland to Sheepcola Island approximately
one and a quarter miles away in the Kalimpong area in 1985. As Murray
described it, his trip across in the morning caused no difficulty but
as the distribution had consumed more time than anticipated, they
found themselves having to make the return as the sun set.

As Murray wrote: "I climbed on the open carriage and commenced the
ride that carries one over two rivers some six hundred feet below.
Well I made the fatal error of looking down - only in golf and on the
streets of Amsterdam does one keep his head down! Believe it or not,
my limp mind was telling me that a mere "tip-over" could be pleasant,
albeit final! Instead of admitting to my two companions that i was in
trouble and being pronounced a coward, I gazed at the dark heavens and
prayed. However, I still could not eradicate that earlier almost fatal
glance. Upon reaching shore, I gave thanks and pledged that I had
ridden my last ropeway!"

Some of our present day experiences, travelling in packed trains,
buses, and ferryboats are mild in comparison.

Communication
=====================
Communication is vital to SCAW's organization. As everyone can
appreciate there are an endless number of details to be accomplished.
We have the wonderful advantage today of the World Wide Web that
allows us, not only to communicate effectively, but also to do it
inexpensively and with relative ease. This also allows us to insure
that all organizational matters around a distribution are in place and
that the i's have all been dotted and the t's all crossed. As you can
see from the following excerpt from the early 1970s things were not so
smooth. Murray wrote, "I landed in Bombay at 2 am. As the airline bus
was not operating at this hour, TransWorld arranged courtesy taxi
service to the Taj Mahal hotel. Upon reaching the reception desk, I
received my first lesson in some of the weird wonders of the postal
system of India. Two airmail letters, sent 10 and 14 days before,
requesting reservations, had still not arrived. The management, with
compassion, fixed me up with a room."

Visas
=====================
For many of the countries in which we distribute, a visa is required
before entry. Although it can be time-consuming and somewhat costly to
obtain the necessary documentation, this can be done and put in place
before we travel. Murray's experiences were often quite different. As
he noted, "Arriving in India in January, 1979, I was not allowed to
enter Sikkim without a special permit. We then attempted to rescue the
funds, but the law of the land would not permit their return. So we
spent the year trying to procure the necessary permission through New
Delhi, but, at the last moment, this too was denied. I was quite
prepared to go in under escort for six hours, sufficient time to take
the photographs. Again this could not be arranged. It all seemed so
cruel. At this point, I was prepared to "bootleg" the pictures. So Dr.
Derent met me in Darjeeling on March 2 and we plotted our next moves.
Two days later, he bussed the 150 kiddies just over the border where,
down in the expansive, protected flats, we laid out three slumber kits
on the sandy terrain. Four hours later, all were photographed, but by
then, the children were famished. Fifty loaves of bread were provided,
broken into "thirds", distributed and ravenously devoured before
boarding the buses for the return trip to their orphanage."

Murray's reports are from his book "With God, Nothing is Impossible"
which is available from our Website in the Donate Online section.

Richard and Joan Hryniw,
for the SCAW Distribution Committee
Sleeping Children Around the World

-- -- + -- --

Sleeping Children links of interest:
===============================================
There is a video of the Spiti Valley distribution on YouTube at this link:
<http:// bit.ly/Z7Nev>
(Note: If you have high-speed Internet, click the HD icon to enjoy in
High Definition.)
If you'd like to read the trip reports, you can select one here:
<http://www.scaw.org/reports/index.html>
Various articles about Sleeping Children are on our News Blog:
<http://bit.ly/LddL>
The latest Live Reports are also on the Web:
<http://bit.ly/H5ay>