Team Reports |
The Incredible WelcomesKathy Greiner – Ottawa, ON
A shy smile; a tentative handshake; a line of children tossing rose petals over us; being adorned with garlands of flowers and sandalwood beads; or having a saffron bindi applied to our foreheads in greeting. These were but a few of the pleasant welcomes our team received during our various distributions. Each welcome at fifteen different locations was as varied as the locations, but each was equally warm and made us feel like royalty. It also impressed on us the importance of the SCAW bedkits to the recipients. At some locations the welcoming ceremonies, organized by the sponsor for the day, were quite elaborate. We were marched on to a stage and formally presented to the waiting students and parents, many of whom had travelled long distances to receive their bedkits. This was often accompanied by beautiful ethnic folk dancing put on by students in colourful clothing and costumes. It not only made us feel very welcome and provided us with great cultural experiences, but also was enjoyed by the children.
At the other locations the welcoming formalities were kept to a minimum and sometimes eliminated completely which provided us with time to visit with students, teachers, and parents before starting our distribution. The sincere thanks and handshakes of the parents, many of whom made great sacrifices to be sure their children attend school were more than enough welcome, and was only surpassed by the fantastic smiles, curiosity and enthusiasm of the children. At each distribution the sponsors for the day took care of the SCAW team in addition to taking care of the logistics for the students, including identifying the students using SCAW criteria, organizing volunteers — usually high school students — to help with the actual distribution and even providing us lunch at the end of a long distribution.
Our OVO was the Ambattur Rotary Club. I do not believe I can say too much about the warmth of their welcome and their hospitality which started as soon as we arrived at the airport at 1:00 am Chennai time after twenty-six hours of travelling. We were greeted by a Committee of Rotarians who adorned each of us with a welcoming garland before ferrying us to our hotel. Their warmth, friendship, and conversations will be one of the enduring memories for me of this trip, and their openness towards us certainly gave us a great opportunity to understand South Indian culture and to realize, once again, that no matter where we come from or what our backgrounds are, as human beings we have much in common. |
