 Team Reports |
A Good Night’s SleepTom Chudleigh — Milton, ON As volunteers for Sleeping Children Around the World [SCAW], we had come to India to help improve the well being of the children. But we also learned about the importance of a good night’s sleep. Our three-hour excursion outside of Kolkata to our rural distribution site had ended in a small town hotel just large enough to accommodate our distribution group of six Canadians and our Rotarian hosts.
Around 10:30 pm, just as I turned out my light, loud music flooded my room. Was it in the parking lot? How many speakers did they have? Was there a special event in progress? Initially I was amused with the entertaining atmosphere in this small rural Indian town. Surely the party would only last a short time! Each hour the music seemed louder and louder. Is this what it felt like with front row seats at a Rolling Stones concert? By 6:30 am it stopped. At breakfast, the Canadians could talk of little else. We discovered that the source had been four oversized elevated speakers in a home two doors away. In contrast, our Rotarian hosts seemed unaware of our disturbed night. First hand, we could testify that Murray Dryden had it right: no value can be put on the benefit of a good night’s sleep. |
After our evening meal we recalled the children who had received their bedkits that day, talked about tomorrow’s distribution, and analyzed the last few days. Our Rotarian companions shared with us the daily family activities of Indian families and the politics in their communities. Our evening left us with a better understanding of the changing life in India. Exhausted and replete, I retired to my room for the night.