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Team Reports
• Irene Harrison
• Jane Mathieu
• Katharine Watt
• Margaret Crossling
• Mary-Jo Lang

You can also download a PDF version of this report from our Distributions page.

From Kolkata 2008

Kolkata Journal

Jane Mathieu — Victoria, BC

We arrived in Kolkata in the wee hours and were quite exhausted. We were greeted by a large group of enthusiastic Rotarians. In front of a vehicle displaying their banner, Rotary Club of Dum Dum, we were each presented with a beautiful lei made of zinnias and marigolds. Pictures taken and acknowledgments expressed, we were off to our hotel. The Rotarians made sure we were pleased with our accommodations and confirmed a meeting for 5 pm. Then we all enjoyed a good rest. It was nice to be able to stretch out after so many flying hours.

At our evening meeting, we met our driver, Tapan, who had been hired by the Rotary and was familiar with some of the previous SCAW teams to Kolkata. We also saw the extremely useful collection of items contained in the bedkits and decided they met the children’s needs well. (See sidebar.)

Day 1: Our first distribution was at Budge Budge, 35 km from Kolkata. With the heavy traffic it took us one and a half hours to get there. Our site was a beautiful garden at a private nursery. The day was warm.

Day 2: The Kholaghat distribution, 90 km southwest of Kolkata, was in an open courtyard at a school. For me it was a very hot and humid day. We had two special groups: a bus of blind children and a bus of deaf mute children. It was very touching, as they all came with a rose. After completing our distribution we were served lunch and then loaded into our mini bus to continue on to our next distribution site approximately two hours away.

Day 3: In Kharagpur, in Tata Bearing Township, we stayed in a guest house. We drove through farm land but as we grew closer to our destination we saw many trucks and the area became quite industrial. The guest house grounds and site were very green with many flowers and a recently built eco-park. Our distribution site was in an open yard with colourful fabric covering the brick wall. We had a quick lunch as we had a 110 km drive home.

Day 4: In Barasat, just 20 km east of Kolkata, we had the use of a country home. Our site, a garden amongst mango trees, provided coolness and shade.

Day 5: After a day of rest to refresh, we had a twenty-minute drive of 6 km to Doltara. It was a large distribution day in the court yard of the Sudhir Memorial Institute, a school accommodating 1,200 students in Grades 1 to 12.

Day 6: Most days started with a haze but this day was greyer than usual. We drove 60 km to Ranaghat, an “English School.” While establishing a site, the rain started so we all moved indoors. It was cool for us but cold for our Indian hosts. We now understood the need for the woolen blanket and shawl in the bedkit. When we finished, we crossed the road to a private garden and nursery where we were served lunch.

Day 7: It was a one hour drive to go 20 km in the rain to Serampore. On a sunny day the site would have been breathtaking as we were along the Ganges in a private garden that hosts weddings and other celebrations. We managed to set up in a room and the waiting children were under cover as well. Once finished, we ate and headed off to our next site — a two and a half hour drive in drizzle. We spent the night in a guest house in Bolpur, where we learned it was their coolest day at 15° C. It was very damp and chilly. We were thankful to have woolen blankets.

Day 8: At Bolpur we entered the school grounds to hundreds of bikes parked in the mud. We couldn’t imagine where to set up, but found a courtyard that had a stage backed with yellow fabric. It was perfect. The children were able to stay dry until they received their bedkit, but they had to navigate the mud to get home with their gift.

Day 9: Our final distribution was our longest day. A short drive of twenty minutes took us back to a previous site, Doltala. However, after the rain our old site was a “pond.” After a good search and because we couldn’t trust the weather, we set up in the auditorium and used some plants we found in some of the classes for our background. and away we went. All turned out well with over a thousand children receiving their SCAW bedkits. It was dark by the time we finished, had our lunch, and returned to our hotel. We were exhausted but pleased with our successful final day because we knew that 6,500 children would have a better night’s sleep.