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A Better Night’s SleepDoug Cunningham — Cobourg, ON My first bedkit distribution for Sleeping Children Around the World [SCAW] was the 2001 Mumbai distribution. I was a rookie member of the team led by Clare Newton. This year I came back as team leader with old hands Judy Snobelen and Kay Easun and rookies George Foster and Doug MacDougald. It was a thrill and honour to still be involved with this organization and also to be able to distribute 650 bedkits in Pune, India, the location of Murray Dryden’s first SCAW distribution in 1970.
These trips always present challenges but everything works out if you’re flexible. After arriving in Mumbai in the middle of the night, we had a day’s rest. The next day we started our journey south. A day of driving got us to Pune for our first distribution the next day. Another day of driving got us to Belgaum. After Belgaum we drove south to Hubli. We were now 600 km south of Mumbai and were planning to fly back from there. We loaded up, checked out of our hotel, and headed for the airport. When we got there we were told our flight to Mumbai had been cancelled. We were expected back for a distribution the next day. After much inquiring it was determined we could catch a flight to Bangalore 400 km further south and then fly north to Mumbai. Because of our commitment the next day we chose to go that route. Since we were dealing with a different airline it took some negotiation and trading money back and forth to be able to swing the deal, but we did make it back to Mumbai in time. One of India’s biggest problems is illiteracy. It was the dream of our founder, Murray Dryden, to help children get a better education by helping them get a good night’s sleep. He hoped this would eventually improve their overall standard of living. It is our hope, dear donor, that every bedkit you donated and we had the pleasure of handing out has provided a child with a better night’s sleep. The 7,500 smiling children who received your gifts will certainly do better in school and be better suited to face their developing world. |
As we drove through cities and countryside we witnessed roadwork and apartment construction to improve the living conditions of the billion plus people of India. There were new flyovers (overpasses), multi-lane streets, and rapid transit lines to move the millions of people in Mumbai. Streets were clogged with trucks, buses, taxis, motor rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, togas (horse drawn carriages), donkeys, carts drawn by water buffalo and oxen, people, dogs, cows, pigs, goats, and chickens all trying to have their space.