Back in Mumbai with one day to explore, one day to do the final distribution and wrap up, and then Sunday to prepare to fly home later in the day.
Ambarnath and two days of distributions in Karjat were well organized and smooth — except for ten labels short. At our organizing meeting in Toronto before we left we sorted labels in 3 x 10 and bundled them in groups of ninety. Somehow we missed ten – but George and I, being the rookies, figured it was our error and with a quick ‘Judy-made label’ purchased ten bedkits on the spot and got our picture taken with the kids. All’s well that ends well.
An early update described this trip as exhilarating exhaustion and that stands true near the end but it has not been all work — we have had fun!
From a Mumbai “hawker” we purchased Rattlesnake Eggs which are two oblong shaped magnets that when held a couple of inches apart and thrown into the air come together with a rattling sound. (Or as George demonstrates in the picture they can be used as modified earrings.) We had great fun playing with the kids and conveniently left them behind at each distribution.
Many of these kids had never had their picture taken or seen their picture on a digital camera screen. The excited hoots, laughter, and jostling to see themselves and the “take my picture” gestures could have gone on for hours.
We graduated from “not very spicy” to “normal Indian spicy” food — and really enjoyed trying all the different foods. Thanks to Raj our Bombay Rotary coordinator.
We happened upon — as happens with travel — little unexpected snippets of life:
- Pickup cricket games on the beach in Dahanu with cattle as spectators. They let us try batting but a baseball swing didn’t seem to quite work.
- An early morning run as a family of wild pigs ambled by.
- Traffic to a standstill as a herd of water buffalo meandered across the road.
We made memories as would be expected from five strangers spending most waking moments together doing this kind of purposeful work.
And of course it has beens all about the kids — laughing, crying, afraid, mischievous, apprehensive, shy, and outgoing. Our hearts are full and we thank the donors for their generosity and for entrusting us to represent you and the principles of SCAW.
Doug MacDougald,
for the SCAW 2007 Mumbai Travelling Team
For the past several years, SCAW has posted Live Reports so travelling volunteers could share their distribution experiences with friends and family at home.
Just like in the Willy Nelson song, we are "On the road again." Lots of driving from Dahanu to Kaylan as we distributed 435 bedkits at two sites in the Wada area.
A recurring theme from this trip: kids are kids regardless of socio-economic status as you can see from the accompanying pictures. The three little “brick” girls (At right) were having lots of fun (and me too) as we played peek-a-boo as I took their picture.
Four distribution days, seven sites, 1650 bedkits, many kilometers over some iffy roads, traffic the same as previously reported – and all is well.
Mumbai in the pre-dawn is quieter, especially down by the water near the Gateway to India. Nice area.
Traffic in India is unlike anything in my experience, with cars, unique transport trucks, auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles, cattle, dogs, water buffalo, oxen drawn carts, goats, and people all sharing the same space. Oh, did I mention constant horn blowing?
