Kenya: Day 1
After our long flight from Toronto to Nairobi via Amsterdam, the team was up early to plan for our meeting with the Overseas Volunteers at noon. Before attending the meeting we visited the site where the U.S. Embassy had been bombed on August 7, 1998, killing 218 people and causing the relocation of the U.S. Embassy out of the downtown area. This was a moving experience for each of us, so familiar with 9/11 and brought home the need for international understanding and cooperation fostered by so many organizations such as SCAW.
The meeting with the Overseas Volunteers, the Rotary Club of Nairobi, was valuable in renewing the close relationship between SCAW and the Rotarians, a necessary partnership for the successful completion of a bed kit distribution. It was quite evident that countless hours had been spent by these volunteers in finding sites and deserving children, trying to improve the quality and quantity of contents of bedkits and making the Canadian team feel welcome.
We left the meeting with enthusiasm for the future days of meeting with the children.
Alan Ingram
for Team Kenya
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The meeting with the Overseas Volunteers, the Rotary Club of Nairobi, was valuable in renewing the close relationship between SCAW and the Rotarians, a necessary partnership for the successful completion of a bed kit distribution. It was quite evident that countless hours had been spent by these volunteers in finding sites and deserving children, trying to improve the quality and quantity of contents of bedkits and making the Canadian team feel welcome.
We left the meeting with enthusiasm for the future days of meeting with the children.
Alan Ingram
for Team Kenya
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Pune: 3,000 Sleeping Children
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
Today the team was able to visit two schools where the children received bedkits last year. The schools are located in a breathtakingly beautiful, but very rural area southwest of Pune. In one classroom, fourteen of the sixteen children are still using the backpacks that were part of the bedkit. The packs show signs of wear and repair, but since the children have to walk up to 10 km per day for school, these items are extremely valuable to them. The uniforms from last year are still in use. Other than some fading in the girls' blue uniforms, they all appear to be in good condition. The bedkit shoes are still being worn, and we noticed them on a number of children. The families continue to use the blankets, and expressed their pleasure in having them. The parents we spoke with talked about how the items in the bedkit have been important to the children, and school attendance has improved as a result. It was gratifying to see the positive feelings expressed by the children, parents and teachers.
Tomorrow we will make a visit to St. Crispin's Orphange to say goodbye, then will have a post-distribution meeting with the Rotary Club of Pune Cantonment. Following that we will attend the Rotary Club meeting, then a social gathering.
By 11 am on Sunday the team will be leaving Pune, going in different directions, with wonderful memories of our time here.
The Pune Bedkit Distribution Team.
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Pune: Distribution complete
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
The Pune 2009 Team would like to quickly post that we have wrapped up a great finish these last two days to celebrate the millionth bedkit distribution. Our distributions have been long fifteen-hour days but equally rewarding to see the smiles on the children's thankful faces.
More details and photos to follow tomorrow, as we catch up on our sleep and paperwork, and master our challenging Internet connections!
On behalf of Dave Dryden and
the Pune Bedkit Distribution Team.
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Pune: Where SCAW began
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
This was our first "off day" following three hectic and productive days of distributions.
The morning started at 8:30 when the Rotarians picked us up for a visit to St.Crispins Orphanage. This is where it all began 39 years ago. Dad gave out 50 bedkits and stayed up all night with his camera at the ready to photograph the children getting their first night's sleep with the comfort of a bedkit. Needless to say he learned very quickly that the excitement of receiving the bedkit meant that he had a long wait before the the children fell asleep.
Following an initial tour of the Home we were surprised to find that the director Mr. Charles had arranged for some of the early bedkit recipients to return for today to meet with us. The conversations that ensued were priceless.
We were hoping that on this trip we would be able to find a way to publicly acknowledge the great work of our Pune partners, the Rotary Club of Pune Cantonment. They were kind enough to arrange a press conference for us. With over twelve reporters in attendance, we had an hour to tell the SCAW story and to express our thanks with SCAW volunteers such as Shamaldas Parekh in attendance.
This has been a special day for the Dryden/Burton families.
Tonight the Rotary Club from Belgaum has invited us to a function in celebration of the Millionth Bedkit. Eight members of their SCAW Committee are driving up to Pune this afternoon for this function (an 8-hour drive).
What has been so satisfying from my perspective has been the work of Dad's four great grandchildren, Theo, Jeff, Anaka, and Chris. They are truly fully functioning as full team members with so much energy and caring. We are proud of them.
Much more to tell on our return.
Dave Dryden
for the Pune team
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Pune: 571 children in Gunjalwadi
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
One child arrived at the distribution site in a wheel chair and we felt sad for the child, but happy that we were able to provide him with a bedkit.
The jobs that we did today were:
- leading the children from the picture to the bedkits
- giving the children backpacks and
- marking their index finger to confirm that they had received a bedkit.
The village that we were in was very poor as a number of the homes were made mud and wood. Even though they lived in these conditions, they were very proud to invite us to their homes and provide us with a delicious lunch at the end of the distribution. As we were waving goodbye to all the children, we know that tomorrow they will feel very rested and glad from the gift of a good night’s sleep.
From Junior SCAW Team Members,
Theo Will-Dryden and Chris Dryden
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Belgaum: Mission Accomplished
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| From Belgaum 2009 Photo Album |
On Sunday, February 22nd, 850 bedkits were delivered in Hubli marking the end of our quest to deliver 4,000 bedkits to needy children in the Belgaum area. The Rotary Club of Hubli, who have been distributing bedkits in their area for over 25 years, had the distribution well organized in a Rotary-sponsored school for over 2,000 children. The bedlit recipients came from towns and villages in and around Hubli.
There was great joy when each child accepted his/her bedkit and reconnected with their parents, grandparents, or guardians. In this distribution, there were a good number of hearing-impaired children who had enhancers and hedphones to help them hear.
The Rotary Club of Belgaum were responsible for the entire 4,000 bedkit distribution and they made it easy for the SCAW team to deliver bedkits on behalf of our donors. Our team wishes to thank our many donors and The Rotary Clubs of Belgaum, Chikodi, Athani, Bailongal, Ranebrennur, Kundgol, and Hubli for their valuable contributions to making this distribution such a success.
4,000 very needy children in the Belgaum area will be sleeping more soundly to-night!
The Belgaum Team
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Pune: Another fine day
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
We’d like to mention two additional volunteers to our Pune team. Steve Buist, a reporter from the Hamilton Spectator, and Greg Dryden who will be joining the distribution.
Post distribution we had a chance to meet the school principal and express our thanks to him and his team for selecting the children. Prior to our departure we visited a mountain top Hindu temple where 100,000 people are estimated to celebrate a local festival tomorrow.
For more photos, check out the Pune 2009 Photo Album.
The Pune team
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Kenya: The team prepares
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| From Kenya 2009 Photo Album |
(Left to right) Don McCormick, Theodora Nandy, Edie Haslauer, Alan Ingram (Team Leader), Elizabeth Lugo, Chris Pratt.
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Pune: First distribution complete
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
Immediately upon the team's arrival, the children danced us along a road to the school with a musical procession. After introductory speeches by the Rotarians and Dave, we were impressed to hear a well-versed and memorized thank you speech delivered by a local six-year-old schoolboy in English.
627 bedkits were distributed at Z. P. Primary School with thanks to the Rotarians, who worked hard to ensure a smooth transition. A good amount of shelter was set up to keep the children in the shade while they awaited their photo and progressed to their backpack and bedkit collection areas.
Three sets of parents were interviewed with feedback noting that the shoes, one size up, plus pencils and notebooks were the most important items in the bedkit.
Anaka, Theo, Jeff and Chris did the Drydens proud stewarding the children from the photo site to the distribution area where they handed out backpacks, bedkits, hats, and stamped hands with a great sense of helpfulness.
Post distribution we were treated to a Maharastra dance depicting a wedding ceremony by the schoolchildren in full costume. Thumbs up to Judy for learning three new native phrases in her “hands up” rendition, Dave for scoring big smiles and minimal thumbs up with smiling outbursts of “OK,” and Wes for scouting out a set of six clay bricks (Murray would approve) to elevate the label holders.
The Pune team
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Belgaum: 300 bedkits in Kundgal
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| From Belgaum 2009 Photo Album |
Today we distributed 300 bedkits in Kundgal, a rural area about an hour outside Hubli. The site was a school and the children were incredibly welcoming. They couldn't wait to shake our hands and try out their few English words on us. The Rotarians from Kundgal were also welcoming and did an excellent job organizing the day.
Gary Comerford has joined the team for three distributions and today was acknowledged by his fellow Rotarians because he contributed 700 SCAW bedkits to India. He did this by raising money, running a marathon.This is a project of Gary's and he has been running marathons and raising money for for the past seven years, with 100% of the money going to SCAW. This is his way of trying to help eradicate the poverty in India.
Gary has been a great asset to SCAW financially and also as a participant with us for three days on the Belgaum team. In this distribution in Kundgol, we had the opportunity of seeing the SCAW circle completed: Donor (Gary), Volunteers (in office and those who travel), Overseas Volunteer Organization (Rotary), and 300 beautiful Children.
We wish every donor could see the joy of the children and parents that Gary has experienced.
The Belgaum Team
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Belgaum: 700 children in Ranebennur
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| From Belgaum 2009 Photo Album |
On day five we departed from Hubli, a large industrial city, 100 kms from Belgaum. It was an interesting drive through the "Holland Marsh" of Karnataka: cotton, sunflowers, grapes, and grains.
The setting chosen for the distribution in Ranebennur was at a Rotarian funded school for over 1000 students.
Under a colourful canopy, 700 children waited patiently for a bedkit, sometimes for as long as five hours. Can you imagine Canadian children sitting still for that long?
Many of the parents saw their children enter through the front gate and had to wait at a different door those same five hours.
Some were mothers but one was clearly the age of a great-grandparent. He was very anxious and only relaxed when escorted into the distribution site and was able to see his child still waiting.
The Rotarians of Ranebennur and the teachers made our day run smoothly.
Smiles all around.
The Belgaum Team
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Pune: The team is in India
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
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| From Pune 2009 Photo Album |
Tomorrow we start our distributions!
The Pune team
In top photo from left to right:
Dave Dryden, Christopher Dryden, Rosemary Burton, Jeff Dryden, Tyler Burton, Anaka Will-Dryden, Wes Burton, Sandra Dryden, Sieg Will, Theo Dryden, Debbie Will-Dryden, Judy Dryden
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Belgaum: 401 bedkits in Bailhongal
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| From Belgaum 2009 Photo Album |
Up again early, with the call to prayer , the barking dogs, and dawn. Had a delightful two-hour drive into rural India and a small community (by Indian standards) called Bailhongal. On the way we were much impressed by streams of children and women carrying water or heading for a water pump. It is a humbling reminder of how much we North Americans take ample clean water for granted.
On our arrival the Rotarians were quick to feed us breakfast and we were delighted to see how equally quick they were to feed the children. This group of children were delightful: full of smiles and eager to shake our hands.
We had lots of help, with more than 70 youth volunteers. As always we left with warm memories of friendly Rotarians and happy appreciative children.
After the distribution we drove for a couple of hours through more interesting country scenes to Hubli, where we are now centered for the next three days.
The Belgaum Team
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Chennai: A worthy job
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| From Chennai Photo Album 2009 |
The children here had missed our initial Port Blair Distribution because of a mix up in schedules and bus availability. They were a particularly joyous groups, full of broad smiles and bodies full of energy. It was a fitting end to a most memorable experience for all of us.
Although exhausted from the many adventures we had experienced, it was time for reflect upon some of the most poignant memories during our trip:
- The single mother, whose husband had died of cancer, leaving her with three children to bring up ... while working at the most menial of jobs ... in a stone quarry. Oh what courage and determination.
- The young boy whose both feet were turned in (club feet). That didn’t stop him from keeping up with his peers as he hobbled along in sandals ... just one of the gang.
- The gaiety and effusive joy of the girls at a Girls School in Nellore who prepared for our arrival one month in advance, showing off with pride their crafts, herbal gardening, school study projects, different religions reflected in the School, their knowledge, baking and cooking, etc.
- The smallness in many of the children who vastly under portrayed their ages due to malnutrition.
- Listening to our hosts on the Andaman’s describe their memories of the 2004 Earthquake and following Tsunami ... especially the disastrously heavy tolls taken in their neighbouring sister Islands in the Nicobars, located south of them.
- The skills and hard work by the many India Volunteers we met everywhere during our trip ... trying to better the lot of those in need through education and life skills.
- And the unswerving friendship and dedication of the members of the Rotary Club and Ambattur whose support made the success of this trip possible.
Our Team thanks you for your support and prayers.
Respectfully submitted
Tom Belton, Team Leader
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Belgaum: 399 bedkits at Athani
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| From Belgaum 2009 Photo Album |
We arrived in Athani, day three of our distribution, to be greeted by a wonderful welcoming ceremony, the first of several surprises to greet us. First, the Rotarian wives put kunkum, a red powder, on our foreheads and then we were presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. As we walked to our site, all the children who had been waiting for over an hour for us started clapping. It was a most gracious welcome.
Our next surprise happened with our very first group, who were physically and mentally disabled ... some severely. As Duncan was getting ready to take their photographs, one of the little boys jumped up and reached for the ball which was part of the display ... a perfect example of the excitement the children were feeling.
As usually happens on a distribution, there were a couple of quiet times when numbers were being counted. At these times, we spent time with the children, doing magic tricks and singing songs. Twice today we sang with them clapping hands and stamping feet and, to our amazement, twice they sang back to us, in their own language, with their beautiful voices, which were sure better than ours.
Finally, our last surprise occurred as Duncan was all set to take a picture of three children. All was ready when a mother pig and her pigglet walked in front of the display, causing great screams of laughter by everyone. A wonderful diversion.
And, yes, the distribution went well, but at the end of the day, it was these unexpected treasured memories that will stay with us for a long time.
The Belgaum Team
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Pune: They're on their way
We received this message from our Pune, India distribution team as they gathered at Toronto airport."This is a picture of ten of the fourteen members of the Dryden/Burton team. The rest join us in London. We are on our way!!"
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Belgaum: 350 bedkits in Chickodi
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| From Belgaum 2009 Photo Album |
The Belgaum Rotarians guided the Chickodi Rotarians from the time they were chosen as a site until the end of a very successful distribution. It would not have flowed so well without the help of the female students from the Commerce College and Phys Ed College and the male Rotaractors.
Again the games, songs, and magic tricks from us did not fail to amuse these special children who need our help so badly. They were so happy in their fresh, new clothes and anticipated with excitment having their pictures taken.
As new volunteers, Carol and Doris truly understood why we were here.
"Hasa" means smile and smile they did, all 350 of them!
The Belgaum Team
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