Kolkata: The team is complete
 |
| From Kolkata 2011 |
Special thanks to Rotarian K. B. Ghosh for emailing us the pictures and blog post.
You can see more in the Kolkata 2011 Photo Album.
You can see more in the Kolkata 2011 Photo Album.
Team Kolkata has arrived!!!!!
Shown in the photo above are (Left to right) Back row: Gail Tedford, Warren Wagstaff (Team Leader). Middle row: Suzanne Silverberg, Marianne Langford, George Foster. Front row: Edie Haslauer.
Over the past 24 hours each member of the team has made his or her way to Kolkata. Regardless of the time of day of arrival -- 10 pm, 10 am, or 1 am -- each member of the team was met by the smiling faces of our hosts, the Rotary club of Dum Dum and their wives and were presented with beautiful garlands which perfumed the air.
 |
| From Kolkata 2011 |
As each team member arrived they joined the welcoming committe and our numbers grew till we were all here ... The team is now complete!!!!!
With bags stowed in the cars, the new arrivals were whisked through the streets of Kolkata, experiencing the sites, sounds, smells, and colours of our new home for the next two weeks. It is a jumble and assault to the senses as we are all weary and a little sleep-deprived and disoriented after twenty four hours of travel -- but we perked up instantly at the excitement that was all around us -- and we can't wait to see children in a day or so ...
Warren Wagstaff
for Team Kolkata 2010
Leave your comments here
Kolkata: The team has arrived
A message was received by telephone from Kolkata this morning. The team wants you all to know they are preparing for a distribution of 6,500 bedkits in Kolkata, India.
"We have no Internet access at the moment.
"We have all arrived safely and were greeted warmly by the Rotarians and then enjoyed a sumptuous dinner hosted by the Rotarians. We have also visited the facility where the bedkits are being bundled and are impressed with the quality and number of items in the bedkits.
"We are all excited about the adventures to come."
Warren Wagstaff
for Team Kolkata 2010
As soon as more information arrives, we'll post it here."We have all arrived safely and were greeted warmly by the Rotarians and then enjoyed a sumptuous dinner hosted by the Rotarians. We have also visited the facility where the bedkits are being bundled and are impressed with the quality and number of items in the bedkits.
"We are all excited about the adventures to come."
Warren Wagstaff
for Team Kolkata 2010
Leave your comments here
Kolkata: Post your comments here
To add your own comment, enter it in the box at the bottom of this page. Then click on the button to "Post Comment." As a courtesy, please include your name at the end of your comment.
Chennai: The team prepares
Pictured Left to right: Dante Racioppo, Karen Morgan, Doug. Cunningham (Team Leader), Eileen Rademacher, Roberta Harris, Don Harris.
Click photo to see a larger version.
Leave your comments here.
Chennai: Post your comments here
To add your own comment, enter it in the box at the bottom of this page. Then click on the button to "Post Comment." As a courtesy, please include your name at the end of your comment.
Bangladesh: Trip Reports Posted
The donor newsletter for the Bangladesh bedkit distribution has gone to print and can be downloaded from the Sleeping Children Website. |
| Bangladesh 2010 |
If you would like to read the reports on the web, you can read them in their entirety here.
Here is a download link for the PDF version of the newsletter.
Nicaragua: Trip Reports Posted
 |
| Nicaragua 2010 |
If you would like to read the reports on the web, you can read them in their entirety here.
Here is a download link for the PDF version of the newsletter.
Nicaragua: Mission Accomplished
This being our last distribution of the year, we finish 2010 with a grand total of 1,114,630 bedkits, after Nicaragua, 2010.
Our tenth day of distributionOur final day was planned for two sites to reach our target of 5,000 bedkits delivered. It was Rememberance Day back home and we reminisced about our personal experiences on this day with a sense of pride and gratitude.
Our first site was the rural school just west of Leon where we had been the previous day. The Rotary volunteer who had worked with us the previous day, had the site and volunteers ready when we arrived.
Shortly after lunch we were packing up and off to San Juan del Rio Coco, just beyond Ticuantepe: a four-hour trip. After we passed through Ticuantepe where we had been earlier in the week, we headed to the what was to be the most beautiful and challenging of our drives while in Nicaragua. Crossing an overflown “stream” and washed out road, up to our axels, we were all relieved at not having to get out and push!
Hairpin curves, large washed out chunks of road, verdant hills, and deep valleys were our reality for the fantastic 30-minute “drive” to the town of del Rio Coco. You could imagine hot flowing rivers of lava that had created the shapes and definition of what we were seeing.
Near dark we arrived and set up in the municipal centre building; happy to be indoors as the light of day was near gone.
A loud cheer went up from the team and Rotary volunteers as the last child received the 5,000th bedkit.
Happy and exhausted, we hugged and loaded into our vehicles after a job well done.
Janet Helmer
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Nicaragua: 598 children in Diria
Today we travelled about one hour south east of Managua to a town called Diria. Here we distributed 598 bedkits: 350 to town and school children and the rest to rural children bused in to the distribution site.
The distribution went very well. Lots of volunteers and co-operative children and parents are to be thanked. We had a perfectly-controlled site that was out of the sun.
We were very lucky to have Elizabeth Cole, an energetic, fluent Spanish/English-speaking young lady stationed here as a teacher through the US Peace Corps, who acted as our translator throughout the day.
Garrick Byers
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
The distribution went very well. Lots of volunteers and co-operative children and parents are to be thanked. We had a perfectly-controlled site that was out of the sun.
We were very lucky to have Elizabeth Cole, an energetic, fluent Spanish/English-speaking young lady stationed here as a teacher through the US Peace Corps, who acted as our translator throughout the day.
We were able to do three parent interviews with Elizabeth's help. At the end of our interview, the parent made a statement that we thought would be worth passing on.
After expressing her gratitude for the bedkit donations, she wanted us to know that having the Canadian volunteers come here and actually physically hand the bedkits to the child was a wonderful thing for two reasons:
- It showed the people the love that came with the bedkits, and
- It ensured that the bedkits contents all actually reached the child.
Garrick Byers
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Nicaragua: 623 children in Masaya
Distribution 7
Masaya, our seventh distribution, was situated 45 minutes south of Managua in an area of volcanoes. As we drove to it we passed two beautiful crater lakes, viewed one "puffing" volcano and several other quiet ones as well.Our distribution site was at a large private school with a huge enclosed open area that unfortunately had little to offer as an attractive background for our photos. 623 children were brought in from thirty rural schools. After having their pictures taken and happily receiving their bedkits they were given a snack before boarding their buses for home.
We too packed up and boarded our van wending our way back to Managua. The route took us through Nicaragua's oldest city: Granada.
We took a short break and walked through the lovely old section of town. Imagine our surprise at hearing "Joy To The World" being rehearsed in the market area as we left. It was the perfect ending to a great day.
Joan Hryniw
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Nicaragua: 497 children in Sauce
| Current Managua Time |
The route was through farmland with volcanic mountains in the distance. We drove through several deep potholes filled with water and had to park just short of the distribution site at the local church due to deep mud.
The volunteers did an excellent job helping line up the children, haul the bedkits, and clear the long grass with machetes. Some bedkits went home on horseback and others were on top of a loaded school bus.
Following the distribution we had a meal of chicken and vegetable soup made by the ladies in the village.
Judy Dryden
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Nicaragua: Yalaguina
 |
Day 5
Wake call at 4:45 a.m.; room service breakfast at 5:15 a.m. (The restaurant doesn't open until 6:00 a.m.); and the day has begun for the SCAW team. At 6:00 a.m. we head out for Yalaguina, a small town four-and-a-half hours away through beautiful mountainous countryside.Strange unique sites meet us all along the way: signs indicating armadillo or iguana crossings; a young lad on a bike pedalling down the road with a cow's head on each handle bar; a small gravel runway alongside the busy road with several very small planes on it; rice paddies and cement pads covered with drying coffee beans, the scent of which fills the cool fresh mountain air.
All of this and more fills our senses as we travel along. At Yalaguina the children are lined up and waiting. They sing their national anthem and then we are treated to a set of lovely traditional dances. Due to the lack of space and the ever glaring sun we set up the photographing site against the school wall and the fun begins.
The excitement was obvious by the expressions on their faces, as they saw the bedkit laid out. We danced with the children in the line-up to the background music - that of Nicaragua, a polka and the Pink Panther theme.
Their photos were then taken and off they skipped to get their bedkits. By 4:00 p.m. 625 weary but excited children, six weary but delighted Canadians and two dozen weary but ecstatic Nicaraguan volunteers wended their way homeward from Yalaguina, all to have a good night's sleep.
Thank you and good night from Nicaragua.
Joan Hryniw
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Bangladesh: Cox's Bazar
 |
| From Bangladesh 2010 |
Back in Dhaka
We are done: 6,000 bedkits handed out to 6,000 kids, travelling 3,600 km all over Bangladesh to touch every one of these children.This last distribution in Cox’s Bazar was bittersweet. We are one tired team and glad it is successfully over but I with some of my teammates shed a tear when the last photo was taken and the last bedkit handed out – because it was over.
No more intense camaraderie as we caromed through every day on a bedkit mission; no more big, happy, noisy distribution crowds; and no more little private moments between you and one of the kids that sometimes made you feel like your heart would burst with happiness and then other times with sadness.
 |
| From Bangladesh 2010 |
Doug MacDougald
for Bangladesh Team 2010
Leave your comments here.
Nicaragua: Our fourth distribution
 |
| From Nicaragua 2010 |
We managed to get through the entire distribution without a repeat of yesterday's downpour.
At the end of the distribution we had lunch with the mayor and some of his staff and heard more about their lives in their town. Tomorrow we'll be on the road at 6 am for a 3-hour drive to Yalaguina and 625 excited children.
Judy Dryden
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Bangladesh: Chittagong Distribution
 |
| From Bangladesh 2010 |
Day 9
Wow, it’s hard to believe that at 5:30 am we were on the bus again on our way to our second last site. Chittagong is another new site for a SCAW distribution and today we handed out bedkits to 319 children. This site is the home village of one of the Rotaractors that has been travelling with us since our arrival. Not only is it Didar’s hometown, this is his first sponsorship – and as a result twenty children got bedkits in today’s distribution.We have seen almost 6,000 children over the past 10 days – but today’s kids were more special than those we have seen so far. Today we had blind children, deaf children, and mentally challenged children.
One little fellow came in a ‘wheelchair’... not like the wheelchairs that we westerners are used to seeing. This was literally a leather chair with little two-inch wheels under the four corners, handles for pushing, and a makeshift table top. As I watched his dad maneuver the wheelchair I couldn’t help but think about how difficult it must be to push it all over the uneven, unpaved roads and walkways. Unlike western wheelchairs with the big wheels that the passenger can use to move themself, this type of chair will prevent this little guy from ever doing that. We introduced him to “quacker,” our duck hand puppet, and once he got over his nervousness about exactly what it was he kept closing the beak to make it ‘quack.’ If you could have seen the grin on his face.
 |
| From Bangladesh 2010 |
While the teachers, parents, and caregivers kept thanking us for coming to Bangladesh and running the SCAW program, their efforts to bring those beautiful children from far away villages for us to meet them today makes us all realize - they are the real heroes.
After such a humbling day we called it a wrap and settled back into the bus. Reflecting upon the day – and our blessings. We watched the sun set over a beautiful and green hillside on our way to our last location for this trip ... Cox’s Bazar.
Danielle Lalonde
for Bangladesh Team 2010
Leave your comments here.
Nicaragua: Our third distribution
 |
| From Nicaragua 2010 |
We arrived in a hidden mountain village situated between numerous peaks. The people were very friendly and helpful throughout the distribution. The mayor was a wonderful young woman who worked with us all day to make sure the distribution flowed smoothly. The first set of group photos were of special needs children, who arrived in larger numbers than were expected, but nevertheless, we were happy to give them a bedkit to assist them with their difficult lives.
The photo shoot started outdoors but had to be shifted three times due to sun alterations. Eventually the sky clouded over and the spin-off of a hurricane dropped down on us forcing us to shoot the last 150 pictures under a small gazebo.
Soaking wet, with grins ear-to-ear, we loaded up our equipment and headed back through the now-flooded mountain road. I doubt we would've made it back if not for our outstanding driver, Roberto. We finished the evening with dinner at Mcdonalds with our driver, but somehow the burgers weren't as satisfying as the children's smiles.
Garrick Byers
for Team Nicaragua 2010
Leave your comments here.
Bangladesh: Feni distribution
Day 8
What an amazing but tiring day! Sorry for the delay in getting the blog and photos to you as we had to stop and take a breath or two. Our day started at 4 am as we prepared to leave the beautiful tea plantation District of Sylhat for a 5 am departure.Today’s distribution is in Feni, approximately 240 kilometers and an estimated travel time of 4 to 5 hours. Pot-holed and congested roads took us 7 ½ hours to reach our distribution site. We all felt that our day was over but it was just about to begin. Even though we were late the Rotary Club of Feni Central was prepared and we were raring to go.
We were welcomed by the clapping and cheering of the children and an exchange of their Rotary ball caps and bouquets of flowers. Within 15 minutes we were ready to go with the 832 bedkits to be distributed. The organization, pre-planning, and preparation by this local Rotary club was outstanding and it certainly worked to our advantage. We finished this distribution in record time according to the Overseas Volunteer Organization from the Rotary Club of Dhaka. Hats off to Faruk, Milon, Jamal, and Bayezid for their excellent distribution site and their hosting of the volunteers.
 |
| From Bangladesh 2010 |
The distribution was completed and we were quickly driven to a local Rotarians home where seventy people sat down for a true Bengali lunch. A feast enjoyed by all!
After that we were then taken out to the village of Gonuk some 20 kilometers away for some home visits. What an outstanding experience for all! We first visited the home of a young boy who had received a bedkit in last year’s distribution. His father welcomed us into their home and was so proud of the gift that his son had received last year. As we walked through the village it was beginning to get darker and darker and as we walked the crowds got larger and larger. We had a great time interacting with the children and many of the older locals. We taught them a new reply to “how are you” with the new reply “fantastic” and as we walked towards the next home loud cheers were echoing through the village. We felt were like the Pied Piper of Hamlin.
The next home visit was the home of this year’s bedkit recipient. Many of the children in this particular village had received a bedkit and were still proudly wearing their new clothes.
Thank you, donors, as it was truly evident that there are many needy children deserving bedkits. After the visits to the homes, we were truly emotionally drained by the experience. We headed to the hotel to check in and have a quick clean up before being taken to a cultural evening performance. We were entertained by local dancers and singers and then were treated to a very late dinner and we eventually made it back to the hotel by 10:30 pm. An 18 ½ day but the experience is one that none of us with forget.
Sadness is starting to creep in as we complete Day 8 with only 2 more distributions to finish, one in Chittagong and the last one in Cox’s Bazar.
Mike Foster
for Bangladesh Team 2010
Leave your comments here.
Bangladesh: On the road
 |
| From Bangladesh 2010 |
- Very short night in Habiganj,
- Up at 4:30 am,
- Seven-hour drive with a short "street breakfast" along the way,
- 832 bedkit distribution in Feni,
- Home and village visit for this year's and last year's kids & bedkits,
- Off to a "cultural evening."
Real blog and pictures to follow when we can catch our breath.
Doug MacDougald
for Bangladesh Team 2010
Leave your comments here.