Chennai: Vellore
Prior to starting the distribution Laurie-Beth, with the
assistance of a very humourous college professor, had the chance to explain
what was in the bedkits to the 1st group of children. They became increasingly excited as each item
was displayed. The children in this
distribution were from outlying areas and were transported in, mainly by
bus. We distributed a total of 718
bedkits.Following a late lunch with the Rotarians, we visited 2 local temples. The first temple was the Vellore Fort and Temple. We finally got some photos of monkeys Alan. We were given special garments and led around the temple as VIP’s escorted by a 2 man band. Locals were taking photos of us as we made quite a spectacle. The second temple we visited was constructed out of 18 carrot gold adorned with chandeliers and surrounded by water and fountains. It was night time by now and the temple was lit and shone for many miles around. Cameras and cell phones were not allowed and we almost got turned away for wearing capri length pants but our Rotarian friends convinced them to let us carry on. There were many plaques along the journey up to the temple with important life lessons written on them. Our feet were black from the barefoot temple trodding and we were exhausted but ate a late supper and prepared for bed for another big distribution tomorrow.
Kim for Team Chennai 2013
Kolkata: Bonhooghly
Today’s distribution was 382 kits in nearby Bonhooghla, in slums of the
Kolkata area taking only about 20 minutes to get there. The children were
patient and orderly and the parents were kind and gentle to their
children. Winter and Monsoon seasons are the hardest for these families.
Winter: not enough warm clothing and poorly insulated roofs. Monsoon:
flooding of homes (most sleep on the floor, and many have to be
evacuated to shelters). We also ran into a snag because the children’s
food was very late arriving. Everything recovered and we got down to the
end when one child had lost her “ticket”. All the tickets were
recounted and Richard double checked everything to sort out the kit
numbers. Of course, the child got her kit and we finished happy. We
returned to our Hotel early and are preparing for a two day outing and
an overnight in Baharampur.
Wayne Cooper for Team Kolkata
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Chennai: Kilpauk
Today is Sunday January 27,2013 and today we went to the
Kilpauk distribution site in Chennai. We gave out 681 bedkits to the lovely
children of this area. Several of these children were special needs once again.
We had many helpers from the veterinary medicine college to help us with the
extra tasks involved with these children. It was very touching and rewarding to
present these children with a bedkit. Their smiles and waves warmed our hearts.
Their teachers were extremely sensitive to their needs and protective of them.
The weather continues to be hot and sunny but we encountered some clouds and
shade to help us through the day. Water was a must. Following the distribution
we were treated to a lovely lunch in the home of Jyoti and Dhaulet our host
Rotarians.
Susan for Team Chennai 2013
Kolkata: Anatomy of a Distribution
Upon
arriving at a distribution site, the first order of business is to
review the path the children will follow to the various pit stops. The
goal is to make the route as efficient as possible and have every pit
stop in the line of sight of the next. This way the SCAW team can see if
one pit stop is experiencing any difficulty and go help out if
necessary. Distributing between 350 – 800 bed kits per day, definitely
is easier when the flow is just right. The children are sometimes a
little nervous of the whole procedure so local volunteers are spread
throughout the process to help direct the kids in their language and
give a reassuring hug to those who need it.
The various stops:
2. The children receive their knapsack which includes an entire set of clothing which they change into for the photo.
3. They line up for their photo and “Haso” (smile in Hindi).
4. They then go and meet their parent to pick up the bed kit containing various basic and useful items, which is too big for the kids to carry alone.
An
important decision for the SCAW team is to choose the location of the
photo so it is representative of the area, conveniently located, allows
for the sun movement in the sky throughout the 4 – 6 hour shoot, and
most importantly, is interesting for the donors to look at so it
showcases the stars of our show: the beautiful children.
The
days that go extremely smoothly are usually the result of a
distribution site that is tried and true while others, like today, are
more challenging due to the first time use of the site. But, every time
we return to a site it gets better and better as the SCAW and Rotarians
learn how to maximize the space.
The pictures, in fact, tell the whole story!
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Kolkata: Day of Rest
January 25 was a much needed day of rest.
The team got to sleep in a bit and then after breakfast, we completed some
tasks regarding label resorting. With this completed the team was then able to
visit a modern shopping complex complete with McDonalds and Pizza Hut on the
edge of the city. This is a complete antithesis to the small vendors that line
the streets throughout most of Kolkata. The
evening was spent aboard a small vessel cruising the grand and holy Ganges
River. This cultural experience had been arranged by our Rotarian hosts. 
The
morning of January 26 found us once again on the road to a distribution, but
with a special twist. This is the day, all of India celebrates their
independence day in 1947. We were able to witness a very pleasant ceremony at
one of the local schools. At the completion of the program, we commenced our
photography and by mid afternoon had distributed 480 bedkits.
It seemed appropriate that we should be providing children the
opportunity to experience safe and comfortable nights of sleep on this special
day when they are going to enjoy a form
of independence from poor sleeping conditions.:)
Richard for the Kolkata Team
Chennai: Republic Day!
We had today off for a national holiday in India (Republic Day)
celebrating 64 years of Indian independence. We watched some of the
Republic Day parade from our room. It was a major event with military
equipment, marching troops and bands followed by lots and lots of
elaborate floats and bands. We then met up with Jyoti and Dhalat, a
local Rotarian couple that the other SCAW team members had met
previously. They kindly took us for a driving tour of Chennai to show
us areas of the city that we hadn't been to before. We toured areas
with cottage industries that were arranged in a street by street
fashion; one street for textiles, another for car parts, etc. followed
by areas of the old City that had lots of historic buildings with some
magnificent architecture. We had a short stop at the Marina Beach.
It's a huge beach with some small fishing boats nestled in the sand
overlooking the Bay of Bengal and the large freighter ships plying it's
waters. There were not many people on the beach and we were told that
it is used more in the early morning and evening when it is not so hot.
Also, the sea floor drops off quite quickly and there are undertows
that make swimming here risky.
We were treated to a fantastic meal at the Cosmopolitan
Club by our lovely Rotarian friends. We started with some Indian
appetizers and a tasty fruit drink and just when we thought the meal was
finished another round of food showed up. Great eats.
Our final stop was a modern new shopping mall that
had 4 floors of stores with a 5 screen movie theatre. Lots of people
here, browsing the stores and escaping the heat. Unlike, home the
parking garage was manned by parking attendants to guide cars to vacant
parking spots and direct you to the exit. In typical Indian fashion,
someone made a wrong turn and got all the way to the exit before they
discovered it. The attendants stopped the exit lines, shifted some cars
around and had the errant driver reverse out of line and back into the
garage. Traffic then started flowing through the exit again. There's
always something to talk about when it comes to travelling the roadways
in India.
We had a nice day off and are planning our next distribution tomorrow, it'll be back to work in the morning.
Dennis for Team Chennai 2013
Chennai: Madurai
We completed the distribution of 630 bed kits at a medical building in the heart of Madurai. We had some excellent help from local Rotarians and several students from a nearby college. John had a great chat with 4 young ladies from the college that were excellent helpers about their schooling and their future aspirations. Laurie-Beth conducted some very informative bedkit surveys thoroughly enjoying the conversations with some local families. It was Susan's first day taking photos of the children and she did a fabulous job. The children as always were beautiful. The distribution went quite smoothly with some delays toward the end with the late arrival of youth from 150 km away. It was very hot and we kept the children indoors and in the shade as much as possible. Everyone drank lots of water and although exhausted remained up-beat and healthy.
We saw some interesting versions of ambulances parked on the main street next to the distribution site. While in Madurai, we visited the Gandhi museum, the Sri Meenakshi Temple, the Thirumalai Nayak Palace and a textile factory. All have been fascinated with the Indian history learned and the life of an amazing person being Gandhi. We were required to be barefoot in the temple which caused a little discomfort for some but it was well worth it to feel the spiritual presence of the people praying and the awesome visit with the real live sacred elephant. We experienced a light show at night in the palace augmenting a story of the life of one of the Madurai Kings accompanied by many mosquitoes and our lovely Rotarian hosts who came to the rescue with repellant. We capped the evening off with a lovely dinner on the rooftop terrace of our hotel overlooking the City. We will be visiting the textile factory later today before flying back to Chennai.
Doug for Team Chennai 2013
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Team Kolkata Bashirat
Today’s distribution was at Bashirat about
a 2 ½ hour drive east from Kolkata towards Bangladesh. The distribution was hosted at a Boys Mission school. The
13-15 year old boys were so keen to help in the whole process, our jobs were very easy. The food preparation
for hundreds of people still amazes me.
Rice is cooked in cauldrons rather than in pots. It was a great day here in
India and 364 children are having a comfortable sleep tonight.
Kolkata: Sarkarpool, near Brace Bridge Station
India is truly a land of contrasts. This is
reflected in our distributions. We strive to find good backdrops. Since it is
the dry season, the leaves, the flowers and the grounds are all dusty drab
brown. Contrast this with the beautiful
colourful girls’ dresses and boys’ shirts. We visited a recipient’s home. Again
dark drab floors contrasted with the colourful ground mat and mattress. The
sweet dark faces of the children are contrasted with their beautiful eyes and
winning smiles. How fortunate we are to have had the opportunity to experience
these contrasts. How thrilled we are to know that 364 more children will have a
comfortable sleep tonight and enjoy the thrill of new colourful clothing and
school books tomorrow.
Chennai: Home Visits
We did two home visits after the Ambattur distribution to
children who had received the bedkit in 2012. One family of four lived in one
room and the other family lived in a small 3 room dwelling. Each family had
one single bed, a cooking area with no running water, no indoor plumbing, an
outside toilet area that was shared with the neighbourhood block. There was a
communal outside water pump to get water for washing, cooking etc. The one
family bought drinking water separately. There were no windows in either home
and they were dark although they had electricity.
Mosquitoes were in abundance. Families were appreciative of
the nets.It looked as if the bedkit items were well used and the girls eight
year old girls who had received them were so delighted to have us visit their
home. Both parents in each home were also present for the occasion.In the first home, the father worked as a plumber. He earned $200 Can per month of which his rent for 3 rooms cost $30 Can. The second family living in one room earned approximately $200 Can, with their rent about $15 Can. The father is a mason and his wife, a housekeeper. The mother and daughter in this family were very bright and seemed to manage what little money they had well.
Laurie-Beth and John for Team Chennai 2013
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Kolkata: Distribution 4!
The
distribution today was set up on the grounds of the “Gandhi Ashram” on the Eastern
banks of the Ganges River. Gandhi was a
frequent visitor here and it now houses a museum
The
children lined up under wonderful sunshine and pleasant temperatures, they
created a rainbow of colors in their new clothes. Their faces are so beautiful,
a few tears from the tiny ones as they are a little scared but mostly big smiles
and sparkly eyes. They are so patient and well behaved.
J C
Tremblay for Team Kolkata 2013
Kolkata: Guskara to Kolkata
After a smooth distribution of 800 bed kits in Guskara we were back on the road
to Kolkata. The first stretch takes us through the farm lands and small
villages, past goats, cattle water buffalo who graze in the rice paddies. There are fields of potatoes, mustard, sugar
cane and mostly rice paddies. On the
crowded road there are wagons and trucks loaded with sacks of rice on their way
to the rice mills located along the road. Now and then we spot long open sewing
factories, brick factories and huge coal fired power plants. After 3 hours we were in the hustle and
bustle of Kolkata.
Chennai: Another Great Day!!
We had a 3 hour drive from Chennai to Nellore today for our bed kit
distribution. It was an interesting drive, although it required an
early start. We saw lots of different scenery on the drive from heavy
urban development in Chennai, rice paddies and sugar cane fields on
route to dry, almost desert like conditions at Nellore. 
We received a traditional welcome at the Zilla
Parishad High School in the rural area of Nellore. The welcome included
traditional drums, flower lais and flower petals. It was a great
welcome and we had lots of helpers from the high school. With all the
help the distribution of 450 bed kits went quite quickly with only a few
minor halts to check on issues. Our recipients included a small group
of children with special needs. During our interviews, the parents
indicated that they were thrilled with the bed kits and looked forward
to using the items for their children and families. We had 3 monkeys
playing in the trees just beside the bed kit distribution area that
offered some extra entertainment; sorry still no photos of the monkeys,
camera shy I guess. Kim entertained her helpers by attempting some
phrases in the local language, to many giggles from the girls.
Following the distribution, all the helpers were fed
a meal through a generous donation to the school. We then visited a
local Marriage Hall that was under construction. It was a massive
structure and very well built. We found out that it is common in India
for marriages and receptions to include well over 1,000 people. One of
our local Rotary volunteers described a wedding where the whole village
was invited, some 30,000 people.
Long drive home afterwards through rush hour traffic
as we came into Chennai, which was an experience all by itself, with
several abrupt stops and near misses. Good thing we had an experienced
driver to get us safely home.
All in all it was another great day with our team.
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Kolkata: The Strength of Numbers
Asansol: The Strength of Numbers
As the SCAW
Kolkata 2013 Team wrapped up their 2nd day of distribution
partnering with the Rotarian Club of Dumdum, this is what the numbers revealed:
1 Dream: to gift a child a safe and comfortable night’s
sleep
2 Teams: SCAW
and Rotarians, worlds apart coming together to work as one
4 Vehicles: carrying bedkits, SCAW supplies and volunteers
6 Canadians: proudly representing fellow Canadian donors
13 Distribution Sites: carefully chosen to accommodate the
throngs of people
25 Bedkit Items: thoughtfully picked by Dumdum Rotarians to
meet local needs
50 Rotarians: volunteers anxious to help their own
789 Bedkits: locally manufactured at fair market value,
personally delivered by SCAW members
1578 Children and guardians/parents: eagerly made their way from far and
near
1700 Healthy Meals: prepared and served, piping hot, at the distribution
site
Unlimited: unanticipated heartfelt hugs and grateful
handshakes from the kids, volunteers and onlookers participating in this organizational
feat.
Streets of Chennai
None of the SCAW team were prepared for the chaos of traffic
congestion and driving down the streets of Chennai. On Monday we set
out for our third distribution in Ambattur. At 7:30am the vehicle
traffic was relatively calm. Rush hour does not begin until 8:00am.
However, the streets were teaming with people walking on the roads,
waiting for buses, getting breakfast at the many roadside food stalls
and washing/bathing at the public water taps.
Flashes of colour were provided by the women's
bright saris. Children in their school uniforms were waiting for public
transport. Cows meander with impunity as they are considered sacred
and revered. They are very useful, along with the goats and dogs, in
eating garbage strewn on the roads. Women with twig brooms were
sweeping streets in front of their shops. A barbers chair was set on
the sidewalk, where a man was having his haircut and his shave for the
day. Shops were opening as we drove by. Of particular interest were
butcher shops with carcasses hanging from hooks out in the open sun and
live chickens in crates.
The traffic increased as we approached 8:00am. The
streets were filled with trucks, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, buses, ox
carts and auto rickshaws. The motorcycles often carried whole families
with the driver and the passenger each holding a child or baby - none
wearing helmets. Traffic lanes were regularly ignored and intersections
were negotiated by bluff in hope that the other traffic would yield.
Horns blared and people scurried out of the way. Pavement was often
broken, curbs non-existent, ruts and pot holes abounded and resulted in a
harrowing, bumpy ride.
We did arrive safely for a successful distribution at a Rotary operated school with 18 teachers and 500 children.
Laurie-Beth for Team Chennai 2013
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Chennai 2013: Tiruvallur
Another good day with good weather and a smooth distribution. 552
bed kits were distributed in Tiruvallur at the Rao Bhadhur Calavala
Cunnan Chetty H.S.S. school. We were greeted by a small drum and bugle
band and welcomed warmly. The distribution was managed by C.
Venkatachelam with youth volunteers consisting of students from the
school as well as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Our youth volunteers were
well dressed in their uniforms. They were a very dedicated and
responsible team of young volunteers and made the distribution run
smoothly and with great enthusiasm. 
On the way back to the hotel from the distribution,
as well as seeing the common site of many sacred cows a monkey was
spotted on the sidewalk on a main street in the City. A lunch of
traditional Indian food was enjoyed by all. Everyone is looking forward
to another successful day tomorrow.
Team Chennai 2013
Kolkata: The Team has Arrived!!
Team Kolkata 2013
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Chennai: Avadi
Today is our first distribution at Avadi. We distributed 525
bedkits. The rotarian in charge was PS Ramdas (Ram). My responsibility
was preparing the children for their photo to be taken by Laurie Beth.
The day ran very smoothly for a first day distribution. The weather was
sunny and hot. We had wonderful high school helpers that were very
happy to be there and worked together with our team and helped create a
positive experience for the children. This years clothes looked
beautiful on the children and enhanced the photographs.
We toured the Ambattur Rotary
Hospital and visited the Bal sanjeevani Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation
Centre, the kidney dialysis clinic, dental clinic, eye clinic and x-ray
department. We saw the aqua therapy room that is in process of being
prepared for treatment of the hospital's patients.
Sue for Team Chennai 2013
Post your comments here:Chennai: The Team has Arrived
We will start our day later today after everyone has rested and freshened up.
Excited to be here,
Kim Baxter for Team Chennai 2013
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