Kolkata: Ganggadharpur

As we turn down the road approaching our site location at Gangadharpur this morning we are once again greeted by wild monkeys.  As we close in on our destination it is evident that we cannot get the van down the narrow streets, as they are delivering the bedkits by small utility vehicles.

We are greeted by the children as they waited in line for their hot meal.  Although it is 25 degrees and we are in tank tops, parents and children are dressed warmly with heavy sweaters, jackets, toques and scarves.  After their meal, the children head to get changed into their new clothes.  We set up the interview sessions today and find that a school of 150 has been given 5 bedkits which they have decided to give to their neediest families.  To receive this gift they hired a driver to bring them the 150 km they needed to travel.  The teacher tells us that this is well worth it!

During the distribution both Deb and Joan had a gramma come up to them to thank them for the bedkit...she hugged the stuffing out of both of them in gratitude. ... returning to Deb about 1/2 hr later to once again give her another hug... She is VERY pleased with their gift.

After the completion of the distribution we had the opportunity to walk to the neighbouring village which is home to about 100.  We went to see a few homes who received a bedkit today, and a family who received one 3 years ago.  They still cherish and use the bedkit daily, and were proud to show it to us in their home.

We completed our visit by watching a few individuals hand stitch and decorate some sarees which were absolutely gorgeous!

The children were sad to see us leave after receiving Canadian pencils, balls and harmonicas.

Another great day in India!

Team Kolkata 2014
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Mumbai: Thank You

Sandy Riches, Monika Sergeant, Margaret Crossing, Bill Sergeant, Mary Jo Lang,  Anne MacDonald with some of our Rotary Partners in Dahanau.

We have completed the Mumbai portion of our distribution and will now proceed to Belgaum.  In the meantime we have a day or so of “pause” in which we will see more of “Incredible India”.

The distribution has gone very well and both Indians and Canadians are very happy.  The happiest of all of course are the beautiful Indian children.

Thank you donors for your generosity.

Mary Jo Lang for Team Mumbai 2014

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Kenya: A Wonderful Day Three!!

Today we distributed 600 bedkits at the Kayole Primary School in Nairobi; a school with 3000 students.

Brenda Porter with the world in her hands

The classrooms have between 80 and 90 children in them!  When we walked by the classes the children were very quiet working on assignments or listening to their teacher. We had lots of helpers today, many of them were Girl Scouts and other students from the school.

Scout helpers and children

The children were all so polite, well behaved and eager to see what all the excitement was about. Their smiles were unbelievably cute.  What beautiful children.

Happy children

Today was the first day we took a photo of 100 children. The result exceeded our expectation.

Bob Barclay working hard as usual

It was a very special day for team member Ken as he was able to be part of the photo with the 30 bedkits that he donated.

Ken Graham and his children

Team Kenya 2014
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Kenya: Our Second Day!

Friends from the Rotary Club

Today we visited two slums; distributing a total of 900 bedkits. The twists and turns in the roads were a indicator of the conditions the children were surrounded by. The first distribution was at Huruma; very close quarters. The Mathare slum was the second; it was located high on the ridge overlooking the massive slum from which the majority of these children live in.  The sheer size and swath of land this slum covered reached both horizons.  Another 900 children will now be able to sleep well; Murray Dryden's dream continues.

Happy children with bedkits

Ken Graham handing out bedkits

Team Kenya 2014
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Kolkata: Road Warriors!!

How long does it take to drive 100 km?  2 hr? 3 hr? 4.5 hr? … yes, 4.5 hours!

We had a long drive to the distribution site this morning due to road conditions – broken vehicles, pot holes about 14 inches deep, road construction, fallen trees at the roadside, emergency vehicles, etc.  We saw it all – but upon arriving at our distribution site we were enthusiastic to start another day! 

We set up our photo site in the stadium – it was very spacious.  Today we chose a backdrop of a flatbed bike with some plants – a good choice, until parents, cows, and even a very large, wild long tailed monkey crossed the path of the photo shoot!

 

It was gratifying to see so many special needs children in line for our gifts.  We had blind, mentally and physically challenged children smile the biggest smiles for us today – all very happy to receive your gift of a bedkit.  Thank you for permitting us to do this distribution on your behalf – every day we share this wonderful experience – words cannot express our feelings and emotions.

550 children will sleep well tonight in Krishnanagar City and area.

We thanked our Overseas Volunteer Organization for their hospitality and lunch and then loaded the van for the road trip back into Kolkata …. Which we did in a scant 3 hours …. Till tomorrow …

Team Kolkata 2014
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Kenya: The Team Has Arrived!

Team Kenya has finally arrived in Kenya!  After a along flight, the team arrived in Nairobi airport at 11:00 p.m. excited but a little weary.  We were greeted by our driver Charles and soon after by Gideon with big smiles and warm greetings.  We are so glad to be here!

Team Kenya
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Kolkata: Resourcefulness!!

Coming from an environment in which we have separate items or devices available to serve our every need, it is refreshing to see how resourceful people can be in using one thing for many purposes. A simple item such as an umbrella comes in very handy during the rainy season to shelter a child from the rain on the way to school or to cover over a leaky part of the roof. In the summer it shields the intense rays of the sun. Or turn it upside down and one can carry home produce from the market. Cow dung patties are placed on trees, sticks or metal plates to dry in the sun and are later used for fuel.  Small clay pots are used to serve tea then are tossed on the ground and crushed into the earth. Brooms are made from long pieces of straw bound together.

On site resourcefulness: We work together with a new group of Rotarians and volunteers at a new location each day; where we determine the ideal spot to take photos, to gather the children and determine the traffic flow towards the bedkit distribution area. At the photo area set up makes use of various items such as Sarees, planters and even bicycles to create a suitable backdrop that is reflective of the site.

Resourcefulness and transportation: With many of the families living only kilometers away from the distribution site, the child could set out on foot to the distribution site while the parents continued to work for as long as possible before cycling to the site. After the distribution was complete, the Bedkit was strapped to the bicycle and transported home by the parent with the child following soon after on foot.

The SCAW team and many of the Rotarians travelled for many hours to get to the site. Choosing the best route to avoid the traffic as much as possible can be tricky. Avoiding the main routes requires travelling on narrow roads through multiple villages and occasional railway crossings. The SCAW team came up with many innovative and entertaining ways to pass the hours on the road. The team got to know each other better and had an amazing connection with local people who were also caught in the Republic Day traffic. We danced in our seats to music from a nearby truck filled with passengers. Soon the teens on the bus joined us, as the passengers of buses and cars around us smiled and laughed. A break dancer joined in from the side of the road to take the entertainment up a notch. Soon the traffic began to thin out as we made it back to the hotel at 7:42pm and ended another amazing distribution day.

Team Kolkata 2014
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Kenya: A Special First Day!

Children in Kenya

Our first distribution in Kenya was special for many reasons; the distribution took place at a school for children with special needs.  The day began by meeting the director who explained to us that the facility had children with disabilities; cerebral palsy, polio and spina bifida to name a few.  These children have been integrated into the local school and community.  Many of the wheelchairs were creatively made on location using bicycle parts, plastic pipe etc.  The children, in particularly those with special needs, were very appreciative and curious about who had donated the bedkits.  After successfully distributing all 600 bedkits, the team had some refreshment before the 3 hour trip back to Nairobi. 

Jean Pierre Hamelin handing out bedkits

Evan Lockhart handing out bedkits

Wanda Hamelin- the finger marker

Team Kenya 2014

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Kolkata: Day of Rest

For those of you who have been following our blog, you will have noticed that we have been travelling up to 6 or 7 hours each day to and from our distribution sites.  Today the short duration of our trip hit us all and we decided to make the most of our time here by packing in as much as we could.  After greeting our lovely bus driver Amit and presenting him with an honourary Canadian toque, we headed off for the Birla Temple in the downtown core of Kolkata.  The drive from our hotel to the centre took almost two hours today!  After a tour of this beautiful temple we decided to make a return visit to Mother Theresa's Mission of Charity orphanage to see if this time the children were awake.  To our great fortune we arrived just on time and had an escorted tour with one of the sisters.  We arrived in time to join in with the children singing their morning songs, our favourite was the wheels on the bus!  We also had time to visit the physically and developmentally challenged children as they were having their breakfast.  As we were entering the orphanage some of us had the pleasure of chatting with a German nun who first joined the mission 50 years ago.  She is still just as passionate about serving the poor of Kolkata as we are sure she was all those years ago.

We then packed in lunch and a trip to three factory suppliers for the bedkits, where we were warmly greeted.  Of special interest to our team was the cottage industry of 5-10 women who used foot or hand pedal sewing machines to stitch together the bedsheets and pillowcases in the bed kits.  When we visited the factory which supplies the t-shirts and the sandal factory the owners expressed such joy at being chosen to provide items for the bedkit.  

 

We finished off the day driving through All-Market!  This area of Kolkata is filled with wholesale fruit, vegetables and nearly any other item that you can imagine!  While we have seen streets crowded with cars, buses, trucks and rickshaws, the human crush of these market streets was so different and an incredible experience for all of us.  Luckily we were contained in the fishbowl like atmosphere of our van, ably navigating the streets with our driver Amit.

 

Our well deserved rest will happen this evening when our heads hit the pillow, as tomorrow we begin on the road once again headed off on the distribution trail.

Team Kolkata 2014
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Mumbai: This is for You!!

The Mumbai/Belgaum trip 2014 is my second distribution in India for SCAW. Again, I am struck by the friendliness of our hosts, the work they have done in preparation for our visit, and their hospitality.

So far, we have had three distributions, the first in Dahanu under the shade of an enormous banyan tree. The colourfully dressed youngsters in their new SCAW clothing entertained us with singing, while Mary Jo also had them enjoying fun activities.

In Palghar, at a school supported by the Bombay Airport Rotary club, we were led to the site by marching girls and drumming boys. We were shown around the school where the Rotarians are constantly improving the facilities. A place to be proud of.

Today in Wada, we met 480 children sitting patiently in the shade, then led forward in groups for their photo. We met many Muslim children, all were happy and whispered thank you when I gave them the bedkit. One of our Rotarian friends taught me how to say “This is for you” in Marathi. I confess that looking at their sweet faces was very emotional.

There is a soft spot in my heart for India. Every day brings new surprises and amazement. Incredible India indeed!

Margaret Crossling for Team Mumbai 2014
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Kenya: Our First Day

Today was Team Kenya's first day in Kenya and it turned out to be a very eventful day. It started off with a cup of coffee after breakfast with one of the Rotary Club members and then over to the Village Market to do our banking.  After the trip to the bank we needed to try the local Gelato - which was great.

Next on the agenda was a visit to two cottage industries where bedkit sweaters and backpacks are manufactured. It was gratifying to see SCAW's funds helping the small industries. Our afternoon included a visit to the massive warehouse where the bedkits are stored. Everything was organized for the distributions. The journey took us past many of the sites in Nairobi. It certainly is a city of contrasts.

We returned to our lodge for a pre-distribution meeting and then over to a Rotarian's house for a small reception.

Looking forward to tomorrow's first distribution.

Team Kenya 2014.

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Kolkata: Sudhir Memorial School, Doltala

Good news!  We only had to travel 10 km to our Day 7 distribution which gave us the opportunity to distribute 800 bedkits.  The flavor of the day was different as we were drawing on children in the Kolkata area, more city than rural.

Team member impressions gathered over a wonderful lunch after the distribution:

We love you Deba.  Deba works with the Rotary Club of Dum Dum and a jack of all trades.  He works with us and could not be more attentive.  One night he saw Wendy and Kathleen enjoying pomegranates and sure enough the next day on our snack table were pomegranates and a knife.

We are learning to eat Bengali food properly.  Rice with vegetable dishes first, then followed by meat, then sweets.  The order is important to keeping the system healthy.  We also learned that the date soaked dessert balls are to be squeezed to firm up the dessert and to make them less sweet.  We are starting to get the knack of eating with our fingers.

Gratitude.  There was something about the sense of gratitude that was different from our more rural experiences.  We can’t quite put our fingers on it, but immense gratitude was shown.  Many blessings to us, gentle nomaskars, and touching of our feet.

Needy.  These children were needy.  During our family surveys, one father was asked if the bedkit would allow him to buy more food for the family, since he wouldn’t have to buy blankets, books, etc.  His most touching reply was that it didn’t matter since he didn’t have any money.

Fun.  We had fun as a team.  A few of us ended up with Maple Leaf felt pen tattoos on our arms, as did Deba and our driver Amit.  And of course we had fun with the children.  They really liked Wendy hula hooping.

Overwhelmed.  We had around half a dozen young ones overwhelmed by the whole process, tears and all.  We moved them to the front of the line to receive their bedkits.  It was a combination of not knowing what was going on, and not knowing that their parent/guardian would be there to meet them after they received their bedkit.

Support.  The school provided many helpers, many of them Rotary Interacts.  We saw the future of India in these wonderful helpers.

On to Day 8 …

Team Kolkata 2014
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Kolkata: Jadurhati and Bashirhat

Today was unusual in that we were involved in two different distributions within 24 hours.  The bonus of this was that we enjoyed both second breakfast and lunch provided by our wonderful hosts. The second breakfast was particularly interesting as it was finished up with the treat of a local delicacy, date palm molasses, somewhat similar to our Canadian maple syrup. At both of our sites today we were overwhelmed by the reception that we received by our adult hosts as well as the children.  They seemed amazed by our appearance and presence in their town.  

This morning's distribution site was organized differently so we had time to enjoy shaking the hands of the children and giving high fives all along the line of patiently waiting children and their guardians.  This was the first time that a distribution has been held in this community and as such, our hosts were particularly grateful for the opportunity.  Our team was particularly impacted by the story of one mother who had recently lost her husband and had no way of earning an income.  She and her son were overwhelmed by the generosity of our donors, and how this bedkit will improve the quality of life for this family.

We travelled two hours further east , nearly to the border with Bangladesh, for our second distribution of the day.  Driving through the many communities on our way to the distribution many of the team members commented on the bustling market areas of each town.  The sense of community carried over to the distribution with many local volunteers observing and assisting.  The enthusiasm of the children at this site was particularly memorable, with their requests for an encore performance of head and shoulders.  We were warmed by the fact that four young girls who missed the first distribution of the day were transported to the second site so that they could still receive the gift of their bedkit.  Kathleen and Debbie were the recipients of enormous hugs as these young girls showed their appreciation.

What a day!!!

Team Kolkata 2014

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Chennai: Avadi

Today we travelled to a large high school where the Canadian team and our Rotary partners were assisted by a large number of grade 11 students from the host school.  Together we delivered another 591 bedkits  to impoverished and special needs children from the area surrounding Avadi.

Afterwards we were treated to a ten minute Hindu meditation chant by 45 young boys who, from age 5, have been taking training to be Hindu Brahmin priests.  In return they are given free education.

Next we travelled to a factory where all of the bedkits are assembled and packaged for shipment to the various distribution sites.

Finally we visited the Rotary Hospital of Ambattur where we toured the hospital and witnessed several patients undergoing therapy for cerebral palsy, eye surgery, and emergency medical treatments.  Our Rotary partners fund this hospital as one of their many charitable ventures.  They are very dedicated and busy people.

Tomorrow we head west by train to our next distribution.

Team Chennai 2014
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Chennai: Volunteer Helpers

Our Volunteers for the day!!

Team Chennai 2014
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Kolkata: Sonamukhi

After an evening spent on the road we started out on a beautiful morning for a small town in the agricultural heartland of West Bengal.  Here most of the farmers devote their time to producing coconut, date palms, rice, mustard seeds and potatoes.  We were warmly greeted by our hosts and proceeded quickly to start our busy day of distributing bedkits.  The need of the children in this region was immediately apparent to us.  We had a great day distributing 550 bed kits equally to both boys and girls, from tiny to tall and from shy to outgoing.  We certainly were the first foreigners that many of these children had ever seen.  One young man approached us with a huge smile on his face, looking to engage in a conversation.  He explained that it was his life dream to converse in English with a foreigner.  He went away as happy as one of the children receiving the bedkits.  As we left for our 4 hour drive back into the city and were miles past the distribution site, we continued to see bedkits joyfully carried on foot, bikes, carts and heads!  These bedkits were on the way to their new homes!

Team Kolkata 2014

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Kolkata: Day of Rest .... Kind of

Even though it was a rest day we were up bright and early to see the sights of Kolkata.

Our fist adventure was to the Jain Temple  where we were lucky enough to see a morning prayer in progress
This amazing temple was covered in multicolored pastel and mirrored mosaic tiles.

We then drove around downtown to see many impressive British colonial buildings. Highlighted by the writers building and the Victoria Memorial Indian Museum.

Following this we made a quick stop at new market a market for those who enjoy combat shopping, every merchant wanting to be our best friend ....Hahah

Next was what we all had been waiting for a visit to Mother Theresa's . We visited her tomb, her sparse room, and wandered over to the orphanage. The children were sleeping so we did not want to disturb them.

We headed back to the hotel for some well needed rest, although it does not sound like we did much ... We were in traffic for over 5 hours ... The traffic is crazy busy.

If you are following our Blog you might realize that there are laps in our writing. We have had some poor internet connections but are trying our hardest to keep you informed about our journey.

Kolkata 2014
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Kolkata: Kalanabagram

Up bright and early, on the road by 630. After a smooth journey, we arrived to a warm greeting by parents children and our Overseas Volunteer Partners. We were surprised to be entertained by the children with four regional dances that made us smile. Each had its own distinct flare that wowed us all.

 

550 children will be sleeping well tonight because of your generous donations; the children received the bedkits and we received the smiles. 

We have the chance to interview family members each day to insure the bedkit meets the needs of the child and family, and today's responses re-enforced the importance of the bedkit items.

The climate here is cooler the in Kolkata so certain items were appreciated more, especially the warm sweater and blanket. The parents shared how important the school supplies were for these children as they want their child to attend school for as long as possible.

After the distribution, we had the distinct pleasure of seeing the bedkits being used in an all girls dormitory where these young girls sleep on solid wood beds, with no mattress. Showing us that these bedkits will provide them with a comfortable sleep from now on. We saw them laughing and smiling and giggling as they disassembled the bed kit and put it straight to use, as we left they were cheering, smiling and waving.

Team Kolkata 2014

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Chennai: National Girl Child Celebration Day

back row - Brian Sutherland, Bob Conway front row - Sally Jo Martin, Sue Small (team leader), Jean MacNabb, Judy Fowler

January 24 has been declared India's "National Girl Child Celebration Day". We really enjoyed today's experience as we met and gave bedkits to 650 children at a local girls high school.  A marching drum band greeted us on arrival and the day ended with song and dance performances by 4 different age groups in traditional dress. Their talents are many.

The senior students were wonderful volunteers, lining up the children, directing them to the bedkits and generally being happy and helpful. 

Rotary Club of Ambuttur had done much preparation for our distributions and that ensured the success of this first day. 

Tired and ready for bed we look forward to meeting another group of happy children tomorrow who will benefit from "the comfort of a good night's sleep".

Team Chennai 2014
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