Kolkata: Our Road Trip

Dahlias seemed to be the theme of these distributions.  The first day on the road we visited Gangadharpur, for a distribution at a college.  On the same site, Rotary is building a hospital to care for patients with eye problems, particularly cataracts.  We had lots of volunteer help, and our photo site was in front of a garden featuring dahlias.  It was a beautiful backdrop to the lovely children we saw.

Student Teacher Volunteers

Children and parents were fed before each child received its bedkit, a testimony to the extra effort  that our Overseas Partners make to ensure the success of the distribution.  Many children had travelled considerable distances to reach the distribution site.

After a short drive we visited Howrah for another distribution.  It was the first time the Rotary Clubs in that area had hosted a distribution and they put a great deal of effort into it, with good success.  The children were tired, and the sun was casting long shadows by the time we finished. But they were extremely pleased with their bedkit and it was satisfying to know that they will now have a good night’s rest after a long, weary ride home.

We stayed overnight in Kharagpur where we were very well-treated by the Rotary team.  The following day there was a distribution at the Tata Bearing Factory compound.  It was another well-run distribution and the photo backdrop was a row of potted dahlias.  They were a compliment to the bright colours of the girls' dresses.

After the long drive back to Kolkata, today is our rest day.  More than half of the 5,000 bedkits have been handed out to needy children, and tomorrow we're looking forward to the start of giving the gift of a bedkit to the rest of the children. 

Judy Dryden for Team Kolkata 2015

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Chennai: Avadi Surprises!

This was Day 1 of the Chennai distribution and it was to be our “warm up” day, a straight- forward distribution not far from Chennai. The plan was to ease ourselves into our ten days of distributions.  The day was a great success with some lovely surprises. 

The first surprise was the engagement of a large number of level 10 students helping out. These young people were enthusiastic and energetic. (They also got the day off of school, which delighted them all - this was not a surprise.)

The second surprise was melodic chanting in Sanskrit by boys from the Adi Shankara Institute of Cultural Research and Training.  They preformed during an unexpected morning break. The chants from the lost language of Sanskrit are meditative and soothing. It took these boys two years of studying to learn these mysterious, ancient melodies.

On the way home we had two surprise stops.  First was a visit to the packing centre where they packed the items for the bedkits in the Chennai area. A number of women work for about 2 weeks, diligently packing 500 kits a day.  What an assembly line they have created!  They are paid for their efforts by the Rotary Club’s SCAW budget.  SCAW offers financial opportunities to small industries who create items for the bedkits. (All the money that is donated for a bedkit goes to the country in which the bedkit is distributed and all items are purchased there.)

 Our second visit was to the Ambattur Rotary Hospital where we ate a lunch of pizza and KFC chicken burgers (now that was a surprise) and toured the facility. This hospital is a tribute to the Rotarians who work hard to support it financially with their fundraising efforts. Our host Rotarians raise money for this hospital, a school and, of course, SCAW.  The Rotarians in India provide a great deal of support to their communities and the less fortunate.

We have indeed “warmed ourselves up” for future distributions. Stay tuned.

Team Chennai 2015

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Kolkata: A Traditional Dance

Team Kolkata 2015
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Kolkata: A Rural Experience

We were headed out at 7am from our hotel and already the streets were full of vehicles and people. Today's distribution was at Kalanabagram, a community surrounded by flat, fertile farmland. Most of the rice had been harvested, but lush, green fields were filled with potatoes and mustard plants.  Some banana groves dotted the landscape and everywhere we saw goats.

Kolkata's economy is largely based on its agriculture.

We were warmly welcomed by the hosting Rotary Club of Sikshaniketan and then entertained by local children, dressed in traditional costume, performing aboriginal dances.

Whether in the hustle and bustle of Kolkata and suburbs or in the countryside, the children's delight in receiving the bedkits was obvious.

After the distribution, we toured the quite unique community. The village was a wonderful example of a planned community, started by the freedom fighter, Bijoy Kumar Bhattachary, and is really based on a holistic approach to a community. We saw a day care for young children so both parents could work in the fields, a school, a vocational institute  and a nearly completed nursing home for the elderly.  A craft centre in the complex specialized in hand made bags to be sold at city markets. We all made purchases as memorable souvenirs of this particular day. The central square of the village was a beautiful setting, nicely landscaped, and the villagers were clearly proud of their community.

Anne Kell for Team Kolkata 2015
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Pune: Our Pictures

Chennai: Getting Ready

Team Chennai was greeted last night at midnight by our wonderful Rotarians. There is great excitement here over the distribution of the 100 000th bedkit in Chennai. The first distribution was in 1987, some 28 years ago. Judy will be joining us to present the special bed kit on our last day of distribution.

Team Members from Left to right. Lawrence Hutchinson, Sue Small (Team Leader), Cathy Gregory, Donna Chantler, Marg Garrett (Assistant Team Leader), Don Barclay

Today we were busy checking out the bedkit and are pleased to announce all is in good order. Lawrence led us in yoga breathing exercises as a warm up activity. We even witnessed a wedding in our hotel amidst bands and fireworks announcing the groom and an elevator ride with the bride. We’re off to a great start to our distribution.

The Bride

Marg for Team Chennai

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Pune: Final Day

Day 7 Wagholi

It’s a Done Deal!

As we travelled towards Wagholi I reflected on the past distribution days, and realized how lucky I was to have been part of a team who worked together to achieve our goal…to distribute 4,000 bedkits to 4,000 needy children in India.  We laughed and we cried, but we stood firm in the fact that we were helping these children.  That kept us going, throughout our jet lag and sickness.

Waiting in line for their bedkits

The community of Wagholi welcomed us with smiles and open arms.  We have been honoured to be a part of their celebration and thoroughly enjoyed the pomp & circumstance.  Reality will be coming soon when we come home…no more treating us like rock stars, but that is just fine.  We will have our memories of 6 team members banding together and becoming friends.

Team SCAW with Rotarians after final distribution

800 children today have now received their bedkits and their smiling faces will forever be with us.

Crowd of happy children being told what's in their bedkits

Team Pune 2015

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Kolkata: What a Wonderful Day!

Today's distribution was another wonderful experience. The SCAW team travelled through the city to Kamarhati where we were met by members of the Kamarhati Rotary Club who joined together with members of the Rotary Club of Dum Dum to facilitate the distribution. In addition, we had the great good fortune of having 16 young ladies from the Safal Bedside Nursing Training school also assisting in many areas. The confidence and enthusiasm of these young women was infectious and made the day even more fun and rewarding. 

With all of these committed volunteers our distribution went without a hitch - if they all went this smoothly it would make it hard to find good blog material!! The distribution included 2 large photo shots - one of 45 children and another of 50. Even these photos went smoothly as the children showed great patience as we lined them all up. The last of the 524 smiling faces left the park around 2:00.

From there, we graciously accepted an invitation from the Kamarhati Rotarians to join them at their club for refreshments - well fed as always.

On our way back to our hotel we took a detour to drive around a newly developing part of Kolkata near the airport - what a contrast! Tall new condominiums, a new metro, a massive "Eco Park" and modern shopping mall. Although it is encouraging to see the city growing it also served to reinforce the large gap between have and have-not that exists here in India. 

James Cook

Team Kolkata 2015

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Pune: Day 6

Today’s distribution took the Pune team to the Junnar area approximately 125 km

north of Pune. The day was perfect weather wise with the temperature in the low 20’s Celsius .  The area is at a higher elevation than Pune, and the air was fresh.

The drive to our destination took us through agricultural areas. The soil appears quite fertile and the evidence of this could be seen by the number of various crops. Corn, sugar cane and grapes, as well as cabbage to name a few.

The distribution went smoothly as 800 children received bed kits.  All the children were happy to receive the many items in the bedkit.  We finished the distribution and headed back to Pune tired but happy to have accomplished our goal for this 4^th full distribution day.  We have distributed 3,200 bedkits to date.

Team Pune 2015

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Kolkata: Our first distribution

Today was our first distribution day in Kolkata. To start off, we experienced a couple of hiccups when the van that was to take us to the first of our two distribution locations had mechanical problems. A replacement vehicle was organized but things got more interesting when almost immediately that car got a flat tire. Pulling out of the way of traffic in a city of such size and commotion is not easy, but our driver found a safe spot, changing the tire as cars, bikes and people flowed by.

James helping to change a flat

We arrived at the morning location in one piece and only a bit behind schedule and were greeted by our hosts, The Rotary Club of Dum Dum. The Rotarians do all of the local work required to make the Kolkata SCAW distribution a success, including identifying the children and sourcing all of the materials included in the bedkit. This year's kit is packed with items the children will use and value for a long time: a nylon mat, mattress, pillow, blanket, sheet, mosquito net, clothing, sandals, umbrella, backpack, school stationary dictionary and study materials.

preparing the bedkits

We were lucky to have a cool comfortable location to organize the 100 children in the morning group, take their photos and hand out the bedkits. As someone who has not previously been on a SCAW distribution, all I can say is: WOW! The children are almost overwhelmed by the good fortune of receiving the bedkit with all of its contents. Smiles light up their faces as they head out with such a treasure trove. Their parents are clearly equally grateful, offering thanks and their own warm smile as they collect their children, bedkit in hand.

Lynn handing out a bedkit

After a busy morning we moved to another location in the city where we were supported by the Rotary Club of Calcutta North East, as well as again by the Rotary Club of Dum Dum. As the sun sat high in the sky we handed out bedkits to another 500 smiling children.

Greeted by North Calcutta Club with flowers for afternoon distribution

After the last (and almost tiniest) child collected their bedkit, the SCAW team tidied up and headed back to our hotel feeling very satisfied by the efforts of such a successful day.

Happy Children

Lynn Benson
Team Kolkata 2015
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Pune: Day 5

At each of our distributions in Pune, the children have arrived accompanied usually by a parent and sometimes a grandparent.  Yesterday we were privileged to meet and speak, through an interpreter, with a grandmother who is raising two of her grandchildren since the death of two of her adult children.

The eldest, a girl who is ten years old, lost her mother when she was only 9 months old.  Her father left her to be cared for by his mother; he remarried however did not take back his daughter.

The little grandson is now six years old and was orphaned when both of his parents died close together from sickness.  These two young children are cousins.

This grandmother supports her family, including her husband, by cleaning houses.  Her husband is unable to work as he suffers from asthma.  He frequently visits the hospital due to asthma attacks.

Because of her exceptional circumstances, both children received a bedkit.  The grandmother was so grateful for the bedkits; she said now, for the first time, the children could have separate beds.

Here are some more pictures of the children we have met so far:

Team Pune 2015
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Pune: Day 4!

A 125 km ride along winding, climbing roads brought us to the site of the third distribution, Mahabaleshwar.  Local villagers gathered on balconies and along the roadway to be part of their first visit by the SCAW-Rotary team.  Climbing to an elevation of 4000 ft., all team members appreciated our skillful driver.  Terraced farming became quite evident. Many of today’s bedkit recipients’ families survive on the crops grown on these small tracts of land.  Schools are scattered throughout this rural district.

Travelling as far away as 40 kms to receive their kit was a big event.  Families arrived by truck in groups of approximately 10.  Emotions of joy and trepidation showed on the faces of both child and parent. 

Included in the 800 students today were 20 children from the P.C. Alwani School for the Mentally Challenged, named after its founder. Daily school bus transportation is provided for these “specially- abled” children, whose challenges were both and physical and developmental.

The reward in distributing the kits is not in the flowers presented to us but the sincerity of the practiced “thank-you” and the firmness of the handshake from adult and child.

Team Pune 2015

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Kolkata: Warm Greetings from Kolkata

After a full day of travel, Team Kolkata arrived in the capital city of West Bengal in India at 5:30 Saturday morning. We were greeted at the airport by members of the Rotary Club of Dum Dum, our Overseas Partners, and their wives. Adorned with fragrant garlands, we were all individually welcomed with ceremonial smoke and mantras, and the women with bindis. What a wonderful, warm greeting to start our 2015 distribution! 

Team members ( left to right): Judy Dryden, Lynn Benson Cook, Larry Kell, Anne  Kell, James Cook, Irene Harrison (team leader)

We are excited to bring joy and smiles to 5000 children over the next 2 weeks.

We have sampled not only the warmth of Indian hospitality, but are delighted to report that sunny skies are with us.  Weather reports suggest that we will enjoy temperatures in the low to mid twenties.
Looking forward to our first distribution Monday,

Team Kolkata 2015
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Pune: Day 3

Today we drove through the busy streets of Pune, population 2.5 million, at rush hour to get to our destination about an hour away from our base.  We were welcomed to the village of Kamshet by a lovely group of people who outfitted us in elaborate finery for the upcoming distribution. We women were dressed in elegant saris in bold blues, pink, orange, bronze and purple and all of us, including Dave, again sported ornate headdresses.

We went in procession to the school venue to be greeted by staff, volunteers, parents and 800 eager children awaiting the start of the bedkit distribution. It is always a treat to interact with these children as they have their photos taken, collect the bedkit and backpack and realize that it all belongs to them to take home.

Team Pune 2015

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Pune: Rest Day

Day 2 was an administrative and catch-up day for Team Pune.  We used our time to do inventory on supplies, charge batteries for cameras and computers, debrief about yesterday’s distribution and plan for tomorrow.

Upon reflection on Day 1, we thought it was important to emphasize how much of an event, the SCAW distribution is in Pune.  From the traditional welcome to the ceremonial presentation by local dignitaries right up to the day’s end when local entrepreneurs were so proud to show the team where and how the bedkits are produced, it is clear that the community awaits the arrival of SCAW with much anticipation.

Male teachers performing at the opening ceremony

some of the Rotarians in celebratory spirit

It is also clear how hard the overseas volunteers work, particularly the Rotarians, to ensure a smooth distribution; they plan for months ahead arranging for and overseeing the production of bedkits, assisting with local arrangements for our arrival, choosing distribution sites and, with the help of the local teachers and school officials, selecting the 4000 children who will receive bedkits each year.

The opening of the day was an event in itself, with children’s entertainment, a very entertaining dance performance by the male teachers, attendance and greetings extended by the district education administrators and other dignitaries, and teachers and parents doing their part to make certain the children were organized and dressed for receipt of their bedkits.  The school was closed for the afternoon to accommodate the 800 children who were brought in from far and wide by the truckloads.

The school grounds were cleared and set up in a way which helped in the organization and flow of the distribution and to attempt to keep the volunteers and the children from standing in direct sunlight for long periods of time.

Children lining up for photos

So, with that said, Team Pune called it an early night in order to rest up for Day 3, knowing that 800 children so far would also be resting more comfortably in the Pune region.

Team Pune 2015
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Pune: Our first day!

Team Pune 2015 is very pleased to report that the first SCAW distribution of the year has been completed successfully.  The six team members working alongside several local Rotarians and volunteers handed out 800 bedkits today to the same number of excited children.

After traveling through villages and on country and mountain roads, the SCAW team arrived at a schoolyard full of eagerly waiting children and parents.  We were warmly welcomed by volunteers who draped each of our heads in a traditional cloth wrap while we were entertained by a drum brand and singing and dancing children. This was a great start to our tasks at hand.

Team SCAW: Karen Morgan, Faith Clark, Karen Bridgman-Acker, Dave Morgan , Eileen Rademacher and Isabelle Parliament.

The Rotarians explained to the children and their parents what would be happening today: each child would receive and change into a new school uniform, have their photograph taken, and be provided with a ‘bedkit’ consisting of many more items: pillow, ground mat, multiple blankets, mosquito net, shoes, backpack with school supplies, underwear, socks etc. These bedkits, containing items that were mostly produced locally, were very impressive!  And they were very well received – the parents and children had learned to say “thank you” and did not hesitate to repeat it at every opportunity.

The bedkits items were packed into large eco-friendly shopping bags, made at a nearby manufacturing plant.  We were invited by the owner to tour his facility, which was quite interesting; at this location, he employs approximately 550 people, over half of whom are women, who make a large variety of “bags” from hand sized to huge industrial container size. They produced the 4000 bags which will contain the bedkits for this year’s distribution over the next week.

It was a warm and sunny day in Pune today, the children and their parents were very pleased and appreciative of the generosity of the SCAW donors, the cooperative spirit was alive and well between the overseas and Canadian volunteers; all in all a great start to the Pune 2015 distribution!

Team Pune, 2015
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Bangladesh: Final Distribution!

Day 10 Maona Bangladesh - Final Distribution Completed

Today we completed the final distribution of 300 bedkits in the small village of Maona at a local school. What joy of clapping, cheering and photo taking occurred as the final bedkit was distributed. We now know that 5000 children are now sleeping more comfortable with their bedkit items. After the distribution was complete, we had the opportunity to visit the home of a child who had received a bedkit at this year's distribution. He was a little nervous at first when we came to his home, but we noticed that the bedkit had been opened up and then securely tied together again. We asked him what was his favourite item that he had received and then after a long hesitation, he picked up the mosquito net. We really think that he liked all the items but had a difficult time selecting only one item.

The second home that we visited was the home of a child who had received a bedkit from two years ago. We were very pleased to see that the pillow, blankets and mosquito net were still in very good condition and being used daily. It gave us a great feeling that the quality of items is still an important factor in the selection of the bedsit items. 

A special thank you to all SCAW donors for making this dream come true. Murray Dryden would be very happy with the accomplishments of the SCAW team members and the Rotary Club of Dhaka our "Overseas Volunteer Partners"

As the team prepares for their departures, they will leave with many lasting memories of the 2014 Bangladesh distribution. Happy Sleeping and Dreams!

Bangladesh Team 2014
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