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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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