Belgaum: Bailhongal

From Belgaum Photos 2010

Day 4

"Ee doo mee mah gah ghee" is the phonetically pronounced version of "This is for you" in the Kannada dialect. This phrase was mispronounced and generally mangled 501 times as the boys and girls received their bedkits at the Bailhongal distribution yesterday. Some children looked a bit bewildered at the fractured use of their language, but it was apparent that others understood. One girl's eyes grew big and she had a huge smile on her face as the words sunk in and she looked at the size of the bedkit bag.

From Belgaum Photos 2010

We were fortunate to have help from a group of teenage girls and boys from the National Cadet Corps. The girls helped organize the children for their photos, and the boys hauled the heavy bedkits out to the waiting families. Not an easy task in mid 30 degree temperatures.

With the 501 bedkits distributed in Bailhongal, this brings the total to 2,100 with another 1,900 to go.

Today we're off to Ranebennur for our next distribution.

Team Belgaum 2010

Post your comments here.