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| From Chennai 2011 |
By 6 am on Friday we were on the road to Vellore about three hours drive away. The city was already alive with buses, motor bikes, tuk-tuks, and bicycles and all with horns blowing.
Our distribution site in Vellore was Kumaran Mahal, a marriage hall. It was quite elaborately decorated with paintings and statues. Here the Hindu weddings and receptions take place.
After some discussion the site for the photographs was selected and set up. From that point on the distribution of 850 bedkits ran like clockwork. The children came from outlying schools in buses at scheduled times, which meant that the children were not waiting too long to get their photos taken. They were delightful and most were enjoying this new experience of meeting strange people and having their photos taken. Some of the children had shaved heads. We learned that it was a Hindu custom for the child's hair to remain uncut until the age of 5 yrs. It was then given back to the Gods and sold to support the temple.
Leaving Vellore by van we headed for Nellore. It was quite an adventure as our driver lost his way. We turned around in Chitoor where many, many people were gathering to go to the Tirubathi Temple. Our journey continued along busy country roads pitted with pot holes. Seven hours later we reached the city of Vellore tired but happy to reach our destination.
Eileen Rademacher
for the Chennai 2011 Team
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