Monday 28 January 2013

Chennai: Vellore

After an early 6am start to the day we drove 3 hours north of Chennai to our distribution site in Vellore.  As we drove the landscape became more mountainous.  Our distribution was at the Kumaran Mahal, Sathuvacharry.


Prior to starting the distribution Laurie-Beth, with the assistance of a very humourous college professor, had the chance to explain what was in the bedkits to the 1st group of children.  They became increasingly excited as each item was displayed.  The children in this distribution were from outlying areas and were transported in, mainly by bus.  We distributed a total of 718 bedkits.


Following a late lunch with the Rotarians, we visited 2 local temples.  The first temple was the Vellore Fort and Temple.  We finally got some photos of monkeys Alan.  We were given special garments and led around the temple as VIP’s escorted by a 2 man band.  Locals were taking photos of us as we made quite a spectacle. The second temple we visited was constructed out of 18 carrot gold adorned with chandeliers and surrounded by water and fountains. It was night time by now and the temple was lit and shone for many miles around. Cameras and cell phones were not allowed and we almost got turned away for wearing capri length pants but our Rotarian friends convinced them to let us carry on. There were many plaques along the journey up to the temple with important life lessons written on them. Our feet were black from the barefoot temple trodding and we were exhausted but ate a late supper and prepared for bed for another big distribution tomorrow.
 




Kim for Team Chennai 2013