Saturday 1 February 2014

Kolkata: Barrackpore


Today we thankfully had a short drive to one of our last distributions of the trip.  We drove through some of the outskirts of the city on our way to Barrackpore, a community filled with military barracks just outside Kolkata.  We arrived early at the site and enjoyed spending some time walking around the area getting to know the community.  Our location today was on the banks of the beautiful Ganga river and offered an amazing backdrop for the day.  We spent some time waiting for the distribution to begin by entertaining the kids with some more bubbles and teammate Wendy brought out her hula hoop.  Even more than the kids, it was some of the women volunteering at the site who burst into infectious laughter as they tried the hoop.  

We enjoyed some great time spent with the children receiving the bedkits today as it was a smaller distribution than we have become used to.  The extra time spent on giving out the bedkits meant that we were able to really see the gratitude visible in the faces of both the children and their parents/guardians.  Many of the team members were touched to receive blessings from the children; another beautiful expression of their thankfulness that your donations have made possible.

After the distribution we were able to take a tour of the Ghandi Museum where our distribution took place.  We were able to see some beautiful murals and photos depicting important events in Gandhi’s leadership of the non-violent Indian independence movement.  This museum was a great way to finish off our day reminding us of the long history of this wonderful people.  

Finally, we finished off the day with the last few details to get ready for our final distribution tomorrow.

Team Kolkata 2014 
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