This was Day 1 of the Chennai distribution
and it was to be our “warm up” day, a straight- forward distribution not far
from Chennai. The plan was to ease ourselves into our ten days of
distributions. The day was a great
success with some lovely surprises.
The first surprise was the engagement of a
large number of level 10 students helping out. These young people were
enthusiastic and energetic. (They also got the day off of school, which
delighted them all - this was not a surprise.)
The second surprise was melodic chanting in
Sanskrit by boys from the Adi Shankara Institute of Cultural Research and
Training. They preformed during an
unexpected morning break. The chants from the lost language of Sanskrit are
meditative and soothing. It took these boys two years of studying to learn
these mysterious, ancient melodies.
On the way home we had two surprise stops. First was a visit to the packing centre where
they packed the items for the bedkits in the Chennai area. A number of women
work for about 2 weeks, diligently packing 500 kits a day. What an assembly line they have created! They are paid for their efforts by the Rotary
Club’s SCAW budget. SCAW offers
financial opportunities to small industries who create items for the bedkits.
(All the money that is donated for a bedkit goes to the country in which the
bedkit is distributed and all items are purchased there.)
Our second
visit was to the Ambattur Rotary Hospital where we ate a lunch of pizza and KFC
chicken burgers (now that was a surprise) and toured the facility. This
hospital is a tribute to the Rotarians who work hard to support it financially
with their fundraising efforts. Our host Rotarians raise money for this
hospital, a school and, of course, SCAW.
The Rotarians in India provide a great deal of support to their
communities and the less fortunate.
We have indeed “warmed ourselves up” for
future distributions. Stay tuned.
Team Chennai 2015
