Belgaum: A 3 Part Day!

The second day of our distribution included three components.

The first, and most important, included the distribution of 400 bedkits to the children of Nipani. Nipani is a town about 1.5 hours drive from Belgaum. We were greeted by a room full of smiling little faces and a large crowd of anxiously waiting parents beyond the gates of the school. It didn’t take very long for the children to become excited and boisterous with the introduction of some balloons and balls from Canada!  As they watched the SCAW group show the contents of the kits, their excitement exponentially grew.

One of the reasons why today’s distribution went smoothly was the involvement of several dozen Rotarians, the Women’s Inner Circle group, and, of special note, the Rotaracts. Rotaracts are energetic and enthusiastic junior Rotarians who volunteer countless hours to benefit their communities.


In the courtyard of our distribution today, there was a sign that read “coming together is beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success”. All of these men and women volunteers demonstrated that success is possible.

The second component of the day included the opening of a local health care facility and surgery in Belgaum. We were given the privilege of sharing in the pride and progress of a team of eight doctors (4 father and son teams!) as they ceremonially opened this new facility.  Not only was the pride evident on the faces of the staff and community members, but their hard work and commitment was measurable.  It was an honour to be part of this proud day for Belgaum.

The third, and final part of today took place later in the evening. We were invited to be guests at the wedding reception for a daughter of a Rotarian in Belgaum. Again, what a surprise and privilege to find ourselves amongst 800 wedding guests.  Each guest was beautiful in their colourful saris and best clothes. Music played and food was served. The hospitality, generosity and openness of the Indian people was overwhelming. If all the world could open their arms (like the wedding party did to seven strangers from Canada), the world would surely be a better, more inclusive and kinder place.

As we are anticipating an early start and busy day tomorrow, we were unable to see the end of the festivities; however each team member went to bed with feelings of warmth, pride and excitement for the days to come.

Check out "Our First Blog" to see our new pictures.

Team Belgaum 2018
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