Mumbai (pt 1) - India WCS Projects Tour by Doug V

Greetings Rotarians and friends:

Oct 21st Mumbai, India (pt 1)

Many of you already know of our humanitarian projects in India where we have been helping sponsor "Healing Little Hearts" surgeries for underprivileged children with congenital heart disease. We're currently travelling in India with a group of ten Rotarians and partners to visit WCS projects, including children who have been saved through this wonderful project.

Through Rotary Foundation matching grants and cooperation of India surgeons, Rotarians are able to provide this "Gift of Life" for approximately US$1500. per child. So far Canadian Rotarians have funded almost 100 surgeries with about 1/3 already completed. This has grown over the past two years from a starting goal of just ten surgeries. See more on how we got involved here.

In addition to the heart surgeries, we have been working with RIDE Shekhar Mehta and D3291 Rotarians to fund an Eye Surgery Hospital. This is one of several which will be located in more remote rural areas of the country, providing eyesight and medical care not currently available for those unable to travel to the distant cities.

Of course, one of the highlights of this trip will be participating in Polio inoculations on October 24st, which is recognized worldwide as Polio Day. Everyone has seen stories and knows of the Polio Plus battle, so our team members are excited at the chance to experience vaccinating children first hand.

Our first stop was Mumbai, where we received a warm airport greeting from the District Governor and local Rotarians. We were taken to the YMCA International Hotel which was to be our home for the next few days. With a free day to catch up on jet lag, some enjoyed an afternoon tour of the Elephanta Caves.

Everyone got to enjoy the sights and sounds of Mumbai over the next few of days, which included participation in a couple of Rotary Club meetings. A warm welcome, flowers and snacks were shared in great fellowship.

The second day, we went on a bus tour of the city which included the necklace harbour area and Gandhi house museum. It was interesting to experience the culture and a wide variety of buildings and street activities, with colourful vendors and attractions.

A friendly Rotarian escorted us on a tour of Rotary projects, which included a rural school located in the distant remote village of Katia Adivasis Wadi. The exhaustive bus ride was worthwhile, when we experienced the community atmosphere and warm greetings from the children. Everyone is so grateful for Rotary's support here and the smiles/embraces from the children always feed my heart.

Along the way we saw a variety of livestock and crops, including the local women working in fields to harvest the rice. It was common to see mothers walking along the roadside carrying products, water and laundry on their heads. Once in awhile, you would observe a gathering at the riverside doing their washing.

Our next stop was at a primitive village where the residents welcomed us warmly. Here we observed a water harvesting facility as well as a mango tree planting project. The ladies took delight in showing us their small enterprise of making paper bags from old newspapers. They earn a livelihood by selling them to local stores. One surprising revelation in this simple technology-free village was their use of a single solar light.

It was a wonderful treat to travel to a third village and be welcomed into the home of the community elder. After the traditional welcome of a spot being placed on your forehead, we enjoyed refreshments and fellowship with the residents, who are appreciative of Rotary's help in building latrines for sanitation. It was interesting to observe the rice harvest in action, where bundles are stockpiled on the front yard and then taken into the homes for threshing. It is common to see cows, pigs and goats wandering about the village as well as roadways.

It is always a great satisfaction and reward to have the opportunity of visiting our Rotary humanitarian projects, which is further enhanced by the warm welcome and interaction the recipients always share. It is a further pleasure for me to witness the wonderful celebration of giving which our team is experiencing as we start another journey in the life of Rotary service. Stay tuned, our next stop will be Calcutta.

With best regards,

Doug V

PDG Douglas W Vincent, RC Woodstock-Oxford
Rotary Leadership Institute Chair, D7080
WCS Resource Coordinator, Zone 24E

Humanitarian Missions Chair, D7080
CRCID Representative, D7080
http://www.dougvincent.com

Box 1583, 684288 Hwy 2 W,
Woodstock, ON Canada N4S 0A7
Phone (519) 537-3753

See pictures of our recent humanitarian aid trips,

at: http://picasaweb.google.com/DougVpics