Update 2

Hi all,
Before I get started on this update I thought I had better mention frequency of updates or more to the point the lack of. I will not be writing every week/ month or whatever, I will write when there is something to say. the upside is maybe more than you expected, the downside is maybe more than you expected!
I hope this will be fairly frequent but who knows. Also, this blog will contain items on our work here, our home life, visits to etc. we hope you will enjoy reading it.

Firstly, what was India doing on day two of the England / India test they just collapsed. Kris took me shopping, when I left they were 38 for no loss. when I got back they were 8 for I think about 160! English bowlers are good but not I thought that good......guess I was wrong.

England won, ho hum, the country has gone into mourning...........I kid you not!

Panawar.
Kris and I visited Panawar last week. For the first time we got to see where all your money from our sales and donations will be going. Kris was deeply upset by some of the living conditions the boys injure, especially one of the bunk rooms where they are packed in with no space even between the bunks.Sorry about the quality but I was shooting practicably in the dark at ISO 3200 as I couldn't use flash. No light enters here except from a very small window, no ventilation either. Can you imagine how hot that tin roof gets in summer and what it must be like to lay there.

 Here are a few more photo's of the day.

Hole in the wall lets the smoke out of the kitchen.

This is the bunk room, dinning room and kitchen in the one block. The roof has all but had it and I make no comment on the kitchen! Note the low level cooking facilities. From this 50 boys are fed, beats me how.

Some, not all of the boys. With a new building girls could be catered for as well.

                             One of the two toilet blocks                         

The church building, it raised a question for Kris and I, so much room and the boys are crammed into what are basic stables where they cook in the summer heat and have no personal space or privacy..... It has got us into trouble before but we asked ourselves 'What would Jesus have done' would he have left them suffering or not.............

I am unsure how to feel about this, part of me says use the space God will understand, room here foe about 50 bunks spaced better than they have ever known, the other part of me say's this space is important to them to worship in, all I can do is pray and put it in Gods hands, your comments would be most welcome.

Off to school. This started a conversation, why a crocodile why not an alligator? believe it or not there is a perfectively sensible answer, to be honest it wasn't me that figured it out. They keep this formation all the way, or until out of sight at least.

Dish washing after breakfast, this concerned Kris as she said, 'all it takes is for one to catch anything and without proper washing of plates they all get it' no available hot water.

It is rumoured that I like chi.

The main building, the car is our transport for the day, below a potato patch ready for planting with chips and bits of potato left hanging in the bag to produce shoots

                                                                                  I must put on some weight or get help

This really got to Kris, it was the only toy she saw, a small truck placed carefully above the light switch, a future dream of one of the boys perhaps?

Another look at the kitchen

When we began selling our possessions prior to coming here we had never visited Panawar, there is no doubt in our minds that this is where the money will do the most good, those who know us have heard us say many times 'It was not our choice to donate to Panawar we were told to'. We had never even seen the hostel but knew that God had told us to do it, just the same as he now leads us day by day and overcomes all in our path. That really is the story of our coming here to India, God spoke and we listened. Friends have asked 'How did you know' what can I say, have you ever experienced a compulsion, a need so great that it dominates all your thinking, you cant make plans or even go day to day without feeling it in your heart, it was like that for us from last November (2011) it never let up. Every obstacle to our coming here was removed, everything that we needed was provided, it was a year that will always amaze us, one day we must write about it but for now it will have to wait, far to much to do!

Nothing much will happen until January or February then we will have a meeting with all concerned and begin to make decisions as to what to do first etc. We will keep you all up to date as work begins.

I have been working on a design for a cheap solar water heater, not so easy in a country where copper pipe is all but impossible to find, I have found a plastic that is UV stable and should stand the heat but its heat transfer rate is less efficient than copper but I am hoping that the climate will compensate for the reduced efficiency  here we have to resort to that well known technique trial and error. Next step build one and see what happens...............I will keep you posted.

Kris is beginning to develop a simple guide to hygiene,  wound cleaning and care for the villages she hopes to laminate a small book in Hindi, English and pictogram s, that is where the free hot water comes into the plan. Each 'cluster group'would have a trained person in basic first aid and be able to give hygiene advice to the other villagers, showing them how to clean wounds or properly wash after giving birth. The introduction of simple basic hygiene knowledge could save so many wounds from becoming festered and septic and could contribute to saving babies lives. What we in the west take so easily for granted is in some places here unknown. Try this, turn off your electricity for a day maybe if you are really brave two, now wash and cook, what about clean water? try it without drinking any that you haven't boiled.............could you? I know being honest I would find it very difficult even for a few days, first thought what about the fridge? how do I send e-mails, do I have any candles, see what I mean! I am not criticising us for what we have, I would just like all to be as lucky. The Pragati Marg Foundation (PMF) is doing a wonderful job here. They believe in empowerment of the individual, not charity in the sense of 'Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day' but in 'Teach a man to fish and he will eat every day' By raising the standard of education in all area's, Hygiene, water conservation, finance, basic schooling, they are contributing to a general rise in the standard of living for all. It is hoped that by working in partnership with other organisations who are also here working towards the same goal in Rajasthan more can be achieved than any could achieve alone. I think the next year is going to be so exciting.

Home

Well we have cleared the 'garden' and have started to grow seeds ready for planting out. The soil here is 90% sand so compost is a must. On that subject, our compost heap we were building is now cancelled, too hot and dry so we are now trying a container where we can add soil and waste in layers and keep it damp, a stir every week or so should keep it aerated.

Tools here are very different, I bought a rake, at least that what its called here, its more like a large draw hoe with teeth!

I'm sorry but I have to: 

                                This is our seed bed!

 

The back garden area the kitchen door is left by the rake.

                                     

 Close up of rake.

                                                              

The side garden area, we have just put up the netting to grow sweet peas up. The sun gets there in the afternoons.

We are planning to grow quite a lot of food but the main use will be to learn what works here and what doesn't, Kris and I both also want to plant containers on the roof and erect a sun shade net up there so she can sit and paint or just relax.

Well I hope that has given you a flavour of how things are here, next time I will take you on a tour of the inside of the house and update you on the progress of our work with the PMF and of course anything else that occurs to me. Please feel free to comment I will try and reply to all.

God bless you all

Chris and Kris Hyde