Well here I am again.
Christmas is just around the corner, the Sun is shining and it is a beautiful day, strange birds sing in the trees, the mist on the hills is burning off and there is a cow eating my lawn, an almost surreal scene. Kris is having a lay in this morning, she has been suffering from the dreaded 'delly belly' for a couple of days now, its funny but she wasn't impressed when I told her 'whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger' as she rushed by me heading for the loo. All of this got me thinking about the differences to our life here over what we have been used to in the UK. so here are a few things that have made me go mmmmm
Going shopping for a chicken, then looking it in the eye and saying 'that one' knowing you were ending its life, leaving five minutes later with it in a bag.
Making friends with a stray three legged dog that guards our side road from all other dogs, all the neighbours feed him as do we now, he hops about, loves kids and plays with them, quite a character.
Seeing my first dead person on the side of the road with people just walking past ignoring him.
Trying to find a garden fork here.................try Delhi I was told.
Discovering that a main through road is one lane when we went to visit Panawar and nobody gives way until the last second.
Coming home late one night and really seeing how many people live on the edge of the streets in groups or what looks like small colonies, sometimes grouped together around their occupation, brush makers, potters, fruit sellers an other time I saw a small group alone on a road, why I have no idea, were they outcasts or had they chosen to be so far from others? Children play, grow up, marry, have children of their own, die having known only their patch of road, their life spent on the roadside in the fumes and the dust of passing traffic.
I thank God for being so fortunate to have a home and such a standard of living as I have, there is a saying that I keep remembering 'There but for the grace of God go I'.
Enough for now but I will keep you updated as they occur to me.
I have been working on a design for a home water purifier that PMF could sponsor for the local villages. I have bought plastic containers, looked all over for plastic taps without success, and generally struggled with making it simple to make and to use.
The problem is that nobody in the villages sees a need for one, diarrhoea is a normal part of children's life, as it seems is the lack of knowledge about water borne parasites and the dangers of dirty water, sometimes polluted with human or animal faeces.
3 AM this morning I had to get up and make notes and draw a diagram.....got it (I pray so anyway).
The problem is to get people to use it, the common design uses two bins one on top of the other with an internal ceramic filter, dirty water is poured into the top and drips through to the bottom via the filter where there is a tap to fill cups from. Just what you need you would think.
I was sat in a rickshaw watching local people drink in town from a water seller yesterday. At the time I thought nothing of it, however my grey matter was working on it.
Indians don't put cups to their mouths, they pour from an inch or two away, the water seller had a ladle that customers dipped into his clay water pot then lifted to their mouths and poured, at no time did they touch the ladle to their mouths.
I had been trying to design a water purifier for Westerners not Indians!
My design now uses a plastic 'bucket' with a lid with the ceramic filter on its side. A pipe (from the side low down) delivers water to a clay pot with a ladle. The bucket can be hung or stood on a surface and refilled as necessary In this way the only change to the drinking routine is to pour the dirty water into the 'bucket' rather than the pot, drinking is done as normal from a (new) clay pot with a ladle I want to put smiley faces on the new pot to re-enforce the connection between clean water and happiness/health and Kris will include it in her health teaching sessions. I also want to give one of these free to each of PMF's cluster group leaders, in this way they become advocates of its use and people can see the benefits first hand and will hopefully also want to use one.
Home life.
John Parker was here for a visit and ate with us last week. It was great to see him and hear all the news from Durham. He passed on many many hello's so thank you all for that. I bet Eddy Bussy is having a quieter life now we have gone, no one to argue with in the discovery group and the pub! Go on Eddy explain how the universe is the size it is in the time available. What was that? variable light speed? Ha got you, can't argue now can you. (I bet he will). I also miss those debates on many and varied subjects. Does the discovery group still continue in the pub on Mondays?
Our seeds are all growing well. It is really weird, this is mid winter, got to get a bit colder yet but no frost or anything remotely close to that and I have sweet peas, beans, various gourds and lots more all growing away. The chysanthamums in the garden are all in flower and the poinsettiers are looking great, I said it felt weird.
Kris is mastering her kitchen, gas hob, and (now) a new combination grill/oven/microwave to play with. No cooker as such so no big oven. She is planning a semi English Christmas dinner as we have guests coming so it will be a buffet style of various dishes some 'spicy' some not...........NO sprouts!
As promised in my last blog a look around the house.
Kitchen with new cupboards, note the coffee machine, it made it to India. Back door leads to garden.
Here there is a space between the fridge freezer and the door (about six feet) we are going to put a long table/bench there to work on as there is very little bench space now, lots of under bench storage but we will fit screens of some sort. The main thing is Kris is happy with it and is looking forward to making it 'ours'.
From the dinning table end, under the covers (in the corner) is my tenor sax and Kris's clarinet.
From the lounge area looking at the kitchen door and dining area, water cooler far right.
This is going to be Kris's studio, very light with two windows so it is ideal for her.
All the bedrooms have a changing room and an en-suit wet room, Kris's studio is intended as a downstairs bedroom, hence the wet room and changing room leading off it.
That's the downstairs other than a small under stair area we use for storage of garden tools. The first floor with two bedrooms and the roof I will show you in my next blog.
When Kris and I sold or gave away everything to charity and came here to work for God we didn't know where or how we were going to live. It says in the bible that God will reward you ten fold for what you give without thought of reward, we have received far more than that. Just look at the house He has given us, the people we have connected with since we came here, the friends we are making both Christian and Hindu. I cannot explain how it feels to just put your trust totally in the Lord, \I never thought I would do such a thing, commit in such a way. I suppose it is like a parachute, when you jump you pray it will open but until it does all you have is faith, then comes the moment when you realise that you are being held, you are safe.Some reading this might think we are crazy, but that is the nature of faith isn't it, to just trust and go for it. We have been granted so much for doing what we feel was so little. God is wonderful, he is our light in the dark, our guide through the dangerous places and our friend and saviour.I saw a belt buckle while I was in America, it said 'Jesus rides with me' worn by a Biker I had met, one day I will find or make one that says 'Jesus, always at my side'.
As we have mentioned before we have spent the car fund because we have decided to go in for a scooter (maybe two). Every time we go anywhere we have to use the rickshaws, it will be SO good when we get our international licences for India. Kris's brother is sorting the England end for us, as soon as that is done the fun really starts, trying to wade through all the paperwork for the Indian government, oh joy.
Solar water heater has taken a back seat at the moment because the water filter has priority but I think I have given up on plastics, they are either ideal but not UV stable or UV stable and very poor heat transfer rate. Galvanised steel is plentiful here so that maybe the route I will go, that way it can still be made in the villages by anyone who can weld, yes I know it will rust eventually but I really cant think of anything else. Any idea's would be very welcome.
The idea isn't to make lots of them, my job is to make one that can A/ be made from local materials as cheaply as possible B/Can set up as a small business using micro finance to get it under way for one or more people making and installing them. In this way we are helping raise the standard of living and making a real difference to lives. Remember the principle of 'give a man a fish'.
This is our Christmas tree, Kris worked on decorating it for hours but I think it was worth the effort.
Oh I have just heard from Debidutta of PMF, he wants me to go ahead and build the prototype clean water filter....yeah!I will see him at church today (now Sunday very AM) and get a filter so that I can get on with it. I will keep all of you updated on progress.
Oh yes, I just remembered, I have been dragged onto Facebook I am told it will make communication easier, we will see, as you may have guess I am not a great fan of it, I have seen too many children hurt by comments from others or by slurs about their lifestyle.In my darker days I knew people who would by gaining info from it know when a person was always out so they could break in and rob them, think how much you tell a friend of a friends friend that you have never met and dont know!
Well I think that's about it.
We pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and are blessed in all you do.
Chris
Ok so it only took her ten minutes!
Christmas is just around the corner, the Sun is shining and it is a beautiful day, strange birds sing in the trees, the mist on the hills is burning off and there is a cow eating my lawn, an almost surreal scene. Kris is having a lay in this morning, she has been suffering from the dreaded 'delly belly' for a couple of days now, its funny but she wasn't impressed when I told her 'whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger' as she rushed by me heading for the loo. All of this got me thinking about the differences to our life here over what we have been used to in the UK. so here are a few things that have made me go mmmmm
Going shopping for a chicken, then looking it in the eye and saying 'that one' knowing you were ending its life, leaving five minutes later with it in a bag.
Making friends with a stray three legged dog that guards our side road from all other dogs, all the neighbours feed him as do we now, he hops about, loves kids and plays with them, quite a character.
Seeing my first dead person on the side of the road with people just walking past ignoring him.
Trying to find a garden fork here.................try Delhi I was told.
Discovering that a main through road is one lane when we went to visit Panawar and nobody gives way until the last second.
Coming home late one night and really seeing how many people live on the edge of the streets in groups or what looks like small colonies, sometimes grouped together around their occupation, brush makers, potters, fruit sellers an other time I saw a small group alone on a road, why I have no idea, were they outcasts or had they chosen to be so far from others? Children play, grow up, marry, have children of their own, die having known only their patch of road, their life spent on the roadside in the fumes and the dust of passing traffic.
I thank God for being so fortunate to have a home and such a standard of living as I have, there is a saying that I keep remembering 'There but for the grace of God go I'.
Enough for now but I will keep you updated as they occur to me.
I have been working on a design for a home water purifier that PMF could sponsor for the local villages. I have bought plastic containers, looked all over for plastic taps without success, and generally struggled with making it simple to make and to use.
The problem is that nobody in the villages sees a need for one, diarrhoea is a normal part of children's life, as it seems is the lack of knowledge about water borne parasites and the dangers of dirty water, sometimes polluted with human or animal faeces.
3 AM this morning I had to get up and make notes and draw a diagram.....got it (I pray so anyway).
The problem is to get people to use it, the common design uses two bins one on top of the other with an internal ceramic filter, dirty water is poured into the top and drips through to the bottom via the filter where there is a tap to fill cups from. Just what you need you would think.
I was sat in a rickshaw watching local people drink in town from a water seller yesterday. At the time I thought nothing of it, however my grey matter was working on it.
Indians don't put cups to their mouths, they pour from an inch or two away, the water seller had a ladle that customers dipped into his clay water pot then lifted to their mouths and poured, at no time did they touch the ladle to their mouths.
I had been trying to design a water purifier for Westerners not Indians!
My design now uses a plastic 'bucket' with a lid with the ceramic filter on its side. A pipe (from the side low down) delivers water to a clay pot with a ladle. The bucket can be hung or stood on a surface and refilled as necessary In this way the only change to the drinking routine is to pour the dirty water into the 'bucket' rather than the pot, drinking is done as normal from a (new) clay pot with a ladle I want to put smiley faces on the new pot to re-enforce the connection between clean water and happiness/health and Kris will include it in her health teaching sessions. I also want to give one of these free to each of PMF's cluster group leaders, in this way they become advocates of its use and people can see the benefits first hand and will hopefully also want to use one.
Home life.
Our seeds are all growing well. It is really weird, this is mid winter, got to get a bit colder yet but no frost or anything remotely close to that and I have sweet peas, beans, various gourds and lots more all growing away. The chysanthamums in the garden are all in flower and the poinsettiers are looking great, I said it felt weird.
Kris is mastering her kitchen, gas hob, and (now) a new combination grill/oven/microwave to play with. No cooker as such so no big oven. She is planning a semi English Christmas dinner as we have guests coming so it will be a buffet style of various dishes some 'spicy' some not...........NO sprouts!
As promised in my last blog a look around the house.
Kitchen with new cupboards, note the coffee machine, it made it to India. Back door leads to garden.
Here there is a space between the fridge freezer and the door (about six feet) we are going to put a long table/bench there to work on as there is very little bench space now, lots of under bench storage but we will fit screens of some sort. The main thing is Kris is happy with it and is looking forward to making it 'ours'. View of the main room from the stairway, the floors are all marble, the furniture is ours bought here instead of a car. |
From the lounge area looking at the kitchen door and dining area, water cooler far right.
From the lounge end looking at the front door (first on left) and the stairs to the first floor. The door on the left by the stairs is Kris's studio. The door in the centre is the kitchen. There are 36 steps on those stairs, that's a good cardiac work out for anyone!
This is going to be Kris's studio, very light with two windows so it is ideal for her.
All the bedrooms have a changing room and an en-suit wet room, Kris's studio is intended as a downstairs bedroom, hence the wet room and changing room leading off it.
When Kris and I sold or gave away everything to charity and came here to work for God we didn't know where or how we were going to live. It says in the bible that God will reward you ten fold for what you give without thought of reward, we have received far more than that. Just look at the house He has given us, the people we have connected with since we came here, the friends we are making both Christian and Hindu. I cannot explain how it feels to just put your trust totally in the Lord, \I never thought I would do such a thing, commit in such a way. I suppose it is like a parachute, when you jump you pray it will open but until it does all you have is faith, then comes the moment when you realise that you are being held, you are safe.Some reading this might think we are crazy, but that is the nature of faith isn't it, to just trust and go for it. We have been granted so much for doing what we feel was so little. God is wonderful, he is our light in the dark, our guide through the dangerous places and our friend and saviour.I saw a belt buckle while I was in America, it said 'Jesus rides with me' worn by a Biker I had met, one day I will find or make one that says 'Jesus, always at my side'.
As we have mentioned before we have spent the car fund because we have decided to go in for a scooter (maybe two). Every time we go anywhere we have to use the rickshaws, it will be SO good when we get our international licences for India. Kris's brother is sorting the England end for us, as soon as that is done the fun really starts, trying to wade through all the paperwork for the Indian government, oh joy.
Solar water heater has taken a back seat at the moment because the water filter has priority but I think I have given up on plastics, they are either ideal but not UV stable or UV stable and very poor heat transfer rate. Galvanised steel is plentiful here so that maybe the route I will go, that way it can still be made in the villages by anyone who can weld, yes I know it will rust eventually but I really cant think of anything else. Any idea's would be very welcome.The idea isn't to make lots of them, my job is to make one that can A/ be made from local materials as cheaply as possible B/Can set up as a small business using micro finance to get it under way for one or more people making and installing them. In this way we are helping raise the standard of living and making a real difference to lives. Remember the principle of 'give a man a fish'.
This is our Christmas tree, Kris worked on decorating it for hours but I think it was worth the effort.
Oh I have just heard from Debidutta of PMF, he wants me to go ahead and build the prototype clean water filter....yeah!I will see him at church today (now Sunday very AM) and get a filter so that I can get on with it. I will keep all of you updated on progress.
Oh yes, I just remembered, I have been dragged onto Facebook I am told it will make communication easier, we will see, as you may have guess I am not a great fan of it, I have seen too many children hurt by comments from others or by slurs about their lifestyle.In my darker days I knew people who would by gaining info from it know when a person was always out so they could break in and rob them, think how much you tell a friend of a friends friend that you have never met and dont know!
Well I think that's about it.
We pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and are blessed in all you do.
Chris
Ok so it only took her ten minutes!
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