Chris and Kris in India 35

COMMENT

Summer.

This summer is proving to be one of the hottest on record. Daytime temperatures regularly hitting 44C (111F) and the hottest period is yet to come. Sadly over 200 people have died of heatstroke to date in Rajasthan this summer. 1100 in India.

Kris and I have both suffered with dehydration, getting over heated. 

After one weekend where we were confined to the house because of this we have learnt a hard lesson. 

Trust me; the heat can really be bad especially for those that have to work in the sun. Most who can afford to close up shop in the afternoon and retire to sleep in the cool.  It goes totally quiet around 2pm, and then around 5pm the world wakes up!

Sitting out in the garden in the cool evening breeze is a complete luxury, we eat outside sometimes just to enjoy it.

Update: 28^th hottest day so far and a power cut 7hrs, all day through the heat we stayed in the cool of the house (relatively speaking), then at 4pm the power came back on, fans, on with the pump and water the garden. This of course led to the decision to have a shower. So, I aimed the full jet of water from the pump straight up…………it was wonderful, my own monsoon. This is the first time this summer that I have felt cold! The evening breeze chilled me so much I shivered! In a perverse way feeling so cold was so really good!!!

Kris screamed and ran away, hee hee.

On a more serious note, the death toll this summer is going to be so bad among the very poor, the old and the infirm. I know India is no different than a lot of other countries where the old and the sick die. The UK has the same problem, but in winter: the cost to eat well and keep warm is not possible for some: the old and the infirm and the poor.

In the UK ‘food banks’ provide food for those in need, this is a volunteer run program not government sponsored, that does a truly worthy job.

My own church (Emmanuel) in Durham has volunteers who selflessly give their time and a good deal of effort to this cause. These are figures for April just From Durham food bank and its County wide distribution points!

14, 181 people fed in the year April 2014 to March 2015
6,481 kg of food donated to the Foodbank last month
6,412 kg of  food given out to food bank clients last month
1 new distribution point opened in March 

My Indian friends find it hard to believe that a developed country, one that claims to be a world power could let its citizens die like this, for no fault (in most cases) of their own.

It’s always those at the bottom of the heap or if you prefer the money scale that suffer. Those of us lucky enough to be able to afford food, housing and Electricity don’t have these problems: yet. Who knows when your job will no longer need you? Who knows when you may become disabled? Have an accident and be out of work? Many good hard working people have been put out of their houses because of debt. 

What can you do? If you are in the UK, then its easy to help, go to http://durham.foodbank.org.uk/ to find out where to donate food at their collection points. Just buy one item every week to put in the supermarket collection bins. Or google food banks Uk for one in your area. 

If you are working what excuse can you have for not helping your fellow man?

I know some of you are suspect of the major charities, how much of your donation actually gets to those who need it? Support food banks or similar schemes and YOU decide how much you give and know it ALL goes the needy

My own Bible teaches us this,

Luke 3:11
 "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same."

Many faiths have the same message, here in India this practice of helping each other is wide spread and part of the culture and saves many lives. Family units are stronger and give help if needed, but many still die each year.

So my question to you is:

Are you going to just pass bye and close your eyes to the worlds needy, or look into your heart and help. It’s your choice. I believe your choice is defined by the sort of person you are. Do you care? 

I also believe it’s never too late to make a difference to yourself and your fellow man.

As a Christian I believe in God, I have taken Jesus as my saviour, so my motivation comes from his teachings. But even if you don't believe, please act out of common humanity. Enough have died.

This is a 'Sun Bird' it is sitting on a plant spray bottle!

It really was tiny but beautiful. The amount of birds here in India that I have never seen before is amazing I am going to keep my camera handy and see what else I can 'spot'.

Kris and Amber Bai catching chickens. Its moving out day for the cocks who will now have separate quarters next to George and his Ladies. They were not happy to be moved but George our cock is very protective of his flock and is beginning to fight with the other cocks.
We have built a smaller adjoining run for them.

We are currently getting three eggs a day from four hens. One is younger than the others so she won't start laying for another week or so. After the monsoon we will buy more ten week old chicks and increase our flock of these local birds. Our aim is that they pay for their upkeep through egg sales to neighbors, give us sufficient eggs for our own use and produce first rate manure for the garden. As well as the occasional cock bird to eat or sell. To Les, thanks for the inspiration!

One or two locals came to visit us, Water Buffalo who roam all over. They can be agressive if they feel threatened, or frankly just in a bad mood!

'Who's a pretty boy then'

NGO

It has been so hard getting the NGO off the ground, we are a very new NGO and that means no proven track record which makes getting sponsorship and funding difficult. This is made worse by the many fake NGO's that are around. 

At the moment we continue to be fully self funded. No one in the NGO gets paid, we do not even pay expenses. We are a truly transparent NGO and every penny/rupee we get in funding will go to those in need. Most English teachers charge for their services especially to the very poor who then get into debt to improve their lives. Many of those who get into debt live in the villages where they rely on moneylenders to get money which causes more and more debt for them. 

We are continuing to be known for our honesty and transparency and that we want to truly help those in need. This is where the party helps us network and get our message across and this is opening more doors for us with the NGO for which we are grateful. . 

We are being more and more accepted into the community for who we are and why we are here in India. We are not being seen as those do gooders who come and go, or those who set up an NGO to make money from those who least can afford it. 

We continue to seek new members of the Society from every sector of the community, no matter their gender, faith or caste. 

It has been slow but we are beginning to establish a network of contacts, our anniversary party was a great opportunity to confirm what we are doing as an NGO. It was also a good opportunity to network with others. We believe strongly that by NGO's networking all gain. 

We are following up on potential partners to work with in the community and feel God is opening many doors for us. 

Whilst we have found it much harder than we thought initially we are not going to give up. We believe that we can make a huge difference to peoples lives and we will continue to strive towards achieving our goals.

The Self Breast Examination Cancer Awareness Seminar seems to be a way forward with more response coming from groups and ordinary people.

Chris is still teaching English but I know he longs to do it in the villages 

We have appointed our first field officer to help us overcome the natural suspicion given to 'strangers' in the village. 

Anniversary party.

We had our annual party here at our home to Celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary and to share it with friends, this was our third party in India.

For the 2nd year running we had Zucchini an Indo / Italian Restaurant cater our party. The food was excellent, all the guests said it was better than last year which had been good. The service and attention to our guests was really good, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We would recommend them to any of our friends.

This was the first party in our new home and we had 69 guests, seated around our front garden, not everyone could come as some were away.

It was a lovely evening, good food, drinks and even more special that Chris and I spent it together. 

This year did not seem as hectic getting ready for the party, we used the same caterers, chair/table suppliers so things went relatively smoothly. 

Mind you, there is always that moment where you wonder if anyone is going to turn up.

The party was good for establishing links and contacts, and we certainly have formed some new links which will help the NGO become more established.

Below are a few pictures of the party we hope it gives you a flavour of the occasion.

Wow, four years by mans law four and a half by Gods law.

Its a great time for friends and neighbors to get together.

Some of our students who helped
Kris with her art installation at Buddha College.
They have decided by the way to keep it in place for a year!

Just some of the beautiful flowers we
were given by friends for our Anniversar

Comments from Kris

This month has been very busy at work, Chris is running a Bamboo Workshop at work for the 2nd years, and I am his teaching assistant.
The Workshop is for 6 weeks and the students have to make a table of set size which must be flat to place a chai cup on without spilling the tea. 
The only materials and fixing the students can use is green bamboo, glue and string, no nails or screws or other fixings are allowed. 
They are working in 4 teams so this is really helping them with their English, Communication and Presentation skills. Their confidence is really growing and we are seeing amazing work from them. This coupled with the English classes is really making a difference.

UPDATE.
We have just had a request for ten Sodis units, the local press also want to cover the story when they are installed. Best get building huh. Hopefully next month we can report more on this.

Just heard from our field worker that I can visit his mother's village in the next week to deliver a Self-Examination Breast Cancer Seminar to the local women villagers. What great news, just have to organise an Interpreter.

Chris and I were asked to be part of a Bharat (The Groom travels usually on a horse to the wedding) but we went by Royal Enfield Bullets riding behind the groom). This was a really enjoyable yet different experience and was covered by the media with photographs in the newspaper. Can you imagine twenty Royal Enfield Bullets revving their engines riding through the city at night. The majority including us were in traditional Indian Attire. Chris looked really stunning in his Kurta pyjamas and jacket, very dashing. There was food afterwards, then we came home tired due to the heat and long evening.  Mind you it was less tiring than walking and dancing behind the Bharat which we have done before.

We continue to be amazed at the hospitality and friendliness we meet here, and continue to make new friends and acquaintances.


We are sorry this month is a little short but with moving, starting to teach a new subject, party and all the other things in our lives we seem to have run out of days!
Head masters report: must try harder.

May God bless you all
Chris and Kris