I slipped in the shower today and hurt my knee. It is a very dangerous setup because after a shower the marble floor stays wet for hours, so if you need to use the toilet which is in the same place as the shower you must be very careful. The host gave us a buzzer to use to call the help anytime we needed anything but both Erin and I feel silly at the idea of using it but still we take pictures of us pretending to use it…
Our schedule had us to be at a rotary club for breakfast at 930, we are ready but we don’t get picked up till 10:45. At breakfast we are treated with beautiful handmade bags with silk scarves inside. We then move on to visit a town called Onnao, where we meet with there local rotary club for tea and treats. They then bring us for a tour of the local leather factory, but before our tour the management have us gather for tea and treats AGAin… ahhh my thighs.. Allan decides to tell them that I have a love for cake and to serve it to me… BRAT! I am so full from all the meals they are serving us I cant even consider another thing. The chairs we are sitting on in the boardroom at the softest leather I have ever felt in my life. Its hard to believe that the couches I have at home were made in a place like this. We are later brought to a very poor village that is suffering from Flouride poisoning in their water system. The rotary club is trying to get funding together to help this village as well as many others to get a new water system put in place.
It is very sad to see all the devastation that has happened because of the water. Some of the team members find it to difficult to hold back tears as Allan examines some of the physical disabilities that have been caused by the poison. We take pictures of some of the damage so we can better explain it back home. The kids all want their pictures taken and many of us pose with them and are surrounded with eager smiles and enthusiasm when we show them the picture afterwards. The Rotary Club of Onnao has asked us to consider bringing our experience from this village and the information about the need for better water back to our Rotary District to consider a matching grant. The current well here is only 60ft down and it needs to be 200ft down at least to avoid the fluoride. Linda lets them know that she will pass on the information to people back home. Next stop on our day journey is to a bird sanctuary for lunch. We take a nice walk around the property with our many hosts from Onnao rotary, and try to find the “White Tiger” lol.. There are not many birds to be seen but lots of monkeys and some deer. At lunch we meet the hotel/santuary manager and Betty Jo shows us her beer chugging skills…lol… just one!! We are far behind in the schedule again but the club insists that we stop on our way at a school that they have just recently adopted as a project, it is dark by this time and all the students are gone home for the day so we meet briefly with the principal and then carry on our way back to our host families in Kanpur. Erin and I are exhausted from a long day of meetings, driving, tours and we take a quick nap before we go for dinner at 930pm. Dinner is at Allans host families home tonight and it is first a meeting and then we are surprised to learn that he has planned a new years party for us complete with a DJ, decorations and dance floor. We all enjoy some good food, dance a bit and then end up going home somewhat early! We learn this evening the true appreciation of having Allan on our team!!
Our schedule had us to be at a rotary club for breakfast at 930, we are ready but we don’t get picked up till 10:45. At breakfast we are treated with beautiful handmade bags with silk scarves inside. We then move on to visit a town called Onnao, where we meet with there local rotary club for tea and treats. They then bring us for a tour of the local leather factory, but before our tour the management have us gather for tea and treats AGAin… ahhh my thighs.. Allan decides to tell them that I have a love for cake and to serve it to me… BRAT! I am so full from all the meals they are serving us I cant even consider another thing. The chairs we are sitting on in the boardroom at the softest leather I have ever felt in my life. Its hard to believe that the couches I have at home were made in a place like this. We are later brought to a very poor village that is suffering from Flouride poisoning in their water system. The rotary club is trying to get funding together to help this village as well as many others to get a new water system put in place. 
It is very sad to see all the devastation that has happened because of the water. Some of the team members find it to difficult to hold back tears as Allan examines some of the physical disabilities that have been caused by the poison. We take pictures of some of the damage so we can better explain it back home. The kids all want their pictures taken and many of us pose with them and are surrounded with eager smiles and enthusiasm when we show them the picture afterwards. The Rotary Club of Onnao has asked us to consider bringing our experience from this village and the information about the need for better water back to our Rotary District to consider a matching grant. The current well here is only 60ft down and it needs to be 200ft down at least to avoid the fluoride. Linda lets them know that she will pass on the information to people back home. Next stop on our day journey is to a bird sanctuary for lunch. We take a nice walk around the property with our many hosts from Onnao rotary, and try to find the “White Tiger” lol.. There are not many birds to be seen but lots of monkeys and some deer. At lunch we meet the hotel/santuary manager and Betty Jo shows us her beer chugging skills…lol… just one!! We are far behind in the schedule again but the club insists that we stop on our way at a school that they have just recently adopted as a project, it is dark by this time and all the students are gone home for the day so we meet briefly with the principal and then carry on our way back to our host families in Kanpur. Erin and I are exhausted from a long day of meetings, driving, tours and we take a quick nap before we go for dinner at 930pm. Dinner is at Allans host families home tonight and it is first a meeting and then we are surprised to learn that he has planned a new years party for us complete with a DJ, decorations and dance floor. We all enjoy some good food, dance a bit and then end up going home somewhat early! We learn this evening the true appreciation of having Allan on our team!!
No comments:
Post a Comment