Now THIS is India!

I made it out! The ATR-72 (a new plane for my list) found it’s way through the clouds, and I left Aizawl for a three-legged trip to Hyderabad. At each stop, I was the only person carrying on, it seemed. One of the stops required the plane to be refueled which meant I had to get off, but I wasn’t allowed into the airport, so I just stood on the runways visiting with the pilot and ground crew. We were delayed because they didn’t have enough fuel at the airport. The fuel truck took fuel from one plane and put it into ours.

Thanks to Carol P. and her contacts, there was a car waiting when I landed, and we left Hyderabad at 11 p.m. for the 11-hour drive to Narsapur. The scenery was what I thought India would be like: flat and wet, dotted with water buffalo and beautiful colorful temples.

We stopped for breakfast on the road. I had a Coke.

I met up with Pat, and Sisay and Pastor Chand took us out to the orphanage. The greeting--complete with a banner and signs and flowers--overwhelmed Pat. We had a short program of welcome with speeches and some action songs from the children.

We toured the orphanage. The building is good, but it is very small for 40 kids. Every night they pull the mats onto the floor to sleep but must stack them up again in the morning to have a place on the floor to sit and eat . Each child has a small tin locker for their clothes.

We had a long and productive meeting with Pastor Chand in the afternoon. He has been looking after us very well: providing good food and making sure we have what we need. Thank you for that!

It's People That Make the Difference

I have always said that you must have good people on the ground if a project is going to work, and I stand by that statement. I might be "project manager," but if I don't have a great person as the in-country project manager, the chance of success diminishes greatly. I am fortunate to have a whole team of great people working on the clinic project in Mizoram. Nokap is doing an outstanding job of managing the project funds and books as well as consulting on materials and problem solving with the rest of the people involved.

The contractor is keeping the materials flowing to the job site and lining up the labour force. He is ahead of schedule, and best of all, on budget. His crew is working every day, under the watchful eye of the foreman. The only time I saw the workers stop was when I asked them to pose for a photo.

Grace is doing a great job with the computer training center, too: making forms for me and gathering personal information about potential students while still doing a great job in the classroom. She is not alone. I watched her family support her in the work she does. Her brother is now helping with the teaching, freeing some time for her to work on our project. I met her mother and father who beam with pride about the job their daughter is doing.

People who are not involved with a project yet have also been very kind. The principal of the Pine Hill Academy and Rama who manages of the new Adventist hospital and teaches at the SDA school in town both took time off to meet me at the plane in Aizawl and accompany me back to Champai. They opened their homes to me, fed me, and looked after my needs. We hope to work with these people soon with projects to help those whom they represent. Knowing that we have good people on the ground makes supporting a project much easier.

I cynic might say that all those people have a vested interest in being good to me, because they are receiving something in return. Of course this is true, but I believe that the relationship is far more symbiotic than parasitic. I also believe that these people are working not to improve their own lot in life but to help the members of their community who it.

I have been stuck in Aizawl for three days now because the weather is preventing the planes from landing. Everyone with whom I have come into contact gone out of their way to help me! These are not people with whom I am doing a project; for the most part, they don't even know why I am here! The staff at David's Kitchen and the Clover hotel who nightly (and sometimes many times nightly) had to reboot the internet connection so I could work at 3:30 a.m.; the wonderful young lady at the front desk who helped me place calls, suggested other hotels when hers was full, found me a taxi driver for the week--all I needed to do was ask and someone was phoning a brother or cousin to ask something or offering to take me where I needed to go. When I couldn't fly out to meet the group from the Good Shepherd Lutheran church and I didn't have a phone number for the local pastor they were to meet, many calls and emails were placed on my behalf to assist me.

My taxi driver offered me his phone to call long distance to Hyderabad then spent the rest of the trip phoning all his contacts to find me a hotel room (which is becoming harder and harder to find every day the planes don't fly). Shop keepers, egg roll makers, bank tellers and managers, and the very patient ticket agent at the airport have all been very kind to me, never asking for anything and refusing my offers of compensation. I am not so naive as to think that everyone is nice and that no one will take advantage of me, but the level of support has been amazing.

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all the people who have gone out of their way to help me. It is truly the people that make the difference in this world, and to quote my mother, "You have to decide if you want to be part of the problem, or part of the solution." I'm so glad we can work together for solutions.

Gridlock on the Aizawl-Champai Highway

Well, I am writing this blog from the side of the road as negotiations regarding the rights and wrongs of the two drivers involved in this road accident take place. Now, before I go any further you should know that everyone is just fine. One thing about never getting faster than 20 km/h is that, if you can keep the car on the road, you will survive.

You see, on my trip back to Aizawl, the sumo I was travelling in met a very large truck coming around a tight corner, and everyone came to an abrupt stop just 3 feet apart . After backing up to a pull out, the truck went around us and all was right with the world. Three corners later, we met another truck and we came to another abrupt stop, but the truck did not. The driver tried to go around us but missed. I mean, he missed going around us and therefore, hit us!

This brought the entire highway to a halt as the negotiations began about who was at fault and who should pay. Next came the phone calls to the police--like we were going to get cell phone reception and wait 6 hours for a policeman to drive out from Aizawl! I assumed (correctly) that this was mere posturing. One could not argue about who was over the center line as there is no center line. Heck, there is barely one lane! I thought about getting out my tape measure, then thought better of it and minded my own business for a change. Thirty minutes later some arrangement was reached and we carried on.
Another hour down the road and the drive came to a quick stop again--this time to look at the site of the bus crash yesterday. As I got out of the car and looked over the edge, my stomach made a rush for my throat. They explained to me that it was a school bus that crashed, but I could not see it in the bottom of the ravine. I can't believe that anyone could survive such a trip, but apparently only one child died. We drove around to the other side of the ravine, and I took this picture. I was never able to see the bottom of the plunge nor the bus wreckage. What a terrible tragedy for this community already in mourning!
I am finishing this blog from the comfort and safety of my room in Aizawl. Don't think I don't know how lucky I am to have made it here in one piece. Before I left I had a colleague warning me about snakes and bad water and such, which is all good advice, but by far the most dangerous thing I face is the road! At least no one was shooting at us as we drove along the road like in Guatemala, right Rob? Tomorrow will be tame by comparison. I only have to navigate the Indian banking system.

Let me say again how sorry I am that this community has had such a terrible week. My heart goes out to you all.

Not A Good Night

"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." Revelation 21:4

When I walked up to the computer training center this morning, I saw many of the stores near the CCIT closed. When I entered the CCIT, the number of students was greatly reduced from the day before. Grace said that many of students were up all night so they would not be in class this morning. It turns out that the day before, not one but two busses on two different roads went over the edge of the cliff killing many and sending many more to the hospital. I can’t believe anyone survived going over the edge of these mountains, though I am very happy that some did.

By 9 am the road in front of the house of the family that lost a member the night before was lined with people . Grace informed me that the young people will come in the evening and sing for the next three nights. I am amazed at the response from this community during this terrible time. I have always believed that the true nature of a person, community, or leader often reveals itself during a time of crisis. It made me think of the number of times I didn’t go to a funeral because it conflicted with a class or a meeting. I have never closed my business for the day to sit on the front lawn of a family in grief. I don’t think I have even taken lasagna to someone in mourning.

My heart goes out the families and friends that suffered such a great loss yesterday. To quote a friend of mine: “We are different, and yet we are the same.” Loss is loss regardless of where we are in the world, but how we show our support for our neighbors differ. Maybe I will go and sing tonight. Or perhaps I will just hum along...

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Sleep eludes me at the appropriate time but won’t leave me alone when it should. I woke up very early in the morning yesterday and lay there trying to will myself back to sleep. When that failed, I went out on my balcony and watched the sun rise over a mist-filled valley while eating fresh bananas--time to reflect on my current trip to India to review and evaluate progress on the projects A Better World is looking at in this region.

Yesterday, I visited the clinic construction site at Zowkathar. It is a 2-hour drive which seems like too much after the 7-hour drive of the day before. I am enjoying the road this time, though. I just pretend that I am in a road rally race, and the trip becomes an exciting adventure instead of a kidney jarring, butt numbing trip. I do marvel at the skill of the drivers on the road. They know exactly where the corners of their vehicles are.

Coming over the crest of the last hill going into Zowkathar, the clinic is very visible with its shiny new roof. I would take a picture, but the Sumo (like a Land Rover) is bucking so badly I know I will never get the shot. ( I cheated and had the driver stop on the way home for this picture.) The road into the clinic is closed while they construct a culvert over a stream; the goat trail we drove down was a challenge for the Sumo to, say the least, but we arrived in one piece.

The structural components of the building are all completed, the floor is poured, and even the roof is on. Interior walls are made of brick and then plastered over for a smooth finish. All the interior walls are started, and about 15 men were working on them when we arrived.

The workmanship is very good, and the materials are great, too! The process is very manual. Even sifting sand is done by hand. The foreman helped me measure the building and answered all my questions through a translator. His crew is working 7 days a week, but I guess there is not much else to do in Zowkathar. It reminds me of my jug hound days on Melville Island. Best of all, the contractor has no outstanding issues and the project is on budget! I love it when a plan comes together!