Reverse Culture Shock

It's another term and generally all our giving terms to things starts to seem a bit silly after a while but I am definitely experiencing something akin to this one

It's weird being back in New Zealand

I've been trying to figure out why.

For the first couple of days I ate nothing but salad cos I haven't been able to eat any while away. Salad is washed in water and water over there is dangerous - so I've been in massive vitamin withdrawal and thoroughly enjoying fresh uncooked vegetables

The first 2 days were about trying to get my stomach to feel normal again with familiar fresh food. And hoping my lungs and airways would feel less abused.

All the time you're thinking about what you've seen and experienced. Your brain doesn't stop running all the encoounters over and over and wondering what those people are up to now

We went out to breakfast this morning (K and I) on the advice of all our friends who tell us we won't have time to do these kinds of things once baby comes.

I watched people shopping and tried to equate them with the people we saw doing the same in Kolkata and Dhaka. They're all just people living their lives and going about their business.

But they're not the same.

I guess for the first couple of weeks I tried to put the experiences of Dhaka into the compartments in my head that hold the experiences you have in New Zealand. That didn't work so you have to stop doing that. Now I'm back and the experiences I was having while away are now gone and these "new-old" ones don't fit the boxes I was preparing for the "old-new" ones

This probably makes no sense. I guess if it still doesn't make sense to me it'd be ambitious to have it make sense for anyone else

Suffice to say - it's weird (but good) to be back

Thank you all

A quick word of thanks to all of you who emailed and encouragements and thoughts

Owing to technical difficulties I have only received some of them now that I am back but I am pleased that you've been blessed to hear the stories and really appreciative of your support

thank you

Home Again

Well after 33 hours in transit I am home again!

We had a loooong layover in Bangkok - more than 15 hours during which I opted to sleep in one of the dayrooms you can rent

And then finally after 4 long weeks and 33 even longer hours I walked out those doors into a happiness I have not experienced since my wedding day (sorry for waxing lyrical)

But I had some fears in coming home.

I was worried I wouldn't want or be able to talk to K about the experiences. That may sound odd but some people have used a good word in their emails to me to describe the experience - harrowing. Which is exactly what the trip has been on more than one occasion.

Harrowing things are difficult to talk about.

But already I have begun to talk things thru with her and being the wonderful wife she is K has tried hard to understand and give me room to talk about them - so that fear has not eventuated

There is another fear tho.

Complacency.

A trip like this should be life changing. That's why you go on it in the first place. I fear choosing complacency.

Brooke Fraser put it well "Now that I have seen - I am responsible"

I wonder what I will do with all this now - will it make a difference? Will I burn out from trying to change too much too soon? Will I dismiss it all as an "interesting experience" and just go back to the way things used to be.

Now that I have seen.

God's washroom

Today we visited Kalighat - literally translated as Kali's bath

Kali is the goddess of Kolkata and is taken very seriously by the local population

The queues for the faithful to go in and have their sacrifices performed were around the block and down the road - as Westerners and visitors we are able to visit without waiting in the queue because we don't get to go in to the temple proper

so we were given a tour around the outer courts of the temple past the sacrifice pit (still with fresh goats blood on the ground) and the baths where people bath in the sacred waters

Most of us were left pretty stunned by what we saw

Down the road is one of the Gangees - where people bathe surrounded by rubbish and human filth (I can't think of a euphemism)

Immediately next door is Mother Theresa's house for the Destitute and Dying (like thru the wall) - it was originally a part of the of the temple but has since been annexed - you see the story of this in the movie about her life

It's the place people who have nowhere to go and die come to spend their last days to be treated with at least a little dignity. AS I write this tears are welling up (again)

both places are very similar and very different in ways I can't write about here

Suffice to say it was one heck of a morning. We're trying to volunteer to help at the latter but it's proving difficult thanks to some unconscionable foreigners creating problems in the past

So it looks like I might be back at (F) tomorrow and (I) too

Will let you know

Just 2 days to go now and I miss K pretty bad - can't wait to be home with her again

See you all soon

Only a few sleeps to go

I can't believe we are closing in on the end now but we are

Ok we have been out to Shreerampur which is a town across the river from Kolkata

I spent another day at (F) which was not as productive as the first but will spend one last one out there on Wednesday

Shreerampur was interesting not really a village more of a town but still very rural. Dirt roads and pretty shops and very friendly people. The rural Bengali are always so friendly

We ate some delicius street food K would have loved cos it was hot and spicy but VERY flavourful and we drank copious amounts of char - the Indian tea delicacy served in tiny clay pots which you smash ceremonially after you drink cos they are considered unclean

Char contains tea and ginger and (depending on the maker) other secret spices. It's also made with sweetened condensed milk and sugar but at 4 rupees a cup (approximately 12c) everyone in India can enjoy it

It's ubiquitous and wonderfully indian. The makers are quite flamboyant in style and protective of their receipes - it's a very special Bengali ritual

We also got a tour of the history of William Carey in this place which was fasinating by J.O. (the man whom I can't film) but that's ok - the history was for our benefit and not all that filmable

All in all a full day and quite tiring

To go now we have only a volunteer session at Mother Theresa's (hopefully) and a trip to (F) again on Wed. We'll hear from another business trust on Wednesday night that focus on electrical items - met the GM the other day and he's a top bloke

Thursday is site seeing and winding down which we need cos we're all exhausted

Please think of S.P. - his back is very sore - he could not accompany us today

I am doing better - really only tired and getting ready to come home

Have so much to think about and respond to - what will the future hold...

A lighter moment

Have to share this with you

Traffic in Kolkata is madder than Dhaka cos the vehicles are bigger. Lots of buses and taxis and these weird 3 wheeled trucks

There are no real road rules except that you must sound your horn to make others aare of your presence. You don't even have to drive in your lane - so no one does - you just try to get from A to B without using brakes

Pedestrians literally run out into the road and wave at cars in an attempt to not be hit - and incredibly the cars obey. And their are soooo many of both

So the other day while attempting to cross the road ourselves we are running from one side to the other. And these vehicles are racing to get past before we get to their postion so they don't have to let us

So picture if you will the following flashing past in front of you as you run for your life

BUS, BUS, TAXI, TAXI, BUS, Man on a pony, BUS

Huh?

Yep in the middle of this carnage is a man riding a little pony

It's a similar story walking down the street where vendors have the rights to the side walk and you step over and round them

Man selling watches, man selling spices, man selling motorcycle horns, man selling fruit, live goat, man selling belts, man selling pens, 2 more goats.

B.H. reminded me the other day that when William Carey moved here his wife went insane...

I'm not surprised

3 days in business

I have spent the last 3 days at a trust (F) learning about how they are trying to do business and why it's different from the conventional business models because of it's focus on people

I helped make a few screen prints for bags and managed to do a fix on their network to get the internet working on each PC rather than one at a time which in many ways is probably the highlight of the trip

next week I'll go back for one more day and add some security to their wireless setup because it's unsecured. It'll be cool to have done just those few things

To help an organisation that I have heard so much about and that has done so much to help others was a real privilege.

I met a number of the young women who work there and took a harrowing walk thru 2 nearby redlight districts where they had been working until they came to (F) with S.P. one night

The contrast in the faces from the street to (F) is striking. So much hope at the latter so little in the former.

Today we're visiting a shopping mall to see how the upper half live

We've had some western food while here but it's really awful. Chocolate is watery and sugary, there's no fresh milk - all UHT, it's filthy - and that's no exaggeration - and SO noisy all the time.

I'm considering wearing ear plugs while I move around the town

We have a trip to another group I'll call (S) to go - it's actually based in the slums and will be the hardest bit to face. We are also going to Mother Theresas to tend to some very sick people

These will be truly heart breaking experiences I am sure. So I'm not sure whether to steel myself for them or see what comes

we have even more ill people at the moment - colds and flus mostly - but strangely I am well. I think we're all low on energy and spirit. Only because it's been such a powerful trip

It's difficult to convey in writing what it is like here - it is like nowhere I have been

If you're still reading this I won't blame you if you don't really get what I'm on about - I'm not sure I'll understand it for some time to come

Picking up now

Today we went to visit an organisation that employs independent
sewing contractors - largely made up of girls from the streets

They showed us their handiwork which was most impressive

Also heard the story of a local man who is going around treating the
homeless under cover of darkness - he appears to be a doctor as he is
well equipped - but no one knows who he is

Kind of cool to think that this is happening when most of the time we
only hear the sad stories

This city is just an incredible set of contradictions

Wealth and poverty - modern and old - filthy and clean

Eloquent English speaking homeless people and beggars who cling to
you talking a language you don't understand -

I'm tired every day because I am always overwhelmed.

Don't really have anything more profound to say than that at the
moment.

Next couple of days we visit more businesses - and I'm keen to see
them

will let you know how it goes

Kolkata at last

I am writing this to you from a crappy dodgey internet cafe in
Kolkata.

This city is harder than Dhaka for a couple of reasons

One is that I am more tired now than the first day in Dhaka. The
second is it is bigger and faster paced. THere are more buses, fewer
rickshaws - LOTS more cars

We've been to Mother Theresas Mauseleum this morning and looked
around and seen her "tomb" thing.

It was special but sad at the same time. It was all very humble but I
think she'd be sad that so many people seemed to come to worship her.
AS we were there maybe 200 people came thru to bow and kiss her
tombstone and pray over her

I don't think she'd be happy with that fuss

But it was special to go and see her and think about the work she did
there

We went out for coffee and wandered down some side streets. Amazing
sights. People washing in drains, carving the side of a cow, working
on motorbikes, burning (something) - all in a row next to street
vendors and all sorts

Blows your mind

Less beggars but as much poverty and filth - there's just no room for
the beggars I guess

I am worried I am not going to like it as much here. But I am tired
and still a bit unwell

Perhaps tomorrow with some sleep and feeling a bit better I might
embrace it more - right now I feel like I'm goign thru the motions

Got a hard time coming up for the film. I want to film J.O. (the
head guy here) as he shows us the Business as Mission stuff but he
really HATES cameras - but this is the most important part of the
trip for me personally

Please *hope* that he and I can find a compromise - I meet him (for
the 2nd time) tonight

The team is mostly well now - just J.D., R.P. and I with the same
stomach problem.

Hopefully tomorrow brings good news

must fly

The moment of all moments so far

Today we spent time with a group of Burmese refugees here in Dhaka

One of the overseas workers here is looking after them and teaching them english. There are about 60 Burmese refugees in Dhaka - which is odd for such an homogenous city and about 20 of them are coming to the lessons. How they are living the could not tell us but they are not eligible to be employed. Only some have official refugee status.

They wept when they told us they had left everything to escape persecution. Some had babies. Babies. Here. When you run away from Burma to raise your baby in Dhaka you are the real thing.

You would never wish to have a child here - not if you could choose where.

Some had been here for 15 years plus, had been university teachers but couldnt go back because the army knew they had been involved in opposing the army's takeover in the 1980s

They can not go home

I was amazed by this and the fact with a smile they would say "well, that's life"

Some have left their family behind - some might never see them again

Just incredible.

It's not life. It's not my life anyway.

Something for Graceway

Have to share this for the graceway folks

We were asked at Brahmanbaria by the local "church group" for ideas as to how they could better reach their communities.

Many people suggested Coffee nights and food banks etc - which is very nice but the group is as poor as the people they serve - one pastor even commented quite tongue in cheek "your church must be wealthy" to the suggestion of cooking meals for homeless people

When we came round the group to me I told them about the trips to Mount Wellington to pick up rubbish - cos we believe that the earth should be treated as precious and this could be a great service to the community

There was immediate discussion amongst those presetn and this Sunday they are going to do it

Just like that - they absolutely loved it!

I was so stoked to take a little piece of Graceway and now it is residing in a community group in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.

Of programs and people

the Overseas workers here are such beautiful people. They care about only one thing - reaching these people with some kind of hope. We've seen awesome development programs

Education for the poor, hostels,

Speaking of which... we took a ferry from Old Dhaka to Chandpour (apolgies for spelling). This experience alone could take a massive post to explain suffice to say it was an interesting experience

From Chandpour we took rickshaws out to villages to meet with locals and ask them about their life in the villages. We have a project to produce a presentation asking for support from new zeland for the development programs going on for one of the overseas workers here

IT was amazing to see how rural bangladesh lives and that they were so happy to explain their lives to us. Opinions were unanimous that education is the most important development needed for these kids

Few girls go to school and those who do find that high school is only marginally more challenging than high school and often leave

After spending the morning with them we went on to a 2nd village and more questions and learning. A stuning meal was put on for us and we met a feisty muslim teenage girl in a village who declared she was going to be a great doctor in strong English. She was really obstreperous and we all really liked her.

The following day we visited Brahmanbaria - a hostel which hosts some of the children from the villages we visited. It's giving kids a quality education they would not get and there is also an excellent maternity hostel attached which caters to people of all faiths and social standings. A rare thing here.

I must admit I felt very homesick at the sight of babies in incubators

The hostel has 50 boys and we distributed gifts we had brought with us from NZ - including the 2 cricket bats I've been lugging all this time. Man those kids had some crazy cricket skills. They were so talented

The boys were such amazing young men. So full of hope and such a contrast to some of what we had seen in the villages

You have to believe in the value of child sponsorship. It is awesome

Signing off for now

6 days in and still alive... just

Hello all

Sorry about the delay in commenting. Internet is very unreliable here and there is a long queue of eager people

Scavenger Hunt went well but J.D. and I lost. We were in pairs trying to buy fruit and find shops and identify services and we went down the wrong road. It was better that way tho. The poverty was apalling. Like finding a slum just off Queen Street.

We wandered down an ever narrowing road.Enormous potholes - 10 feet deep and wide enough to swallow a motorbike. The rickshaw wallas have to avoid them. It stunk and there was grabage everywhere.

You get stared at here. It's incredible. The idolise us and yet they are by far the more beautiful people. Sharp features, dark even skin, deep eyes - and beaming smiles. They are the sweetest people. When they stare at you you feel intimidated - bu then you smile or greet them and they just beam.

The poverty is indescribable. For all my filming I cannot capture it. People walk up to you in the street and show you their deformities and then beg for money

I have seen missing limbs, missing eyes, elephantitis, polio, paralysis, withered limbs, mental illness - there are sooooo many people here. 15 Million in this city and many are poor and sick.

This team (the one I am on) are just amazing. Today they all wanted to help me since I am unwell and it's really humbling.

I don't hold well to people putting themselves out for me. But I could feel myself softening somewhat with such caring.

Very humbling indeed that people would care for me like that

We're alive and well and living in Dhaka...

After a 9 hour flight to Bangkok with no sleep and a layover at a
very pleasant Guest House in the city there and then a 4 hour flight
to Dhaka I am here!

We are all alive and well! But those of you who know T.R. please
think of her. Her abdominal condition decided to pick the morning we
left to start playing up and she is very uncomfortable

She is moving around but is on very limited energy. Much appreciated.

We have been to the markets in DHaka and purchased Sahweer Kameezes
for the ladies and been met by many locals who are fascinated by the
camera!

Our hosts are A and J Sm. who some may know and they are awesome!
Today we venture to the markets alone on a scavenger hunt to prove
that we can DO it!

I'm loving it and missing K.

Thanks all for your thoughts

More when I can - Internet is very unreliable here

Test Post

Hello this is a test post from email

 

 

I don't recommend boxing...

...immediately after a tetanus injection.

Ow.

I could hardly lift my arm.

The Final Countdown

Well there's just 7 days to go now.

Spent the weekend shopping for the hostel kids and got them some sports equipment. Also picked up some medicines for me as a preventitive measure and on Friday had two more immunisations (tetanus and polio)

Liver scan results turn out to be "non specific diffuse fatty deposits" in the liver which suggests more exercise and a healthier diet. It's not a serious condition provided that I change my ways which I'm already doing so in the docs words "it's the best possible outcome"

Got a few domestic jobs to work thru for this week to have things in order before I leave and then it will be a matter for enjoying the time I have left with Kelli

Did I mention already that I am going to miss her?

Update on the update...

Just in case you are worried K is fine. Discomfort has settled down and she's been happy since.

I have my appointment with the doc tomorrow to find the result of my scan and pick up some useful stuff to take with me to ward off Dehli belly and the like.

It's so close to going now. I have the strongest mix of excitement and trepidation (sp?) I really want to go but really don't want to be away from family.

Still - it will be awesome. We're going shopping tonight to pick up some christmas gifts for kids at one of the hostels we'll be visiting. 50 boys between the ages of 6 and 16 in India - I wonder if they like cricket? ;o)

Update on medical stuff

K and I spent a bit of time up in N.S. Hospital last night. She was having a few pains that were new to her and so while I hurriedly got a head start on dinner she got a headstart on the inevitable long queue at the emergency department.

A test or two eliminated the urinary tract infection option so we waited for the doc (which took a very slow hour and a half or so) to be available to do an exam which ultimately rendered the news we probably expected from the beginning - "I don't think there's anything to worry about - come back if it gets worse."

Everything seems fine this morning. A first baby is a weird thing. All your ideas of "normal" disappear about 8 weeks in and everything new gets noticed which makes it seem kind of "abnormal" just by virtue of the fact that it's never been experienced before.

Still it is very nice to have a hospital within a very short drive and we were tucked up in bed not all that much later than we would normally have been

I have my liver scan today. I am running on empty until 1.30 this afternoon and then I have an appointment with the doctor on Friday to go over the findings. Something is not quite right in my abdomen but I am hoping at this stage it is nothing more serious than the need to get serious about diet.

I've lost about 6kg now and eat really pretty healthy - I allow myself a meal or two off a week and even then I don't eat radically bad and I have eliminated all snacking on anything but the healthiest options.

Keep you posted

Awesome Provision

Well we sold our little car. We are now the proud former-owners (or formerly proud owners or something) of a Mazda MX5. Actually curiously enough we traded it with a fellow Trade Me member called Cassidy for her 5 door RAV4

So we are officially Auckland-ites I guess. We live in the 'burbs and drive an SUV. Ok - it's only a baby SUV and Cassidy is a nice person who's kind of starting over after a bit of a rough start to life so we were really happy to be a part of her newfound happiness. She's over the moon with her new acquisition.

In exchange we got a car that's probably worth slightly more than ours was, has all the room we'll need, is as safe as a car should we hit someone else (unlike most SUV's which are substantially more dangerous) and slightly safer for us than a car should the reverse happen. Best of all we got to make someone else smile...

Yep - that's pretty good provision in my book

Of Mosques and Members

We had a surprising Sunday all in all. We visited a mosque in Onehunga on Sunday (which used to be a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall) and spoke with a scholar and the trustees and a couple of members.

They were extremely hospitable and very generous with their time (and Just Juice and Choc Chip cookies) - they even made special dispensation for the women on the team to come into the Men's prayer room to ask the questions (but they wouldn't let me film)

I was reminded of Einstein's theories on the speed of light. As something approaches the speed of light it's mass tends towards infinity... so it felt with our different belief systems - so very very close together and yet such a massive chasm of difference in between.

We then went to the Buddhist temple out at Botany Downs and to their cafe for an excellent debrief and discussion before talks turned to "what should we pack?"

Long pants is the order for the men while women need to wear robes and headscarves. So our first port of call in Bangladesh will be the markets to kit ourselves out... should be very interesting. I've lost about 4kg in preparation for the heat - but I'll have to lose more (Go Exercycle!!) - I am so going to feel the heat!

We gained a new team member too - someone well known to the Graceway folks. T.R. joins us on a Scholarship from Carey - but sadly at the expense of M.W. who has been diagnosed with Glandular Fever and advised against travelling for quite some time.

I'll post some more from our mosque trip findings over the next day or two

Ow

So today I had my immunisations done. Fortunately I have Hep B antibodies from some years ago so I just had to get Typhoid and Hep A shots. Hep A was fine but my left arm where they did the Typhoid is totally dead! Like in the school days when your mates used to punch you in the shoulder and give you a dead arm.... OK, maybe that was just my mates...

I have a wee health concern. For the last 6 months or so I have been getting abnormal liver test results. Nothing serious, just slightly elevated enzyme levels and a couple of digestion related ailments. I'm having an ultrasound scan done to check for signs of inflammation. Hopefully it will just be a case of "fatty liver" which means I need to adjust my diet a little and stick to my exercise regime and it will come right. I'll go in over the next couple of days for the scan and let you know what comes of it...

We're trying to sell our Mazda at the moment. Had a couple of nibbles but nothing firm yet. 3's a crowd in a two seater convertible... We're hoping the timing will work out that it will sell right before I go cos that would give us plenty of money in the bank while I'm away and we could save on the expenses of two vehicles for a month or longer - since K finishes work the day I get back

The trip is feeling very real and very close now. Thoughts and prayers for any and all of the above much appreciated...

More Good News

More good news coming our way. K. has completed her Beginning Teacher requirement (2 years of post grad teaching) and duly sent off her registration fee and requested to be registered while we sought divine assistance?

Why? 1 in 10 who apply are auditted which involves an incredible amount of paperwork (on the part of the BT applying) at the most stressful time of the year when you're 7 months pregnant (in our case). This would have been made worse by the fact that I wouldn't have been around to help out with encouraging words and all that good husbandy stuff you have to do in these situations

I say "would have been" because we got the reply from the powers that be yesterday and K is not one of the 1 in 10! So she's now a fully recognised teacher and can carry on to years end with only the usual ridiculous amount of paperwork she has to do.

I always feel a little guilty with blessings like this. We were saved from the nightmare but that means someone else has to go thru it. Whoever you are who got our "lucky" number we hope and pray you find the strength and support to do this.

Latest Meeting

So we met last week on the 2nd at 7pm. There were 7 of us present with our leader away in Fiji and a couple of others unable to attend.

The format of these prep meetings is that we work thru a cross-cultural book that challenges some of our preconceptions and requires us to share and interact with each other. Ice-breaking and growth all rolled into one.

We also chatted with one of the team (who lives in Queenstown) for the first time via phone which was great.

We really have a good bunch of people on this trip and the more we meet the more comfortable we are becoming with each other. Most of the team is in their 30s or older which means no cliques which you can sometimes get with a young team - so that's great.

But even the younger members have a great deal of maturity and have plenty of great stuff to contribute. As I've been interviewing people for the doco everyone has commented how much they enjoy the team and their high expectations for our trip.

The next big item on the agenda is a visit to a mosque on the 28th of this month and visas for Bangladesh which we'll apply for as soon as I send my passport to J.

Team Meetings

As part of getting ready for the trip and because there are 10 of us and we'll have to live together in fairly close proximity for 4 weeks while we are away we're getting together regularly to work thru a short term "multicultural" workbook and just generally get to know each other

Our next meeting is on October 2nd

We also have high hopes of visiting a mosque here in Auckland towards the end of October to get a feel for one of the most important aspects of life in Bangladesh before we get there for real. More on that later....

Great news and sad news and good news

Well it's been an interesting fortnight. About a fortnight ago my church, Graceway, agreed to part sponsor the trip. They've provided 1/3rd of the money which is awesome and totally unexpected. (Well I wrote a letter asking if they'd consider a donation but it's a very small church so I was not sure what to expect...)

But this week the sad news - Graceway has decided to close. It has been on the cards for a while because it is so small and now my excitement of being able to be a missionary on behalf of my church has now been tempered with this news. By the time I leave for Bangladesh Graceway will no longer exist as a church.

But I know the Graceway people are going to stay in touch and I hope they are reading this and even tho the official group may be coming to a close I'm still going to be taking a little piece of them with me... and I'm really proud to do that

It's kind of a cool legacy that the Spirit of Graceway is going to live on in this most needy part of the world after the doors close...

Some random thoughts

I spent two days in Melbourne last week for work. Up until now it hadn't really occurred to me how much I would miss K while I was away at the end of the year. But it really came home to me as I was sitting at the airport on Thursday morning waiting to leave - I really didn't want to go.

It's going to be harder than I thought to be away for so long. Hmmm. Not a whole lot I can do about that I guess but it was interesting to realise it now rather than late November.

I'm very fortunate that I actually love to go home to my wife (and family) at the end of the day. 4 weeks without being able to do that and to share what my day was like when it is almost certain to be quite radical and surreal every day is certainly going to take it's toll.

What's the buzz...

Ok. So a number of people have asked me to keep them informed of what is going on so they can pray for us and be involved. I figured this blog might be a good idea cause you can email it from anywhere and people can ask questions and have them answered as a group. So here is a quick synopsis.

In late November (at this point I won't say the exact date until I am sure it is safe to do so) a team of 10 people - myself included will travel to Dhakar, Bangladesh for two weeks and then on to Kolkotta, India for two weeks to look at the humanitarian work that is going on in those two cities.

It's an oppotunity for people like me (and K) who are interested in doing this type of work to see what it is like and to actively participate with a view to maybe returning to do this type of work for a longer duration.

The work is varied and if you'd like to know more about it you can contact me directly via email (just post if you don't know my current email address and I'll send you a note) .

K will be some 28 weeks pregnant at the time so it will be just me going - so I guess that's our first biggie. Our dear friend Deb is going to stay with her while I am gone so that is very cool (thanks Deb!)

To further complicate the issue I have offered my services as a would-be film-maker to shoot the entire experience and compile it into a documentary - a travelogue/posterity piece about what we go thru and how it changes us. So I have been filming dutifully at all our meetings and generally making a nuisance of myself with camera in hand. But I think it will come out OK in the end.

You might notice I'm not saying any names in this blog - I am not yet sure how much we can safely publicise since no doubt some people working in this area need to not draw attention to themselves and these internets have ears...

That's probably enough of a first post for now - so please check back often and I'll let you know what's going on with me and the team. Thanks for being interested in what we're doing

Welcome to our blog

Hi All

I have created this blog as a means of people keeping up to date with what is happening with the team heading to Dhakar and Kolkotta in late November
Here you'll find information and our latest requests and you'll have a chance to ask questions and send encouraging notes to the people you know on the team

Thanks for visiting