Logistics, logistics, logistics.... my time has blown out from the time I had allocated for the purchase of educational supplies. However, it has been an interesting time indeed as I made my foray into business "Indian style" to purchase the required goods.I have now made some shop keeper friends (not suprisingly!) and get a cup of tea thrown in to make my experience a delightfully pleasant one. The $500 raised for the project (thankyou World Nomads!) may not seem like a large budget to supply two schools and teachers with education materials but have I got news for you??! I have literally been knee deep in pens, pencils & rubbers (not to mention exercise books - more pens, pencils and rubbers!). With some effort we managed to source exercise books that are environmentally friendly and come with animal photos on the cover, knowing just how much the kids love different animals they should be popular. The vexing issue of the 'right' pencil case however reared its head until the very end. Once the dilemma was solved, Scott and I spent quite some time collating luscious pencil case packages. I would have to say that the organisational phase of the project is coming together fantastically.
It almost seems a life time ago since we walked out of Khati on our mission (but it has only been eight days in reality) and we look forward to our return. Village life is treating us wonderfully but Almora has provided a change from our alu (potato) and roti (bread) diet. At night in bed I am comforted by the call to prayer at the local mosque and the cool mountain breeze is a far cry from the heat wave that the plains have been reeling under.Tomorrow we embark upon the jeep trip back to our second home and then comes the organisation of mule transport....
Bonnie & Scott
