Rain and more rain
It has continued to rain for the past 4 days. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot,
but always some. I have never experienced this much of a deluge. I imagine that Noah would
have felt at home in it. It was disheartening but we learned to relax in it. Until!
Until word started trickling in about floods and houses being washed away. The road to
Manipparai was blocked. People in Manapparai were wading knee deep in water.
Bridges were collapsing. A dried up river bed was a raging torrent of red muddy water.
Service stations were under water and that water was seeping into the underground storage
tanks rendering it useless. People were using safety ropes to keep them from going under
the chest high water.
Then the power went off. We sat and reflected on the scope of this latest tragedy. The ironic thing
is it hit the wealthy as well as the poor. Unfortunately, as in most situations, the poor are the
ones who are hurt the most. I hope that the new bridge built by the army corps of engineers is
able to withstand this. After all, they are the army and this is their job, right?
The power was off for 6 hours the first time and then for 32 hours the second time.
I am writing this hoping to get it out before the next outage.
I came to India with the hope of seeing the problems. I had no idea the breadth and
scope of it all. I am coming home with a deeper more meaningful knowledge. Or am I?
Word has just come in that the train tracks between Trichy and Chennai are hanging
in a few spots. The highway has been washed away in places. The only way out is by flight.
Isaac is working on it. My attitude is that it’s not my problem so I am relaxing, almost.
So we sit. My final thoughts about the trip are legion but the overall conclusion is that if
we do anything it must focus on the children and getting them ready to change the lot
of the poor in the future. To achieve this, their families must be able to support them
during that phase in life.
We have two choices:
I know my own answer to that. What will your choice be?
See you when I get home.
There are many people deserving thanks and it is impossible to name them all. I would like to say thanks to
Clive Nickerson of Rural
Routes Online in
Without him, this website would not have happened. I also want offer thanks to the members of the Brighton Rotary
and especially Past President Craig Kerr for the ears to hear the desire to go and to Past President Cheryl Roy
for her inspirations in getting the site going; to the people at Trenton Wesleyan church and particularly Pastor Brian,
Bill De Jong and Hugh Potter who constantly kept me in their prayers; to Dr Sharada Prasad for her positive ideas
and caring for me while in India; to the concerned friends in Brighton By the Bay who watched over Judy while I was away;
to Isaac and Isabella and all at DKSHA a special thank you for your hospitality and generosity, it is impossible to
express what you have come to mean to me. I will miss you. And, most of all, to my wonderful loving wife and life long
artner and friend Judy whose encouragement and unselfish love allowed me to trek halfway around the globe to
fulfill my childhood vow. You are all
very special to me. I hope that this has been a blessing for each of you.