Youtube Clips from our trip - - a MUST watch

Adam was able to put a few minutes of a DVD we created from our trip. [#3 of 4, and #4 of 4] I'm not sure why #1 & #2 aren't transferring, but here is a sneak peek. It's really powerful and shows the emotional magnitude of our trip.

Clip # 3 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRJIqhg0MG4&feature=related

Clip # 4 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otDHKQZYneI&feature=related

TAKE A PEEK!

Mumbai / Bombay

August 20^th: Mumbai [also called Bombay] is a large city with a lot of traffic and people everywhere. It reminds me of a busy and poverty stricken New York City. There are hundreds of slum areas – people living under tarps or in deplorable housing conditions. Most of the children living in the slums do not go to school and often marry between the age of 13 and 15 years old. There are many children, poorly dressed – or not dressed at all.

We started the day by visiting an orphanage that Sathyam Ministries runs. Sathyam Ministries is the Christian organization that helps Free Wheelchair Mission distribute wheelchairs to those in need all over India. They also have a variety of other humanitarian aid services. At the orphanage there were 46 students ages 3 to 12. The orphanage is a school as well as a residence for these kids. They performed a singing and dancing program for us. They sleep as many as 20 to a room [2-3 children per small twin bed]. They are darling.

The last part of the day we gave out more wheelchairs. We got to the distribution location early, so we had a chance to meet each of the 25 recipients, and hear their stories. Many suffered from polio or infections gone bad. Others were disabled from birth. The strength these people exhibit is exemplary – they already live a tough life in a poor country, and on top of it all … they are disabled or care for the disabled. Remarkable. Here are some photo highlights.

Dogs roam around the city in all parts of India. It doesn’t appear that anyone cares for them. They eat the abundant trash, but are severely malnourished. Kiley is broken up each time she sees one of these animals. They’re not much different from many of the people living here.






I I was unable to put some pictures up from a fantastic distribution we did in Vizag [internet trouble], so I will include it here. These are pictures of the housing conditions and distribution we did in a few small villages yesterday. It was fantastic, humbling and an awesome experience.

This is my last entry because we will be flying home tomorrow. … 23 hours in the air. This trip has truly been a humbling experience for me, Adam, Quinn & Kiley. We don’t appreciate clean indoor plumbing, maintained roads, governmental infrastructure, food, or our beautiful home. We are truly blessed, and I honestly believe we will some day be held accountable for what we do with these blessings. I want to do more.

Visakhapatnam, India

Today was amazing! We delivered wheelchairs in two impoverished villages. The people were warm and friendly, humble and happy. Many of the chair recipients were born healthy and strong, but contracted Polio in early youth. Others caught "an illness" which destroyed the use of their limbs. We were told by our guide, that the water is dirty in these areas - and many are disabled because of contaminated water. So preventable!

We gave the free wheelchairs and told the recipients that God loved them. [The disabled are often told that they are disabled because of a curse from God, or because of their wrongdoing. Free Wheelchair Mission wants to make sure that the chairs are delivered with an expression of love from our Savior regardless of their religious belief - Hindu, Muslim, Christian.] We even sang "I Am A Child of God" for some students in a "Special School" for the disabled.

It is humbling to see fellow human beings stuggle tremendously with their need for transportation. It is a remarkable feeling to then help these people get off the muddy earth and sit with greater dignity in a wheelchair that my son donated.

Chennai, India

Today we toured Chennai. It is a huge city, predominantly Hindu. It is like visiting a run down area of downtown Los Angeles. It is hard for me to get used to the amount of trash everywhere. Our young guide [who has been with us since we landed in Kerela] tossed some trash out the window a few days ago, and we jumped all over him. Apparently, people don’t think twice about littering, and it shows.

One of Christ’s apostles, Thomas (aka doubting Thomas), came to India to spread Christianity. Today we visited a church erected on his martyrdom site and another church erected where “St. Thomas” is buried (pictured). The city really doesn’t have a lot of other monuments to visit, so we’re taking the evening off. I’ve also included a picture of the top of a Hindu Temple here in Chennai. Tomorrow we’re flying to Vishakhapatnam [nicknamed Vizag] to do another wheelchair distribution. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve seen so much poverty – it breaks my heart to see so many people suffer. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Poverty is the worst form of violence." -- I believe it.

Kerela Backwater

August 16th We took a boat ride along the Kerela backwater. The towns in Kerela are small and interspersed with vegetation. The backwater provides fishing for many of these households. The women wash their clothes, dishes & bodies in this marsh water that very slowly drains to the ocean. Funny, they don’t have indoor plumbing, but I saw a few televisions inside their one room homes.

Distributing Wheelchairs in Kerela

Today [August 14th] we did a small distribution of 4 wheelchairs and visited some wheelchair recipients. One cute old women named Marayini is 75 years old. Her feet are badly knarled and deformed because of years of crawling on the ground. Her toes are infected from the germs and exposure. She loves her new wheelchair. Here is a picture of her, isn’t she sweet.

August 15th is India’s Independence Day [from England]. We did another distribution of 70 chairs – which will mark the independence of 70 people from the curse of immobility. It is heart warming to see someone struggle, and know you are able to help them. I don’t have time to write more right now. Let me just say, that this was the reason we came to India.

Goa, India

Goa is beautiful. We treated ourselves to a 5 star Hyatt hotel. The food was safe and fantastic. The service was wonderful. I got a pedicure, Quinn & Kiley got facials and Adam got a massage. We went to the beach, swam in the pool, and ate as much American food that we could consume. I like Indian food, but am quickly tiring of it. Here is a picture of our hotel and Kiley happy about ordering a fruit platter.