Life With The Eliasons

Youtube Clips from our trip - - a MUST watch

2008-10-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-16T00:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Jaipur, India

2008-08-10T02:18:00.000-07:00

Today we drove to Jaipur. It took about 4 hours in our car and Kiley & I had to take Dramamine. I’m prone to car sickness, but even facing forward and looking out the window is too much on these Indian roads!

When driving from state to state in India, there is a border and a tariff that must be paid for entrance. We didn’t need identification, and there is freedom of movement from one state to another – just a fee to enter. Sometimes the car would drive through the tariff station, like a toll road. Other times our driver had to enter a building and get some needed travel document. We were left waiting in the car and were immediately surrounded by monkey trainers, beggars, or others trying to sell us their items. They will tap on the windows and try to get your attention. We video taped the monkeys, and the trainer wanted money – but our driver would not let us give him any. He told us they shock the monkeys to make them jump and flip. Again, on the highway we were not surprised with anything we saw traveling on the roadway. Here is a picture of an entire herd of cattle being driven on the highway as we drove over 65 mph. You can even see part of our car on the right side of the photo.

We also saw these large square basins of water near markets or gas stations. We figured out that these were public bathing areas. This photo is of one of them. There is a wire for hanging your clothing and buckets for dipping water. The people don’t strip totally naked, but just in minimal underclothing.

We toured the magnificent Amber Palace here in Jaipur. It was built in 1503 and is amazing. They created “air conditioning” in the Paradise Room by filling the roof with water, and providing ramps for the water to flow down on the walls while meeting the afternoon breeze…chilling the air. They planned the palace with air flow in mind. Cross breezes keep the palace cooler than some of the museums in town! Here is a picture of a 15th century screen. The Maharaja had many wives and was real clever to build their rooms so that he could access any wife he wanted, without the other wives knowing his location.

We are staying at another Mandir temple. This one is much smaller than Akshardham, and made out of pink sandstone. This temple is exactly what they [the BAPS Hindus] intend to build in Chino Hills, so I’m including a photo. It is beautiful and incredibly ornate. They’re still treating us like royalty here and overfeed us. We’re all starting to have stomach trouble. Not horrible – but not normal either.

Jaipur has less poverty than Delhi. In Delhi I would say 70 percent of the housing we witnessed was poor brick housing like I pictured or worse. In Jaipur, I would put the poverty at 30% and low income housing at 50%. Our guide was excellent and took us through the slums and through the rich areas. He showed us the ancient relics as well as the upcoming modern artists.

Agra, India and a little more of Delhi

2008-08-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Taj Mahal is majestic and enormous. It is difficult to capture the scale of this place! The writings and all decorative patterns on the Taj Mahal are not painted, but precious stones inlaid within the hard white Indian marble. The lace that lines the bottom of the Taj is also carved white marble. Amazing handiwork by talented artisans of Agra! It is unbelievably hot and muggy. We were all sweaty gross until a thunder storm gathered and dumped gallons of water on us!

After visiting the Taj, we returned to our room at the Akshardham temple and memorial. [Yes, we are actually staying in the housing here.] It is a BAPS Hindu temple in Delhi - and they are building a much smaller temple in Chino Hills. We are staying here in the Braham caste room - the best room they have. It has air conditioning - which is a bonus, but we sleep on upgraded cots. They treat us like royalty here, because of Adam’s connection to the Hindus in Chino Hills.

The Hindu’s at the temple here won’t stop feeding us - and although I like Indian food ... eating exclusively Indian food is difficult! The people are very kind and humble. This temple is amazing. We were unable to take pictures, but check out the link so you can see the intricate carvings and gardens. http://www.akshardham.com/

Delhi, India

2008-08-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Delhi airport close to midnight. My first impression was the stifling humidity. The sun was down, but the air was so thick it was choking. The airport was crowded and it took us about 30 minutes to find our driver. Cars were everywhere and I knew we were in for a culture shock when our driver climbed atop the roof of the van to affix our luggage.

We had been warned about the driving in India, so we anticipated a crazy ride – but nothing really prepares you for the shock you experience as a passenger. There are lines on the street to suggest order, but nobody drives within the lines. It is commonplace to drive 4 inches from the car next to you. And, everyone honks. They honk to alert you of their presence. So imagine, driving down a highway, honking at every car you approach. The atmosphere is loud and the driving erratic at best. The other vehicles on the street are either cars, electric rickshaws, man powered rickshaws, or occasional cattle driven carts. We saw a camel driven cart yesterday as well. And did I mention, there are cows all over the road - every 5 minutes! Yet amidst the turmoil, we are having fun!

The poverty is unexplainable and profuse. You have to experience it to understand it. I remember seeing pictures of poor living conditions in India and figured that National Geographic has shot photos of poor cities for their magazines. I was surprised to witness, that the poverty is everywhere, not just occasional pockets of slums. Thousands live in poorly constructed brick or concrete houses, with lots of trash and mud. Thousands more are living under plastic roofs and no walls. We drove 5 hours to visit the Taj Mahal and saw more of the same poverty. There are no public restrooms, and the men urinate everywhere – any wall, tree, bush, building, etc. Yuck!

It is monsoon weather, and has rained quite a bit since we arrived. The drainage system is almost nonexistent, and the rains create huge puddles. Mud promulgates the city. There is a lot of trash everywhere…piles and piles of it and stacked around the city. Much of the trash is sprinkled throughout the plants as well. I’m not trying to indict the people here, it is their way of life, so different from mine.

Layover in France

2008-08-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Our trip began by arriving at LAX at 3:30 am – which turned out to be 30 minutes before the ticketing counter even opened. You would think that we would have enough time to catch our flight at 5:40 am – but because the counter was tragically understaffed, we barely made our flight. [Apparently there was a hiccup in our tickets, so we were unable to use the computerized kiosk.] Needless to say, we made our flight and arrived smoothly thereafter.
Our “layover” was two days in France. We tried desperately to get the shuttle to Port Millot [the closest street to our hotel], but couldn’t locate the correct waiting area. Only after asking several helpful Frenchmen did we realize that the labeling of each bus stop was not on some overhead signage, but printed on the asphalt street! The Marriott Residence Inn did not have it’s own airport shuttle, so from our bus stop we walked about 1 ½ miles to our hotel.
We love Paris! The streets are quaint, the people friendly, the artistry in culture and buildings is amazing. And the food is fantastic. We toured aggressively for the day and half that we had the “layover”. We walked around the whole city – mostly utilizing the efficient metro system. City boat tour, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Museums, etc. At the end of each day, our feet throbbed from the walking, but our minds were invigorated. My children would like to return to Paris soon.

Getting Ready For India

2008-07-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

It's two weeks and counting ... I've got malaria pills (only for me) and am waiting on prescriptions for Adam, Quinn & Kiley. Mosquito nets just arrived today and I'm stocking up on hand sanitizer. We've gotten our Typhoid, Meningitis, Hepatitis A & B, Measles, Mumps and Polio shots. [According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, India is one of 4 countries in the world where polio remains endemic. In fact, many of the recipients of the wheelchairs we're delivering are victims of polio.] Now we just have to be careful about our exposure because Tuberculosis, Dengue Fever and the Chikungunya virus are real common. If all else fails, our travels will be an effective way to shed a few pounds! :) Seriously, we really take our life here in the U.S. for granted. Despite the many problems in our country, it's still a great place to live. ..........And it all started with an Eagle Project and some chairs.

The Catalyst: Quinn's Eagle Scout Project

2007-10-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

Hi…My name is Quinn and I am a 15 year old future Eagle Scout trying to make a difference in this world.

My cousin, Sam, is confined to a wheelchair, and I wanted my Eagle Scout service project to help the disabled.

Over 100 million people around the world have lost the ability to walk and are too poor to afford wheelchairs. Life is hard enough being disabled, but much harder if you have to drag yourself around the ground; so for my Eagle Scout service project I have partnered with an organization called Free Wheelchair Mission. Free Wheelchair Mission is a non-profit organization committed to providing mobility to the disabled poor in developing countries. www.freewheelchairmission.org Their founder designed and developed a low cost wheelchair with a total cost of only $48, and that includes shipping.

My goal is to send an entire shipping container of 550 wheelchairs to one of the 60 countries Free Wheelchair Mission partners with. In addition, my parents and I plan to travel with Free Wheelchair Mission to help assemble and distribute the chairs and see first hand the difference you and I can make in the lives of 550 people. I've never done anything like this before and I really need you and/or your company to help me raise $25,000 in total.

Quinn

*Note: Quinn reached his goal 4/15/08. He raised over $28,000 and we will be traveling to India in August to witness the results of his hard work. Thanks to all of you who helped him reach his goal.