Comments - an apology

So sorry if anyone has tried to make any comments on the blog over the past two weeks - unfortunately it's just been discovered that some comments had been disabled by a setting buried deep in the set up of the blog. This has now been altered so if you'd like to comment on anything please do so - we'd love to hear from you, even though we're back home!

Also - the WiFi connection in Kolkata wasn't sufficiently strong enough to enable multiple videos to be uploaded to the blog so it's hoped to rectify this over the next few days.

Connected

Heartstrings

We are tied
By an invisible thread
To a country not our own
Our lives
Entangled in the pattern
Interwoven into the warp and weft
Of an unfamiliar culture

We are captivated
By this country
Full of contrasts
This place
Where poverty and plenty
Rub shoulder to shoulder
In uncomfortable juxtaposition

We are drawn
By hearts full of compassion
For a people not our own
Our lives
Orchestrated by the Father
Intricately He entwines us together
Uniting His children in only the way He can

(c) Ali Taylor

Homeward bound

We arrived back in the UK at just before 7am after another two good flights. We're all a bit tired from the long journey.  Ali is heading home by train and is currently on the Heathrow Express to Paddington where she will catch her connection to Gloucester. The rest of the team is locating the car and will be driving back to Wales.

You can't leave Kolkata...

without having seen the Victoria Memorial and St Paul's Cathedral. So said Pastor Asis, so he took Ali and Michelle with our friend, Edward out for a whistle stop tour of the capital.

We went first to the Hooghly river, a tributary of the Ganges past Eden Gardens, the home of the Bengal cricket team.

After a view over the river to the Howdah district - almost a kilometre away, we went to the Victoria Memorial where there was a vast exhibition of paintings and history.  We then walked round to visit St Paul's Cathedral. We had a look round and then were introduced to Father James.  We returned in time for our last lunch at the hostel.

Karen and Nicola rested this morning and joined us for lunch.

We're nearly all packed up now.  We leave the hostel around 4pm (11.30 UK time) to catch our flight at 8.30pm.

These past two weeks have simply flown by for us.  It's been quite an experience and it will take us quite some time to come to terms and reflect on all that we have experienced.

We are the privileged few

We are the privileged few

Through no choice of self
Our place of birth
Had decreed our fortune

We have lived
Without a thought
For clean fresh water
In an instant
The clean cool liquid
Bubbling and splashing
Often opulently wasted
In our carefree ignorant ways

We have lived
Without a thought
For a dry, safe place to sleep
And we have the audacity to complain
When in our beds of soft, sweet cotton
That our sleep has not been good

We have lived
Without a thought
For education
Complaining that we'd rather not be in school
Desiring instead to waste our lives
In mindless pursuits of pleasure

We have lived
Without a thought
For electricity
Power in an instant
And heat and light are ours
Without any effort of our own

Yet more than half the world
Knows not of all we have
Their daily struggle
For life and health
Dependent on each other
Reliant on their wits
To merely survive
One day to another

For they live
With water plagued
Their place of rest not safe
Their education costly
And their power at a price

With all we have
We cannot deny
That even in our considered poverty
We are the privileged few.

(c) Ali Taylor

Last visits

This morning we headed to Freeset where we learnt about about their ministry to women in the red light district.  We weren't able to take photos, so instead this is the link for their website: Freeset

We headed back to the hostel by taxi through some very flooded streets...

This afternoon we were able to visit the Baptist Girls Hostel for a second time and played with the girls for a short while.  It was lovely to see them again.

Graduation ceremony

Pastor Asis arranged for us to visit the Northpointe Community today. We drove for about and hour and a half to the project in the district of Howrah.  The project supports local women through a number of different activities including a free doctors clinic, adult literacy training and tailoring training.  A group of thirty five women had their graduation ceremony today from the tailoring course and we were invited to present the certificates and we gave them each a gift of a heart or a love spoon that we made the other afternoon.

It was lovely to be able to share with them and congratualte them on their success.  It was wonderful to see how much the women had appreciated the love, support and guidance of the tutor and staff.

The aim of the programme is to equip women to support themselves and their families.  The training takes place three days a week and for the other three days a week those who have already graduated can come and use the sewing machines free of charge to make garments.

We were hosted for lunch and then were able to see some of the garments the women have made close up.

On our return we drove through some more monsoon rains. The rain has carried on apart from a brief interlude which allowed us to get to and from dinner (we have to go outside) without getting wet, but now the rain is falling again. The lawn outside got flooded earlier so we are now wondering if we will have to swim to breakfast in the morning.

Please pray for us as a team - we all are feeling a little run down and tired.