Monday, November 27, 2006

It is a great wall...


First off, let me apologise on behalf of my wife and I (cue wedding speech cheer) for how rubbish we have been recently at updating this thing. The past three weeks have absolutely flown by - between us we have travelled to Kerala, Calcutta, Chennai, Singapore, Beijing, and Singapore again - unfortunately the victim has been our blog. However you now have a bonanza of three posts to catch up on, so that should keep you busy for a while.

My trip to Singapore and Beijing went really well. It was a work trip and I had some really good meetings with retailers and publishers in Singapore, before flying out to China to look at the possibilities for STL out there. It is a really exciting time to be in China at the moment what with the Olympics in 2008 and the general opening up of market restraints.

Despite it being a work trip I also had the privilege of visiting Tiannamen (spelling??) Square and also The Great Wall Of China. It was breathtaking and also slightly surreal to think that I was actually there. I enjoyed some GREAT chinese food and met some great people, but I was happy to get back to my wife before she then flew off to Chennai.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans.

As Andi has mentioned in the blog below I am off to the USA next week and Andi is in Cambodia and Thailand. It never stops. We are SOOOOO looking forward to our first Christmas as a married couple though. Sometimes I can't believe we've only been married 6 months, it seems so much has happened.

Anyway thank you for your emails and keeping us in touch with your own news. We've only just realised that we are supposed to reply to posts on the blog, so please look forward to some two way communication from now on!

Next update will be a lot sooner than these have been....we promise!

A wee break


Our good friend Sam visited us after her trip around the golden triangle, which includes the Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Delhi etc.. We met her off a long train trip from Delhi to Hyderabad and immediately whisked her away for a hot shower and pizza, two things she was looking forward to after back packing! Was so good to see her, share news and introduce her to our home. The next day crack of dawn we flew out to Kerala south of Hyderabad - this is a must if visiting India. Set on water the area is full of natural beauty, peace and tranquility it feels like an island, something we all enjoyed after the noise and business of the cities. We only had two days there but they were very special, one day was spent on the famous waterways, drifting along in a pontoon boat we also had a chance to experience the fabulous south Indian dishes prepared for our lunch, and have a turn at driving the boat!

A lot of our time there was spent relaxing, sadly Sam was not feeling too well after all her travelling and we were ready for a break - so it provided us all with a much needed rest. Sitting in the pool, which overlooked the water watching the sun set will be always be a special memory.

We then returned to Hyderabad Sunday morning, and only a few hours later we waved goodbye to Gareth who was heading to Singapore and China with work. Sam and I then spent the next few days having a girlie catch up, shopping, showing her the city, chatting for hours, bliss!

Then Weds after saying goodbye to her at the airport I headed back to work. This included a two day visit to the World Vision India HQ in Chennai a city I hadn’t visited yet. Was an intense few days, but very productive managing to assess their crisis and relief plans and get to know the team, plus pick up my laptop and camera. It also included a surprise meeting with two friends from the UK none of us knew we would be in the same city at the same time, but ended up having dinner before I flew back home.

All in all a busy past month, cannot believe it is Christmas so soon, before that Gareth has a trip to the States and I to Cambodia and Bangkok both with work. Christmas day will be together and then we fly to Oz to spend New Year with my family in Melbourne. 2007 looks a little more relaxed travel wise so far, but we can’t complain it is all amazing opportunities!

Calcutta (or Kolkata)


Gareth and I spent almost 3 days in this huge city, which houses 17 million residents. You feel the size of the city the minute you touch down it spreads for miles and miles and feels so much more crowded and busy than Hyderabad does and that is saying a lot!

We were travelling with our friend and guide Tony Sargent whose involvement with OM and the Emmanuel Ministries date back decades. His love for India and obvious passion for this country and its problems is evident, you can also see how long his involvement here has been by his friendships with the team, one of which is a former student of the theological school in Glasgow he is head of.

After he had spent two days in our home in Hyderabad we travelled together to Calcutta - Gareth and I particularly wanted to visit slum schools projects and other community schools and orphanage and the general work of Emmanuel ministries, which also includes a HIV/Aids clinic, counselling etc etc.

Initially met at the airport by Mahadeb and his wife (a couple who run an OM operated school and church project in the local slum), we first visited their home. Their home was so welcoming and we sat for a couple of hours chatting, sharing stories, asking questions and eating their delicious home made fried chicken. Tony had also had a hand in helping them design and build their home, one picture in particular stood out of a piper fully kilted up brought back by Tony from Glasgow.

We then went on with him to Emanuel Ministries headquarters, which also have a few guest rooms, and is where we stayed for our visit. Meeting the temporary head of the organisation, Primela and her assistant Jeng a South Korean, we were again made so welcome and spent time getting to know each other and understand their work in the city. This organisation’s drug rehab programme has been used a model by the Indian government. Later we went onto a light show at the Queen Victoria Memorial, which explains the history of the city and then dinner with the group in the centre of Calcutta. We were actually giving others advice on the Indian menu, we must be eating too many local dishes!

The next day bright and early we spent visiting schools, an orphanage and slum projects.
Was a busy day full of meetings with inspirational people dedicated to caring and giving their lives to providing an education, hope and future to so many children. We met so many amazing children so focused on their education, and in the orphanage a four-year-old-child came up to me - taking my hand he wanted to show me the plastic table and chairs someone had given him. Brought here after his father died and mum has Aids, all he knows is his big brothers and sisters in the orphanage and the lower bunk of the bed he shares. Yet this place has provided him with such love and protection it broke my heart – his innocence remains despite such a harsh start to life and I pray his life continues to be full of hope.

We also had time one early morning to walk a very short distance from where we staying to Mother Teresa’s tomb and visit the ongoing work of her convent. It felt very peaceful being there, also giving us time to reflect on all we had experienced and felt. Her words of wisdom resonated with us in particular statements such as, ‘It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.’ spoke volumes.

We had a short tour around the city by one of the team from Emmanuel ministries, now an adult he was a former street kid, one of ten children who managed to stay within the center’s support programme as the others eventually returned to the streets, as this was all they’ve ever known.

Leaving Calcutta lunchtime the next day we felt so many emotions - challenged, encouraged, sad and inspired. Sharing this experience as a married couple was also special as often I travel to projects with work unable to share this with Gareth, so this was a growing time for the two of us also.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Andi's back to work!


Good news! Andi has officially begun her role at World Vision as Regional Crisis and Relief Communications Manager. She will be working with World Vision Asia Pacific, so she will be interacting with and travelling to the different country offices as she analyses, supports and develops relief and crisis communications strategies across the region, plus in certain situations directly coordinating the comms response in emergencies, which take place across Asia Pacific. She will be in Cambodia in December for an emergency comms conference and then onto Bangkok for meetings.

We also need to update everyone on our trip to Calcutta and we'll be sure to post something this week - suffice to say it was a very impacting visit and really challenged the two of us.

We have our friend Sam coming over this week from the UK and we're all going away for a couple days to Kerala, which is supposed to be beautiful. We get back Sunday and then Gareth flies that night to Singapore and then Beijing on business - so it's all go!