last we spoke, we had just seen a tiger (“in Africa?”*).

as the sun rises on a Sunday morning in India, and sets on Saturday night in Kansas City, we are up, waiting, as buckets of water warm for another “shower.” We are preparing for our last full day in Mungeli.

the trip back from the tiger preserve was not as harrowing as group 1’s. they apparently drove 5 hours, half of that on severely pothole-pocked roads (which make for a long, slow, bumpy ride). our driver apparently knew a better way — 4 hours with maybe 45 on “bad” roads.

since returning, a lot as been going on.

click “read more” to see the entire post.

-ken’s no spitting, -urinating, -smoking, -littering and -eating outside-the-canteen-area signs have all gone up. now it’s up to the folks here to gently nudge the families of patients to follow the rules and thus slowly begin to change what are long-established cultural norms.

Mary Linda (did you realize that this talented hospice chaplain was a microbiologist for almost 4 decades?) spent the better part of her Saturday with the folks in the lab and with the newly-established hospital infection control committee consulting on procedures and precautions. the good news: she says they’re already doing the right things.

hannah put on a musical extravaganza at the school on Saturday morning, playing for most if not all of the classes. and there was one special concert for a little girl who, for whatever reason, can’t walk or move well enough to get upstairs in the school building (and had already missed out on other programs because of it). for her, hannah asked that the performance be moved to the first floor. and while the other children danced and sang as hannah played a march on her flute, that little girl’s teacher came up from behind and lifted her from her chair, supporting her weight so she too could move to the music and be like the “other kids,” if only for a song or two — the hands of God on the arms of a teacher.

just FYI — if I haven’t mentioned it before, you might be amazed at how inspired the school kids and the nursing students have been by hannah and her flute. be sure to ask her about the experience.

Saturday is a half day in school…at least for the kids. Avinash, the school principal, kept the teachers a bit longer this week and sandy led an in-service program for them. she gave them ideas about how to use the resources (books, etc.) that they have and make more out of them. she talked about getting the kids involved and sparking their creativity. and she set it up so that they (and the rest of us) had a catered lunch from a “pure veg” restaurant — a treat for them AND for us!

just FYI — I like meat as much as the next guy. I mean, Atkins was a genius (eat 2 pounds of meat with a side of bacon? twist my arm). but most meals here have been vegetarian. and they’ve been outstanding.

if you’ve read the previous post, you’ve seen the story about the nursing students getting their pictures taken. teachers are the same way. it was just as hard to cajole the adults and they were just as giddy as the girls as we took their pictures for the new photo directory.

Saturday evening, it was back to town to pick up some clothes for the ladies and see about getting some others sewn. that’s when ken and I saw a guy making a dress shirt on a foot-powered sewing machine. a little pointing, a little grunting, and little fabric picking-outing and bingo…just before we leave on Monday, we will pick up hand-made, custom-tailored dress shirts at a cost of about $6.50 apiece. wow!

Saturday night, Anil/Sir/big boss hosted a dinner party in his home, on campus, adjacent to the main hospital building. we were all there as were many members of the staff. chicken curry, wii just dance, kingfisher (not the bird) and karaoke were all part of an entertaining evening.

just FYI — there are two Americans here. sarah from Arizona/Nebraska and Kahala from Memphis (btw we asked and she’s never had GOOD bbq, just Memphis bbq). the former is an X-ray tech, the latter a dentist turned pharmacist (because that’s what they need right now). both are great and immediately became part of the group.

Now, as the sun sets on our Sunday and you at home rise, shine and get ready for church, we are headed back to the hospital after a day-long whole-staff picnic along the shores of a gorgeous lake.

120 people
80 pounds of rice
7 pounds of cheese
40 Nursing students chopping hundreds of onions
more peas than birds eye could fathom
enough tomatoes to put the other “i” country to shame
240 galub jamun
and a goat (chopped up and stewed) (hey, don’t knock it till you try it)

now that’s a picnic.

the extra bonus, anil kenevel drove our bus. he must have seen the yellow bus and mistaken it for a yellow corvette. but hey, we got there faster and just as alive… so no complaints.

one last night here. tomorrow afternoon, the two-day journey home begins.

God bless.

ejb

*YouTube “Monty Python tiger in Africa.”
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