We have arrived and what a glorious day it is!! The weather warms all the way through my cold winter bones and fills me with the wonderful feeling of summer. I am travelling with Alice Hepworth from Holy Trinity Claygate and this week we have a lot to do. Here are some of the things we hope to cover in our time here.
- Meet with Rev Fenn and see how the Feeding programme is going. Also, St Andrews Dibden Purlieu very generously donated a toilet block to the church for the local community. We'll be going to see how they are getting on.
- Two years back, a lady from the USA who travelled to India saw an opportunity to work with our local team to set up a sewing programme. The programme aims to teach unemployed women a new skill so that they are able to provide for their families. We hope to meet some of the ladies and find out how the programme has changed their lives and the future sustainability of the project.
- Spend time with disabled children, bible college students, and meet sponsored children at the GardeN
- Visit the Feeding programmes in Cumbumettu - a feeding programme we set up off the back of a fundraiser dinner we held in January last year.
- Over Christmas 2015 we ran a "cow campaign" where we raised funds for 4 cows and were generously donated funds for a cow shed. We had to wait to build the shed and grow grass before we bought any cows, so I'm looking forward to finally seeing them!
- Developing our student visitation programme - we have quite a few people come to the Garden every year, but the programme is not properly developed. Alice will be focusing on this.
- Meeting the team to discuss requirements and need for a Nursery school and work with them to set this up.
It's a lot given I'll only actually be with the team for 5 days, but what exciting projects to be involved in.
Thanks for following our journey - it's so exciting to be able to share it with you!!
Alice, Sherry and Ruban at Madurai airport
2 builders at Pasto Thomas' church, Pastor Thomas, Pastor Thomas' wife - Jodi, Alice, Sherry and Gold