The meaning of life is to find your gift.
The purpose of life is to give it away.
Joy J. Golliver
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HUGE THANKS!!!
There are three people who need an abundance of thanks:
Nazir Javer: through Acrodex Inc. has donated a brand new laptop computer. The laptop also contains a DVD player which the children will be very happy about, always excited to see their favorite Shah Rukh Khan.
Pallavi Metkari: without her what would One! be? She has been with the families of Khar Danda every day for 13 months. A pure angel!
Francine Bauer: A beautiful Swiss lady who has been supporting One! before it ever began and is always showing endless support.
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The Bad News Turning Good?
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For two weeks, after I had returned to Canada for the next fundraiser and of course to spend time with family, life in Mumbai was wonderful. In fact, I phoned Pallavi and she had so many volunteers and kids around her that she didn’t miss me at all!
Then malicious Monday. Two BMC (local police) vans pulled up from either side, police ran out in all directions and began destroying our families houses without even breaking for a second to breathe. Chaos struck as the families ran to protect their belongings and salvage what they could. After this things have not been the same.
For two weeks Pallavi went to meet the families and discuss what could be done. She told the families that she would help them get new homes but that we were not buying them new homes. For two weeks the families went with her to real estate agents and tried to find a solution, but they were still convinced that we would buy the homes for them. When they
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finally realized that this wasn’t the case, they tried to pretend that Pallavi didn’t exist. Every day she went to the slum for a month and every day she stood alone completely ignored. But every day she continued to go, showing them that we were still there for them whenever they wanted to accept what we had to give.
As monsoon approached so did a temporary solution. Since construction can’t happen during the rains, the families were able to rebuild their huts and start fresh...for a couple months anyway.
This is when I arrived back to Mumbai and was greeted with great enthusiasm—from what I saw nothing seemed to change. I was lucky enough to miss the misery that Pallavi went through. We have immediately started classes again and hope to start collecting money from the families to search for a new housing solution.
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Another Big Night Success!!!
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WOW!!! These nights just keep getting better and better. So many people, so much food, and so much entertainment.
This time our attendance reached just over one hundred people, with many of the same faces coming out to show their support, but also many new faces that we were happy to introduce to the One! family.
We were blessed to have Kyle Andersen again in the kitchen as well as many other volunteers. The Big Five—Colleen Woltjen, Tara Woltjen, Edd Makarus, and Marilyn and George Spilchen—are always there to do more than could ever be dreamed of.
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The entertainment was wonderful. Our usual amateur dance performance with our superstar Ashley Kumar leading and choreographing. We learned about Hindu festivals and were then blessed with a solo performance by Ashley. After this we learned about the Indian instrument Tabla by the great Ojis Joshi, and then of course about the current events of One!.
Bad news turned wonderful when U2 couldn’t be heard through the speakers and Kirk Bishop filled in with an incredible acoustic rendition—maybe he can treat us next year too?
We definitely saved the best for last as Ojis entreated us with his incredibly fast and talented fingers making the Tabla sing and soothe!
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