Improving the Feeding Center

Our goal on April 5, 2012 was to brush, scrape, and repaint the house that serves as the feeding center for the slum and street children. We got straight to work with the direction of the house parents. With so many people, we were able to get a lot accomplished in little time. We drew a rather large crowd outside as usual. We first brushed and scraped the building to prepare it for paint.

The Team Under the Canopy

Brushing and Scraping

More Brushing and Scraping

Painting began just as the American team left for lunch. The Brits continued to work. When we returned the Brits left to visit Eternal Joy. We were all so overjoyed by how much the Brits had painted. They worked really hard! They even left a little humor for us on part of the unfinished wall. Someone had painted "God Save the Queen."

"God Save the Queen!"

We finished the house and what a difference a coat of paint makes. It looked so much better than before. As a group it was thought that the children's spirits would be lifted by an improved building. The children started to arrive shortly after we had finished. They had looks of amazement when they stepped in. It was almost as if they were unsure of where they were. The children sang some songs for us and had a Bible class. We handed out salvation bracelets to these children like we had on my first trip. We had a chance to sing to them as well and man did they enjoy that.

Looks Great!

Such a Difference

Street and Slum Children

Washing Plates for Dinner

Preparing Dinner

Kids Eating Dinner

We had a very interesting ride back to the hotel. We saw the aftermath of a car accident. There were two bodies laying in the road with blood on the street. There was a crowd of people surrounding the police, and it looked like they were arguing with each other. Then a little ways down the road we were in an accident. We had to slam on the brakes rather quickly and were rear-ended. I looked back at the car behind us and there was what looked like a father and son in the front seats. The son was maybe in his teens or a little younger. He was holding his throat as if he had hit his windpipe on the dashboard and was gasping for air. The windshield on their car was cracked. Our driver got out and talked to the guy. They were yelling at each other. Driving is chaos in India. There really are no rules. There isn't a system of reporting accidents or anything. The driver just got back in the bus and drove us away. We were all pretty hungry during the bus ride and asked if we could stop for hot chips. Hot chips in India are basically potato chips but they like to add other spices to them that Americans aren't necessarily accustomed to. I just ate the regular hot chips while some others had curry chips.

Hot Chips Store

All Kinds of Hot Chips

Getting the Potatoes Ready

It was an exciting and productive day! I couldn't believe I only had one day left at this point. I was getting very sad again. I didn't want to leave.