Day 10: All Aboard

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Day 8: All Aboard!







Our train didn’t depart Nagpur until the evening – 7:10pm to be exact, so we had a little time to pack, shower, do some laundry, and play with kids.



After a much needed sleep-in we had an opportunity to get into the computer lab and check out some ESL websites and materials for the students and teachers. The heat was almost unbearable so a lot of our time was spent in front of a fan and inside. A few members of the team were feeling a little heat stroke so it was important to take a lot of down time before our train ride.



Skip a head a few hours and we were packed, rested, ‘clean’, and ready to go. We always have to take two vehicles wherever we go but one car had already had left to bring the games and sports equipment to the school so we had to use Prem’s ambulance to get us to the station. Pictures don’t do it justice but imagine 7 people squished into an ‘ambulance’ not much bigger then Pam’s mini cooper – needless to say we shared body sweat.



The train station was a gong-show. People were everywhere and the men of the group had the strict responsibility of protecting the women from inevitably bum-grazings. After proceeding through a brief security check the lot of us made our way over to Railway line 3. There are no tickets for the train, tickets were purchased a long time ago, but you just have to know the seats you booked and find them when the train arrives and hope that no one is already sitting there. No worries, if someone is in your seat, Pam will surely get them out – really low-profile Pam!



The station was hygienically subpar. We stuck close together as a team and had a few security people helping ward off the beggars. The tracks were polluted with garbage and bodily fluids and the rats here are the size of large cats.



Our train arrived and we found our seats/beds quickly. There’s not a whole lot I can elaborate on in regards to the train. Consensus is that it was better then expected in terms of overall condition. The group was split in two classes – second and third, and both had AC. Because the train was over night most of us slept. The boys handled the bathrooms ok but they would have been a little tricky for the ladies – you’ll have to ask them about it – I prefer not to hear the details. And then there was Soren. Soren decided to exercise his acrobatic skills by flipping and flopping around the upper bunks…nothing short of an elephant sedative can stop this boy! We love it!



And so through the night we travelled with occasional ‘Chai, Chai’ being yelled through the train car – for a few rupees you could have hot chai – really hot! But we all arrived safe in the hot, dry region of Navapour. We will be staying at the girls school in Manjri, about 2 hours outside Dhule (check the map for the exact coordinates).



It is evident that the second week is paying a toll on the team. We are suffering from heat exhaustion, some are getting colds, and others heat stroke. It is clear that this week will push us to the limit.



So, please pray for much needed rest. Pray that God would bless us with patience, perseverance, and renewed purpose.







From Manjri,







The India Team

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