hello all..christmas?

hello all. It is christmas eve and by christmas day around 1000 kids will be residing in our RTU village of G.Kalliputti. To us coolies this may mean the same question over again i.e what is your name? But the children it is one the most precious days of the year. It is easy to remember how we acted on christmas day when we young and the excitement of waking up with your family and sharing gifts. All the children coming to our village are orphans, true, but the fellowship between sister, brother and mother seems as strong and as joyous as any family.

Bottom line is have a merry christmas and enjoy the company of your family and friends. After all they are the ones who make christmas so special.

Love always Will

Hey guys.
Most of the houses have been built now, most of us painted this morning. Tomorrow morning we shall be going to various open ceremonys for each of the families houses we have constructed. Alex arrives on Wednesday i do believe and the first group will be leaving for our travels before returning home for christmas. It's great to have gotten so much done so quickly and to see the money and time we spent this year, first hand be so productive. Until next time...
Callum Vass

Will’s Birthday A night to remember!

Hot meat, cold beer, waiters rated E- to start, steadily progressing to A+ as the night wore on. Tim as the restaurant DJ. Will as the guest of honour.

Everyone thought a huge error was obvious and halted at a door that announced, “Vegetarian Restaurant”. This was not what anyone had in mind.

Having to bring our own cold beer, purchased two days earlier, just to ensure supply, we thought we would have been served immediately, but after a 30 minute wait, someone had clearly managed to find an outlet in Batalagundu for tankards, and the beer finally began to flow. Mitch naturally managed two tankards and devised a means to have both filled regularly.

Chicken 65 was the predilection of the repast, closely followed by chicken noodle, chicken lollypop, chicken fried rice, chicken tandoori, and of course chicken tikka. The other courses mutton balls, and fish fried were down the list. The only veggie to be seen was french fries and of course chillied peanuts.

Once the ice-cream came, Herks had to admit his new daks were a size too small, and the multi-coloured tutti-frutti was just asking for trouble. He succumbed.

Quote of the night went to Charles, “The trouble with vegetarians is they don’t eat meat.”

Callum’s head hanging well clear of the bus window on the return journey provoked consoling comments from the more compassionate.

A great night had by all.

BD

PS. The accompanying photo is definitely digitally enhanced! (....not)

Hey all. ENTER scores out today, some are arranging mass suicide others celebrating, either way i'm pretty sure beer shall be consumed tonight. Went to Kadai Canal yesterday was a amazing place I'm pretty sure it was cloud city, we were up so high and the views were incredible, and always with great views comes winding roads comes vomiting. Four spewers on the way up and i'm pretty sure i was the only one on the way back. More importantly there were monkeys. Its become apparent to me that we should have monkeys in Australia, its just such a satifying sight to see. Sure there are the downsides rabies etc. Anyway enough from me I have a noose with my name written on it waiting for me.
Callum Vass

Update

Dec 8th.
All well and hearty, although some thinking longingly of a meal of 3 meats and a veg! We are now getting eggs regularly for breakfast. Charles had a day in hospital on a drip after getting dehydrated, and I have had a day on the toot after a bad wadeye. Othewise all are in good spirits.
11 houses are started, with two up to the roof tiles today. Most have had eough of carrying, and have decided to upgrade to become masons, and plasterers. Mitch and Michael have added a huge amount of extra manpower. Still unsure though who will be the lucky ones to acrry 50 kg cement bags 100m up hill. I think we will have to get a few women in for that!
All 13 have started taking a few classes in English with mixed results. Our spelling does not always correspond with theirs and we have the disadvantage of not understanding grammar as well as the lower grade high school children. This will only be going till Monday as the students all start their public exams then.
Br James returned from hospital last night. He feels a little weaker but is very cheerful, and quite a charmer.
I will attempt to get the boys to add to this site more frequently, but it is hard to find the time and the opportunity.
All the best,
Br Denis

India is a massive country with over a billion citizens calling it their home. Through keen observance and the national English newspaper (The Hindu), it has become abundantly clear that to progressively govern and police such a state is as far as I’m concerned is nearly impossible. We as a collective come from a nation where rubbish collectives are weekly and recycle fortnightly, the closest bin in public is nearly always within working distance (these are cleaned and maintained regular by councils) and fines in place for infringements. In the starkest of contrast I was reading this morning in the newspaper that the government are struggling to even look after its world recognized and heritage listed monuments. You see in India the ONLY place to dispose of your rubbish is on the ground next to you, leaving streets lined with the stuff, eventually making its way to the water ways and streets where swine and peoples pet chickens feed. When this mess is accumulated some one generally takes action and rakes it into a pile and set fires to a CO2 bonfire. These waterways are used for drinking, laundry, bathrooms and in some cases holy sights.
I’m currently reading Hunter S. Thompson’s account of the 1972 election (Fear and Loathing on The Campaign Trail ’72) and if its taught me anything it’s the complex and intricate nature of an election process of a first world nation. I cannot even imagine the electoral process in India. The need is so bleedingly obvious here for help from those of us better off. Unfortunately the perception spoon fed to us is that outside of Australia there lie a lesser people, and that without these people we wouldn’t necessarily be able to live our privileged lives to the extent that we do. It takes more than apathetic knowledge/ignorance to make changes to the lives of others, I'm glad that I could first hand take action in this proccess and to everyone who has supported us along the way - thank you.
Callum Vass