We are home...!!

Yes we are home, arriving at Heathrow at 12.30pm UK time yesterday. We then picked up our car and drove the 4 hours to home arriving home at 7pm ish...

All (especially Sarah and I) feeling very weird... Kind of feeling as if we have only been away for a weekend but on the other hand all feeling a little shot - mentally, physically, emotionally. Don't expect a lot out of us yet!!

I think this will the last blog entry now for some time as this chapter in our lives has ended....

Who knows when the next will begin......??

What's your next chapter??

See you (very) soon

We are off in 5 mins to the airport - It's 3.30am! Last word goes to Raj on the cake her had made for us last night

For those reading this from the UK, we will see you very soon.....

Thank you for your interest in our little lives in this big, big world. That's it! Over and out...

Last day and counting

Last day and counting in this amazing city and what a stunning time we have had out here......

We have spent time laughing, crying, getting massively frustrated, building better friendships, understanding more about 'culture', helping people, encouraging people, supporting people, challenging people, seeing sights we never would have dreamt of, experiencing smells and sounds we have never experienced before and seeing all our lives change.

We have watched our kids grow and develop in ways we could never have expected, our family has gone through things that would make your eyes water. At the same time we have had more coffee and ice cream than in the last 10 years in the UK (when we have felt a bit 'western sick') and yet, at the same time, survived for a week on bread and rice and water (at Avalanche).

What an unreal time! Very little sickness - home or stomach, one minor accident, buget worked well (we have ended giving too much away but if that is a crime - we are gulty!). Our home has been a sanctuary for us in a way that has made it all (just that bit more) bearable at times.

There is much, much, much more we could tell you about. Maybe will if you give us the chance when we get home??

Thank you all for all your support, love, comments on the blog, e mails and phone calls etc We could not have got through it without them. You are wonderful people and we have felt well loved and supported....

Thanks to all those who gave so generously to people out here. We were given a total of £1145 to give away and gave £1230. I can give you the details if you want but some examples are you have built a house, saved a family from having their house repossessed, helped to setting a business up, helped to build a sports hall for HIV orphans & bought sports equipment for them, bought a (much needed) laptop for the Fishermen Trust and totally furnished the office they work from now and generally given to dozens (yes dozens) of people out here who have next to nothing. Yep, a little goes a hell of a long way out here...

Massive thanks to my 'big brown bear' - that's what the kids call Raj. We made a massive commitment/covenant to each other a number of years back and various things have tested out this friendship to the max but nothing has dented it yet. I have never experienced friendship like it....

Raj has put up with all sorts from me and had me push him, challenege him, encourage him and generally chase his tail to get into the potential that God has for him and the Trust here.

Those of you that know me know that I can be a bit of a bully at times so for Raj to have put up with that for 3.5 months deserves a huge tribute.

And finally, and I know not all of you who read our blog believe in God, but we do (as hard as that is at times!) and we just want to pay a kind of tribute to Him.

From the first days, when we had the initial dream to come, until now, we can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that God has provided for us in ways we could never have imagined. Many of you will never know some of the miracles (and I don't use that word lightly) we have seen before we came and since we have been out here. Unreal!! So big 'Ta's' to the big 'G'!

Doing this blog has been fun and hard work. It has been a good discipline and a great permanent reminder of our time here. The comments that I have had back from you guys too has made doing the blog worthwhile.

I can't work out how I feel. I know I haven't thought of work more than twice in the whole time here. Very weird for me! I feel very numb when I think of home - can't quite process my thoughts to get to the stage of knowing how I feel really. I have no doubt we will enjoy every moment when we return but at the same time, just going to 2/3 slums again yesterday, I still live with the frustration (it feels more like pain at times) of on the one hand living how I live and where I live and yet having the eyes and images of the people I have spent time again with out here (from the streets, slums and villages), haunt me.

I do not understand why? Just becasue of where I was born, I have ended up a bloke with a lovely family with a good income, house, job and 2 cars and a good lifestyle. So please tell me why that is fair when kids I have been over the last 3 1/2 mon ths with have ended up in the gutter (literally), getting sick by the day due to infected water and bad food, with a Dad that (3/4 of whom) have drinking/violence issues and (many) parents who would rather the kiddie help at home than get an education. Please tell me why that is? And if you or I really don't have an answer (and please don't give me any cheesy ones!), then please let me/us continue to serve these beautiful people as long as the gap between the 'have's' and 'have nots' just gets a little shorter??

Must go now. Plane in a few hours!! I really don't think I will keep this blogging lark up when I go home as I won't have time or the amazing array of things to tell you. In many (most?) ways, life is just not as interesting at home I guess BUT it is home, and it's where we belong. Of that we know.....

Love Dave, Sarah, Es and Josh xx

1 day to go....

Just today and tomorrow to go and there's still no let up in the pace of final people to see/things to do before we go!!

Spent this morning doing something I had been promising Raj all the time - some IT training - some time learning about the web and PowerPoint and stuff. Then lunchtime I met with a friend called Benson who I had wanted to spend some time with since I had been out here but had never got round to.

Benson works on his own 3 days a week and 2 days with Bible Centred Ministries in Bangalore. He spends 90% of his time in the slums and in slum schools and has such a massive heart for people (mainly kids) who have nothing - I just love spending time with him!!!

Benson took me to a school him and another guy had set up for about 30 slum kids - amazing place...Then we went to a bookshop (run by Child Evangelism Felowship) to buy him some kids work resources (despite the posh website Benson doesn't get an salary or resources from BCM??) and then off to a slum school run by the Methodist Church where I had to speak to 170 kids!! Great time.

After this Benson took me to me a number of the families he supports in the slums. Yet again I am found desperately confused as to how I can live how I do - with all I that I will be going back to on Wednesday - and how these communities live. It just kills me to live with this tension at times....

Benson is an amazing guy that lives on next to nothing financially and yet gives his life to those that have less. So impressed.

Off to a Fishermen Trustees meeting tonight - 1st since I have been here. Lots to tell them about all the work we have done since we have been here....

2 days to go..

It's Sunday and there's nearly 2 days to go!

Please forgive us with this over indulgence of the last few days but it's been a long time coming and we are all rather looking forward to getting home. That's no reflection on how much we have enjoyed our time here. It really has been 'the time of our lives' for sure.

Today was the last Sunday at Church. Many of the friends we have got to know out here are from the Church. Had to say a few words up the front.

I shot over to the Bits club with Raj this afternoon. We took out a 3 years membership deal with them as it costs less than it would have been to go swimming a dozen times in the UK! I have managed to bargain the boss down to transferring the membership over to a family who are good friends here.

Rosalind and Renu (2 of Raj's cousin's) came over this afternoon and did some more henna on Esme and Josh:

In the evening we invited all our (closer) friends (about 18 of them!) round for a Biryani meal (and kebabs and Indian sweets) cooked by a lady who runs a catering business from her house just down the road to where we live. We had a great evening. This will be the last time we see many of these friends although we hear on the grapevine that quite a few are coming to the airport with us (on bikes) - even though we leave at 3.30am.

A lovely evening. 2 to go.....!!

Me and my girl....

Sarah and I have had a great couple of days....

As I mentioned some good friends of ours (who have 2 kids) said they would have Es and josh for 2 nights so we have been kiddie free!!!

We have had a great time chilling out and looking to going back to the UK - plans etc

Why we are here....

I was spending some time today finishing off the refresh of the TFT business plan and Raj had given me some updated stats on Bangalore to insert. I thought I would let you see them as they blew my mind!!

• The Indian population is now over 1.2 billion out of which 54 percent of Indians are below 25 years of age. Indians below 15 years of age are 336 million and 121 million are between the ages of 15 and 19. The age group of 20-34 are 271 million, adding up 728 million under 34 years of age making almost 70 present of the population. Thus making ‘India world’s youngest nation' having 555 million young people.
  

Bangalore (now called Bengaluru) has an estimated population of 7.2 million (2008). It is a City of great wealth and yet great poverty:

- It has the highest rate of suicide; as many as 1800 people commit suicide each year in the city, a majority of attempted suicides are between the age group of 20 to 24.

- A survey conducted by abortion centres across the city of Mumbai states that a minimum of 120 teenagers undergo abortions every month.

-According to WHO (World Health Organization) 10 percent of all abortions in India every year, are about five million a year among girls between 15 and 19.’

- There are 5.1 million HIV positive patients and 1,11,608 people with Aids in India , it is estimated that by 2010 there will be 20-25 million HIV positive people in India

-India also has the largest population of street children, ‘it is estimated that in urban areas there are 11 million children on the streets. Of them 420,000 street children live in six metropolitan cities of India, in Delhi alone there are at least 100,000 street children’

-The government estimates ‘that there are 400,000 child prostitutes in India. Unofficial estimates say India has as many as two million prostitutes, of which 20 percent are below 15 years of age. UINICEF claims that almost 15 percent of them enter the profession before the age of 15, and 25 percent enter between 15 and 18

Does that give you some idea of why we are here??

Oggling the Olympics

Our family seem to be well up for the Olympics this year - especially Esme... Thought it was a stunning opening ceremony I have to say. Especially impressed with the guy that round round the top (towards lighting the torch) of the stadium and the photo's lit up as he went - see pic below.

Looking forward to watching it when we have time at home. There was a big furore out here with the India team (ladies) as they weren't wearing saris etc!! Dominated the news.

My best opening ceremony pic is:

As for me/us, our marathon is coming to an end. I spent a chunk of today with Raj reviewing different aspects of the 3 1/2 months and celebrating the good and discussing the not so good. All in all we both agreed the time had gone far far better that any of us ever dreamt of.. A time that will change us all forever of that we are all convinced.

2 meetings tomorrow (Saturday) a full day Sunday, a totally full day and evening Monday, busy Tuesday am and then that is it!!!! Chill Tuesday pm and leave the house 3.30am Wednesday and fly at 6.45am!!!

Whoopee!!!Ready for home now! And just as we are about to hit 3000 page hits to the blog since coming out!! (see left side bar).

"He's gone"

Those of us that have known Paul (my bro) for a while will be used to saying this phrase about him as 'he's gone' is often used to describe our disappointment at the fact that Paul is now 99% mad and needing to be admitting to the local psychiatric unit....!!

However, on this occasion this phrase describes that fact that at 11pm we dropped Paul off at Bengaluru Airport on his 4 hour flight to Bangkok and then back to Kunming, China where he lives.

He e mailed us later on tonight to say:

"Arrived safely in Bangkok (4.30am your time) despite one of the bumpiest journeys I've ever had (and he has travelled to 86 countries!!) . Non-stop turbulence for 4 hours! No chance of sleep, and many passengers couldn't get any food/drink served as the air hostesses spent most of the time in their seats! I was on the last row - most bumpy place but at least they got food to me!"

Paul continues to blog here so do have a peak every now and again at the amazing things that happen to him in China.

Paul's final perusal....

It's Paul's last day today so we have taken it a little easy. We went off to show him the other side of Bangalore by going, once again, to the Leela Palace. Remember we went for a meal there for our anniversary, courtesy of Raj??

The picture is of us in their back garden!!

When we got there we had a look round but I don't think any of us could stomach the thought of buying a coffee especially as we had just walked past a large slum and beggars outside. Bonkers place but worth seeing...

Paul flies at 12.30am tonight/tomorrow morning. Our last trip to the airport before we go next Wednesday!

We have had a great time with Paul: chilling out together and catching up how we are doing. Great for the kids to spend time with him too..