SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 17

Today’s distribution was a two and a half hour drive away from our hotel. On this drive we were taken through prosperous farm country, observing freshly cultivated soil, young plants being irrigated and harvesting of grain and sugar cane.

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We observed both arduous labour by devout farmers using hand tools as well as modern day machinery tilling, ploughing and harvesting. They used both tractors and harnessed cows to get the jobs done and to market or storage. The beauty of the bounty was astounding.

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I especially liked the fields of sunflowers and the painted cows.

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 15, 16

Today we were in Gokak giving out bedkits to 600 deserving children.  Each site is very different but similar at the same time.  A lot of effort is put in by the Rotarians to make the site is functional, organized and beautiful. Our team leaders quickly evaluate the site, the camera and bedkit are set up and the process of lining up the children begins. Today, the air was filled with laughter and excitement.  

It can be chaotic for the first thirty minutes as the two teams strive to coordinate their efforts in a way that best serves the children. Everyone wants to help, and we appreciate all the effort.  Slowly, a flow emerges, we settle in, the children learn by watching, and time passes quickly.

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 16

Distribution 6 in Hubbali is wrapped up with another 500 bedkits distributed. We had a great time interacting with the children.

They tend to be very serious while having their photos taken and moving through the various stations. Once they receive their bedkit and can see that they will be moving into the welcoming arms of their parents they become all smiles. The children are very excited when they arrive with lots of chatter and they respond enthusiastically when we have a chance to interact with them.

They are all chatter and enthusiasm when they leave and we can again chat with them. Today was a great day with an enthusiastic group of children and volunteers.

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 13

We had a large distribution today of 1,300 bedkits! It was a sight to behold, all those bed kits set up and ready for distribution. And upstairs there was a small sea of children excitedly waiting for their turn.

As always, we started slow while we got all of our volunteers and friends organized and everyone got used to their particular role in making this a successful distribution. An adjustment here and there, a bit of fiddling with some of the finer details and we were on a roll. The children are incredibly patient and often so serious.

Our overseas partner lead had a great time eliciting smiles and some giggles out of the children for their photos. The demand on the volunteers is great for a distribution this large but they were up for the challenge and managed to find more helpers when we had a backup in our flow. We had one little girl come back after receiving her bedkit to thank us and shake our hands. Her father accompanied her and also offered his thanks and you could see the gratitude in his eyes.

Hearing the excited chattering of the children as they loaded up for their rides home was music to our ears!

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 12

Today was a rest day in preparation for our first of two big days. Tomorrow we will distribute 1300 bedkits, the largest distribution I have ever participated in.

We visited the manufacturing establishment used to produce the beautiful clothing in the children’s bedkits. The fabric and workmanship was of great quality. We drank coconut milk and ate bananas while visiting with the craftspeople and some rotary members.

We also visited the beautiful temple at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama and listened intently to the lessons of religious philosophies of India presented very wisely and humbly by one of our Rotarians and a temple Swami. We learned about the value of meditation.

We were then transported to a gold and silver shop owned by one of our Rotarian friends which held beautiful merchandise and then back to our hotel for a rest and an opportunity to take our group photo outside in the gardens of the hotel.

Enroute we took great pleasure in handing out some hand-knit donated dolls to mothers with small children and had many laughs at the traffic antics of our driver who assisted us.

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 11

Working in India is an honour and a gift.  The willingness the SCAW team and the Rotarians have to work together to help deserving children is built on respect, willingness, brainstorming, laughter and faith.

Volunteers are pivotal in the process of making each distribution site a successful event.

When we listen to the voices and see the tears of the children, it can touch a deep longing to make the world a better place at a time of international struggle.

It is a choice!  It is love! It is teamwork!

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 10

We did our first distribution of 500 bedkits today. The Rotary Club in Belgaum have organized a method of how to do a distribution that was unfamiliar to us but after hearing how it worked, we decided to give it a try. The method we had been familiar with was having the bedkits completed and ready to be given to the children once photos had been completed.

The Rotary method was to have the bedkits partly completed and left with our volunteer at the exit. An assembly line was made up of alĺ the clothing in sizes small, medium and large and given out to the children as they came through. They then proceeded to meet one of our volunteers who had the partially completed bedkit, and placed their new clothing in the kit to complete it before they exited.

We were a bit apprehensive but agreed to try their method since it had already been set up in that manner. It did work well, the pro being that each child got the proper size of clothing that they placed in a small bag containing their clothing worn to the site, then easily added to the kit bag. The con is that it takes a lot  more volunteers which these Rotarians had planned to take on, but we aren’t sure Rotarians in other locations will have enough volunteers. It’s definitely something to ponder for future distributions.

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Belgaum, 2025: February 9

After our safe arrival we spent a couple of days in Mumbai getting acclimatized and through most of our jet lag. We spent a fulsome day doing some sightseeing.

We have now officially started our distribution in Belgaum with a pre-distribution meeting with our overseas partners this evening. We met with a very organized group of volunteers who have worked very hard to supply a bed kit that I think the children will be thrilled with.

Tomorrow will see us delivering our first 500 bedkits. Looking forward to seeing the expression on the children’s faces when they receive their gift.

Team Belgaum, 2025

Rotary Club of Belgaum 🇮🇳 and SCAW 🇨🇦