Babies in a Basket

Our visit to the Children's Home was heartbreaking. Most of the kids were on a field trip the day we arrived so the only ones we had a chance to visit with were the babies and the ones with developmental problems. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the facility, but it was very impressive. The place was spotless and staffed with some very attentive and caring men and women. There was one courtyard where all the babies and toddlers were taken out to during the day. They were all crawling and scooting around on walkers. Most of them had developmental problems or chronic health issues, but they were all smiling and happy to see us. A good number of these little ones were left in a basket at the door of the home by parents who couldn't, or didn't want to, care for them. The good news is that there is a long line of Indian people and foreigners who are waiting to adopt them.

The second half of the day we poured concrete and set the roof of a house further along in construction. Until now we had only been working in teams of three or four, so it was fun to have all eleven of us working together on one site. It was pretty crazy though. We were all spread out up this shaky two story scaffolding made of bamboo and lashed together with twine. We had to work very fast to pass the heavy pans of concrete from the mixer up to the roof so it could be spread by the mason before it hardened. It was nuts, but we got it done in record time and not a single one of us fell off the scaffold.