By Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

Awesome Agra!

After arriving in Agra, we visited the stunning Taj Mahal. We had to wait in long lines for entrance to the grounds of this national monument and security was very tight. Apparently, there are several groups who would like to blow up the Taj Mahal in an apparent and misguided way to call attention to their theology, ideology, or lunatic mission. Of course, this is India and getting to the entrance gate is a challenge of passing through aggressive 'hawkers'. hungry monkeys, tribal vendors who want to take you on a camel ride, and various vendors of knock-off Taj Mahal replicas made of soap, stone, plaster, mud, concrete, and Formica. Ahhh, the power of capitalism when combined with tourism!

No matter how well traveled you may be or cynical and staid, you will not be prepared for your first sighting of the Taj Mahal. As you walk through a tall marble arch erected over 500 years ago, you are immobilized by your first view of the Taj-- it shines, sparkles and almost hypnotizes you with its indescribable beauty. The grounds and gardens only add to its brilliance and majectic presence. Our sponsors are almost mute as they stand gazing at this monument of love and devotion... one man who wanted to honor his wife after she died was committed to construct the most beautiful mausoleum in the world... along with over 20,000 skilled stone carvers, artists, and craftsmen who toiled almost 30 years to complete this historic place. The gentleman may have been in love, but he also imprisoned his father for eight years at a nearby fort, killed several of his rival brothers, and reportedly ordered that the hands and fingers to be cut off of the most skilled artisans after they finished their work... he certainly did not want his monument duplicated by anyone!

Sunset at the Taj Mahal is almost a spiritual experience and our sponsor group was overwhelmed by their experience and visit. Later at the hotel, everyone was talking about the Taj during our delicious Indian buffet dinner-- Indian breads are the best in the world! They also like to serve an assortment of sweet desserts with each meal which certainly made most of us fatter and happier. Of course, on any study tour, there is a core group of serious shoppers! Despite the long day, several of us ventured from the hotel late that evening to seek trinkets and treasures of India. We stumbled onto a little store that was about to close... but the foreigners were welcomed guests of this family-run business and we kept them there until almost midnight. They were gracious and helpful, and we returned their hospitality in greenbacks and left with gifts for friends and families back home.

Our guide urged the group to get up a 5:00 a.m. the next day and see the Taj Mahal in the sunrise. We all looked like rejects from an endless marathon. During dinner I doubted that many would want to get up early and return to this monument. Wrong again! By 4:45 a.m. there were 15 sponsors in the hotel lobby the next morning ready to see the Taj Mahal one more time. Our irrational nocturnal behaviour was rewarded with one of the most beautiful sights you would ever want to see at sunrise. I neglected to say that the Taj Mahal has emerald, rubies and other precious stones embedded in the translucent marble walls and dome. When the rays of the sun reaches this monument, it actually sparkles as if hundreds of tiny blinking lights have been activated, unforgettable, and photos do not do it justice.

We also visited the Agra Fort that day which would make any 10-year-old boy delirious with delight-- the fort, complete with moat, covers over 200 acres and was constructed with colossal slabs of red sandstone. There are huge wooden gates, lots of dark passages, tunnels galore, lofty turrets, battle ramps, and magnificent gardens inside the walls. Harry Potter-- eat your heart out! THIS is a real castle for fun and exploration. You can only imagine how grand a life could be lived behind these gigantic walls.

Leaving Agra and heading southeast to the ancient city of Jaipur, we were to endure six endless hours of bumpy roads, traffic jams, and dueling trucks and buses trying to play 'chicken' on a highway of barely one lane. Halfway on our journey that day, we made a rest stop at a small, remote gasoline/snack bar place not normally frequented by foreign tourists. Of course, it was like the aliens from Jupiter had arrived and we were stared at, touched, and laughed at by the locals who came out to see the foreigners from space. Service was quick and friendly at the snack bar and we completely wiped out their supply of sandwiches, cookies, cold drinks, coffee, tea and almost every other available item that could be consumed by these hungry foreign invaders. I am sure the owners of this establishment will never forget the day that the ravenous white people from another country completely wiped out their supply of goodies. Biggest sales day in the last 500 years for this place! :)

Let me also add that we were always treated with friendliness and courtesy wherever we went that day and the children especially liked sponsors who would take photos of them on digital cameras... and show them the photos. One sponsor had brought what I can only described as Madri Gra beads-- and the kids, the parents, the snack bar workers, and everyone else loved them, I can now proudly state that there are probably at least 50 people who live near this rest stop now wearing these colorful beads!

We arrived at the historic city of Jaipur that evening. It would be an adventurous visit with elephant riding, auto-rickshaw racing, rug buying, sari-selling bonanzas only topped by the sudden appearance on the street of a poor, tattered 12-year-old youngster named Magic Boy who amazed our CCF sponsors with his skill, friendliness, and acts that defy explanation. More on Jaipur in my next report.

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By Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

Great Saturday morning in Bangalore, India... one of the most unique cities in all of India. Before I tell you a little about our visit to Bangalore, let me catch you up on our travels during the last week. This study tour is becoming one of the most educational and challenging tours we have ever implemented for sponsors.

Leaving Delhi almost a week ago, we slowly-- I stress slowly, made our way to Agra-- site of the Taj Mahal. As you inch your way through the traffic in Delhi, you realize that traffic in Los Angeles or Washington, DC, is really not that bad! At every traffic light, our bus is approached by what the locals call 'hawkers' with their variety of wares including colorful purses, snakes, peacock fans, food items, and other things you can not do without in your daily life. Of course, our sponsors are fascinated by this eager display of street entreprenurial activity and buy everything that is thrust toward them... while snapping photos as if this will be the only place we encounter these spirited sales people.

Normally, it should be easy to drive to Agra in less than two hours, but this is India were few things are easy. There is constant honking of horns, trucks using all lanes and even sidewalks to manuever their rigs, hundreds of people in the streets, enormous potholes everywhere, and a weird zoo-like assortment of camels, dogs, cattle, monkeys and even a few elephants in the road, make travel a magical and maddening adventure in India.

Of course, we must make the customary rest stop half-way to Agra where clean bathrooms for the foreigners and a host of every gaudy souvenir items are displayed before you actually can reach the snack counter to order a cool drink with biscuits (cookies). Remarkably, all of this chaos and confusion becomes normal, the longer you travel in India the longer all your senses become attuned to expect the unexpected and enjoy it!

Finally, we arrive in Agra, a city that must have been designed by a city planner having a bad day. There are winding streets that go in circles, intersections that are constantly grid-locked, and in the midst of hundreds of cars and trucks, you find a lonely, but sharply-dressed uniformed traffic officer trying to do his best in the worst of situations. Again, when all hope is dimmed, traffic begins to move and the impossible becomes the possible in India!

India is full of forts and palaces, and Agra is home to one of the most beautiful monuments in the world-- the stunning and peaceful Taj Mahal! More about our sunset and sunrise (ugh!) visit to the Taj in my next dispatch.

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Arrival in India

By Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

Our study tour to India will be one of our most challenging trips this year. Twenty-four sponsors and staff gathered at the Newark International Airport from throughout the United States on Thursday night for our 14-hour flight to Delhi. They were an excited group of sponsors with determination to fly to India, travel constantly over the next 11 days by bus, plane, and auto-rickshaw, eat exotic food, see some of the most beautiful monuments in the world, visit urban and rural CCF projects and meet their sponsored children.

International airline flights have become the enemy of many road warriors, but Continental Airlines should receive 5 stars for their excellent service, knowledgeable and courteous staff, and better-than-average airline food-- plus getting us to Delhi 15 minutes ahead of schedule with all of our luggage arriving on time to the baggage carousels within fifteen minutes. Clearing customs in India was efficient and without problems. Soon, we were out of the airport and on our 'coach' as they say in India and on our way to the hotel. It is now almost 10 p.m. on Friday night in Delhi and the streets are crammed with cars, taxis, bicycles, motorcycles, dog, pigs, cows, and a long line of nomadic tribe people riding ox carts in the middle of the street. Somehow, all of this seemed natural and quite orderly in this fascinating country of paradoxes and quagmires. Welcome to India!

Keep in mind that India is 9 and one-half hours ahead of EDT-- it is an interesting story how India adopted the half-hour time zone... but just blame it on astronomers and those wacky Brits in colonial times that wanted all the trains in India to run on the same time zone. Nothing makes sense in this wonderful country, but everything seems to work just the same. After checking into the hotel at 10:30 p.m., we had dinner....yes, it is quite common in India to eat at this hour and the food at our hotel was outstanding. I was surprised that almost all our sponsors came down to the dining room for dinner at this hour and seemed to enjoy it immensely. Not a complaint in the group!

After a short overnight rest, we were up on Saturday and ready to tour the heart of the historic parts of New and Old Delhi. The first lesson in Delhi when riding a bus is to close your eyes and realize that there are accidents, but very few considering the demolition derby that goes on constantly on India's street and highways. Of course, air pollution is a major problem in Delhi and please do not plan to go 'quickly' anywhere in this town. A trip of eight miles could easy take an hour or more. We have excellent local guides who know the nuances of India and can translate to foreign guests with humor and clarity. Nothing is as it appears in India!

On Saturday afternoon, we went to an orphanage which is supported by CCF-India. It is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods of this immense city and administered by an order of the Clarist nuns. There are over 100 children assisted by this wonderful orphanage and I knew our CCF sponsors would be overwhelmed by the warmth and sincerity of the welcome given to them by the children and nuns. There were speeches and dances, smiles and hugs, and hundreds of photos were taken by our group. The positive spirit and commitment of the staff at St. Anthony's Orphanage was infectious and soon everyone in our group were on an emotional roller coaster... it was actually hard for me to get the group to leave the orphanage and return to the hotel.

It is now Sunday morning and we are preparing for our first day of meeting sponsored children. Because India is such a large country, we will have a 'Child Sponsorship Day' in northern India and another in Bangalore for sponsored children who live in southern India. This is always a very special day for everyone... it is a day, from my experience in assisting Study Tours, that I can accurately predict that there will be tears from sponsors, children, parents of children, and CCF staff as everyone comes together for this emotional international family reunion. Many of these youngsters have traveled with their parents for hours, even days, to be here in Delhi and now finally meet their American sponsor. In our Study Tour group, we have sponsors who have been sponsoring children throughout the world for over 25 years, and, yet, today is the first time they have ever met one of their sponsored children in person. Everyone is excited, nervous, and almost giddy at times in anticipation of this meeting.

GARY W. DUNCAN

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Off to India!

By Gary Duncan, Assistant Director of Marketing

In less than 10 hours, CCF sponsors and staff will be leaving a chilly Newark International Airport for the hot, humid 98-degree weather of New Delhi. This trip will be our second study tour to one of the most diverse and fascinating countries in the world. Where else could you encounter a country that speaks 17 languages and over 800 dialects? India is a country that is rooted in democratic and religious tradition, but is rapidly developing into one of the most robust economies and advanced technological nations in the world.

This study tour will challenge our sponsors both mentally and physically. We will travel from Delhi to Agra by bus, and then on to the ancient city of Jaipur. No need to unpack luggage, because we will keep moving on to Mumbai for a quick look and then down to Bangalore-- the location of the national office of CCF in India. Our trip will end in the coastal city region of Goa-- which more resembles a Portuguese village than an Indian community. Along the way, we will be visiting CCF programs in both Delhi and Bangalore as well as giving our sponsors a chance to actually meet their sponsored children.

Our sponsors on this trip are from Oregon to Florida, and many of them have traveled with us before on other study tours. For the newcomers, they will learn that we are 'travelers', not 'tourists' and they will return to the United States with a profound knowledge and understanding of the old and new India. They will also have a greater comprehension of how their sponsorship gifts impact the lives of thousands of poor children and families throughout India. I can guarantee you that our sponsors will be different people when they return from this trip and we hope the newcomers will appreciate how special this experience can be in their lives. For the old-timers that have traveled with us many times, they know how educational, fun, and life-expanding these trips can be. We are all from different backgrounds and experiences, yet united in our commitment to helping children-- to give them a chance just like someone may have given you a chance in your life.

Throughout the next 10 days, I will attempt to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly of our experiences in India. Right now, everyone is excited and happy to be on this study tour and ready to depart on our 14-hour flight from Newark to New Delhi. Likewise, in India, much planning has gone in to this study tour by our Indian colleagues and they eagerly await our arrival. We are on a journey of discovery and self-education with unlimited opportunities to see and do things never experience by most tourists traveling to India. I hope you will join us on this trip through this travel blog and maybe experience a little of our adventures and visits to these regions in India through my writing.

gary d.

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By Elizabeth Sung, Consultant for CCF-Chad

A long line of white land cruisers makes its way along sand tire tracks, through the dry brush, and passes by the teems of camels and donkeys drinking from the ouaddis. Each trip to the camp begins like that with the levels of adrenaline rising each time the car's wheel hits a crux in the route. At the camp entry, we pause to sign in at security, then we drive to CCF's Child Centered Spaces to drop our staff off, and continue on to our meeting space for the training.

Today, I made my way to Iridimi to finalize some details for my survey which is in its last stages of execution. I spent part of my day at one of the CCF trainings held for the refugee volunteers. They discussed the concept of vulnerability of children, how to recognize the signs of child abuse, and how to refer the child to the appropriate resources. The discussion was animated, and we even discussed the similarities and differences between American culture and Sudanese culture. It is during this time when I feel most inspired and vibrant, when we learn how we cope with problems in society, in the camp, and in our families. Even when the language and culture seem like great obstacles to overcome-- we are linked by our concern to protect those in our community, to progress beyond the norms, and to improve our quality of life. Our staff is doing amazing work, and I only wish everyone could see it!

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