Last Day in Jalgaon

Jalgaon ~ January 11, 2011

We returned to Jalgaon (pronounced 'Jal-gow') late last night after two spectacular days at the World Heritage Sites at Ajanta and Ellora, with a side trip to the amazing fort at Daluatabad outside of Aurangabad. We will make our presentation tonight to a combined meeting of the six clubs in Jalgaon. As we have come to expect, the hospitality and care extended to us by our host families and Rotarians has been amazing. We are already sad that the exchange will be complete in just five days.

I would especially like to acknowlege my host, Dr. Ranjit Chavan and his wife Shailajah. Ranjit has a busy orthopedic practice, and yet has cleared his schedule for the past 4 days to accompany us to Aurangabad and to the various vocational tours arranged for us in Jalgaon. (He also waited 5 hours at the Mumbai airport to pick us up when we arrived late from Amsterdam.) Fortunately, I will have the opportunity to reciprocate his hospitality because he is leading the outbound team to District 5030 in April. He will be joined by his lovely wife Shailajah and their two children Samiran (14) and Ravita (6) for a month long tour of the western US after the exchange.

Our team continues to impress me and our hosts. According to Dr. Nikhil Kibe in Akola, it is 'the best team in 15 years". Nikhil is such a gracious man, he might say that even if it weren't true, but I believe that he meant the compliment. This team amazes me every day.

The Rotary Clubs we have visited are extremely commited and very involved in local projects. There is no shortage of needs to be met. I will return with many ideas and proposals for projects in water, sanitation, and education (specifically supporting a libary in a public school). Dr. Chavan's club has adopted a public school and spent between $80,000 and $100,000 USD repair the infrastructure including rebuilding the floors, providing electricity and running water, and paying the salary of a teacher for handwriting and art. The children (Grades 1-7) are from families below the poverty line, which in India is very low, and would not have access to basic education without the intervention and support of this group of inspirational and commited Rotarians.