What a day. We began in Kanyakumari, and said our goodbyes to Kathryn. She had to leave us earlier due to scheduling conflicts with her holiday in Korea. Kathryn was upbeat and always reliable, and she will be missed. Safe travels, Kathryn.


The remaining ten and the Davids began our journey back north. India needs highways. Everywhere we go is on narrow, winding roads. We are constantly pulling into oncoming traffic to pass other vehicles. I wish my wife could see this, she wouldn't get so nervous when I pass cars on HWY 46. Compared to these drivers, I'm the safest guy on the road. Our big stops today were at specific villages 550 km south of Chennai. On the way, we got out to stretch our legs at Courtallam waterfall, where locals paid to bathe under the pounding water. David compared these falls to Niagara Falls, but said that with the "failure of the monsoon," there was little water. We were even told there would be monkeys here, but the lack of water meant fewer tourists, and fewer tourists meant no food for monkeys.

We pushed north to the Virudhunagar District of Tamil Nadu. There, we picked up Mr. Ramar, a new convert to the church and a friend of Rev. David. Ramar took us out to the villages on the edge of Virudhunagar District. If the roads before were small, these were little more than alleys. We wound our way down these small streets; as always the people stared while our van passed within a yard of their front door. No addresses or street names here. On government paper, this place doesn't exist. We slipped out of the city, past fields where women walked miles to get water. Finally, we stopped near a cluster of hovels. There, thanks to a donation from a single donor in 2006, LHM and the CMC were able to drill 15 bore wells for the villagers. Mr. Ramar was Rev. David's contact in the area. He personally selected the sites for the wells and found the contractors to take care of the drilling and construction.

I have seen many amazing things in India and expect to see many more, but I do not exaggerate when I say that what I saw today was the most important thing I will see in India. The first village's well now provided water for 100 families, all of whom had to walk a kilometer and pay a rupee for a gallon of water. Every day. Ramar translates and tells us they were grateful for the wells and remembered the gift every day. The next site provided water for almost 300 families. All of these lives changed, all for the cost of $1,500.00 for a well. A single donor did this. His gift of $25,000 bought 15 wells and changed countless lives.

Day 10 - Bore Well Villages Click for more pictures

To show their thanks, the villagers shared what they could: a bright flower, a pinch of sandalwood, a sip of pepsi. Their smiles beamed happiness at us. We deserved none of it - and we are only incidental to the wells; we simply came to witness them – but we accepted them graciously on behalf of the organization we represent. To be honest, the looks of pure joy and gratitude on the faces of the people would be enough thanks for anyone. Even despite the "failure of the monsoon" this season, these people would not want for the basic right of water.

We had a great time in the villages. We brought mini Frisbees from LHM, and Chuck and Steve went to great lengths to show the children how to play with them. John was almost mobbed on the way back to the van because the villagers were so excited to see the little plastic disks. The villagers presented us with a Neem Tree sapling, and together Chuck and Mr. Ramar planted it where the well runoff would provide it with plenty of water. We heard their stories, we played with them, and we laughed with them. We could not speak their language, but we fought to understand what they dealt with. It was, to say the least, an emotional visit.

Mr. Ramar tells us that at least 40 more wells are needed in this area alone. To make a donation to Lutheran Hour Ministries, please contact LHM or chuck@cnhindiamission.org

This evening, we arrived at Thekkaddy. Tomorrow brings us to the Thekkaddy Wildlife Sanctuary, with elephants, monkeys, and maybe even tigers!

Edit - We didn't feel the earthquake, and Rev. David told us there was a tsunami warning yesterday. Nothing's shaking here that wasn't shaking before.