Clan Black: Rowdy Rabble from QP

We recently had the absolute joy of having 6 folk from our home Church in Glasgow come to visit us for 8 days. The time just flew in, and was really too short. I'm pretty sure they were all tired by the time they left, and would have liked to have stayed longer! They were more organised than me at blogging, and did a blog post for each day that they were with us. You can see their blog at http://www.clanblacksupport.blogspot.com/. Because there is a lot of info on that site, I'll remain relatively brief, but here are some picture highlights.

Arriving at Mumbai International airport. They had a noisy flight, with a crying baby over their shoulders! I still remember the first time I stepped out of the safety of the air-conditioned airport the first time I came to India in 1998. It really is an assault on all the senses! We took our own luggage to the car a few metres away, and half a dozen porters tried to wrench our bags from our hands to place them in the back of our car. They assured us it was OK, as it was their job, but then wanted pounds Sterling as payment for their unsolicited harassment.

The trip from the airport involved 4 of the bunch going in a 10 seater taxi that I'd booked, with their secret chocolate stash for Jo and I taking up 4 seats. This resulted in Brian, John and I taking a second taxi. This was supposedly an AC taxi, but the driver delighted in turning off the AC whenever we were distracted in order to save fuel. I think he did this about 15 times in the 1 hour journey! John was the trips official photographer, and pretty much filled his memory card in the taxi I think, snapping everything from one horizon to the next!

In the taxi to visit one of the projects I work in. The gang from left to right are; Sandra, David, Sharmaine, John, Brian, and last but definately not least Ishbel.

At the Oasis India healthcare project. Oasis are mostly involved with Women and children. Oasis visit a number of Government homes, and also have 4 outreaches in the red-light districts themselves. They also run a couple of homes, and a vocational skills training centre. A recent focus for them has been to get heavily involved in anti-trafficking work, to try and rescue young girls who have been sold or kidnapped into prostitution.

Here we are on the local train. A hot and sweaty endeavour, especially if the fan in your section is not functional!

Alistair and Freya also enjoy riding on the train!

You all knw the saying "rules are there to be broken", well in India it should be "rules are there to be flaunted"- especially on the roads! But here we are on a cruise of Mumbai harbour - "No photograpy allowed"

At church on Sunday.

Freya learning the ropes of screen work at Purnatha Bhavan. 25 kids and 18 women live here in an idyllic setting in the hills 2 hours north of Thane.

At JSK. This is taken with Naseem who works helping out at the centre with cleaning and making Chai! She invited the whole team to her humble home, which was just lovely of her. There are some photos of this on the team's website.