Giving, philanthropy, humanitarian & performing altruistic acts boosts our performance levels.

A long line of research including a recent study of over 2000 people showed that acts of altruism decreased stress & strongly contributed to enhanced mental health. So if you want to be healthier, happier and have less stress… give.

There was a recent study of 46 people who were all given $20. Half were asked to spend the money on themselves, yet the other half was asked to spend the money on other people, maybe give it to charity; take someone deserved out to lunch or just spend it on an experience for someone else. This study showed that the people that spent it on themselves were not as happy as the ones that gave to others.

What this study shows is that when we give, this ignites our self worth to humanity and connects our heart, which in turn allows us to feel good about the act and about ourselves.

Bob Buford, author of Half Time talks about the difference between success & significance. He talks about how most people look at success as a fatter wallet, and the possession of materialistic stuff. He then speaks about the importance of significance and how some of us have a half time in our lives where we turn our focus from success to significance, which is, to make a difference in others lives.

Doing altruistic or significant acts boosts our happiness and performance levels as we gain stimulation and a sense of achievement within the act of giving.

My wife and I started a non-for-profit Foundation recently, working with the true poorest of the poor. Most people think they know who the poorest of the poor is but the reality is that the poorest people in the world are the children living with a disability in developing worlds, as they are even outcasts from their own families.

What we have found is that even the local community in the villages where we are working, have become more driven and motivated from seeing that we are helping, thus they have been inspired to help as well.

Altruistic acts are not necessarily starting a Foundation, but it can be as simple as opening the door for someone else, shouting someone to lunch or one of my favourites is when I drive through McDonalds with my kids, we pay for the cars meal behind us, we are all so excited about doing this that it boosts our energy and happiness levels.

What are you doing right now within your teams to ignite them to think about adding value to others… thus boosting high performance within your bottom line!

CawthornFoundation.org

This month I’ve been on holidays, but not really. I travelled to Europe with my family to visit my uncle. It was brilliant but freezing. We then travelled to Kolkata, India as a family and began working in local village communities. We are building a NEW boutique charity called Cawthorn Foundation. This is an initiative started by my family to help disadvantaged youth particularly people living with a disability. I’ve put together a video of one of the projects that we are doing. Also please visit: CawthornFoundation.org

Just a few months ago I was asked to be a part of a Human Rights Advocacy Movement for people living with a disability in developing worlds.

A little reluctant at first to join yet another campaign, I said yes and the journey over the past few months have been life changing. We went to rural India on a discovery mission together with a film crew to find stories of individuals living with a disability in some of the most poverty stricken remote places on earth.

Today, I am very pleased and honoured to be the Ambassador for the CBM movement ‘Create2Change’ and now am very passionately involved and a strong advocate to end the cycle between poverty and disability.

Check out these videos below:

If you are interested to find out more about the movement or our presentations shoot me an email or check out the website and see the other exciting things we are doing: www.create2change.org

We have been entertained nearly every day by some beautiful and amazing people here from family to people that I’ve just met. They have cooked me amazing meals and been so hospitable. So I decided to now give some back.

This is awesome GET THIS!!!!!

All morning we went around different markets to find hundreds of resources for a little school out in the village. This school was run by the village community volunteer and to date has not received any financial assistance at all from the Indian Government. It is a Primary School and the facilities…. well they have non. It is in the middle of a paddock with a little raised section where they have a run down torn structure with a partially opened roof, no sides and dirt floor. This is the classroom of over 100 students from around the village from 3yo to 9yo.

We arrived at 1pm just as the school was finishing for the day. What a buzz it is to give (Be A GENEROUS Giver). Our gifts included: 100+ chalk boards, 100+ books & pens, 100+ toothbrushes, lollypops, cricket bats and balls and a soccer ball. The head teacher and visionary for the school was overwhelmed. He could not thank us enough through the little English he knew. I was amazing to hear the vision he had, from developing the land to planting a shelter and building all around the paddock as he showed me. It was such a breath of FRESH AIR when you see a man that was so committed to his community that currently volunteered his time to assist the next generation of people. It was so exciting for me to hear his vision and passion that he had for these young poor students and his commitment to building facilities to create change even though he had no resources what so ever!!!!!! WOW

This man then went on to tell us about the land that the school is on and how he might lose it due to an unjust system and people wanting to take the land off him. I did not quite understand the whole story but I am determined to find out why and see how I can help. I got his details as he did mine and I really trusted him and believed in his vision! So I gave him a large amount of money to assist him with his land and said that I would like to remain in constant contact with him and hear good stories about the children. ..

I’ve attached some photo’s of the school and some students with their parents as they came to pick up their students. I feel so blessed to have blessed them.

These photo’s speak for themselves….

Today’s Greatest Education System on earth… India

Indian culture values education more then what many think. Education is now such an imperative part of a families life that many of even the middle class now send their children to tutor classes after school. Sometimes this is more than 1 tutor a day for up to 2hours each tutor session and that is most week days. WOW now that’s education.

Today I experience one of the best highlights while being in India. We went to a Private catholic school in Kharagpur called St Angus. It was a K-6 Primary school and we walked into the school through large concrete fences that surrounded it straight into the Principals office. Sister Mavis, the Principal, was there to greet us and kindly introduced us to her deputy and a few other staff. We then walked through the hallways towards the gym/hall. Upon arriving at the Gym, we were greeted with loud sounding horn, which was blown by a older student. The horn was made out of a shell.

As we walked up the steps of the gym, other students had made a line either side of us and threw dried flower petals on us while another little gild all dressed in her bright traditional Indian clothing and jewelry danced around us with incents burning. Another little girl also all dressed up in beautiful sari and Indian clothing came up to us and placed a little dot on our foreheads which seemed like wet mud. I later discovered it was an Indian tradition.

After we sat in the auditorium the young students then performed for us. There was dancing singing and some of the students were as young as 3yo and all were very talented. It was just an amazing experience and after I shared a little about my accident they then wanted us to sing the Australian Anthem to them. After asking many many questions about Australia and our culture we then had to leave. The students were in awe of our foreignness and us in general, they just wanted to touch us and stare it was just beautiful.

My parents have been in Kharagpur now for about 6 months and Mum regularly visits this school and teaches then music and singing. The students love it and really love my mum. It is a real honor to have parents that volunteer their time to make a difference in the world after retirement, as many retirees just self indulge.

Did you know…..

The Indian Government DOES NOT support most private schools within India. That’s no financiers or resources from the government. From many conversations only a small minority of Hindu based schools receive support but no Christian based schools. Thus many schools are under funded and under resourced, many need books, better equipment and just basically a make over. Its amazing the conditions that these students study under. No air-conditioning with temperatures regularly reaching 50+degrees humidity. WOW!!!!!

I’m off to experience life in the city 2moz with a number of business engagements…
Photo’ attached from the experience at this school…

It was great to see my family in India. Mum, Dad, my 2 sisters and 4 nephew and nieces who all had travelled from Australia to India. It’s a little crazy when you meet up with close family over the other side of the world.

My entire life I wanted visit my mothers hometown and travel to Kharagpur which is a place 2.5hours SW of Kolkata one of the largest cities in India (maybe the 3^rd largest after Mumbai and Delhi). So here I was, travelling to Kharagpur for the first time in my life to visit Mums relatives that I had never met before, to visit the place where my Mum and Dad met and got married, and to visit the place where my Mum grew up. It was quite and exciting journey. Arriving in Kharagpur, my Dad, who picked me up from the airport, pointed out to me the church where they got married. Wow that was an awesome feeling seeing this church. I got goose bumps.

The next morning we went to a village just a few km from Kharagpur. Now this was an awesome experience, as I had never experienced village life ever in my life, and mate was I challenged! These primitive natives were beautiful and very embracing of our western accents and mannerisms. Yes they had electricity, but the living environment brought ‘Lower Social Economic Living Conditions’ to a whole other level for me.

To get to the village, we took a vehicle, than a rickshaw and finally we had to walk down a narrow path across a bamboo bridge and zigzag through rice fields. Finally we got there in the middle off the day, sweat pouring off my face as the heat is extreme and the humidity is even worse. When I arrived it was hard not to notice the life style and environment of these, forever smiley and fascinated faces. They lived in mud huts, used outside fires for cooking and pumped water out of a well. It was just amazing. We read about this type of living and we sometimes see it on TV but to experience it and see it first hand is just mind blowing!

Eating a meal that they prepared I must admit, I was very hesitant in eating it as their hygiene standards, lets say, are different to ours. After carefully eating the meal on plates made out of banana leaves we then tried to communicate with them through the little language that we all knew.

I was with my parents, my sisters and my older nieces and it was so amazing when they started talking about having one of my sisters or nieces as a wife for their tribal men. They even went to their huts and got all dressed up in their finest garments to try to impress. It was just fascinating. After thanking them for there hospitality we began the walk, bike and car ride back to Kharagpur. WOW what a day.

Did you know….

Mumbai used to be called Bombay; Chennai used to be called Madras; Kolkata used to be called Calcutta… Why? Because the under British rule for many years the British people gave the large metropolitan cities and many other cities new names to suit them as they did not know how to pronounce the original names. But just recently ever since independence in 1947, many cities have changed their names back to Indian names. The latest being in Aug 1996 when Chennai was created just 1 year after Mumbai…

I read recently that in Mumbai, it has over 50% of the population living in the slums…

Click to enlarge photos:

My first trip to India just earlier this year was a true eye opener as I experienced so many things about India. It was a life changing experience for me and I have been forever changed and impacted by this first experience.

This trip I’m learning more about the Indian way and the culture that it currently lives by. I think India is a split culture. On one hand you have the religious traditional culture that has been ingrained into the Indian way for hundreds and thousands of years. But there is NOW another side of India, which is currently predominantly within Metropolitan regions at the moment but spreading fast around the entire country of India. It’s the entertainment and media industry that is beginning to take over from the traditional religious culture.

GET THIS…. To buy the most read newspaper in India it costs less then 10cents (4 Rupee). To buy a movie ticket in India is less than $2(50-80 Rupee). They have made it accessible to everyone and this influence is shaping the NEW India.

Just in the last couple of days in Delhi (the capital of India) there has been a Leadership Summit of all the most influential and powerful people in all of India, the true leaders within India that has dominant influence. The ex President of the United States, George W Bush, was one of the keynote speakers. But one thing which I noticed made all the media and attention was the Bollywood actors and singers. It was a select few of the most dominant and recognizable faces of the entertainment industry as part of the Leadership Summit…

I have been watching a little TV while here to understand more about the Indian way, and I noticed that most of the channels were music videos and movies where the same celebrities starred. After doing some more research I found that there are about 10 celebrity entertainers that are so popular and dominant that they are alone shaping the NEW Indian culture and pop culture. It is NOW huge! the way Indians idolize these celebrities is more then anywhere in the world, I’ve found. If you can influence these people you can influence India!!!! (My Goal in the next year is to meet some of these people!)

Today I’m flying to Kolkata, which I’ve been told is the true heart of India. I’m going to see my parents and a lot of my family who flew in earlier. The last few days have been a little blurry as when you travel here you most certainly get diarrhea and I’ve been busy with some speaking engagements and media attention here. My guides and party that organized my trip here have been exceptional. They have organized drivers everywhere we go and would just do anything for you. I have hardly carried a suitcase as they insist to do everything for you. I trust them as I have a good and strong relationship with them all.

Did you know?

Delhi, the capital of India has the same population in the one city as the entire population of Australia.
It is hard to find a western toilet in country and rural India as many of the are squat toilets or no toilet at all. I remember when I was on a train the other day. I saw 20 or 30 people all spread out over this paddock all squatting. I thought what the heck are these people doing… then I saw the pants around their ankles or the dresses lifted up. It was a very interesting site to ay the least!

Attached a photo: Look at the back ground of this photo… You have to wonder how the heck did that cow get on top of that!!!! (This picture is quite a standard site in many areas around India)

4hr train ride from Delhi to Chandigarh

I flew in from KL to Chennai and stayed at the airport over night for about 7hrs. Wow that was a long and uncomfortable night. I then jumped on a domestic plane from Chennai to Delhi. Now domestic travel in India is something to be desired. The terminal is like a dirty run down warehouse with people everywhere, but security is tight, very tight. It seems like the military runs security as they are all dressed in army clothes with machine guns and cold faces. They line you up like cattle to check every person over and every bag has to be checked over and scanned before you even check in. You are then escorted to a bus which takes you to the plane. The airline I flew with was good, clean and had professional staff and of course I got my upgrade as I always do! Lol

Leaving the airport in Delhi is just awesome. One word “Chaos”, but as you leave the airport you soon realize that all of Delhi is Chaos, and as you leave Delhi you then realize that all of India is Chaos., but organized chaos. You really need to experience it yourself. When you come to India for the second time, and even for me it is twice in one year, the smell and pollution is not as confronting as the first time. But for me you still marvel at the traffic and madness of the streets.
As we were driving to my hotel, I noticed a family under a bridge. We had stopped as the traffic was jammed, but I noticed this family which consisted of 3 small children maybe 1, 2 and 3 years old. These children were just playing on the corner of the road. They seemed to be completely oblivious to the traffic which was just meters away. As we stopped they came over to all the cars and just stood at the windows and starred straight into our eyes. They were taught to be beggars when the cars stopped. It was so heart tearing when you saw these little children on their tippy toes starring at us all in the cars. They were beautiful children but they were filthy dirty. Dirt all over their faces and skin, all over their torn old clothes, it was a very sad site. There are hundreds and thousands of children just like these 3 children, all over India. How could we not just sponsor one child? How could we not just try to support just one!
Today I’m travelling to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is 4 hrs North of Delhi by Train. You might think the airport sounds crazy, wait till you experience a train station… but that’s another story another day…

Talking to a big business tycoon here in India he says that many of the large building in the cities are still under British rule contracts. Meaning that some billionaire business people still only pay $1, or there a bout’s, per year for the building in the CBD. They then re-Lease this building for hundreds of thousands of US dollars every month. The Government will not do anything about it as these Billionaire business people are feeding the Government… Hmmmm corruption or WHAT!!!!
Did you know that India has a 2 child policy…… It has been in since the 1970s. Yes that’s right, Indian families are only allowed to have 2 children! ?!?!

Friday, March 13th 2009 – 8.57pm
As soon as I walked out of the international terminal in Delhi, my westernised senses are pounded by a normal Indian way of life. Where are the air conditioners? Where are the traffic lights? Where is the order on the roads? Where are the toilets? The answers are hidden in the wonderful and amazingly different country called India.

I’ve been to New York, Sydney, Hawaii, Tokyo, Dubai, LA… Nothing has prepared me for Delhi. The first thing that you realize is it is completely and utterly organised chaos. The taxi stand at the airport was just a little hut the opposite side from the taxi’s, dust filled the air and the noise of horns and cars that I have no idea how they are running and road worthy! The rubbish and filth everywhere driving out from the airport is hard not to notice as they have just bulldozed the rubbish from the road to the side of the road. Every second glance outside of my cab window looks like you are driving towards a tip site. People toileting by the roadside every 100 metres, the hwy’s have no lanes, just as many cars that fit…. And get this…. Many cars do not have rear vision mirrors, they do not use indicators, they honk just to let the car in front of them know you are there. Having a horn is a necessity in traffic life in Delhi, no shoes, no belts, no windows but a horn is a must!

When driving on the hwy I saw a motorbike with a man driving and a woman sitting side on behind him with 1 arm around him and the other hanging on to a 1 year old baby which the baby was crying and hanging on for life to his mother. They were going about 80km an hour! Past a truck that had a large trailer behind it with about 50 people in the trailer hanging on to the side and the back only just!

Taking a train from Delhito Chandigai was an eye opener as we drove past the wost poverty I have ever seen. You see things on TV, you hear about it on the news… NOTHING can prepare you for seeing it first hand. Slumdog Millionaire I think does not come close… Seeing thousands upon thousands of people living in conditions that are worse then the worst tip site you could imagine… playing cricket, searching through filthy rubbish and ruins, families, kids, old people, children, babies… you heart is forever changed and life in it’s true form challenges me to the core!!!

Building, cars, roads, everything it worn-out and old like it is from a world war two aftermath. Rubble is everywhere, rubbish is everywhere and it seems like every building and every road is just half finished and left…

Monday, March 16th 2009 – 5.12am
Even though my skin colour says that I ought to blend in, everything underneath says a different story. It challenges me on my perception of what the human body can handle as people take it to the most extreme imaginable. They wash and bathe in water that would not even be suitable for our toilets, and eat very spicy foods all with a kick, breakfast lunch & dinner. The food can be brilliant as flavours capture your tastes and take you to the toilet time after time after time.

I’m staying with people I have never met. They are middle class and live just 4hrs train journey north from Delhi, a place called Chandigarh. I feel ignorant as many people know English yet I know no dialect here including the main language, Hindi. They live in an average home with no running hot water and no showers. I’m told that this home is rare as it has a westernised toilet; the Indian toilet you just squat. I am in awe of the happiness and the hospitality they show, and the highly educated they can be especially middle class. I am speechless as I speak to one young 24yo man who explained that he works as an engineer in a manufacturing plant and does 14-16hours per day 6 days per week with a 1 hour break for lunch.

We take a motorised rickshaw after seeing a Bollywood blockbuster Hindi movie. We drive through Indian streets at dusk still with much traffic and action in the streets. I see one side of the road middle class houses with large gates and fences and the other side I see old filthy blankets used as tents and whole families prepare to sleep on grounds, rubble, rubbish and dirt.

I am torn to the core of the diversity of both poverty and the wealthy. Recently I saw that India had 7 people in the top 20 as the most richest people in the world. Also reading recently that India has the most number of people in the world living in poverty. WHY was I so fortunate and did not get the short straw. Why was I so blessed as to be born in a first world country??? Why wasn’t it someone else? Why did it have to be me?

The students were in their late teens and early 20s. Their clothing was very westernised and they spoke their language Hindi very articulately. They are from the villages of India; I teach them about great men such as Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney and Nelson Mandela which is the first time they have ever heard of these people. Tonight I had tickets to see Coldplay in Sydney but chose to be here instead yet no one could understand my pain as no one has heard of them… What is this place???

Just 4 days being in India my emotions suddenly collapsed. I have been traveling by myself and even though I have had conversations with English speaking people here, no one could understand how I was really feeling deep inside. I can not stop crying… My heart and compassion for people tore at my emotions as I saw kids the same age as mine living in extreme poverty. Seeing poverty first hand for the first time everywhere you look, no one here with me to understand how I am really feeling living in a first world my entire life now experiencing third world for the first time… help. I can not understand… I can not comprehend… I have so many questions to ask God!!! Is this real? This is as real as it gets? Is this really real? What can I do??? I don’t know what to do??? What can I really do??? What could I do…..

What is the solution to India, is it the massive population growth or is it the corrupt government that is blinded by riches. I don’t think it is money as we have seen that India has more millionaires than most 1^st world countries??? What is the solution???

Wednesday, March 18th 2009 – 9.25pm
This morning after cleaning my teeth with only bottled water we had another blackout. Blackouts are very frequent in India, and that is not just in the villages, Delhi, Mumbai regularly gets blackouts but they usually only last for seconds. Even sitting here at Gandhi international airport in Delhi we have had 5 blackouts in the last hour.

Now if you are a duster and live in India you will have a nervous breakdown. Dust fills the air and settles on everything; your shoes, your clothes, your vehicle and in the homes… Dirt and dust fills the air everywhere in the villages, in the suburbs and definitely in the city. This is mainly from the dirt roads, the worn down sides of the roads and the constant hustle and bustle that is Indian life…

Holding hands and physical touch is very common in India especially between the same sex. It is not unusual to see two male friends walking down the road hugging or just holding hands, it’s a normal way of life, it does not mean they are gay but just a sign of friendship. And the attitudes and personalities are just magnificent! Every person I have met has the most wonderful engaging personality. They are so inviting to westerners and will always do anything for you; the first to offer their seat, the first to see if you need water or something to eat, the first to carry bags, the first to do anything for you. It has been so amazing for me and an overwhelming experience to see the hospitality that has been shown to me by everyone I have met. You may think that they do this to try to get a tip or some $$$ from you… I have not seen this at all! There was that one instant that I needed internet, wireless internet. I searched around in the suburbs for a wireless connection. After finding a wireless connection, it was a story in itself just to find the owner of the connection, a little mobile phone shop tucked away behind the market place. I went in to ask for password; I said ‘I’ll pay, I’ll pay’… He entered the password into my phone and after 30min+ of using his internet I thrust $200Rs in his face ($6AUS) he refused to taker it saying ‘no no, tis fine, fine’..…

Interesting though… I never see the average Indian sitting down doing nothing… they are always either talking or arguing standing up or busy physically… but some are so uncoordinated… I see this morning a man sweeping dirt from one side of the road to the other, it made no difference but maybe he just needed to be busy with his hands… it makes me think about us going in circles in our world, not thinking or acting strategically… it so true here anyway, even though they are busy walking around begging for money or just busy working to just to do something I have not seen many people at all do things strategically…

I also found out today that over 80% (82% to be exact) of Indians, that’s over 800 Million people, earn LESS THEN $0.50cents per day…. WOW

I have been told not to give to much money to beggars as some (not all) but some do it as a con. If a beggar came up to me and asked for money I would probably not give any as you do not know exactly what they may do with it… If a beggar came up to me asking for food I would probably give some… BUT if a beggar came up to me and asked me for a book or self learning resources I would do anything I could to help. Is it just me that thinks strategically long term? Do beggars only live for the here and now, Is it because they have not been educated in order to not know the importance of education? (education is in most cases not necessarily schooling) Maybe I might just go out and get some books and when beggars ask me for money give them a book… hmmm, maybe that may not work as they probably can not read??? Ahhhh help me!!! How can I help them???? I know that giving them food and money IS NOT the answer… education is.

I speak with many middle class about India and what they believe is the solution… I have then asked what would you do if you were Prime Minister of India??? Some say population growth, some say education outside of main populated areas (villages) some say fix the corrupt government which I thought was the true answer… But after speaking with a successful and generous businessman he said the only way that India can be repaired is if their was freedom of religion… I said please explain?

Friday, March 20th 2009 – 12.34am
My contacts in India introduced me to a highly successful businessman. Businessmen in India are quite powerful as money speaks politics. I hear from a friend of mine that his wife was held in custody by the authorities, one call to this businessman and he calls his political contacts and waaala… She is released!

This businessman and me (lets call him Ben, just for certain reasons), hit it off and we travel around Delhi talking and India in it’s current form. We travel sitting in the back of his car with a full time driver. Our driver knows the streets of Delhi very well and when we stop he stays in the car, carries our bags etc. He is very well dressed and a quiet spoken young man (about 23yo). And talking a little with him I found out he recently got married; I was frowned upon in India as no one gets married under the age of 20yo, it is considered improper. Ben and I discuss India’s social economy and talk about solutions to the poverty and un-education especially the villages. But mostly we discussed religion.

Religion in India is an integral way of life for hundreds of years. The majority of Indians are Hindu which is a religion that worships hundreds and thousands of gods. I am told of a temple where they worship rats. That’s right I wrote that correctly, they worship and feed the rats. When just outside of the temple there are people dying of starvation and scrounging around rubbish bins, (and I tell you rubbish bins in a third world country are quite different), and here they are feeding rats and worshiping them! I tell you something right now, religion or not… THAT IS NOT RIGHT!!!

So I am told by ‘Ben’ that the number one problem that India faces is the religion and non-religious freedom. I am still trying to get my head around all this but basically if religion was not forced upon the people and they had an understanding that all men/women are equal would revolutionise the entire country. Even though the ‘caste’ system as been abolished, the people of India still have this system in ground into their culture. (If you want to find out more about humanity’s worst form of inequality in the form of the ‘caste system’ let me know and I’ll write a paper on it) It’s a sytem that tells more millions and millions of Indians that if you were not born in a certain line, you are unworthy to wear shoes, unworthy to be educated, unworthy to have luxuries or do certain jobs. It is a disgusting form of traditional devaluation of human life, and according to Ben has hindered India’s social inclusion and equality for hundreds of years. If we can overcome this, India will be the strongest economy and will be one of the most advanced societies in the world. (I hope that is politically correct!)

Today I spoke to a guy which was such a breath of fresh air. He was an Indian that had done his studies in Melbourne. I could so relate to him brilliantly and we chatted for hours. He done his universities studies in Sports science and was a key figure in the Melbourne Commonwealth games. Now, India will be hosting the Commonwealth games in Delhi, so everywhere you look Delhiis trying desperately to get organised for it. Massive infrastructure in roads and transport, a new metro system, new highways and freeways and the most enormous upgrade to an airport I have ever seen. This guy is telling me about how far behind India is and that there is a near impossibility that they are going to be ready in time. He tells me that when the Commonwealth games official and committee fly’s to Delhi to hear about the progress, the Indian officials tell them exactly what they want to hear and have literally lied about their progress and that they are on top of everything. This guy has offered his support and willing to assist where he can in the organisation of the games as he has all the experience from the Melbourne games but the Indian officials have not replies, he talks about the frustration that highly educated people can get with the Indians in authority as they can be so one minded and seeks little advice when they obviously need it.

One such can was an article I read in this morning paper writing about a newly constructed flyway (a bypass or toll road). It read that their was this one corner in the flyway that had a total of 9 deaths in the last 7 days. The police have been blaming it on driver error but the journalist covering the story said that it was a design fault and the it was engineered wrong or the construction was not done correctly, and no one wants to take the blame for it!

I also read in the same paper that 10 people die every day just in Delhi alone with no name. People in the slums, people that are the ‘untouchable caste’, people that are not worthy to be part of normal society…. How could you NOT be impacted by that!

Sunday, March 22nd 2009 – 7.38pm
It’s time to say goodbye to my first trip to my mother’s country, India. It’s been a life changing week and a week that I will NEVER forget. The beautiful people, the wonderful warmness, the uniqueness of diversity yet the chaos and madness of it’s way of life. India is changing, there are masses and masses of western influence penetrating the cities and bringing with it cultural and religious change. Yet the rich are getting richer and the poor are lagging behind the fastest growing economy in the world. Yet I hear today of such a remote and isolated village that they wear no clothes at all… I jump on a full plane from Delhi to Dubai yet is was so full that they could not find a seat for me that would cater for my disability. So unfortunately I was given a ‘First Class’ seat, what a way to finish a trip to India – I feel so blessed.

I’m in Dubai now and just finished a long meeting with a businessman their that builds massive Shopping malls. Dubai is on a desert and there is nothing to do but just go to massive shopping malls. We drove past a 7 star hotel where Kylie Minogue sang recently on our way to the biggest shopping mall I have ever seen, and get this….. It has a ski field and snow falling in the middle of it! Wealth is everywhere you look in Dubai and such a contrast for me in India just the week before. On the way back to my hotel room we drove past the worlds tallest building at 800meters straight up. Dubai is a happening city with the tallest most newest designed buildings in the world… and speaking of the world, they made there own world in the ocean by transporting millions and millions of dirt and sand to the ocean to make islands in the shape of the world. Where do these guys get their money from???

Guess:

1. the long dresses everyone wears
2. the turbans on their head
3. oil

The entire time I was in India I had an Indian English speaking guide that did not leave my side. He was excellent and bargained, negotiated, carried my things and organised everything for me. If you would like to know more about who connected me with in India please let me know; also if you are interested in coming along to India for a short trip with me or even by yourself, with a friend or a large school group, I can help. They are a Christian based organisation called Empart (Empowering and Partnering) they are known as CFI in India (Compassion for India). They regularly organise trips for westerners and charge less to nothing. I would not have traveled and experienced India without them!!! Shoot me a message or leave a blog comment and let me know your thoughts… I would love to hear from you!!