 |
|
The
Taj Mahal is the most easily recognized symbol of I ndia.
It symbolizes the glory of Mughals while on the other hand it conveys
the message of love and faith. The construction to the Taj Mahal took 22
years from 1632. It was built in the memory of Shah Jahan’s beloved
Mumtaj Mahal who died giving birth to the fourteenth child at Burhanpur.
Before her last breath, Shah Jahan promised her he would build a
beautiful monument in her memory, one that would symbolize their eternal
love for years and years.
Ever wonder what lies in the Taj? The Taj is built entirely of white
Indian marble which is the hardest of all marbles and is prized because
it resists staining. It took 20,000 slaves to construct it so what would
one put in such a wonderful building.
Would you believe it contains only 2 coffins. Two beautiful coffins
inlaid with semi precious stones, but that is it.
CHATHAM SUNRISE ROTARY’S MATCHING GRANT PROJECTS.
Chatham Sunrise Rotary Club, as one of its first International projects,
has entered into a contract with a Rotary Club in Dhule India and Rotary
International to do 3 projects. One of he projects involves the
construction of bore wells. Another project is to provide equipment for
an elementary school that is dedicated to provide education to children
from a slum area. The third project involves the provision of funds to
assist a hospital that specializes in Polio Reconstructive Surgery.
These project are just getting started so these pictures are from a trip
one of our members took while visiting Dhule in 2002. As the projects
proceed, this web page will be updated to show the actual projects.
 This
is a picture of a bore well that exists in Dhule. There is a desperate
need for many other wells because this community is located in a dust
bowl and the water supply is dependant on a small lake that sometimes
runs dry. Temperatures in the summer can get as high as 47 degrees C.
There is an abundant supply of ground water 350’ below the surface but
they need help to bring it up to the surface.
These pumps are of a special design because the water is so deep. It is
also an industrial quality pump because people operate them constantly
so parts are readily available to repair them. A bore well costs on the
order of $350. us. Why so cheap? Because the Indian rupee is only one
forty seventh of the value of an American dollar.
This picture is of the staff of the elementary school that will receive
equipment as part of our matching grant project. The teachers are paid
 by
the state but the buildings and everything else has to be paid for by
the local school board through gifts. The school exists and our contact
person, Chandrakant Shah and his daughter-in-law are on the school
board. To encourage students to attend class, the state also provides a
2 kg bag of rice to each student that has perfect attendance for a
month.
 This
picture is composed of Chandrakant Shah a past district governor and his
family. Our club president Max Howell is on the left, Chandrakant, his
son Pradeep (club president 2002), Anil Bangad the club sect. Kalpana
Shah and her two sons Deepam and Veeram Shah. The background is the
small lake the community uses for it’s water supply. The year 2001, this
lake ran dry so the community was without water (except for that
supplied by truck) for 15 days. A 50 km ditch was dug to another
reservoir to ensure a supply of water. The monsoons are the main water
recharge system and they start the 3 rd week of June.
 There
are many people in India with missing limbs from many causes. The Jaipur
Foot Factory is one of the main treatment centres for amputees. Since
1975, more than a half million prosthesis have been provided at no cost
to the people of India. The famous Jaipur foot is made up of a number of
pieces of foam rubber covered by latex rubber. The main benefit of this
foot is that its movement mimics the flexibility of a human foot making
it very easy for the recipient to learn to walk again.
 This
centre was established by Mother Teresa. It is an orphanage with 77
children most having mental or physical handicaps. The facility is still
run by the nuns and is clean and the children are very well cared for.
A big surprise for Max and Ruth Howell on their trip t o
India, was the planting of two trees in their honour. From left to right
is Chandrakant Shah, Anil Bangad, Max, Pradeep Shah, with two workers.
The tree is planted in a garden area and is part of the home and motel
operated by the Shah’s. The Shahs were hopeful that Max would involve
his club with a matching grant program to assist the needy of the
community of Dhule.
|
|
|
|
 |
