In Calcutta – What an experience..

We arrived in Kolkata on Sunday and have visited the Child Domestic Workers project that we supported as part of the Global Challenge 2007.  It was fantastic to see the work again.

Today we travelled into the rural projects and we got way more than we bargained for.  Whilst visiting the girls that have returned to their villages and are now learning to sew, a cyclone arrived and hit the area.  We needed to make a hasty retreat, battling through wind and rain and lots of mud!

We got back into the landrovers to make our way back to central Kolkata.  The reality of the situation then hit.  We saw many many villages flooded and families fleeing the area.  The road we were travelling on at times was completely submerged – it was getting pretty scary.  However, to see families carrying babies and all their belongings was far more distressing.

Save the Children are already gearing themselves up here for an emergency situation.

We fly to Delhi tomorrow, hopefully if the fly takes off.  We’ll keep an eye on the situation here though.