Just as you thought is was all over..

Hi again! A photographers work is definitely not done once the images are in the bag. I learned that the hard way..

Sorting, resizing and backing up 7000 images does take time, and disk space. The images take 20GB and fitted on 6 DVDs - so no online databank yet. Seeing them all sorted, burned with printed labels and off to the people in India to use gives huge satisfaction to me. A lot of hard work, but well worth the effort.

That's All Folks (For Now)

Whoa! Finally back, safe and sound at home in England. Time to be with my family, to catch up and also to reflect on the past couple of weeks.

What did I see, learn and feel? India is incredible. It is BIG, buzzing, bullish and at the same time tremendously poor and undeveloped. There are so many people in need. There is also huge amount of work done and being done by the government, NGOs and most of all by and in the 93 different programs run by HOPE Foundation.

Two things raise above everything else - the HEARTS of the people involved in these programs and the TANGIBLE LOVE and CARING that is heart melting and VERY ENCOURAGING.

A big thank you for everyone who assisted me and Xavier on our journey across this vast country. May God bless you and your work richly.



Best regards from Mikko & Xavier

Pic of the Day - Monday

Meet the Real Heroes

The people working for HOPE are the real heroes. Both at the head office and at various programs I am deeply touched and moved by the dedication, commitment and warm hearts of these true modern day heroes. Without them none of this could ever happen.

Over the past three weeks I have seen wonderful things happen, with remarkable ease and stupendously little money and resources. Let us all learn from them and become more like them, spending no effort in doing all the good works God has planned for us.

Tigri School in Delhi

HOPE Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting

HOPE TAG meeting took place today at the Sonya Vihar Center. The group consist of several interest and specialist groups including local government and officials, NGOs like USAID, and individual professional members - many of whom do this as a volunteer on a pro bono basis. The group meets regularly and discussed current programs, coordinate and share best practices across several organisations.

Today we had an opportunity to meet Dr Rajiv Tandom representing USAID and Rotarians For Fighting AIDS, Mrs Marilyn Patton from HOPE Headquaters and Mr Mark Templer, the country director for HOPE Foundation in India.

Sonya Vihar Child Survival Program

Sonya Vihar is a large slum at the East side of Delhi, home to thousands of families. Altough they live in fixed yet simple accommodation, child death rate is alarmingly high. Almost 1 in 100 child will die before their first birthday, with anotfher half a percent dying before their fifth birthday. Main causes are poor hygiene, lack of knowledge and above all missing sanitation. HOPE has set up a center here with the generous help from USAID and other donors.

New Delhi Lifestyle

The modern Delhi and it's lifestyle could not be further away from the places and programs we have visited in the past two weeks. Gimms takes me to a nearby mall - "Shopping Heaven" for our Sunday lunch.

India is truly a country of great diversity and cultural shocks, and the bullish new economy spares little thoughts for the poor squatters on the same street.

St Thomas Mount at Chennai

A surprise stopover at Chennai, as we had two hours to spare before our flight to Delhi, Xavier took me to see the nearby St Thomas Mount. This turned to be the spiritual highlight of the trip.

Thomas (one of the twelve) was the Apostle for India. He came to spread the Gospel in Goa and planted many churches in Tamil Nadu. He founded a church on this very hill and also met his death on this very spot. Somehow the stories and persons from the Bible come alive and you stand in awe and rememberance.

Meet The Relatives at Dindikul

A free day! As we had completed all our shoots in Tamil Nadu, we could take a day off from our formal schedule and use the spare day to meet Xavier's relatives in the nearby town of Dindikul. We had lovely time with his mother and sister's family, visited his old school and even got invited to the headmasters office (the bottom pic is me posing with him).

Pic of The Day Friday

The Slave's Caves at the Rock Fort in Dindikul - do you see the restless spirits still wandering in the corridors?

Pic of the Day - Thursday

Children waiting for their afternoon snacks after returning from school at the Richards Childrens Village of HOPE

Sister Act at the Catholic Monastery

As we are approaching our next destination Xavier is getting a bit nervous and very excited. We have a spare day in our program, and we're going to his home town Dindikul some 100 km south of Trichi.

He asks me if it would be ok to stop halfway to see his grandmother, who is a nun at the Catholic convent school. We end up having coffee and a lovely chat with her and the Sister Superior, exchange the latest and bid them farewell to reach Dindikul just after 11pm.

Divya Orphanage in Trichi

Another town, another program - this time in Central Tamil Nadu in Trichi (or Tiruchirapalli for its real name). We come to meet Uncle at the fantastic facility donated by the Richards family. Intented as a childrens village it houses an orphanage and has much room to grow - so please do go online, collect money locally to enable this center to fulfil its potential.

On the Road Again (Again)

Another early start, and time to move on. Today we are travelling some 160 km / 100 miles - and estimate it will take us around three hours. A slightly later than planned 7.30 start sees us arriving in Trichi (Tiruchirapalli for its actual name) around noon. Not an uncommon thing on the Indian roads.

Plenty of time to catch up with the sorting and archiving images. Essential to do this everyday if possible. With around 500 images everyday the backlog grows really quickly!

Pic of the Day - Wednesday

Samsung United Way School in Chinnakudi

Tharangambadi Center of HOPE