The Beach Bus

The Beach Bus On Its Way

Ramya and Malathi

Ray in the Bay of Bengal

Amanda in the Bay of Bengal

Srilakshmi, Sambaiah, Navakiran, Babblu, and Sony

Pavan

Sathish

Babblu

Mary, Isaac, Ruth, and Kishore

Prabhakar

Ruth and Kishore

Durga, Jansi, Buddu, and Sony

Sony

Rebakha, Durga, Jansi, and Sony

Rajanikanth shows a hermit crab to Reetu, Tirapathamma, and Divya.

Victoria, the SH cook, is in the bright saree.

Malathi and Sony

Chamondeswari and Durga

Mary Watches the Children

Devaraj

Ray and Isaac

Malathi, Ramya, and Sony

Ramya

Devaraj

Navakiran

Sorting Fish on the Beach

Ch. Gopi, P.Gopi, and Rajesh

Drying Off in the Pavilion

Encouragement

Lunch at the Beach

T. Sai Kumar

Fish Hanging to Dry

Thorny Leaf

Duck Herding?

The New Kids

This bus was rented for about $65 - including the entire day, the two+ hour drive, the gas, and the driver. We took our rented SUV, and the bus carried all of the children (except Jeevanbabu, who was considered too little), several chaperones, and all of the SH workers.

Destination: Surya Lanka Beach.

Most of the children had never seen the beach before, but they all seemed to love it right away. The boys took their shirts off, but the girls and all of the adults went in the water fully clothed. We didn't see anyone wearing Western bathing suits.

Several of the men took a rope out to a certain distance, and the children stayed between the rope and the beach.

The woman in the pink saree is Mary's sister.

Isaac mostly stood at the water's edge, wearing Amanda's and Ruth's bags, scanning for errant children who tried to venture beyond the rope.

Devaraj was the only child afraid to go in the water; he stayed at the water's edge or in a very shallow area. He had trouble keeping his shorts up!

We were each asked to give a brief encouraging talk to the children after their play in the water. This is a concrete pavilion where we gathered.

A tarp was laid out, feet were wiped clean on burlap, and the children seated themselves for lunch, which had been brought from home.

This boy came with his grandmother, who asked us to take him. His parents dead, she a widow, and in poor health with a heart problem - I don't know if she couldn't feed him, or if she was concerned about his future since she wouldn't last much longer. We gave them both rice, took his photo, and said we would look for a sponsor.

This photo was taken from the pavilion where we ate and rested; these people live right on the beach. A few here were killed when the tsunami hit.

Joany found this leaf at the beach. I've been unable to identify it...anybody know what it is? There are thorns growing on both sides of it.

On the way back from the beach, we slowed because the road was blocked by ducks and their herders. Yes, ducks.

The night we returned from the beach (I think), the five new children came. From left, they are Levi, Dilip, Venkatesh, Hanuman, and Teja. The boy we met on the beach would come after we returned to the US.