India - SEDS (Social Education and Development Society                                                                     Lyn Pickering

I have recently returned from India and would like to share with you some of my experiences. This was my secenth self-funded trip to India, and this time without Ian. I did however travel with Roger Griffiths, one of Action Aid's Board Members.

Prior to my leaving, Ian developed osteomyelitis with a staph infection and was hospitalised for fifteen days on an IV drip, and the home with a pick-line inserted in his arm for antibiotics to be given by injection three times a day, followed by oral antibiotics. Within five minutes of the doctors informing him that he was not terminal, he told me that I must still travel to India, as the reports were to be completed for AusAID. Ian is now in recovery, but it will take a further three months for him to return to full health and strength.

India - the magic is still there! People often ask why we keep returning. I notice new changes on each visit to SEDS, at the farm, and the villages, and the people are always inspirational.

We visited some of last years's tanks, which were quite dry after an extremely hot summer period. India has experienced drought conditions for five years, but this year was the worst. Early this year we finalised our three-year AusAID funded tank de-silting project. Shortly thereafter we commenced a new three-year program following a similar pattern of tank de-silting, this time with the inclusion of Women's Self-Help Groups.