Delhi - Ahmedabad

We had a good afternoon with Noah's Ark yesterday - they brought in 10 producers: men who operate workshops employing anywhere from 8-80 artisans creating many of the shesham wood products, Christmas ornaments, textiles etc that we sell. It was very interesting to meet them and give them chance to show off some of their new products, of which they are rightly very proud.

In the evening some had dinner with Moon Sharma from Tara Projects, while others chose to rest after the early start yesterday, and in preparation for another early one today.

We were out of the hotel at 6am into the pre-dawn. Brightly lit Hindu shrines drew the eye on many street corners. A delayed but uneventful flight brought us to Ahmedabad, where the weather is very hot. From the plane the landscape around the city was parched - bare brown earth and dry riverbeds, punctuated with patches of green where irrigation or pumped water must be available. Just from the brief drive from the airport, the city has a very different feel to Kolkata and Delhi ... much dirtier, much poorer. We're staying in the nicest hotel of the journey, but there are scenes of intense poverty right beside it. It could be a difficult couple of days, but we're soon going to be meeting people from St Mary's who will hopefully provide some hope and show us that the work we do makes a difference.