Shimoga was the last stop in our 8 city tour of District 3180. Although we were quite exhausted upon arriving, we were not any less excited to spend time with our new hosts and take part in the amazing itinerary they had planned for us! By visiting several Rotary projects, we quickly realized the profound impact Rotary has in Shimoga. We went to an artificial limb center, a school for mentally handicapped children, a primary school, and a Safe Village; all supported by Rotary! In addition to the projects, we were able to see elephants getting their morning baths, participate in a Republic Day celebration, and watch the highest grossing Bollywood movie of all time- “3 Idiots!” Thanks to my host brother, Sumuk, for the scene by scene translations!!
I’d also like to express my gratitude to my wonderful hosts, S.M. Veerabhadrappa and family, for welcoming not only me, but the injured, homeless puppy I found in the road on our way to Shimoga. Although many people thought I was crazy for picking her up, let alone carrying her around in my bag every day and loving her, you understood my need to take care of her (since she was unable to take care of herself) and allowed me to do so, in your home. Thank you also, to our coordinator, H.D. Udayashankar Shastry, and Marc’s host, H.C. Panchakshari, for showing daily concern over her well being and arranging for her to not only see one Veterinarian, but two! Unfortunately, I was unable to bring her back to the United States and I was unable to find a home for her in Mangalore. She is currently being cared for at the Animal Care Trust ( thanks to Suma Ramesh, with ACT, and Isaac Vas for arranging it) in Mangalore and that will be her permanent home until someone sees the adorable, sweet, and intelligent animal that I saw and adopts her. Hamsa, our team leader, repeatedly said that the concern being shown for the puppy by the Shimogans was “Rotary in Action” but I believe it was even more simple than that-it was basic humanity and I thank everyone involved for that.
