Hello all.

I had an awesome time in Mumbai, its a great city. So so glad I flew though and didn't take that 24 hour train journey all the children and volunteers that did looked so tired as they got off the bus at our accomodation, which was the Salvation Army by the way. Not the nicest of places I've ever stayed at but was just the ticket for all of us! The run itself was a great event, no where near as many people as the London marathon but still a good 33 000 enough shall we say. The children were so excited some taking the run seriously but the majority were happy enough messing about with my camera and taking millions of photos. It was kind of like a carnival with lots of shouting. The day before we took all the children on a trip to Elaphanta Island which about an hours boat ride, on the island are lots of caves with carved gods inside them. I'm not too sure how old the caves are but I was told sometime BC. I'm sure i was told but I had a nightmare of a child to look after and running around after her was all i focussed on.

All together I have raised 21,000 Rupees which is about £270 a big effort I think. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me I really reallty appreciate it.

On the last day of my trip I visited what is said to be the largest slum in Asia. It was certainly an eye opener. Yet whilst it was dirty, smelly and generally the most degrading place i've ever visited, I wasn't shocked. I didn't at any stage feel like the people living there were hopless, in fact I found the complete oppsoite. As I was taken around all the residential and industrial areas I found out just how productive a slum is. Especially the one I visited. I can't remember the statistics given to me but the amount of anual revenue produced was phenominal. Every single person in it had a job from emptying and mending oil cans to making popodom, everybody contributed to what they view as the slum success. We truly have so many misconceptions of what a slum is. The people I was introduced to were happy they had a job and shelter in the slum and were proud of their community even though understood that they were the poorest of the poor. If their slum were to be demolished by the Indian authorities they would have nowhere to live and wouldn't be able to find a job, thus couldn't support their family. Mumbai's population is 20 million of which, in over 2,000 slum 8 million live. This puts into context the problem, India's infrastructure cannot support these people without the slums, therefore they have to stay in existence. The only positive thing they can do to help these people is to make the living conditions better for them. It is debatable as to whether they are providing such help.

I saw on the news that evening the highlights or so to call it of Gordon Brown's visit to India where they agreed trade link and to stop terrorism, this is all very well but what about the millions in the slums. It appears to me that the largest democracy in the world is willing to turn a blind eye on these people and concern themselves with becoming the world's strongest economical power. I hope that I'm really really wrong.

See you all soon. xxx