1987? India no year given 14 Se 6x9 paper

Dear Mom & Dad,

Today is Grandparent’s Day-Hope it is special or you. We think of you often-but I’m not yet ready to urge you to come! I need a car first. And I’d like to be in our “house’-and to have our air and sea shipment-we’ve been here one month tomorrow and we don’t even know if our shipments have left Atlanta, nor if our car order has been received in Paris (the down payment was mailed 12 Aug!) Communications are the most serious handicap of being here!

One of my friends from Atlanta arrives tonight-He’s en route to Indonesia for 2 weeks. Then back through here. Hopefully he’ll carry a few letters with him.

We went to Sunday School class at the American Embassy School and to a worship service at the British school. Minister’s background Nazarene. Enjoyed both. Best of the 3 places we’ve been-most especially for the children.

P2

Mel went horseback riding this afternoon-and David bowled & we went swimming. Lt: still ~100 deg in the shade.

The drought is bad. I hear stories of village girls in Rajasthan who fast until it rains. Some die. If it rains, they’re dressed in white and considered goddesses for a year.

No generalization fits India anymore than any other large multi lingual/cultural populations, but I hear plenty of examples of the awful plight of women. Yesterday I met with a group of village women who had been studying teenage girls in the village-Never any medical care-use dirty rags, sometimes with sand, as “tampons”-totally “unclean” while menstruating-can’t cook, plant see, etc.

A newspaper report Friday for interviews of 1000 female prostitues-1/3 had been sold by their own family

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members-a mother who sold her daughter in order to buy a new sari; a father who sold a daughter to by alcohol.

By no means do these examples typify India-anymore than the woman in SW USA who recently killed another woman did a post mortem C-section to steal her baby-typifies Americans!

However, there seem to be more atrocities her-maybe because they’re more “hand to hand”. Is it really any worse to drive spikes into someone’s eyeballs, or to shoot the driver of another car in California?? Ugh, enough of this morbid stuff!

I played Suzette chess this evening. Barely beat her. Reminds me of when I played you, Dad, years ago. She’ll be beating me soon!

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Work is progressing, but slowly-I am more often depressed & frustrated than happy!

But family life is better than ever-so far! Since the kids will leave us soon enough, I’d rather have the good family life-than the best professional life.

I’m real glad to hear that the Newell Street house completed it’s change of residents. Thanks again for all your help. Who finally paid the utility bills for July/August? Your letter to Jack Bard was right on target.

When do you leave for California? What is your address there?

Please circulate my letters-I write very few!

Love to you & all who read this! Roger. PS. No house or car yet-don’t know when. Excellent vegetables & fruits here. Also a Christian cook (I’d rather have a Hindu; Christian want Sunday off!) PPS When would Don Van Maren like to come??