About 15 years ago my first wife Esther, who was Orthodox Jewish, took me to visit the Portugese synagogue in Amsterdam. It's a beautiful old building, dating from around 1650 and it was under extensive restoration at the time. "This is an amazing reconstruction, I remarked, who's paying for it?". "You are" she replied...
Something similar happened the other day as I was being driven home on the 15km journey from Kathmandu to Godawari. Bev confessed to me that we were funding the welfare of a considerable number of stray dogs that could be seen - in a terrible state of mange, disease and malnutrition - en route. Nobody cares much about Kathmandu dogs apart from one day in the year when they are worshipped and adorned with garlands. The rest of the year their life is misery. Bev has a local friendly vet, Dr Thapa, who at her request (and our expenditure) comes out to wherever she says she has seen a worthy creature administering such medical treatment as is required. She goes beyond that - now that the cat is out of the bag so to speak - as she is now feeding the animals as well with bags of biscuits, rice and chicken. We paused on our way into town to do just that for one pitiful creature this morning while the locals looked at us with a mixture of amusement and incomprehension. But Bev is right and doing nothing is not an option, otherwise we compromise our own values.
Also this morning we handed over the two circus chaps that we had been holding to the police. So now this episode becomes a little less of a kidnapping and more of a prolonged citizens' arrest. We've asked the police to detain them until the rest of our team returns and until we hear from all the returnees if they have any charges to make against them. That should concentrate their minds and keep them and their colleagues back in India out of mischief for a while.
I had a first fitting this morning of a stab proof vest for future circus rescue trips. It fitted like a glove. I hope it is never needed and, if it is, that it works as well as it fits.
