Hello everyone and a very happy 2006 to you all.

Last year was a busy year for us and was mainly taken up with working on YOU the new album, the new website and travelling. I (Lucinda) was lucky enough to leave it all behind and go and spend a month in India in November at our retreat centre in Mount Abu Rhajasthan.

Just before I left I got chatting to one of our friends about the outreach project in India and she felt inspired to help. Within 3 days she had persuaded a vitamins company (glaxo) to donate 36000 vitamins to our wonderful children. Her own children then inspired two of the Classes at St James primary school in London to each bring one of their toys to donate to the Village children in India.

So anyway there I am at Air India check in with mountains of Vitamins teddies, robots, puppets and various stuffed animals wondering how I am going to get it all on board. " No problem" they say, "we have been waiting for you" It seems my friend knows someone who has arranged for
me to have unlimited extra weight. I glide through customs at both ends and load all of it onto a bus to go up the mountain.

A few days later an actor friend and I are putting on puppet shows at the tribal villages whizzing over the heads of entranced children with big birds, Unicorns and Fat Happy Pigs. The whole village has turned up and we perform on a huge rock. Everyone has a fabulous time and although the script has to be translated into Hindi by Vinay (the doctor who runs the outreach) everyone seems to get the message that happiness and peace and found inside the self.

I am overjoyed to report that the little girl Sonal (in our dvd about the outreach) who was dangerously ill with malnutrition and rickets now has chubby cheeks. She still is quite a sad little girl but Vinay was happy to inform me that she is beginning to smile a little and she now feeds herself and shows interest in food whereas before it was so hard to get her to eat anything.

This is a testament to Vinay's hard work and commitment (going constantly to the village to feed Sonal) One of my most touching memories was that of Sonal making her way back how (at three years old) with a big packet of complan milk under one arm and a wonderful white cuddly Rhino (which id saved specially for her) under the other.

Handing out the donated toys was a bit of a chaotic experience, there were so many children and they all desperately wanted a toy. Some even ran and hid the toy and then came back for a second so we had to watch very carefully. In the end every child in both of the villages we visited got something. I remember the last tiny little boy who came up to me as we began to run out of toys. All I had left was a tiny plastic dinosaur I held it out to him and his whole face lit up (I was so
relieved).

As we left the village all the children ran after the bus holding their toys in the air and cheering...it was the best Christmas gift I could have had so thank you to all those children at St James's who gave their toys away.

Our DVD continues to support the Outreach project which educates and feeds children in tribal villages close to the Brahma Kumari's headquarters in India. If you are stuck for a present please give to someone, if you'd like to do a fundraiser big or small I can guarantee that every penny goes to the children and if you have a spare 20,000 we could do with an ambulance!!

Have a wonderful 2006, remember you are an eternal soul and we are all connected so as much as you can walk in peace

much love
Lucinda