We're back! After a grueling 14 days of 10-hr drives, too many breakdowns, 3,000 km of intense Indian countryside, countless cups of masala tea, equally countless servings of palak and numerous cold tumbler baths...we made it back to Singapore on Jan 17 in good health and with our bowels intact.

Our journey to say the least, was amazing. It was truly an adventure that was well worth the hardship and waking up daily at 5am for. We've returned home flush with photos, footage and stories -  material that we're currently busy compiling and will be glad to share with everyone soon!

We've also come back with a profound respect for the people of India. Despite their numerous difficulties and economic hardship, everyone we met along the way was gracious, generous and ever-so-willing to help us, especially when we were lost or when our vehicles had broken down. Their willingness to render assistance, yet asking for so little in return, has certainly made our fundraising efforts all the more worthwhile.

And those efforts don't stop here! We're still about £4,000 shy of our target to build three water treatment plants in India....so we still need your support! We'll be holding post-race events to raise more funds...so stay tuned for updates....and remember...keep giving till the water come out!

Till the next update, here are some of the race highlights:
- One of our rickshaws breaking down 200m from the warehouse....we hadn't even reached the starting line yet!
- Getting towed 20km by helpful locals to the next town....using old bicycle tires!
- Massive truck strike that caused a huge mess on the highway. We practically had to squeeze through sleeping trucks....like a maze.
- Nation-wide oil strike that led to a petrol shortage. Stocking up meant that we traveled hundreds of km with bottles of petrol sitting between our legs
- Police/Military escort through the state of Assam....we were escorted by 7 different details of armed men for 100km or so....
- Ask for pix of the dump we stayed at where we had to hide in our sleeping bags placed on the bed....cos it was downright filthy!

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Hi

Welcome to the fundraising page for the Rickshaw Runts and Tin Can Kwando.

For those of you that don’t know, we are a rogues gallery of six adventurers who are participating in the epic Rickshaw Run in the Winter of 2009 (01/01/2009), with the goal of raising £21,000.00 (SGD$49,722.95) so we can bring sustainable Clean Water Facilities to the people of India. This goal, if achieved, will provide clean water for 18,000 men, women and children. Each year 400,000 children in India under the age of five alone die from diarrohea and other water borne diseases.

The water crisis in India, and the rest of the world, is not just a life threatening blow to the people affected, but is also a threat to ourselves. We have a moral imperative to do something, no matter how small, because every act of kindness is significant to someone’s life.

We’ve chosen Frank Water as our charity because we believe in what they are doing and how they are doing it. With efficient and sustainable clean water systems in place, a small amount goes an incredibly long way. You can go to the Frank Water website yourself to see how every cent is raised and spent.

On our part, the six of us will race over the first two weeks of January with 54 other teams from 50 over countries from Pondicherry, a city just south of Chennai to Shillong, in the north eastern part of India in two auto-rickshaws.

There is no prize for the winner. It is a race whose goal is simply to raise as much money as possible for charity. We’ll be uploading photos, blogs and videos along the way, so we hope you’ll follow our progress at our facebook group page : Rickshaws for Water.

You can also go to the site to view all our latest events and efforts to raise funds for Frank Water. We have 'dares' like the Belachan Challange, Tart Sales, Dinners and much much more.

For your part, all you have to do is follow the simple instructions to complete the donation process and you would have brought us that much closer to achieving our goal. Don’t forget to click on ‘See what happens to your donation’ below to see how www.justgiving.com works.

We thank you so much for supporting us. We hope you’ll stay in touch and remember to keep giving and giving and giving….