The last full day of my visit has come and gone all too quickly. It started with a morning around the Neyyar Dam area, visiting a couple of people who we have bought sewing machines. One is Radha, who lives…

SMALL HELPS THAT MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE  (Part 4) Today was not so busy, as befits a Sunday. Tom and I went to Pilgrim Highland Church, which raised the funds for the original building at Thanal back in 2008 and…

SMALL HELPS THAT MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE (Part 3) The day was spent in Trivandrum, otherwise known as Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. First, we met with a number of patients whose kidneys have failed and who need expensive immunosuppressant drugs…

SMALL HELPS THAT MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE (Part 2) Last night we tried to return Tom to Trppaadam only to find the place all locked up with no one to answer. Those pious souls were all tucked up in bed…

TRIP TO TRPPAADAM I went up to Trppaadam to pick up Tom, got invited in by the senior Father, and was shown their new complex for elderly people. We identified a useful trade off with Shibu's work  - Shibu could…

ASHA KIRAN ASHRAM (Part 3) I had hoped to meet Beulah, the student we have equipped with a succession of prosthetic legs. But at the last minute her school refused permission to visit. All was not lost. We were able…

ASHA KIRAN ASHRAM (Part 1) Today we travelled across the border into Tamil Nadu and to our first special needs centre, Asha Kiran Ashram - always a highlight of our trip. Here we were welcomed by the local team from…

THE 'HOUSE OF HOPE' Thanal is the Malayalam word for hope, and Thanal House lives up to its name, bringing hope to the shattered lives of destitute women. These days a stable community of 22 women are cared for lovingly…

SMALL HELPS THAT MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE I sometimes say that I pray with more people in ten days in India than in the rest of the year in the UK. Indeed, praktika (prayer) is one of the few Malayalam…