Going back in time

The main street of Ambassadurum has no pavement so walking involves jumping out of the way of busses and kamikaze cyclists. Cows are curled up going to sleep in all sorts of unlikely places. Tamil Nadu is a step back in time, fifty years behind Kerala. I am here to visit our original special needs centre, Asha Kiran Ashram. Normality is gradually returning after the disruption of covid the number of children is increasing: today there were 27, taught in small groups by dedicated teachers who have to cope with a huge variety of abilities and disabilities. They do remarkably well. But there is a lot of catching up to do. And i have had a lot of catching up ofy own to do with Santhosh. We had a good chat about plans, hopes for the future as well as ensuring that we understand each other. Email and WhatsApp are great tools, but face to face works so much better. Tomorrow is the grand opening of the new physiotherapy room. It is a great addition to the centre – physiotherapy is so transformative of children’s lives. And they have a new physiotherapist who seems to be very on the ball, and who is ready achieving things with a number of the children. It should be a great day.