News from India 2

We have now got a short time to access the internet at Asha Kiran Ashram. We travelled over this morning, about 4 hours journey time. Before talking about the school, here is an update on some of the things Edmund and I have done so far. We met Shibu at the Medical College Hospital and he took us around to see his patients, acting as their bystander. He does great work on behalf of HHI. His patients are ‘unknowns’, often admitted due to road traffic accidents and with no means to pay for their treatment. We also saw Shiju who we had visited earlier in the week. He was admitted for a heart operation and thankfully, an answer to prayer, he received the necessary funding from a charitable trust so the operation can go ahead. We have also visited many homes to see how your support for HHI can bring hope to those who need help. Sindhu, a young mother whose both kidneys have failed is unable to pay for the necessary dialysis, we were able to pay for three sessions this month which will make all the difference. Another was Gidija, a widow with ovarian cancer. She had just completed six sessions of chemotherapy and needs an operation but her thyroid is overactive. She is unable to take the necessary medicines because she cannot afford a proper diet. Your support has enabled us to promise her enough money to provide her with a good diet for three months which will solve the problem.

Because there is a water shortage at the Banyan Tree where we normally stay during these trips we have moved into Philp’s Special Therapy Centre, which we help to fund. In the mornings we see the children arrive with beaming smiles and are very excited to be there. Clearly a loving and caring environment for the children who have some disability and come from very poor homes.

We arrived just in time to see the children before some of them left for home. Like the therapy centre children, they too had beaming smiles and we look forward to spending a full day with them tomorrow. It is also pleasing to see that there are now 15 children who sleep in the residential part of the school.

Hopefully more news tomorrow, but who knows!