The triumphant trio travel to Travancore

Today we went to Pastor Wilson’s BGM on the shores of the Neyyar Dam, an especially beautiful spot. It was good to meet up with him again and to compare notes – it is so much easier to talk to someone face to face than to be limited by email. As usual he had a list of people who needed help, but our first priority was to see the craft work in action, and in particular to witness the tailoring training. The tailoring is something that we are funding, but had not seen as it is a new venture – one which promises to release a good number of women from penury and destitution. A first cohort of about thirty women has passed though, and a second similar group of women is now learning the tricks of the trade. They usually come for a day or two each week, as other activities allow, but in between times they can practice at home. Once they have finished their training they can sew clothing to order, or do embroidery as required. There is a good demand for such work, and it is reasonably well paid as well as being something that the women can fit around other household work.

We then met a very poor family with four children. Despite their poverty, they look after an orphaned man Manoj who is mentally limited and has a child’s body. Their only son Aravind is unable to go to school because of frequent fits. Medication is available which is effective in controlling the fits, but it costs about Rs. 7,000 (GBP 80) a month, which the family cannot afford. Jute had been given some money to bring out, and she gave the family enough for a month’s medication as well as some money for food. We hope to be able to provide the medication if we can raise the funds.

We had some money in hand for agriculture, so our next port of call was Saji. He used to own a cow, but serious illness had come led him to sell the cow, depriving him of this vital source of income. He is working as a rubber tapper, but the work is seasonal and very badly paid, not enough to support him and his wife and three children. We agreed that we would provide him with a calf: in due course it should provide milk and make a huge difference to the family’s diet and finances.

Not all visits were so happy. Shibu had various illnesses, and had sought treatment at a private hospital which was sending him for a ludicrous number of MRI scans at a cost of Rs. 15,000 (GBP 160, more than a month’s normal salary in India) each. It was sad to see profit coming before patient care.

And Babu, a 62 year old man, needed two heart valves replacing at a cost of over GBP 3,000 at the Government heart hospital. The family had managed to raise just one third of this. Unfortunately our finances did not allow us to spend this much money on a single person. But it was still soul-destroying to have to say “no”.

In contrast, we were pleased to see how much better Sindhu is. She suffers from psoriasis, but the medication that we have provided for a number of years now has brought the condition under control. Her arms look almost natural now, although her legs are still “work in progress” – improved but still not right.

I left the money for the calf with Pastor Wilson, and also money for him to buy two simple manual sewing machines. These will be provided to two of the graduates of the recent sewing class who would like to use their new skills, but cannot afford a sewing machine. They will repay the cost at the rate of Rs. 100 (GBP 1) a week, over the course of eighteen months – this will mean that more machines can be bought and more women can benefit. A machine costs just under GBP 100, if anyone would like us to provide more.