| Dear Friends |
September 2006
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| Recently I was returning from our Children’s Village, called Nirmala Children’s Village, where I spend most weekends. It is 50 kms. away from where I now stay, at Sirumalar Children’s Village. On the way I felt the need to call in at Jeevan Jyothi Hospice for terminal AIDS patients. There I met the eleven children presently there for treatment. In one of the wards a lady was very ill with AIDS and was not expected to live for a few more days. Standing near her bed were two forlorn little girls, one 5 years old, the other 6 years old. The youngest is HIV positive, the other not. The father was already dead from the same horrible disease, which is leaving so many children orphaned, bewildered, frightened. |
| I spoke with the mother and explained as best I could that I would take care of the children. She was so ill I do not know whether she could grasp the fact that her two small children would now be safe. None of the relatives wanted to accept any responsibility and with one of the children affected by this terrible virus it is not surprising. |
| We brought the two little ones back with us in our jeep and they are now with one of our families in Sirumalar with a new mother, brothers and sisters and the guarantee of good schooling and the correct medical care. Quickly they settled in far from the difficult surroundings of a hospice mainly for adults who are terminal. |
| This experience, which is almost a daily occurrence, is closely interlinked with our large and wide-ranging medical outreach work. The AIDS/HIV hospice, now run by the Presentation Sisters, is just one part of it all. |
| The main focus of the whole health programme is Pushparani Clinic for outpatients. This simple but efficient clinic takes care of the full range of village diseases, as well as more serious medical needs such as AIDS/HIV, TB, leprosy, immunizations for babies, ante-natal care, etc. Our very experienced trained staff cope with between 150 and 200 patients every morning. The care given is free apart from a 1 rupee registration charge for each visit. (1 rupee is worth just over 1p, or 2 US cents.) |
| The patient will be given a case-history folder which is retained by the patient and can last for years, on which an entry is made giving details of date, illness, diagnosis and prescribed treatment and whatever medicines are needed. Our own well-stocked dispensary will issue these in packets which clearly indicate how to use them even if the patient is illiterate, so that no mistake can be made. Again the medicines are free. This is because our clientele come from the poorest of backgrounds, mostly farm workers who get only occasional seasonal work for very small wages. |
| In the afternoons some of the medical staff go out to remote villages, which have no access to medical care, in a Jeep with a stock of necessary materials. This is our mobile clinic. They are often out till late evening. The rest of the team go out to local villages doing house checks, especially for those on TB treatment. |
| In all our medical care we do not tinker with more serious ailments. Such patients will be sent, at our expense, to bigger hospitals. The monthly medical bills can be quite large, especially when they are for surgical interventions. Such was the case for a little boy who was born without an anus. Immediately this meant a long series of operations over many months until he is now normal. We have also had to cope with serious heart problems in children needing open-heart surgery. There are times when children come to us very ill and who do not survive for very long. |
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The clinic also is responsible for several day-care centres where parents can leave small children under 3 years of age while they go for work in the fields, etc. The children will be with us from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm.
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| There are around 30 children in each of the five day-care centres. To care for a child for one month costs £4 or $7. This covers medical care, food and snacks and occasional clothes. |
| Also under the care of the clinic are our 400 old folk. Most of them stay at home with whichever relatives will have them. We do have residential facilities for about ten old men and women who have nowhere to stay. Each week they all receive a small pension, enough for their daily needs. Some receive three meals a day. All will get new clothes once a year and medical care as needed. We can cover the individual costs per month with £8 or $15. |
| I often see processions of our school children going down the pathway from school to the clinic. They are all going for the regular medical check-up. The findings are entered on a paper, which covers all the normal examinations needed. These are carefully filed away so that each visit can be compared to earlier ones. Thus a loss in weight will tell the staff that further checks need to be done. |
| Thus, every single child throughout our entire education programme will be scrutinized and treated as needs be. This includes the many children from local villages as well as all the 650 in our four Children’s Villages, from day-care to High School. I know that that covers around 2000 children. |
| Two or three times a year we organize what are called “camps” for eyes and teeth. For this we call doctors and their nurses who are experts in these fields of medical care who will spend the day with us in one of our schools. All treatment is again free, though we do have to pay the visiting staff. For the dental camp extractions are done on the spot. Again, where necessary children are referred to specialist hospitals in one of the large towns. |
| Every week we have one afternoon set aside for ante-natal care of pregnant women. They get a thorough check up which includes blood and urine tests but we do also check for any symptoms of HIV/AIDS so that immediate treatment can be started to protect the baby against the deadly virus and put the mother on a range of treatments to build up her own immunity, etc. Once the baby is born the early-childhood range of immunizations is given. |
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We are able in our clinical laboratory to carry out all the tests needed by the clinic including the one for HIV/AIDS. This is so very valuable in our work in these remote villages.
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An extension of our medical work is called “The Community Health Service.” This works exclusively in very remote villages where buses are few and where any form of medical care can be several miles away. We would already have organized women’s clubs or committees in these villages and among many useful duties of these groups is the selection of a woman who can come to RTU and receive basic medical training for everyday illnesses and also some midwifery, which in any case will already be there in the traditional form. These women are provided with a kit of essential medicines and are expected to come to RTU for ongoing training with all the other village health workers. They are paid a small salary. One of their main responsibilities is to keep an eye on the pregnant women, advising them and helping them and also making sure there is a safe delivery and that no baby girl is summarily killed shortly after birth merely because it is a girl. Several times in the past the health workers have brought baby girls to RTU because the husband refuses to accept them. These babies are always made welcome.
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This department also takes care of a growing group of adults living with AIDS. They meet every month for a full day to share experiences, receive counselling and guidance and also financial help. They are nearly all widows whose husbands have already died from this disease. There were several suicides among the women before we formed this group due to the hopelessness of life and the persecution from others, relatives and neighbours. The suicides have stopped thanks to the support they receive from one another
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This quote from C. Houselander has been for me a sustaining support in our care for children:
“God is everlasting – certain – unchanging.
What is certain about Him is that He is love, that He loves both you and the person that you love, more than you do.
Your child is first of all God’s child; your love for your little child is nothing, absolutely nothing at all, beside God’s love for that child.
Your little child is God’s child; His only son, for Christ is in the child and God looks upon him and sees him as Christ, the one and only object of His eternal love. He is the dearest of all creatives; He is the apple of God’s eye.
Indeed all this love of yours is only God’s love which you sense vaguely. He, the true father, is there; He is around and above and below the child; He is in his heart. You only love at all because God loves infinitely more.
This means trusting that whatever God does with you and with yours is the act of an infinitely loving Father.”
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| Cordially yours, |
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| Brother James
Kimpton |
