I have spent quite a lot of time at Shanti Nivas this year - visiting the patients in the Hospice, playing games with them and organising this and that.
The children of Thompson House are as adorable as ever. The older boys are young men and the girls getting very beautiful.
Seeing them after 6 months makes their maturity noticeable.The children come to my room after 'snacks time' and before homework time, to collect toys, puzzles and games..
The shower curtains have been fitted and the children are getting used to using the showers and getting dried and dressed quickly in this "cold" season. where night time .drop to 14c but daytime temperatures are 31C or more.It is the weather that is blamed for the children getting coughs and colds!
The children are also enjoying their beautifully illustrated Telugu books.. They sit with their packed school bags and shoes, reading the books until their auto-rickshaw arrives to take them to school. After school the children play with toys and games until it is time for their homework tuition .
The national Holiday of Republic Day on January 26th was celebrated at school and then the children had the day off.
The garden takes up a quite a lot of my time. I can't manage the digging these days but checking on the watering and a bit of weeding are the norm. When there is no electric power to use the hose
there are usually two or three little children at hand after schooltime, willing to water with a jug and bucket, filled from the new hand pump. It is a bit hit and miss as they splash water here ad there, but it is fun for them and they are learning that plants need water to grow..
The Shanti Nivas children are still going to school seven days a week . 'Mothers' of patients help around the campus, clearing leaves and sweeping, while Balram a patient, kindly waters the tomato plants near the kitchen by hand.
It is a busy time for Victor and the office staff preparing reports for the trusts who support various projects. We have twice had to postpone my visit to Narasanapeta to the HIV/AIDS outreach programme but it continues to find new patients who don't know that they have the virus. We still manage to give some food and medicine parcels .The London Run in July 2013 monies were for this project, They are estimated to be 6000 pounds but we need 12000 to run this project and prevent death by starvation.
The Hospice patients continue to enjoy playing with the games and reading books when they are not resting or watching TV..
Patients watching a children's story CD on my laptop.
The children of Thompson House are as adorable as ever. The older boys are young men and the girls getting very beautiful.
The shower curtains have been fitted and the children are getting used to using the showers and getting dried and dressed quickly in this "cold" season. where night time .drop to 14c but daytime temperatures are 31C or more.It is the weather that is blamed for the children getting coughs and colds!
The children are also enjoying their beautifully illustrated Telugu books.. They sit with their packed school bags and shoes, reading the books until their auto-rickshaw arrives to take them to school. After school the children play with toys and games until it is time for their homework tuition .
The garden takes up a quite a lot of my time. I can't manage the digging these days but checking on the watering and a bit of weeding are the norm. When there is no electric power to use the hose
there are usually two or three little children at hand after schooltime, willing to water with a jug and bucket, filled from the new hand pump. It is a bit hit and miss as they splash water here ad there, but it is fun for them and they are learning that plants need water to grow..
The Shanti Nivas children are still going to school seven days a week . 'Mothers' of patients help around the campus, clearing leaves and sweeping, while Balram a patient, kindly waters the tomato plants near the kitchen by hand.
It is a busy time for Victor and the office staff preparing reports for the trusts who support various projects. We have twice had to postpone my visit to Narasanapeta to the HIV/AIDS outreach programme but it continues to find new patients who don't know that they have the virus. We still manage to give some food and medicine parcels .The London Run in July 2013 monies were for this project, They are estimated to be 6000 pounds but we need 12000 to run this project and prevent death by starvation.
The Hospice patients continue to enjoy playing with the games and reading books when they are not resting or watching TV..
Patients watching a children's story CD on my laptop.
