All ship shape at Shanti Nivas

The last of the cyclone damage to buildings and infrastructure has been repaired.

 The children are helping to plant a new mango tree

New roofing sheets have been fitted on the  shower and toilet block. Doors which were broken have been replaced.

 Street lighting for the whole of the Shanti Nivas campus, which includes the Pickford Memorial Hospice, is now functioning again.

Sweeping the roads and general tidying by girls and staff.
The sparceness of the tree cover is now obvious to me.  

At this stage the electricity
poles are in place and waiting for the cables.

The older boys enjoyed making bonfires.  Watched enviously by a little one?

Good news for Shanti Nivas!

from Victor

"Finally, last evening power restored after so much of work done (after 29 days)  in the paddy fields, transporting and erecting electrical poles, wires re-connected and clearing big trees fallen on the wires and poles.   

This pole is being set up just outside a paddy field.

You can see the water in the rice field. Rice has to be grown in water for about 3 months. Did the government agree to compensate the farmers for trampling on their crop?

All these 29 days the total Shanti Nivas campus has been run on our own generator, thanks to Gavin and Stewart  for their donation for the generator, (which we started buying on the never never last February), otherwise there could have been so much of trouble for the children and patients. 

 Children homes lights, wirings, street lights wiring, new fittings, motor wirings, Hospice, kitchen and pump house, In all the places power is now restored." 

Some Visag cyclone damage

 Not a leaf of green left on trees

These pictures were taken by Victor's son. He is studying in Visakhapatnam, often called by its old name of Visag. Richie took the photos in the early days of the cyclone and they are of places that the children will know from their outings in Visag - the zoo and the area where we always take them to the beach for their 'Picnic'- near the Gittam university.

The hills should be covered with green vegetation.

Cables down 

The zoo entrance

Both the university on Beach Road and the airport at the other end of Visag suffered similar damage.

Bad news from Srikakulam where we support HIV/AIDS widows and children living in villages

From Victor;-
Our Pastor told me last night that there are HIV women in our working area, Srikakulam district, and its surrounding villages,  who are in need of cyclone reconstruction support. Many  of  their houses as roofs blew off( being made of palm tree leaves),  electricity meter's wires were ripped out and there is need to replace belongings lost in the wind, like cooking utensils, blankets,  clothes etc. We need to help these HIV infected women and children.

 The women suffer from frequent fevers and muscle pains because of thier compromised immune systems. They also suffer from stigma and are often blamed for their husband's deaths from AIDS wheras in most cases they were infected by thier husbands.

They  find it very difficult to get any employment, be it agricultural labouring or washing dishes in roadside eating places.  They and their children need our support ..

Sadly Shanti Nivas electricity not yet restored. We are all trying so hard to get the labourers and officers to do the restoration.

News from Victor

Bad news about electricity for Shanti Nivas

Victor wrote yesterday

"Shanti Nivas campus electricity not yet restored even after 20 days , as there was 12 poles fell down during cyclone which lines comes from village called Vendram , all these poles were in farmers paddy fields.  At present there is water and loose muddy soil until knee height in the fields and farmers are objecting to replace the poles as they are asking reimbursement for the loss from government.So at present there is no hope that Shanti Nivas campus will get electricity for another few months, until crops are harvested and paddy land has become dried.      (This is not expected until January after the Pongal holidays) 

Presently we are running Shanti Nivas campus on generator. 

I am planning to file a petition to district authorities ( Dist Collector )  and see what happens".

The DMC House Neem Tree

Surgery or mutilation?

The Neem tree at DMC House had grown very tall in its restricted space and suffered in the cyclone. 

Neem trees have medicinal properties and all parts of the tree are frequently and widely used as an antiseptic in India. In rural India people use the twigs as toothbrushes. Bundles of twigs are sold in roadside markets or can be cut or broken from wayside trees. 

In my travelling days I used to see lorry drivers wandering around the truck parking areas with a neem twig sticking out of their mouths. Neem is antiseptic and a well chewed neem twig gets into those flossing places. 

Commercial preparations for shampoos and many skin conditioners contain neem. 

At Prem Nivas, every second Sunday, the children apply a paste of neem leaves, which has been made in the mixer, all over thier bodies and hair to clear and prevent skin infections. 

The tree 'surgeons' don't have saws so the results seem more like mutilation to me, 
but this particular tree has bounced back from several severe prunings in it's ten year history with Brighter Future.