A blind lady was brought to the Hospice.

The lady in the red sari is called Gouri. She is completely blind, with cataracts in both eyes. The lady who is standing with her  very kindly brought her to Brighter Future at the suggestion of our Prem Nivas Nurse. They got talking on the bus when Nurse Laxmi was taking some of the Prem Nivas children to the government centre to get their HIV treatment. Gouri is HIV+ so Nurse Laxmi  had probably seen her at  the Government ART centre.

The two ladies live in Gajapathinagaram,  the nearest large village to Prem Nivas. Victor said that Gouri lives in a ‘toy’ hut, for which she pays 100 rupees a month to the lady who is in the photo with her. I think it must be a very small hut or even an outhouse as room rents normally cost more than 1000 rupees. Victor didn’t ask Gouri whether she  gets a pension of 200rp a month or whether she begs for her living.

Victor has spoken to the surgeon who does cataract operations for us on our leprosy patients. He has agreed to operate privately on Gouri in ten day’s time. As Gouri  is HIV+ he will perform only her operation on that day and the operating theatre will be closed for the rest of the day.

A new boy arrives at the hospice.

Abraham

 Abraham is from Bapuji Leprosy Colony.
The early members of the Brighter Future's Family of Sponsors and Donors may remember that in February 2005 we adopted a very neglected leprosy colony.   Brighter Future was able to bring some help to the elderly, and mostly very deformed, residents.
 Brighter Future immediately set to work on the essentials - water, food and medical care. We made the open well safe to use. We installed a new, deeper, bore well so that there could be clean water at all seasons. We supplied basic food grains to supplement their routine begging. Brighter Future provided a man to dress the patient's open sores and teach them how to care for, and avoid, these wounds.

The next big step was to provide safe and hygienic housing to replace the dilapidated, snake infested and broken rooms they were living in. The money to build new houses was raise by supporters of Brighter Future in the UK. This was Brighter Future's first foray into building houses for leprosy patients. It attracted the attention of the local government and The Leprosy Mission and they both now co-operate in building homes on other leprosy colonies in our area. Brighter Future liaises and supervises this housebuilding.

You are probably wondering what this has to do with Abraham!  
 His parents lived in Bapuji colony and were very grateful to the couple who donated the money to build their house. The couple also remembered Prasad and his wife at Christmas. They were overwhelmed to receive the first card - they had never been sent a letter from anyone before. Prasad and his wife have now died, Abraham is their son.