Our Little Patient Appalnaidu

He is now happy and bouncing around after having treatment on his neck for an infected gland. It became very enlarged as part of his TB. Instead of getting TB in his lungs his lymph glands get infected and they have to be, aspirated, or drained, by syringe.  

Meanwhile at our HIV Finding and Feeding project .. 
..we gave medicines and

food parcels to 47 women in July. Five new cases were found, 3 women and two men.

Six months ago we helped 17 women to apply for extra rice  - a ration of 35kg a month instead of the usual 4kg for below poverty line ration book holders. Sadly only 4 people were granted this 35kg. Although they all qualify, (widowed, below poverty line, low caste, and low income) the process of granting anything is now in abeyance because the whole of the coastal region's government workers are now on strike because of the division of the state into two new states. Victor says there are no buses, trains, or government departments working!   

Four children from The Rainbow Boy's Home and D M C House go to College

If these  Children had not been given a loving home, with educational and medical care, they may well have been begging on the streets  . Brighter Future gave them a home.

They have finished High School and have qualified to study what is known as 10+2.

These exams are the equivalent of our 'A levels at a Sixth Form College. Sanyasi, Anil, and Vasavi  have started their studies as the academic year begins in June.  Praneetha's parents have moved to a leprosy colony near Visakhapatnam so Praneetha may go to a college near them. We send them to private colleges to make sure that they have the best teachers. They have to pass year 11 exams before they can continue into the 12 th year.

They still live at DMC House and the Rainbow Home, going to college on cycles if not too far away. Sanyasi is studying Maths, Physics and Chemistry. Vasavi and Anil have chosen Commerce, Economics and Civics.

Sandeep sailed through his exams and is now in the final year 12 studying Maths, Physics and Chemistry. Jyothi and Manohar had to retake a subject but are now also in the 12th. Manohar has enrolled in a college near his parent's leprosy colony, as he wants to keep an eye on his family. Brighter Future will continue to support him in his studies.

Sandhya failed her subjects so we will find some less academic course for her.

Congratulations to our students !

Swathi is our very first student to pass her  final exams after two years at a college in the village where Prem Nivas home is situated. Swathi now has the equivalent of A levels in Biology, Physics and Maths. Swathi has had to work really hard because when she was 8 she was asked to leave her village school because her parents had died of AIDS. In those days there was no treatment available to slow down the progress of HIV to AIDS. Swathi was often sick and her grandmother asked Brighter Future to admit her to Prem Nivas, our first home for HIV infected children, in October 2006. At first we taught the children ourselves because the local schools would not take them and no teacher would work for us.
I remember going to give a talk, translated by Victor, to several hundred High School children, and their teachers, gathered in the school playground. My message was that you can't catch HIV/AIDS by sitting next to one of our children, sharing their books, playing with them or eating with them. Swathi was admitted to the High school and now all our children go there when they pass class 5.
Swathi has long wanted to be a nurse but because she is HIV+ this is not possible.

Our Hospice at Shanti Nivas

A warm welcome to all the new supporters who are running the London 10K for children and adults who are suffering from HIV/AIDS!

There are many undiagnosed cases of HIV/AIDS in the rural villages where Brighter Future does its grass roots work. We conduct discrete surveys  to identify households where there have been deaths, where children are often sick or have dropped out of school, or where there is TB, to see if the people have HIV. In the last five years we have identified 359 HIV/Aids victims. last year we found 66 new cases. We take them to be tested and offer practical help - giving them medicnes and food parcels,and applying for ration books and pensions for them.

The most sick people are taken into our new Hospice, though for some it is too late, like this little girl. 

A seventeen year old boy died this month.His uncle had been buying him a 'false cure'. 

This 15yr. old boy is severely malnourished and has HIV, TB , asthma and skin infections all over his body. 

          HIV infected widowed       mothers learning to play a memory game. 

All our patients are malnourished and anaemic. They are weak and suffer from aching limbs, and frequent fevers.Some have kidney  complications, others have advanced TB.

It costs £400 a month to run the Hospice. 

We hope that this year's London 10K run will raise this money. 

Tell your supporters how they will be saving lives by sponsoring you !

Too poor to travel to the hospital to get medicine for her son and herself

The Hospice at Shanti Nivas

Last week we admitted  mother and her son. They were registered as suffering form HIV in 2008 and 2011 respectively.In 2008 the nearest centre to their village for receiving check up and  retroviral therapy was in Visakhapatnam -  - about 100 kilomenters from their home and a long and slow journey by bus, Appal, the little boy was only 15kg in weight and he was started on a 'baby' dose in July 2011, when both mother and son were admitted into the hospital because they were so weak.

His weight now is only 14.5kg - 14 months later.

The little boy stopped taking ART in January 2012 because his mother could not afford to take him to get his medicine. It was difficult enough for her to go begging for food locally for them to eat. She came to know that there was now a nearer hospital to get ART but she has not been for a year. The little boy goes to school, he is in the second class, so at least he gets one free school meal. Mother goes begging for idli or rice - each day to a different shop. They are both very weak, anaemic and Appall has ringworm and fungal infections all over his body.

We will give them a high protein diet, treat his fungal infections, do TB tests and get them onto ART again.

Another patient is a man of 53 who was recently diagnosed and was referred to us by the ART centre because he has stopped taking his ART as it made him feel sick, and he was suffering from leg pains ,fever.and anaemia.

We explained about the side effects of the strong drugs and that the symptoms would lessen over the next few weeks if  he increased his protein intake , took rest and had clean food and water.

The Christmas Party 2013

The Christmas Party

The Christmas Party was on the 21st December this year and for the first time it was not held at DMC House but at the new site known as Shanti Nivas. As Shanti means ‘peace‘ it was an appropriate venue, however, the reason for the change was because we now have too many children to hold the party in Vizianagaram. We had to cater for 200 children and guests. Not enough space for the children to run around and not enough space for the cooks to work their miracles.

Shanti Nivas is a very rural site two kilometres from the main Vizianagaram highway to Salur, 10 km from the Rainbow Boy's Home and DMC House. 20 km from Prem Nivas and 100km from Karina Nivas. There was, therefore, the added expense of taxi’s and trains to transport the children from our other homes, but this was, at the same time, exciting and novel for the children. The children arrived in time for the speeches by guests, who included the Vizianagaram Pastor, the Director of the Leprosy MissionVocational Training Centre and the government District HIV/Aids officer.

 Listening to opening speeches

Five and six year olds hung the gold decorations on the Christmas tree while the other children assembled under a large colourful open tent ‘shamiana’ for the opening proceedings..

Lunch for the little ones was in the dining room but the older children ate al fresco under the mango and cashew nut trees. The afternoon was taken up with giving out presents and new clothes to all the children, as well as a informal dancing to very loud speakers, playing on the swings, slides and playing games.

Snacks of samosas to keep them going!

Waiting for their presents!

Known here as "CHRISTMAS TATA'  or 'Christmas Grandfather'
 He jollies the proceedings and distributes sweets!

 

The evening entertainment included songs and dances and a nativity play , plus the cutting of the cake. The Indian tradition is putting the first piece in to a child's mouth and they do the same to you!

Krishnaveni and Keerti of Shanti Nivas do a little song and dance. They are wearing their new Christmas dresses.

Swathi, Satya, Jyothi and Suneetha perform a dance to a Christian hymn.

The Prem Nivas Nativity play.

Senior DMC girls dance beautifully to great applause from the children.

Silent Night was sung in Telugu and in English with older children holding candles.

Selected 'volunteers' given rosettes to perform important tasks

The tree

Preparing for Christmas 2012

December News 

Divali is now over and we are pleased to say that we didn’t have any mishaps or burnt fingers.

The Children have started preparations for Christmas

.

     The first priority was to get the children to make their Christmas cards. With 170 plus children to supervise this was no mean task! We then took new photos of the children to be printed and go in the cards. The children who are sponsored send to their ‘ aunties and uncles’ and the un-sponsored children’s cards are sent to all those good people who support Brighter Future by sending donations and by spreading the word about Brighter Future. If you have not received a card this year we apologise most sincerely. We admit that our database is not up to date. In these techno times most people communicate with us by email and consequently we may not have your most recent postal address. A few supporters have even changed name over the years.!

Prem Nivas Children get a Commission

We were greatly honoured to be given a commission by one of our stalwart supporters and sponsors in Nottingham. Mick ‘s wife, Diana, had the bright idea that they would like Brighter Future Children to make them some Christmas cards to send to their friends .

I emailed Mick some designs that the children had made the previous year and he chose one of them. The order was for 30 cards

a,

Mick offered to pay the postage, have the photo  printed in the UK and provide the envelopes. He has offered us £1 a card.

The cards were made at Prem Nivas, where I live with the HIV+ children. At first several children were involved but to save time we got a little production line going, with each child painting one colour.

The special gold stars ordered from England did not arrive on time so Mike will provide them too!

Jemima, Our New Volunteer

We were pleased to welcome Jemima to Brighter Future at the beginning of November. Jemima is taking a mini gap after her A level studies and decided to get some experiences before deciding which career path to follow next year.

Unfortunately her travels did not go smoothly and she had to spend hours waiting at the airport but Jemima coped very well and arrived safely in Visakhapatnam.

     Jemima has been to see the leprosy projects, the HIV homes and hospice and lived with the children at DMC House. She has been helping Victor in the office, collating the Rainbow children’s progress reports and making a start on that data-base!

"It's been a brilliant experience and really taught me about how these people live.They live such simple lives, and work extremely hard. Perhaps the most shocking lesson I learned was how much these people are discriminated against because of their condition, and their way of life before they were offered help from Brighter Future. I have learnt how young children and the elderly had no option but to beg on the streets, making less than a pound a day."

Another Brilliant Idea

Emily has donated £50 to Brighter Future as a Christmas present to her parents, Sonia and Richard Denny. 

Emily  has asked us to photograph Sonia’s sponsored child, Sanyasi, with what we buy for him and the organization.

Emily will present the photo to Sonia and Richard on Christmas day as her gift to them. Emily says that her parents will appreciate giving to BFIT as they were really impressed with their visit to Brighter Future last month.

Hari Made a Christmas Tree out of Twigs

Janaki fixed the electrical connections

Our Christmas Crib

The children made the peg figures and angels , the  older children arranged the background of stars, lights and angels

The youngest children made glittery discs to hang on the tree

All the children made peg doll figures

Hari, Janaki and Ramesh strung up the lights and angels