A Special Anniversary

Brighter Future Development Trust was set up by Danny and Victor in May 2004 for children from leprosy colonies so that they could go to school, and receive regular medical and loving care in a safe environment. Instead of begging for a living they would have the opportunity to lead independent lives after their education was completed, at whatever level they were capable of attaining.

By Christmas there were 20 children. Their sponsors paid £12 a month and the children lived in leased accommodation. However, leases ran out and the children, once they had been allowed to attend the government schools, faced the problem of having to change address and schools every few months.

Manya, who had worked for the same NGO as Victor for many years, started an appeal to buy a permanent home for the children. £6000 was raised and then a miracle happened! Jack, who had followed Manya's volunteering work India for many years, offered to pay the rest of the money in memory of his wife, Dorothy. And so DMC House was born.

In 2012 Victor realised his dream of meeting Jack and thanking him. He hopes to renew the acquaintance this year.

Every anniversary of the opening of DMC House by Manya on the wedding anniversary of Jack and Dorothy, February 26th, is marked by a special ceremony of thanks and prayers for Jack and Dorothy. Dancing, singing and a special meal follow for the children, now numbering 88.

It was at this opening ceremony that Manya asked Victor what provision there was for the local HIV/AIDS orphans (of whom India was reported as having 2 million).We did a survey and found that there was no one willing or able to support many of this ostracized and stigmatised group of innocent children, Nine months later Prem Nivas was born.

The new approach to the kitchen and dining room

Shanti Nivas is a sloping site, built on the side of a old vocano! Shanti Nivas and this part of Vizianagaram is surrounded by conical hills. The soil is red and shallow lying over quartzite and granite rocks.When the monsoon rains come the topsoil is washed into rivulets as the rainwater flows off the sides of the hills towards the roadside ditch, at the bottom of our site. When the rain stops the land which is not protected in some way, for example by terracing or vegetation, is a series of mini ravines.Not exactly the Grand Canyon but a real problem for vehicles coming into the site and for walking across..

The route from Thompson House and the Pickford  Memorial Hospice to the dining room and the kitchen building was also victim to this erosion every time the frequent monsoon cyclones dropped their rain.

 Now, thanks to the generosity of the Ian Thompson Memorial Trust,  this problem has been solved. The new concreted  route provides a clean and smooth surface for the children to walk along.

The children often do not wear sandals or flip flops while 'at home' as it is the custom not to wear anything on the feet in a room and footwear must be left outside the door. Now those little bare feet have no more stony and uneven places to negotiate! The staff find it a pleasure too.

A big thank you from the children, and staff, at Shanti Nivas!

More news from the Pickford Memorial Hospice

Victor with Bhavani'sBaby. 

Bhavani lives with her moither and baby Anita in a village in Vizianagaram district. It is a difficult and long  journey to Shanti Nivas so that when Bhavani comes for a check-up for herself and the baby she stays for a week. Brighter Future provides her with free medicines as needed, and with powdered milk for baby Anita. They are also given a nutrition pack of rice, wheat, lentils, soya and oil  to help them survive at home.

 Bhavani is deaf and dumb. She can only communicate in grunting sounds. Her mother brought her to the Hospice when she was found to be pregnant. 

Bhavani was not married and could not tell us what happened to her. She lived with her mother. All we knew was that she went to work in a jute mill. She was ill and found to be HIV positive. We had no idea of when her baby was due. Every month it was predicted but baby Anita took her own time! Baby Anita was given anti - Hiv drugs which mean that Anita has a 70% chance of not having caught HIV at birth.

These little boys are in our hospice for HIV children. Appalnaidu, in the left,  has been with Brighter Future for more than a year. he was admitted with his mother  for complications of HIV/Aids and TB because they did not take their treatment as they were too poor to get to the clinic where it was available. His mother had to spend all her time begging from roadside cafe's

and food stalls to get food for them to eat. He is now getting regular food and medicine but still his health see-saws up and down so he stays in the hospice with his mother who does little jobs around the campus.
These photo was taken on Christmas day when Mary and Victor went tovisit all the children at all of our homes.The flowers are a traditional gift.

Meanwhile on the same site as the Hospice the Shanti Nivas boys, Nagaraju R, Durga and Vidya have been helping paint the gate near the tuck shop.  

At 19, Swarthi is our oldest girl. She was given this 'half sari', a blouse and skirt, for her Christmas gift from Mary and Victor. Swathi helps Victor in the office but she is also often to be found at the children,s homes 'helping out' wherever needed.

The Gayitri Trust ensure that the children, patients and staff at Shanti Nivas have clean water to drink.

The Gayitri Trust donated a special water filter to the children and patients at Shanti Nivas.

Victor thanks the officers of the Gayitri Trust  at the inauguration ceremony for their gift of a large capacity water filtration system at Shanti Nivas.

Children presented bunches of flowers

These large reverse osmosis and ultra violet water filters will be able to handle all the water requirements of the Hospice, the kitchen and dining room.

Spruced up for Christmas

December 2014 was a very busy month  principally occupied with  the preparations for the Christmas Party. However, the usual improvements and maintainance of the children's homes continued.

DMC House was given another colour scheme. previously it was cream.

We have a new workhorse

The second hand vehicle, which Maggie and the parents and children of a Somerset school bought for Brighter Future in 2006, has at last been supplemented by the addition of this new very practical workhorse.

We sent loom bands to Vizianagaram

Vizianagaram is the chief town in the district of Vizianagaram. If you want things that are not available your local village shop you go to larger shops  in Vizianagaram town, If they don t have it there you have to go toVisag (also know as Visakhapatnam). Shopkeepers don't just have half day closing they close all of one day so that they can purchase and stock up with goods from Visag or Vizianagaram.

Visag is a naval port and again the chief town of its district, but very few tourists  reach there.  When the loom band craze hit the UK I reckoned that it might not reach the Brighter Future children in our far flung part of coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Faye,one of our 10K runners, was flying to India and she offered to take loom bands out for the children. 

 Our children, our young people and even members of staff enjoyed making bracelets and other things.


Meanwhile one of our child sponsors, Louise, had a similar idea and  sent loom bands to her child in Karuna Nivas.