Our Hospice

The Hospice is on the Shanti Nivas site and is named the ' Pickford Memorial Hospice' in honour of one of our former trustees, David Pickford. 

The hospice was built with funds from the David Pickford Foundation, together with the £6800 proceeds of the 2012 London 10K running event. It can accommodate up to 20 patients.

The Pickford Memorial Hospice was opened in August 2012 to provide nursing, respite and palliative care to people with HIV/AIDS. Although aimed at taking children, together with their mothers, we also admit HIV+ adults in need of care. Some are suffering from the effects of starting anti-retroviral drugs, others have severe complications and some are terminal.

Nilaveni was living in a shelter of branches

Patients are referred to us by doctors, professionals at HIV testing centres, and our own field staff and social workers.

The government hospitals must admit severely ill HIV/AIDS patients. However, they keep them for as little time as possible, usually only a few days. None will admit infected children with their mothers. Sick mothers can bring their children to our hospice if they have no one to leave them with, similarly sick children can be accompanied by their mothers and siblings. Mothers who have to work are welcome to stay whenever they have no work or when they are sick.

Appalnaidu and his mother both had TB and HIV

In the first three months of operation the hospice admitted 64 patients. Fifteen were terminal. Some were re-admitted after they had discharged themselves to check on elderly parents, or to travel to their ART collecting centre, which could be 70km away.  Typically they go back to unhygienic conditions, to a situation where there is no food, where they don’t take their medication, run out of it or take it on an empty stomach. Symptoms like diarrhoea and sickness recur, dehydration and weakness debilitate them further and they seek re-admission.

. HIV+ patients suffer sickness, diarrhoea and fevers because of their vitamin and protein deficiencies. They cannot tolerate the highly toxic ART drugs in such a condition. They all need treatment for these deficiencies and for anaemia. They need a nourishing diet and food supplements.

Our councillor will liaise with the referees and escort patients from their homes or hospital to our hospice.  The government hospitals must admit severely ill HIV/AIDS patients. However, they keep them for as little time as possible, usually only a few days. None will admit infected children with their mothers. Sick mothers can bring their children to our hospice if they have no one to leave them with, similarly sick children can be accompanied by their mothers and siblings. Mother's who have to work are welcome to stay whenever they can take time off work.

Sanyassi had everything wrong with him but
he lived in the hospice for over a year

90% of the patients are ambulatory and take showers and use the bathroom themselves. There is a geyser supplying hot water in the winter months. Patients can keep food items that they have been given by visitors in the hospice fridge. There are air conditioner units in some rooms. All food is prepared in the main kitchen but the patients have their own trays, eating vessels, glasses and bottles for filtered water, which they are encouraged to wash after use. Patients are provided with a basket to keep home clothes in and each has a hospital type of bedside locker. There is a washing machine for hospital laundry.

It is a big defect in the ART distribution that patients cannot be easily transferred to the nearest centre at Vizianagaram, to collect their ART. In Africa nurses and local clinic staff are trained to be able to distribute ART and the ART treatment take-up rate is better and maintained long term. This problem needs to be addressed by the government of India and the state governments. 

Abraham recovered from his TB
He now looks after the cows and chickens 

Many of our patients have a history of having dropped out of treatment because they could not travel the long distances to the ART collection centres. They could not afford the fares or take the time (if they are lucky enough to be working as daily wage labourers in agriculture, washing dishes in a roadside café or begging for food going from shop to shop).

The majority of our patients suffer from the opportunistic infections that invade their body’s weakened defence system. The HIV virus has left them with very little natural immunity to bacterial, fungal and viral infections. TB is rife in India and we have admitted 15 patients for the directly observed treatment of TB. The course is usually for six months but patients can return home after the first part of the course has been completed. However, one lady patient whose family refused to take her back, or visit her, was with us for the full 6 months of treatment before she was strong enough to go to live with a daughter in another far away State. 

Ramadevi, of Thompson House, reads
a story to the hospice patients. 

Abraham learning numbers

The patients have a TV, simple books, puzzles, educational toys and construction kits to play with. They like to help with little jobs around the campus and enjoy joining in the celebrations with the children of Thompson House, 

as well as the Christmas party!

It costs £30 a month per patient to care for each hospice patient. This includes the nurse's salary, doctor fees, food, transport and electricity.

From August 2012 to March 2014 there were 117 admissions. and 21 deaths.

From April  2014  to  March 2015 there were   114 admissions and  14 deaths, three of whom were children. 

We would welcome  £10 a month towards a patient bed cost! 

Playing the memory game

Many of the ladies cannot read or write
and do not know numbers

Vijaya plays with a patient

Baby Anita

 Bhavani, our deaf and dumb mother, comes to the Hospice every month for a few days with her little daughter, Anita and her own mother.

 This time there was a special gift waiting for little Anita. One of our sponsors who lives in Germany had sent some nice dresses for Anita and a toy and necklaces too.

The black kohl on Anita's forehead, and under her eyes is seen as beautiful in India. Little girl's seem especially attracted to Victor!

Doesn't she look a picture with her lovely clothes.

When another little girl, Prassana, was about three she always ran to Victor when he arrived at Shanti Nivas, and to our amusement, called Victor 'daddy'.

In reality all the children love Victor. The younger ones call him 'big uncle' and boys who have left DMC house and Prem Nivas still come back to see him.

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.