We arrived in Bargarh last night so that today we could visit the Jhan Jhour leprosy colony. This is the place that we donated the money for new houses to be built a couple of years back since the railway are reclaiming the land that the most of the colony is built on at present. Once again we arrived to an overwhelming welcome of warbling tongues (similar to the hollering or ooh ooh ooh-ing of American Indians) and huge smiles, this time however it was accompanied by the unmistakeable drums, cymbals and dancing of the Hari Krishnas. This is also where all the “love bundle” donations from Broome at Christmas time were for. We handed out the bundles, to these very appreciative and beautiful people and also got to give them all a new pair of shoes each which we fitted individually. One lady only had a stump at the end of her right foot due to leprosy but the special “shoe” that was made for her didn’t fit quite right so I organised to have a cast made of her stump so that the cobbler can make a perfect fit shoe especially for her. Total cost of said shoe; $9. The colony itself is an awesome little row of mud huts that could have been teleported in straight from Neanderthal days (or at least the dark ages), and the people are wonderful. They even joked around about the fact they have to beg in the town each day just to eat. By the way, you’ll never guess what we had for lunch at the colony today...
Monday 14th January
Today we’re off to Bargarh (pronounced “Bugga”) on the train, but first we got to hand out love bundles to the eye patients who are heading home after their surgery. They were extremely grateful as they received their sari and soap and headed off to don them. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. They still had their eye dressings on so they literally headed off in all wrong directions... into bushes, down cliffs, into walls. It looked just like the start of the crab races at the Satay Hut back home. We all jumped up and ran to help those who were in the most imminent danger and lead them by hand to their change rooms. I still laugh just thinking about it. We were also greeted by the tribal people that had stayed the night. They had stripped every flower off the bougainvilleas and had decorated their hair most extravagantly. An amazing sight!
Today we’re off to Bargarh (pronounced “Bugga”) on the train, but first we got to hand out love bundles to the eye patients who are heading home after their surgery. They were extremely grateful as they received their sari and soap and headed off to don them. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. They still had their eye dressings on so they literally headed off in all wrong directions... into bushes, down cliffs, into walls. It looked just like the start of the crab races at the Satay Hut back home. We all jumped up and ran to help those who were in the most imminent danger and lead them by hand to their change rooms. I still laugh just thinking about it. We were also greeted by the tribal people that had stayed the night. They had stripped every flower off the bougainvilleas and had decorated their hair most extravagantly. An amazing sight!
Pete
Sunday 13th January 2008
This morning I got to see a real live eye cataract removal operation. The surgeon comes in by train to operate on the tribal people who have no means of paying for it. At the moment they have the money, provided solely by BCF people, to do 60 per month but they would like to do 100 per month. This truly is an amazing place. 12 years ago, Eliazar bought another block of land and has turned it into a farm which provides some of the food for all the kids and patients at the main centre 15 kms away. We went to the farm with all the kids and patients for a picnic where Elijah perfected his carom skills (a board game resembling pool), the girls danced, I gave them a guitar I bought over here and taught this kid (in the photo) who has Polio how to play it, and we ate yet another curry. In the evening we strolled through the Muniguda town centre itself and came home to be met by the distinctive drum beat of the tribal people who had walked down from the hill country (3 hours) to thank us and perform a traditional dance around the fire. 16 girls and 4 boys. I was acutely aware that very few white people have ever seen this, and here we were getting a personal performance. For me, the highlight was when they invited Mahalia, Maddi and Elijah to join them. Sublime! When it was all over, they stayed up till 3am watching Bollywood movies and Indian music videos on the projector we gave them. Pete
Saturday 12th January 2008
Woke up this morning with the runs. Everyone went up into the hills to visit a tribal village and show them a health DVD on the new projector and PA we bought them. I stayed behind and made close friends with the loo. Yippee! Pete.
After an Indian breakfast in a makeshift tent we piled into the jeeps and headed for the hills (the road itself was an adventure – who needs a destination?). After travelling as far as the road would lead we crossed a river on foot to where they had sent the lunch party earlier on in the morning and a scrumptious Indian feast awaited us. After hot chai we headed up the mountain on foot, a 2 hour walk. The extremely isolated path, usually only used by the tribal people, meandered along a beautiful river named by one village after a local running bean. Up until now, New Hope has carted a full size TV and a generator to these villages showing immunisation and other health videos to them (Polio is still quite a problem here. New Hope has many children crippled by the disease) so our church bought a projector and with a large sari suspended in a tree ... Wallah! Outdoor theatre! They were very appreciative, especially the guys carting the jolly thing. Secundela, originally from a tribal village was trained by Eliazar and Ruth several years ago and now she oversees over 36 villages in the remote hills regarding health issues (cataracts, Polio, etc) and birthing packs (birth survival rate is now much higher. E.g. they used to cut the cord with arrow tips, sharp rocks or crusty knives, causing fatal infections). The 1st village we came to consisted of 8 houses, some were thatched, others were a dull gray/silver colour as they were made of mud brick and then covered with graphite, just like pencil lead! Every hut had an old dilapidated piece of wood erected like a small pylon out front. We were informed that that was their god. Elijah made sure I didn’t sit on him. I told him the lap of my God had arms connected. We then headed off to our final destination, another tribe further up the mountain. We were greeted yet again with more garlands of flowers, you are just going to have to see the photos attached. They invited us into their huts. Eliazar shared with us some of their customs; marriage, dowerys, communal eating, farming (most interesting). We met the chief and as time was getting away from us we left some guys to stay behind and set up the DVD. We ventured back down the mountain by torch light, crossed the rivers, [NEWS BREAK sitting in hotel room at the moment typing this out just met our Christian room service man named Jackass] OK back to story just had to tell somebody that line was specifically typed for Todd Chapman. Now back in the jeep and homeward bound. The work of New Hope is ground breaking, their love and respect for the people is so inspiring. Too many stories can’t tell them all. Love to all. Kaz... Kids are fantastic.
Woke up this morning with the runs. Everyone went up into the hills to visit a tribal village and show them a health DVD on the new projector and PA we bought them. I stayed behind and made close friends with the loo. Yippee! Pete.
After an Indian breakfast in a makeshift tent we piled into the jeeps and headed for the hills (the road itself was an adventure – who needs a destination?). After travelling as far as the road would lead we crossed a river on foot to where they had sent the lunch party earlier on in the morning and a scrumptious Indian feast awaited us. After hot chai we headed up the mountain on foot, a 2 hour walk. The extremely isolated path, usually only used by the tribal people, meandered along a beautiful river named by one village after a local running bean. Up until now, New Hope has carted a full size TV and a generator to these villages showing immunisation and other health videos to them (Polio is still quite a problem here. New Hope has many children crippled by the disease) so our church bought a projector and with a large sari suspended in a tree ... Wallah! Outdoor theatre! They were very appreciative, especially the guys carting the jolly thing. Secundela, originally from a tribal village was trained by Eliazar and Ruth several years ago and now she oversees over 36 villages in the remote hills regarding health issues (cataracts, Polio, etc) and birthing packs (birth survival rate is now much higher. E.g. they used to cut the cord with arrow tips, sharp rocks or crusty knives, causing fatal infections). The 1st village we came to consisted of 8 houses, some were thatched, others were a dull gray/silver colour as they were made of mud brick and then covered with graphite, just like pencil lead! Every hut had an old dilapidated piece of wood erected like a small pylon out front. We were informed that that was their god. Elijah made sure I didn’t sit on him. I told him the lap of my God had arms connected. We then headed off to our final destination, another tribe further up the mountain. We were greeted yet again with more garlands of flowers, you are just going to have to see the photos attached. They invited us into their huts. Eliazar shared with us some of their customs; marriage, dowerys, communal eating, farming (most interesting). We met the chief and as time was getting away from us we left some guys to stay behind and set up the DVD. We ventured back down the mountain by torch light, crossed the rivers, [NEWS BREAK sitting in hotel room at the moment typing this out just met our Christian room service man named Jackass] OK back to story just had to tell somebody that line was specifically typed for Todd Chapman. Now back in the jeep and homeward bound. The work of New Hope is ground breaking, their love and respect for the people is so inspiring. Too many stories can’t tell them all. Love to all. Kaz... Kids are fantastic.
Friday 11th January 2008
After arriving last night unloading into our rooms and consuming yet another yummy curry around a crackling bon fire it was off for some shuteye to rejuvenate for the next day. Now if there is anyone on the face of the planet that knows how to welcome its the Indians. After being laden with enough flowers to bend a small child’s back we were taken on a tour of the campus to meet the locals and see first hand the work of New Hope in Mudiguda ,and what an amazing work it is. Elijah and Ruth are the loving parents of a huge family... Here’s a brief run down of what’s on campus... Class rooms and dorms for all the kids, a Tailor shop, HIV unit, Hospital, Accommodation, Offices, and small shops that are situated at the front of the property to sell to locals teaching new hope kids basic business skills. New hope Muniguda predominately works with orphaned handicapped children educating, feeding and clothing them. Also cataract eye surgery for local elderly villagers where losing your eye sight can ruin your livelihood. It is an amazing sight to see the elderly tapping their way down the street being led by the seeing coming in for surgery. 250 people came in today, some for checkups and others were coming in for cataract eye operations. This line of New Hope work is completely funded from Broome Christian Fellowship which we’ve always known but to see it first hand is the most amazing experience. 250 tribal oldies squatting on the ground greeting us with their warbling tongues and amazing nose jewellery; one through each nostril and one through the middle like a bull. More flowers were given then we handed out love bundles which consist of a sari, a towel, a comb, soap and hair oil. We also gave them a 10 kg bag of rice, daal, salt and cooking oil plus a blanket. In the afternoon we helped wash the woman’s hair ready for surgery the following day. They were given a local anaesthetic, the cataract was measured and all info recorded. Even Elijah donned a doctor’s uniform and helped wash the men’s hair. The kids all helped serve them dinner that night. Then back to the campfire for more tasty food. So much for losing weight on this trip. Let’s just say the Punjabi is a very appropriate dress for the diet. The other main wing of New Hope is those that have been infected with the aids virus. They call the place where the children sleep the rainbow house. A lot of these children were dumped at the train stations because of the fear and stigma of AIDS, so New Hope would be called to come in and collect them. We also visited the wards where people who have had leprosy were staying. They were having corrective surgery on their hands and feet so they can work and look normal again. We were introduced to a man today called Hero who was a leper and because the disease damages the nerves he was severely burnt by unwittingly staying too close to the fire. He was brought to New Hope in a sack hanging from a bamboo pole carried by some local villagers. His wife and family had rejected him. 10 years later, he is now overseeing all of the grounds on the campus, he is well respected in the community, his wife has since returned to him, and they have had a child. The work goes on, there are so many things to share, and that is just one day. Love Kaz xx
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