On Monday morning we visited the Tribal School.  The school was started by Sister Jansi and Sister Freeda. The story of how they met and the vision that God has given them is quite amazing.  God spoke to them and said that they would meet each other.  God then called them to start up a ministry serving the tribal people and teaching the tribal children.  

There are 60 children now at the school and they have plans to build an extension to the school so that they can teach more children.  

We heard lots of stories of how God has protected the sisters and the children and how people have been compelled to act and support this ministry.

The drive home was probably the scariest 5 hours of my life and iam not kidding. It was pouring with rain which i was not too bothered about untill the driver told us that the window wipers werent working….

but instead of waiting on the rain stopping or driving slowly. He drove the same speed as he would on a dry road all the way down the hill not really slowing down for corners or just because he couldnt really see much because the rain was that heavy. also about 3 feet to the right was a huge drop into a river so it was pretty scary. I am sure Raj prayed all the way down the hill and all the way to Pastor Abrahams house we had our dinner there then left for the night train.

(Sister Ruth and Zach – Danny and Rose’s son)

The train journey went very fast as i slept the whole night without getting up it was acctually one of the best nights sleep i have had while i have been in India. When we arrived in Chennai we got a tuk tuk to Captain Thackers house and we had another little sleep then we left to go to Temple Bay and that is where we are right now

2 days!!!!

see you all soon

xxx

We’ve been to Munnar and are back in Temple Bay, woohoooo!! internet!!!

We’ll post soon about our adventures there, just wanted to let you all know we are back safe and sound.

Thanks for all your comments, they are great.

Adam and Rae

Today we also went to visit a refugee camp.

The people in this camp are refugees from Sri Lanka.  Many have been in India for 18 years now.  The camp is very clean and is quite big, there was hardly any litter on the ground which we found quite surprising as there is litter everywhere else.  Some of the refugees go to Hepzibah Church.  The Sri Lankan people in this camp are a tight community, no refugee would marry an Indian person, they would only marry another Sri Lankan.

Tomorrow we are at church in the morning and then in the afternoon we head for the mountains we are looking forward to that as it’ll remind us of Scotland

Rae & Adam

x

Today we have been to see the clinic.  Abraham and Ruth have rented a house from just outside the village and on the main road into Dindigul.  This is to see what the need is of the local people.

The clinic runs each day from about 9am til 7pm.  There are 2 nurses and 1 lab technician.  The common things that patients go to the clinic with are; colds, fever, anaemia, diabetes, vitamin deficiency, chest infections, asthma, all things that can be treated at the clinic.  For more serious illnesses patients are referred by the clinic to a doctor in town or to a nearby hospital.  

When we were there today there was a man who was getting fluids intravenously, a lady with cold and chest infection and an old lady being treated for anaemia, she was getting a vitamin B12 injection.

Many people are using the clinic and are telling their fellow villagers and the word is spreading.  The clinic is free but people can pay a small contribution if they can afford it.

Rae & Adam

We’ve arrived in Dindigul after our 7.5 hour train ride.  

We’re staying at the parson’s hotel and are just about to go to Abraham and Ruth’s house.  We’ll post more later.

Rae & Adam

This is Neesha, she is one of the new children at the orphanage.  She is 7 years old but to look at her you would think she is 2 years old because she is so small, she’s the same height as the smaller children.  Nesha looks like the photos you see on tv of the starving children in Africa.  She is extremely thin and her eyes are sunken. I was scared too pick her up incase I would break her bones. Her family couldn’t afford to feed and take care of her, she has 2 other older siblings but they are off regular height and weight.  Her family had gone round alot of orphanages trying to hand her over but no one would take her because they thought she had HIV, she has been tested and doesn’t have the HIV virus.  Grace’s details were eventually given to the family and now Nesha lives at the orphanage.  She has had a physical examination and a ct scan and apart from her starved appearance she is in good health and should put on weight now that she is at the orphanage and is being fed. That is what is good about Sangita, when there is no where else for children to go Grace will take them in.  Nesha would be dead or close to it if she hadn’t been placed at the orphanage.   

Rae x

we decided to cut our stay at the orphanage short as we needed a rest. I was suffering from sun stroke and had a really sore head. So we decided to book a room at temple bay. its so nice we are a few steps from the beach, Good food, TV that has BBC, free internet acess and friendly staff who can all speak very good english. I could live here i think its really peaceful and quiet. also it is very clean. Its nice just to have a little break half way through just to get a rest and some western food.

My sun stroke has cleared up now and I feel fine so its off to Captain Thackers for one night then to Dindigul for five days. We might have some internet acess but we arre not entirely sure yet. hopefully we will to keep up to date.

adam xx

Each evening the 25 children who go to school also receive extra tuition in the evenings. 4 teachers from the school come out and do this. We got shown the children’s report cards. They are all doing really well and most have high marks in all subjects. The extra tuition they are getting is helping a lot. The children love learning and are always eager to recite the alphabet, count numbers and spell words. They also love to draw. We spent a while yesterday drawing houses, flowers, cars, snakes, fish, elephants, cat, dogs, etc.

Today we went to see the new home for the children that is currently being built. It already looks fantastic. One of the most striking things is how much more space there will be. Under construction at the moment is the main building which will house the dining hall, a big indoor play area, a large kitchen, and a reception room for visitors.

The children’s accommodation is next to be built and that consists of 3 pods which all interconnect with a common area in the middle. Each pod can hold up to 30 children. We took a lot of photos and showed them to most of the ladies at the orphanage as they haven’t been able to see the new build yet. They are all excited about moving to their new home. 2 off the ladies have moved on from the orphanage, Lalitia and the lady who was the Kindergarten teacher. They have been replaced but another worker is still needed to help look after the 77 children.