Post script

We have just arrived at the hotel after a further 2 hours in crazy Kolkata traffic.  We have been to many places in the world but the driving here is unbelievable.  We thought you might like to see the pied piper.  These destitute children are cared for by the mission.  Today is a festival so there was no school for them.

Last day at the mission

There were 3 year old boys doing an English comprehension test. The 3 year old girls in the picture are being tested on times tables and English word recognition; impressive.

Nepal

The four of us split from David and Edna to spend two days in Nepal. Apart from magnificent views of the Himalayas, we have had visits to the Dewra Leprosy Relief Centre and the Kochna Leprasorium, and also to the much larger Anandaban Leprosy Hospital. Dewra is quite small, catering for only a handful of patients but providing much needed vocational skills. Anandaban is the main leprosy hospital for Nepal, providing 80 beds as well as physio and the production of artificial limbs, and a significant outreach programme to many parts of Nepal. 

We were fortunate to be allowed to visit the patients on the wards, where we again experienced a number of severe cases of leprosy, including a young girl of about seven. It was touching to see the dedication of the doctors, nurses and ancillary staff in all of these places, providing a level of care that is rarely seen these days.

Unfortunately we have not been able to upload photos this time, but you will have the opportunity to see these in due course.

The "business" part of our visit is now complete, and we finish our visit this weekend with a visit to the Sunderbans Tiger complex, though you may receive a further post from DG later tonight.

Update

As there was no Internet access at Purulia, this is our fist chance for an update.  We travelled by train to Purulia and were met by a group of the children.  From the station we went on to a Leprosy village Which was very distressing, many of the people have serious deformities.  This is the village we have provided with solar lanterns.  There is more work we could do here as the people need care and are 90 minutes away from the nearest centre and have no reliable transport.  We gave each of them a gift of biscuits and they chanted to the glory of St Lazarus.

The next day we went to the Leprosy Mission Hospital and met a very dedicated team of people.  We could work with them to enhance the lives of the people at the village.  During our visit we were privileged to be allowed to photograph the various conditions the people endure after explaining  it might help us to raise funds.  Again some of the conditions were very distressing for us.

Later we visited the Leprosy Colony where we have sponsored 2 tube wells, it is from this community that 4 children of Leprosy patients have been taken in by the RV Mission, one of them has been sponsored by Edna, the others are looking for sponsors.  In the evening there was a cultural event of music and dancing where good and evil made a battle, good prevailed.

On Tuesday I was unwell and Edna went to the schools. She talked the children, some of their English was very good.

On Tuesday pm we went by train and 90 minutes down a very bumpy road to Joyrambati, here Edna met her sponsored child and Sarita showed Edna her room and the kitchens .  We then visited the classrooms.  I am sending this update from the Vocational training centre which we are just about to look at.

At all of these locations the children smile at us all the time and everyone is very welcoming.

Purulia

 The most moving day so far. Emotional welcomes from the children, both at the railway station and at the school. A visit to the girls' school where we saw the water purification unit that the Commandery paid for, and a surprise visit to the leprosy village where 46 elderly leprosy sufferers live as a self-contained community. They have no electricity and the solar lanterns which we purchased provide a much loved opportunity for them to socialise after nightfall. Also a detailed tour of the Leprosy Mission hospital in Purulia which provides the only specialist treatment for a wide area, with patients travelling many miles by foot or rickshaw. After 13 hours in the air, 14 hours on a train and around six hours in cars surrounded by the craziest drivers in the world we are all physically as well as emotionally drained but would not have missed this experience for the world!

Arrival in Kolkata

We were greeted by Swami Nityarupananda, the children we sponsor at the RV mission, and a new child sponsored by Edna personally.

Departure

Waiting to board

Visit to India

Please visit this page during the period 16 to 26 November to follow the progress of our Commandery visit to India.

Distribution of Solar Lanterns

Distribution of the Solar Lanterns donated by our Commandery
to the people of this newly discovered Leprosy village