Just a short post to say that we are very much alive - though the number of stories that we are able to tell here on Chai Chats has been slim in the last few weeks.
Laundry list of 10 things happening at present (and the pretty recent past):
1. We managed to look after a very ill person with HIV over the past week - despite our last recognised nurse having to go to her native place for a week in the middle. The secret to this? Two amazing American nurses - Alissa and Amy - who dropped out of heaven and put their whole into helping out. Thanks to Sheba's care and the marshalling of many others - Mr. Vikrant was discharged today for followup at home. More to come in a later post.
2. On Saturday we finished off the last session of our current Church Training in HIV Care. We had a small but enthusiastic group who were there - and had an emotional candle-lighting song to finish off our time "ek aag har dil mein, humko jalana hai" went the haunting strains as we came to the end of this course. Our desire is that each participant will be able to put what they learned into practice and energise their local church to better reach out and care for people with HIV.
3. A lovely visit from Sheba's Rourkela and Cuttack friends - Drs. Famikima and Joydeepa Darlong - who are currently running the Leprosy Mission Hospital in Purulia, West Bengal was a lovely surprise. We then hopped into our little Papaya (the trusty bright-orange Tata Nano) and drove over to Borivali where we were reunited with Uncle and Auntie Selavanayagam who had been spiritual mentors for Famkima, Joydeepa and Sheba during their MBBS days in Cuttack. Added blessing: Asha and Enoch got to meet all of the Selvanayagam cousins at once - their old friends Hannah, Bobby, Benjie, Jemima, Lois and Grace.
4. We said good-bye to this year's last batch of UBS interns - John, Richard and Sanjiv who spent the last 2 months serving with us at Jeevan Sahara Kendra. We also said good-bye to Dr. Tara Kinra who spent a 3 week global health elective at JSK. Where did time go?
5. Work on the Aradhna Concert at Kalidas Hall on Nov. 16th is picking up with passes available (please grab them if you are in the Mumbai area - the FB page is here ). We are doing it as a benefit concert for Freedom Firm - which means money is involved - a special challenge for us. There are still oodles of things to do - and enough time for me to lose the little hair that is still left on top (Chris Hale seems to have his long locks glued on with Fevicol or something). But at the end of the day we know that Heavenly Father is very much in control.
6. We are about to leave town for a week - with a mouth-watering time at the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India's national conference at Mahaballipuram (outside Chennai... and at the beach!) in store for us. They planned for 350 folks. Already 450 are on their way (including 4 Eichers). We will be celebrating Sheba's brother Peter's birthday on Sunday the 28th and then taking wings to be back in Mumbai on the 29th nite. Though Enoch has an final term exam on that date, the school has graciously allowed him to take it late.
7. Last weekend saw my boyhood hero Pradip Ayer and his wife Judith visit us - along with their friend Julie who also is part of their church in Memphis. What a joy to have these amazing people with us. We felt so loved and inspired by another set of 'living legends' as it were. Precious.
8. We are about to start the long-awaited rennovation of the Lok Hospital first floor rooms so that we can operate out of 2 wards with 4 beds each and also have an isolation room for active (and multi-drug resistant) TB cases. We have had to tell people that the
9. The little baby that so many of you have been following tested HIV negative using the new PCR tests that can detect HIV in children as young as 2 months. This weekend, this precious girl was successfully given to home for children which we have a long relationship with, so that she can be legally adopted by a family. We have already had 3 serious inquiries about adopting her - which we have forwarded for follow-up. Keep praying.
10. On my computer are a zillion letters that need to be followed up. A quadrillion people need prayers. A quintillion things to be done around the home. So what's new? Only 43200 seconds in a day - and every one gets the same share! But it would be good for me at least to spend more of them in shut eye - instead of being up like now at 12.55 AM - trying to get the word out what the Eichers are up to.
Laundry list of 10 things happening at present (and the pretty recent past):
1. We managed to look after a very ill person with HIV over the past week - despite our last recognised nurse having to go to her native place for a week in the middle. The secret to this? Two amazing American nurses - Alissa and Amy - who dropped out of heaven and put their whole into helping out. Thanks to Sheba's care and the marshalling of many others - Mr. Vikrant was discharged today for followup at home. More to come in a later post.
2. On Saturday we finished off the last session of our current Church Training in HIV Care. We had a small but enthusiastic group who were there - and had an emotional candle-lighting song to finish off our time "ek aag har dil mein, humko jalana hai" went the haunting strains as we came to the end of this course. Our desire is that each participant will be able to put what they learned into practice and energise their local church to better reach out and care for people with HIV.
3. A lovely visit from Sheba's Rourkela and Cuttack friends - Drs. Famikima and Joydeepa Darlong - who are currently running the Leprosy Mission Hospital in Purulia, West Bengal was a lovely surprise. We then hopped into our little Papaya (the trusty bright-orange Tata Nano) and drove over to Borivali where we were reunited with Uncle and Auntie Selavanayagam who had been spiritual mentors for Famkima, Joydeepa and Sheba during their MBBS days in Cuttack. Added blessing: Asha and Enoch got to meet all of the Selvanayagam cousins at once - their old friends Hannah, Bobby, Benjie, Jemima, Lois and Grace.
4. We said good-bye to this year's last batch of UBS interns - John, Richard and Sanjiv who spent the last 2 months serving with us at Jeevan Sahara Kendra. We also said good-bye to Dr. Tara Kinra who spent a 3 week global health elective at JSK. Where did time go?
6. We are about to leave town for a week - with a mouth-watering time at the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India's national conference at Mahaballipuram (outside Chennai... and at the beach!) in store for us. They planned for 350 folks. Already 450 are on their way (including 4 Eichers). We will be celebrating Sheba's brother Peter's birthday on Sunday the 28th and then taking wings to be back in Mumbai on the 29th nite. Though Enoch has an final term exam on that date, the school has graciously allowed him to take it late.
7. Last weekend saw my boyhood hero Pradip Ayer and his wife Judith visit us - along with their friend Julie who also is part of their church in Memphis. What a joy to have these amazing people with us. We felt so loved and inspired by another set of 'living legends' as it were. Precious.
8. We are about to start the long-awaited rennovation of the Lok Hospital first floor rooms so that we can operate out of 2 wards with 4 beds each and also have an isolation room for active (and multi-drug resistant) TB cases. We have had to tell people that the
9. The little baby that so many of you have been following tested HIV negative using the new PCR tests that can detect HIV in children as young as 2 months. This weekend, this precious girl was successfully given to home for children which we have a long relationship with, so that she can be legally adopted by a family. We have already had 3 serious inquiries about adopting her - which we have forwarded for follow-up. Keep praying.
10. On my computer are a zillion letters that need to be followed up. A quadrillion people need prayers. A quintillion things to be done around the home. So what's new? Only 43200 seconds in a day - and every one gets the same share! But it would be good for me at least to spend more of them in shut eye - instead of being up like now at 12.55 AM - trying to get the word out what the Eichers are up to.
Yayy! I will be at the EMFI conference on Sunday. And I hope I get to see you! Especially looking forward to meeting Asha and Enoch. I still feel bad when I remember how Asha cried as I left the Hyderabad conf. My Nanma sees imaginary animals just as Enoch did at the Bangalore EMFi conf! I really hope I can introduce Nanma to them!
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