Another admission at JSK

She was admitted this morning. Her fever 103. Her CD4 count - a pitiful 34.

Mrs. Sashta (as we will call her) really doesn't have an immune system at all. Most healthy people have CD4 counts between 800-1300 or so. In her body, the HIV virus has systematically knocked out her CD4 cells - the key to much of her immunity - so that she is now open to any infection.

Mrs. Sashta has been going to the government hospital for a month. When she came here this morning she was so sick Sheba wondered whether to admit her at all.

But we did. Mrs. Sashta's relatives are tired. She is tired. We got some investigations done. Got the bed ready. Admitted her.

Sheba gave her a paracetamol (crocin or tylenol are the common brand names).

The fever is gone.

As of late night it hasn't come back.

This is more than medicine at work. We see so much hope in this poor woman's face.

We hope that she will be able to stitch back her life together. One night without fever does not mean all her illnesses are gone - but what a blessed relief for her to even have a small step at getting better. How much her relatives relish even this small bit of normalcy.

Love covers over a multitude of evils. A cheerful heart is medicine to the bones. A heart at peace brings life to the body.

Its our privilege to not only give medicine at Jeevan Sahara Kendra - but to also give love as well. And prayers. And hopes which are often against hopes.

We don't always have happy endings. We have a lot of tears. But some of them are tears of joy...

7

Its hard to believe - but young Enoch is 7 years old!

It seems like just yesterday that I was holding a little bundle of pink in my arms.

And now we are 7 years later with this amazing boy - so full of life and movement and laughter!

The celebrations of Enoch's big day have been in typical Eicher fashion - quite long - with almost a day for each year he has lived!

The fun started when our beloved Phil-Uncle arrived on Tuesday. Nothing like having this gentle giant with the big heart around! Asha and Enoch had tons of books read to them by Phil - and showed no signs of letting up!


Then there was the actual Birthday on the 19th. Enoch shares his birthday with the famous Maratha warrior-king Shivaji and so has a holiday each time his B-day rolls around.

We had a lovely celebration at the end of a very momentous day. Enoch was all smiles as we prayed for him and then he and Asha went on a treasure hunt to find and open his gifts.


It was an unexpected blessing to have John Gabriel with us for this special time. What a wonderful friend he and Nalini and their kids Nikita and Jasper are to us. John has taken up a new job in Navi Mumbai - and we are now 1/2 way through his commute - we are looking forward to seeing even more of him and the family in days to come!

The next day - after we had a wonderful Church Partners meeting at Jeevan Sahara in the morning - we celebrated Enoch's birthday again with a small party at home.

There were games.

And lots of laughter.

There was food and frolic.

We gathered together to listen to a story and pray for Enoch.

And there was his birthday cake - and our lusty singing for him.

The cake this year was a monkey with a banana. The innovation was having a chocolate and a banana cake and using different portions for different parts of the monkey.

But the celebrations did not end there.

At church today we had 4 birthdays to thank God for. We missed our dear brother Sony - but the other 3 birthday kids were there:

Ryan's b-day is coming up on the 24th, Sharon's was on the 20th and our dear Enoch had another opportunity for cake and songs and prayers. And not only that - we all stayed for lunch at Jolly and Suma's home (they host our Sunday worship in their home).

Its been quite a week - we are tired but very happy - and so glad to have a young lad who reminds us of God's goodness: Enoch!

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22.2.2010

The celebrations are not over yet! Today being the first school day after Enoch's birthday, he is allowed to attend school in his 'colour dress' (i.e. not wearing his uniform). Its a big privilege and not to be sneezed at! It also means that everyone knows that it is your birthday. Enoch will be wearing is smart new navy shirt and tan bermudas. No wonder birthdays are looked forward to for most of the year in the Eicher household!

Finger-nail clipping

A thought has been going through my mind for the past couple of weeks:

Out lives - all the years that we have to live - are just a finger-nail clipping wide - when compared to eternity.

Whatever we do, and whatever difficulties and challenges we go through now almost pale into insignificance when we consider how many years can unspool into the future.

Infinity doesn't end. It just goes on and on and on and on.

From this perspective, the flip side is that as short as our life may be, the few years we have to live out fairly burst with importance - as all eternity is lived after them.

Its almost like when we first started learning to write with a pen - you have to be so much more careful since you cannot erase using the rubber anymore.

As with so many things in life, the Lord Jesus Christ put it succinctly - "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

Courage

As I type this note four men are at the Jeevan Sahara Kendra. Two of them are burly brutes - very much fitting the local tough-types - another man is inebriated - the final one is HIV positive.

Its the last one - Mr. Shrishti - one of our long-term HIV positive friends who has brought the three to our centre. The inebriated one is his own brother. Wanted by the police as a suspect in a murder case.

Last month Mr. Shrishti was in hiding. His brother was absconding - having fled to his village. The police constables were looking for Mr. Shrishti. He himself left his 5 month pregnant wife and was hiding at his work-place.

In the mean time we talked to Mr. Shrishti. He listened. We prayed together. Then he did a very brave thing.

Mr. Shrishti went to the police station.

He told them that he was innocent.

They told him to produce his brother - and they will stop harassing him.

We thought that this is another stalemate. That Mr. Shrishti will go back into hiding.

But Mr. Shrishti brought his brother back from the village. They are going to go over to the police station this afternoon. He brought his brother over to us at JSK for counselling before they make the short journey to the local constabulary.

Its no wonder his brother is inebriated. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of our enforcement agencies. The questioning administered can be brutal.

Rahul is talking with them.

We are seeing courage in action. Would that we have a happy outcome to this story...

A call from Vellore

Lata called from the Katpadi Railway station.

She was in tears.

Her sister Vishranti refused to leave the station and take the autorickshaw that would take them to Vellore.

They had travelled far.

Far from Nasik. Their train was delayed before it even left Kalyan. Then it was diverted. They had to get another train to get to Katpadi. Dr. Judy - who came to meet them at the station - was not able to wait for so long and had had to return to her home in Vellore.

Vishranti was being taken to the Christian Medical College Hospital at Vellore for her follow-up check-up for her mental illness. Compared to how she was initially - she had made so much progress. Now it was time for a six-month follow-up visit.

But would she leave the station?

Sheba talked to Vishranti on the phone. She said she was scared of being given electric shocks (which a 'mental-health' specialist in Nasik had given her prior to her Vellore trip). She was clearly tired. Sheba spoke kind words to her. And to her sister Lata who has been taking the load of looking after Vishranti. It had been a hard 2 days of travel.

We prayed. Hard.

Drs. Kenny and Judy called the CMC Hospital and asked them to make a bed ready for Vishranti. Judy came back to the station. Judy spoke to Vishranti. She agreed to leave the station.

A small victory. A huge victory.

Vishranti and Lata are back on the train headed for their home in Nasik. Dr. Prassanna and her team spent time with Vishranti. Things are so much better than before - but there is still a ways to go. Lata is so grateful for the change. Once the consultation was over, Kenny and Judy got tatkal tickets for Lata and Vishranti.

The long road of rehabilitation for mental illness is not smooth. But it is very worth walking along.

We are proud of the many people who are helping Vishranti make a new start to her life. We are grateful that some of the deep animosities in Lata's family are slowly melting. We are hopeful for Vishranti to be able to begin living with her husband and two children again.

Family portrait

Our latest family picture - courtesy of Enoch Eicher.

Enjoy.


Its all pretty accurate - other than the slightly jaundiced look we have - but we have to have some artistic liberty don't we?

Some hope for Mrs. Sagar

When we last wrote about Mrs. Sagar - things seemed pretty hope-less. Her mind was wandering. She was emaciated. She had a racking cough. Her two under-fives were clinging to her - one of whom was suffering from a broken leg. Mrs. Sagar was destitute and mentally confused - lying on the street hoping that some-how she would get back her home that she had sold...

We admitted her at the JSK centre - and have been caring for her for the past few days.

Already some rays of hope are appearing.

Mrs. Sagar and the kids have been eating copiously. They are not always the politest of company - but their appetites are certainly healthy. And it has already shown effects. The kids have just opened up and are full of smiles.

We were able to show Rinki, her 2 year old daughter to an orthopaedician - and get a cast put on her leg. She is happily scooting around in her cast - and loves to be carried. Omkar - her 7 year old is full of smiles. There is so much that even the most simple inputs can do.

Our staff have loved this family. Cleaned them. Cared for them. Fed and prayed with them. Shared from the Bible and sang songs. As Sheba has been doing her night rounds - she has been seeing a slow but clear change in Mrs. Sagar and the kids.

Sheba has assessed Mrs. Sagar medically and we are surprised that she does not seem to have TB after all. She certainly has a chest infection, which is responding to antibiotics. We have assessed Mrs. Sagar's HIV progression and want to take the next step in her treatment - but that is dependent on her having a stable place to stay.

Mrs. Sagar has started to talk about her situation. Its amazing what a quiet place and willing ears can do to a person who was so dazed and confused before. Mrs. Sagar has opened up a bit and tells us that she was fairly settled with her parents and brother in a village near Motihari in the East Champaran District of Bihar. However, she decided she wanted to come back to Thane. There were probably some harsh words between her and the family members - and she left - taking the kids half-way across India, only to end up lying on the street.

Yesterday evening Mrs. Sagar and her children had a beautiful and simple time of prayer where they committed themselves into God's hands.

Amazingly - and as a total answer to prayer - we have been able to contact her brother in Bihar. He wants her to come back. The children had been in school in the village - and the family is willing to welcome Mrs. Sagar and the children again.

Today we also found out that our dear friends in the ACT (AIDS Counselling and Training) programme of the EHA Hospital at Raxaul are active in the district Mrs. Sagar is from! We are waiting to hear from them whether they know about the village that she is from, but are excited about the possibility of them following-up on her - and putting her in touch with local churches in the area who would like to care for this family.

And so we are seeing some steps forward. We are still not out of the woods with Mrs. Sagar and her two kids. They have many odds stacked against them - but we are grateful to see a shift from hopelessness and confusion - to hope and the outlines of a plan for them.

Thanks for being along with us for this journey. Your thoughts and prayers are very appreciated.