Noah the Boa

After lots of posts about the grimness of life here in Thane - especially for people with HIV - here is something on the lighter side.

Would that all our problems could be solved this way - though you have to hand it to the long one for lateral thinking. Read (or look on) courtesy of Richard Scarry...

Richard Scarry

As we all know the great stories of our childhood stay with us.

For us who grew up Eicher this meant Richard Scarry. The two huge books that we had as kids are still with us - and still give delight - both to the new gen of Eichers as well as to the balding (ok bald) one.

Just look at the details that the man was able to fit in. Amazing. Every picture tells a tale - multiple tales - and you just keep having to come back for more and more.

What we have is two very faded books - which have been bound multiple times but are still falling apart - but which are called upon to be read repeatedly. The other set of living antiques that we read regularly are our Ladybird books. I was recently reading one on space to Enoch and saw a diagramme of the Saturn V rocket shown next to the St. Paul cathedral in London and a caption that said 'the Americans are planning to build a rocket..." I looked at the date of the book - 1964. Written before the moon rocket was made. But the quality of kids lit to have cutting edge science / technology available for young minds...

Back to Richard Scarry. One of the things that I love about him is that there is always something going slightly wrong - and yet folks (or more precisely the friendly beasts that inhabit his world) are carrying on cheerfully. There is a basic order in that world and though things go amok for a while, at the end all the kids are asleep in bed and Policeman Louie is driving outside making sure everything is safe (though the odd robber mouse still seems to be lurking about).

The other thing about the Richard Scarry books are how he manages to illustrate basic socio-economic transactions in such an engaging way. The panel on the left shows farmers producing, then selling to the market (this is clearly an abridged version). The farmer then has enough surplus to purchase a new vehicle, plus gifts for his family. The next pages then show how the grocer resells it, and how profits from it and then buys from others in town etc. keeping the whole value chain going.

And this is only one of the stories. There are treatments of forestry, law enforcement, mining, electricity generation, travel by ship, train and airplane, hospitalisation etc. All with the same zany cast of animals. Amazing.

We know of at least two small Eichers who would be happy to host any extra Richard Scarry books that are lurking around your cupboards and could do with a postage trip to India.

Strings

We just finished our latest training course for church members in caring for people with HIV.

Just before our last session of commissioning and prayer we spent a short time reflecting on what we had learned. All of us in a circle. A ball of red wool. One person shared what they had been touched by and then threw the ball across to someone else, while holding their end of the yarn.
We were overwhelmed with how positive everyone was. At the end of the session we had a beautiful star made out of red yarn.

Each one was connected with each other. Holding up our little part kept the picture going. Each person had shared something valuable. We knew that we were going to go our different ways, but the picture of unity and family that we had is precious.

There is so much that can be done to work with people who have HIV/AIDS - and to really make a difference in stopping the further spread of the disease.

The good news is that we do not need more experts. We need lots of ordinary people - like those who were part of our training course - which was taught by ordinary people - being willing to do loving actions. Consistently. In obedience and joy to our loving Lord.

As we said good-bye to our course participants it was a bitter-sweet parting. We are sad to see our new friends leave - but happy that God is going to use them to make a real difference in the lives of people with HIV and their families.

A Marriage

In 2 hours, our friends Joseph and Caroline are going to get married.

A new life together. A big step of faith. Two lives twined into one. A miracle.

As we get ready to go over to Mulund to be part of the public promise before God and all of us, we cannot help but think back to the time just under 8 years ago when Sheba and myself took the joyful plunge together.

Its been a lot of hard work. Many deep dissappointments. A lot of hurt and issues that we still are working on - and others that are saved for tomorrow.

At the same time - we are changed people. The polishing continues to take place. Iron sharpens iron (and sparks fly). Two are better than one. God is using each other to form and fashion ourselves to be what He wants us to be.

And we have had such joys. Every day we wake up to see our two sleeping angels. We look back to the unthinkable journey that we have been wandering along together. This road that we are on - like to one to Emmaus - and on which our Lord joins as a friend to our path.

Here is a poem that our dear friend Greg Jackson gave us at our wedding:

Gift Beyond Measure
to Andi and Sheba - December 1999

We are oft measured by the gifts we give -
their width, depth, and height packaged
into some known form for others to set
with the giver on the scales of the world.

But this day, there will be no such trifling measure.
The gifts and the givers are each the same and together
are joined into one gift - a miracle that only
the greatest of givers can reckon.

It is he who taught you of giving
and its fulfilment when you yourself are given -
with all your scars and tears along the edges,
that he is ever reshaping to a glorious image.

And remember that he alone weighs your gifts
this day - and he will shape them uniquely,
beautifully with his life, which he has given
to you, for you, each other - an immeasurable gift.

Another day over

Its 10 PM.

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Where did this day disappear to?

It seems like such a blur.

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Sheba just came back from checking in on Mr. Babulnath. He has started TB medications - after finding out that his sputum is highly contagious. For the first 2 days he vomitted, but today he was able to keep his meds down.

Just before Sheba went over to the JSK centre, I returned from there.

We had a Youth Against AIDS Festival Volunteer meeting. Though we did not see as many folks as we had wanted to see - we are grateful for each hardy soul who showed up. 38 days to go. Lots of things still very much up in the air.

Spent a short time with the kids before they slept. We talked about the little girl who worked in Namaan's house. What an amazing trust her mistress had in that girl. How one small nameless girl could change the destiny of kings! The kids are asleep now. They love stories.

Looking back to the afternoon: latter part was a mad scramble to get ready for the evening meeting. How to structure it to get the best use of the time? Who will come? How to move the process forward...

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Early afternoon. Staff meeting. Reviewing visits to different homes. Some of them so broken. Some showing signs of physical healing but still rotten inside. Others where some signs of change are present. What to do with Mr. Babulnath - switch him to the government TB programme. Do we know whether he will stay?

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Before noon - supervised Asha and Enoch's lunch. Read Bambi while they ate. Prayed for Asha as she went to school. Enoch had holiday because of his Open House - Sheba had gone there in the morning - and then came to the JSK centre for her normal 11 - 3 shift.

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Just after noon - had a long talk with Indrajit Sunderam - our main speaker for the YAA Festival. How are we going to end off with enough of a bang to make a longer term impact on the young people we are catering to? We talked about the process of pledging - and also the challenges of intentionally walking towards accountability and life.

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Mid morning. Emails - proposals sent. Planning for the day.

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9 AM. Team devotions around Mr. Babulnath's bed at the centre. Giri talked about how Jesus must be exalted in our lives. Powerful stuff.

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Showed up at the office at 8 AM. Got some computer work done in the first hour there.

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Early morning (no specific time given to keep pride at bay) loving wake-up by Sheba - Bible - prayer.

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Many hours ago that was. This day is history. What will tomorrow hold? If tomorrow comes?

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Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord by soul to keep...

And now for something completely different...

We've had a lot of pretty intense 'medical' posts recently.

Here is something completely different:

Above is the ship's manifest from when my grandfather Elmore Eicher and his brother Albert arrived in the US on March 25th 1911 along with their parents Christian and Susan Eicher.

They are listed as Canadians and have as their home address: Alliance Mission, Grant Road, Bombay, India.

This is the ship they sailed on across the Atlantic. The HMS Campania, which left from Liverpool and deposited them in New York.

The Campania was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Glasgow, Scotland in 1893. She weighed 12,950 gross tons; was 622 feet long and 65 feet wide. Her service speed was 21 knots. She carried 2,000 passengers (600 first class, 400 second class, 1,000 third class). I would assume that the missionary Eichers travelled third class.

Campania was built for Cunard Line, British flag, in 1893 and ran the Liverpool-New York service. She was sold to the British Admiralty in 1914 and renamed HMS Campania. The royal navy rebuilt her as an aircraft carrier. She sunk following a collision in the Firth of Forth in Scotland on November 5, 1918.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. Spare a thought for the many different craft we have been on over the years. The next generation of Eichers have yet to leave Indian shores (though young Ashish has had a hop over to Thailand already). When will their first cross-border experience be? Stay tuned!

Medicines that kill

Man's inhumanity to man continues to astound.

We met a man recently. We will call him Ashok. Ashok has HIV. He works as a daily wages labourer. Lifting things. Shifting mud. Using his muscles for some rupees at the end of the day.

As our staff got to know him, they found out that Ashok is taking treatment for HIV from a local doctor.

"What drugs are you taking?" they asked. "HIV medication" the man said.

"Can you show them to us" our staff probed further. Sure, said Ashok and fished out the capsules that you see in the photo above.

There is no way, no possible way that these are anti-retroviral drugs. Ashok has been duped. He has paid more than 3000 rupees for these bogus pills. He has been doing this for 3 months before we met him.

Another example of the parasitic way that people make money off the poor and those in trouble. These bogus drugs have not come cheaply either. They have cost many days of work for Ashok. In addition, the doctor has done certain 'tests' at astronomical rates.

And then there are the dozens of quacks who claim various 'ayurvedic' cures that will 'cure guaranteed'. They are never free - and they don't work. We have too many dead friends to vouch for that.

Dead men don't tell tales. Dead people who died from HIV don't come back to the quacks asking for refunds.