Artists vs. TB

This week marks World Tuberculosis Day. March 24th. Not a happy anniversary at all. But a day when some folks around the world pause to think about the progress in fighting a disease which continues to squeeze the life out of so many.

We need a vaccine. There are a few hopeful signs on the horizon. A recent article quoting our old friend Dr. P.D.O. Davies of TB Alert says that a vaccine target molecule shows promise - but that even in the best case a workable vaccine is still a decade away. We have meds that can cure TB. We have a free public distribution which does a reasonable job (at least in the cities like Thane). But we still have thousands who die of TB in our country every day.

Enter the artists.

Stefan and the Art for Change Foundation have been running "Creative Conscience" weeks where artists get together and do art. Together. Its an annual gathering where they live in community and fellowship and think and talk and create - along a common theme.

Late last year they did one on Tuberculosis. The artists gathered for a week and met TB patients at one of the largest TB hospitals in the world. Stefan worked hard to move the artists from a simple 'poster' based responses to ones with more bite and depth. One result of getting into the lives of these men and women were a series of paintings. Challenging - life-changing paintings. The other result were artists whose outlook had become all the richer - and more challenged.

The result of this week is an exhibition that opens in Delhi this week. Together with Global Development Associates and the Confederation of Indian Industry - the show will be at the Religare Art Gallery at Connaught Place. You can't get more central than that.

Our hope and prayer is that this set of paintings will indeed prick the conscience. Of whom? Both the industrial jet-set as well as the man on the street. The movers-and-shakers as well as the common man (or woman).

World TB day rolls round once a year. The other 364 days need people to uncover the hidden plight of so many. Especially in our vast and often contradictory country of India which has the dubious distinction of the largest number of people with TB and the largest numbers of TB deaths each year. May the brush join the microscope and the pill in being wielded by committed hands to fight an ancient disease which continues to wreak so much havoc.

Talented Amma

When Asha was dedicated we were gifted a beautiful cross-stich by the wife of Dr. Colin Binks (I have purposely not written her name as she once clearly said that she never wants her name on the web). It is a collection of 5 birds and their associated plants - and has the first verse of "All things bright and beautiful" written in the centre. A beautiful piece - we have always put it in our living room in all the homes we moved to.

While Sheba's parents were here this last month, Amma took down the cross stitch and took out her needle. Over the past 2 weeks we have seen the whole piece lovingly recreated. What a thrill to see the first bits of the familiar scene take shape under Amma's hands. And wonder as the whole beautiful ensemble was recreated. Stitch by stitch. Every one of them.

We now have a beautiful copy that is in Amma' bags as they travel back to Vishakapatnam after their month with us. What talent!

James Howen R.I.P.

When Sheba was young her mother returned home from work one day to find all the women in the neighbourhood clustered around the house. Worried, she rushed to see what was happening and heard the sounds of wailing from inside the house.

All four children were bawling their eyes out. Amma was worried something had happened to their grandmother. That worry was unfounded. Sheba's grannie was alive and well. The four siblings were inconsolable because their puppy had died - and no amount of comfort from their 'Api' was helping them.

I remember pet deaths in my childhood. We had a burial for one of my hamster. Complete with a sermon and a small cardboard casket. I had never been to a 'real' funeral myself - so don't know where the ideas came from. But the hamster was buried their in the soil outside our Nana Chowk house.

Our kids don't have pets. Not yet at least. A promise of an aquarium in June may be the first step towards new life in the Eicher home.

So when we had a funeral recently in the home it wasn't for a budgie or for a kitten.

It was for a marble.

Enoch loves playing with his marbles. He has given many of them names. They are organised in tribes (mainly based on their primary colour) and Enoch organises races between different groups.

Yesterday a green marble fell down and cracked. Enoch and Asha decided to bury him. A small casket was commissioned using the cardboard box from a small jar of cold cream. It was covered with white paper and the name of the marble
written on it.

James Howen was the name given to the deceased. Enoch's choice. I don't think the name existed before the green fellow cracked. A hole was dug in one of our defunct flower pots (the curse of the Eicher brown thumb) and the little fellow was put inside. A small white cross now marks the spot.

So what do our children know about death?

Well - a lot more than I did when I was their age.

Sheba and I do not intentionally talk about it around them - but inevitably it shows up. Too many of our Positive Friends die. Too many. Asha and Enoch have over the years gotten to know people who then die.

Other than Auntie Theresa who died of cancer when I was a boy - and the distant deaths of my mother's parents I don't think I was exposed much at all in my childhood.

I am glad that death is not taboo to Asha and Enoch. We have enough of it in the world.

Our dear friend John Forbes is visiting us currently. The other day he was talking with our staff at JSK. Reflecting on the unfolding tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan John commented that in a way he was fortunate to have a diagnosis of HIV. Fortunate - because he was so aware of his imanent mortality. When he heard that he probably only had 6 months to live since his CD4 count had dropped to 64 and he was in an AIDS stage - that shook him to the core and brought him back to God. The fact that he is now over a decade further into life and has been used all around the world stems partly from this acknowlegement of his mortality.

Would that we would live each day is if it were the last.

A play funeral for a cracked marble has helped me remember my own upcoming death day.

An email

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hello

can u tell me how much is monthly expenses to cure hiv.

regards

Jagdish

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The above note arrived in our jsk@vsnl.net inbox this morning. I have of course changed the name to protect confidentiality (and doctored the above image of my inbox as well).

The note seemed to be written by someone who had checked out our simple JSK site

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This is what I replied:

Dear Jagdish,

Thank you for your question.

There is still no complete 'cure' for HIV - but there are medications that control the amount of virus in the body for many many years - which allows a person with HIV to live a normal life.

These medications are available free from the government at the ART clinics.

From private doctors it will cost about Rs. 1200 - 4000 depending on the kinds of medications prescribed.

Please feel free to visit Jeevan Sahara Kendra if you have any questions.

Blessings,

Andi Eicher
JSK Director
9321112065

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Would Jagdish call me?

At 3.15 PM he did.

I was riding the scooter when he called. I told him that I would give him a call when I got back to the office. I did.

Jagdish is HIV positive. His wife is too. They live in 2 suburbs away in Mumbai. Jagdish wants to be treated - and has gone to various hospitals for treatment. He does not want his wife to know about their condition - because he says she is illiterate and gets upset / tension very easily. From what I could understand in our first conversation, Jagdish went to a hospital in the Mumbai's Western Suburbs and spent Rs. 40,000 on injections to try and cure him of the disease. Apparently his wife was with him too. His wife has said that she will not go to any hospitals anymore.

Its complicated.

Just in the phone call it is clear that it is complicated. Jagdish wanted to know whether we will treat his wife without telling her what she has. I told him that we work on the principal of telling the truth. We do not break a person's confidentiality. But we encourage a person to share what is really going on with their spouse and loved ones.

I suggested that Jagdish come and meet Dr. Sheba along with all his reports and medications that he is taking at this point. I assured him that we would not disclose his status to anyone else without his permission.

Jagdish should be there at 11 AM tomorrow.

Another opportunity for a real change.

Lift this!

We have a pretty amazing set of people working with us at Jeevan Sahara Kendra.

We did not realise we have a champion power-lifter in our midst.

Last weekend Santosh Sable - one of our family case managers - participated in the "Mayor's Cup" lifting competition organised by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Competing in the 60 kg category (he weighed in at 59.25) Santosh managed to lift 82.5 kgs in the bench press, 170 kgs in the squat and 215 kgs in dead lift. This comes to a grand total of 467.5 kgs - almost half a ton!

That almost-half-ton was enough to get Santhosh first place in his division! Hooray!

We are thrilled with Santosh - who has been with us since December 2010. We knew that Santosh visited the gym regularly - but little did we know that we have a city-wide champion in our midst!

Missing boy update: Akash found!

Bernie David writes about Akash - the boy who went missing from their home last week:

We are so happy and relieved beyond belief to know where Akash is. It is not the best news but at least we have found him.

The details are still coming in but the police brought him in either yesterday or this morning to the Dongri remand home (juvenile home) and it is a notorious place and not for the right reasons. The 'treatment' of a new inmate is pretty grim, poor food, little supervision and a lot of bad activity. Boys are raped and beaten by the older boys.

We tried to get him out today but they would not entertain us. Tomorrow the parents are going to plea their case and we pray and hope he is released. If he is not released to the parents, then he has to stay there until next week until we would have a court hearing. You can imagine, we want him out of there asap.

PLEASE pray for total favor on the parents ! They have a much better chance of getting him out then an 'organization' does. One of our other little girls before she came to us was in a remand home and the street mom would not settle for anything other than her immediate release and they did release her. So, we know they 'can' do it.

Please pray the heart and minds of the staff at Dongri would release him tomorrow. We will be sending his school records so they know he lives in a home and leads a pretty normal life, etc. Also, please pray for his protection at the remand home, that angels would be encamped around him and his bunk or where ever he is sleeping. Please pray that not ONE hands falls upon him and that through all of this, he will cry out to the Jesus he knows. That the Lord will put a song on his heart that will comfort him and bring him hope and peace.

Our little prodigal is almost back....

Blessings,

Bernie David

Ash Wednesday

Today marks the beginning of a season of fasting for many Christ-followers around the world. The 40 days are leading up to the celebration of Christ's glorious rising from the dead - which many Yeshu-disciples rejoice as Easter.

The fasting can be done at anytime. And so can the remembrance of Christ's resurrection. As a family we celebrate His resurrection every Sunday when we break bread as part of the Communion in our house fellowship.

In our brokenness and inadequacies - we come before He who makes all things whole and new again.

Its worth a fast - or a feast - to remember.

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This beautiful film was made by Corrie Francis Parks - and comes from her post: here