Time to banish the winter and enjoy these cartoons by Sainath.

 

This was my original appeal and I have sent two updates of my progress.

Monday 10th May 2021

Hello my friends, relatives and previous supporters!

I hope this email finds you well, escaped from the virus, vaccinated and looking forward to better times and the summer weather.

Most of you will know me from my voluntary work in India, since 1997 with leprosy patients and after 2005 with HIV infected children. In 2018 I was asked to see if I could make the lives brighter for the residents of a home for senior citizens. My exploits with the residents can be found on a blog they contribute to at ​www.awaasnews.blogspot.com

When I heard about the situation in Italy, as I left India on March 2^nd, I asked that the residents in Awaas be locked down. Sadly, the virus did get into the home; six were infected and two died. However, they are now more careful with isolating and not leaving the grounds. Some have been vaccinated.

We have all seen the harrowing pictures from Delhi and Mumbai of people unable to get into hospitals, unable to get oxygen, and the desperation of people queuing on stretchers and squatting in the streets waiting for a vacated hospital bed.  The official numbers are of those who die in hospitals, those dying in their homes or on the streets are not counted.

The virus has now spread to the villages and towns in the rest of India. I am in contact with my ex-colleagues, especially Rajni Kant Singh, who still works with leprosy, TB and elephantiasis patients. He lives in a village, just 8 km from the district town of Bhabua, in Bihar, one of the poorest states. There are 100 people with the virus. He visits them and has personally given drugs (£2.70 per person) to 23 people in Darauli and Marichaw villages. They are improving.  Rajni himself is a poorly paid health worker. I have told him that I will try to raise money for buying oxygen and drugs for people he knows personally. Poor people not rich people.   Oxygen cylinders are available on the black market for 20,000 rupees, that is £200.  I scraped together £200 and it will reach him on Tuesday 11th May. He will buy one tank of oxygen for a colleague; the villagers just need drugs at the moment. Luckily medicines are still available in his area.

I started cycling on Monday 10th and did 11.11 miles in a 48mph wind! I will go out around Bury St Edmunds every day, dodging the rain clouds and aiming to work up to 25 miles a day by the end of this week. My target is 2000 miles. I am 84 now and have difficulty walking but can manage to sit on a bike. I have an e-bike, but the engine only works if you pedal at the same time, so it’s not like a motor bike! My average speed is 10 miles an hour and I ride mainly on cycle paths. Bury St Edmunds is surrounded by hills and hence coming down them I get up to 23mph. Going up is another matter, even with the battery!

I can’t think of any other way that I can help people directly, so I am doing it through Rajni, whom I trust. Giving to a national appeal doesn’t get to the little villages and poorest people and it takes time!

Please help me to help them. I will keep you updated on my mileage, and the cost of what we buy and how the patients are.  

My bank account is at Santander. Account name, Mrs P M Norris, sort code 09-01-28, account number 78800747. Cheques also welcome!

Please help me to get money to where it is needed, honestly used and appreciated. 

 With love, God Bless   Manya Norris