Helping villagers in rural Bihar

 Dear Awaas Residents and Staff

I am very pleased to see all my old friends and hope to get to know the new residents and staff very quickly, especially as I can only spend one month with you. I was very disappointed to find out that the Indian government is only allowing visas for one month instead of the usual six months. 

As you know I left Awaas on March 2nd 2020 and a few weeks later the UK was in lockdown. People with serious heart, lung conditions or cancers were unable to leave home. Over 70's were also confined to home but allowed out for an hour of exercise, if they stayed within 5km of their homes, I sometimes walked my daughter's dog  but he kept stopping at every tree and lamp post so I didn't get much exercise!

I ordered food to be delivered once a month from a local supermarket and my medicines were delivered by post. I kept busy, painting the kitchen cupboards and making curtains and cushions, from old curtain material. I wrote stories about my previous homes and made slide shows of  my holiday photos and of my work in India. 

Of course I followed all the news about India and saw pictures of people queuing to get hospital beds, having no oxygen etc. and I wondered what I could do to help.

I contacted my Indian friends in Bihar, where I used to work with leprosy patients .I heard that there were 100 people with Covid 19 in   my friend's village and decided to help them get oxygen, medicines and other equipment as well as provide essentials like masks and soap to all the poorest villagers.

I sent the money I raised by cycling, to my friend and he bought the necessities, as well as a machine that could make oxygen. He still works for a leprosy NGO and was able to use his staff to help our project with education and distribution of masks, soap and for recovering poor people, soya protein.  We paid daily wage villagers the rickshaw fare to the nearest vaccinaton centre so that they didn't have to waste a whole day going the 12 km to the nearest PHC on foot.

 Rajni approached the local doctors ( unregistered  medical workers) and we gave them oximeters, UV thermometers, BP machines and provided the medicines that were needed to treat Covid 19.. Only five people died and we increased our area of care to cover 5 more villages and three urban areas, where itinerant workers were living in shacks of plastic sheeting and  wood .We gave wood to those who couldn't afford to cremate their loved ones.

 The first and second wave of infection have passed but we are keeping an eye out for the omicron variant and will continue to help with the little remaining funds we have.

I may have to start cycling again!

Now we have started our Christmas festivities in Awaas.

The twelve days of Christmas have been brought forward from the usual 25th December ending on Jan 6th as Twelfth Night. This is because I have to leave India on 26/27th December.

We made decorations and coloured pictures in the Art class. 

Of the games Snakes and Ladders had most entrants and today we have the forth round as well as the Ludo competition. The Walking  competition on the outside track has fewer entrants this time  as we have more elderly ladies who can only totter around the corridors.

Carrom is a table game like pool in which flat discs are flicked to knock one's own discs into corner pockets. It is widely played by boys. But we have three ladies playing this year! 

Next week will be party games, staff races, and housie-housie, and willculminate in  a  concert/ prizegiving on the 26th.

Our version of mince pies will be fruit samosas and the punch will be grape juice based.

Kavita Madam has kindly offered buy a Christmas cake for us in Mumbai and her family and friends are again kindly providing the prize money and gifts for the winners.!