Standing in the sand and dust among our friends in the leprosy village near Chirala, close to the Bay of Bengal yesterday I felt a surge of thankfulness rise up in me. Three years we have been coming to visit and help out with groceries and medications and dressings for their wounds and ulcers - but at last the dream of helping them to help themselves is beginning to come to fruition.
The dream of providing a fully staffed and equipped mobile medical unit to help the people with leprosy in the neglected rural villages has been achieved thanks to the generosity and faithfulness of God's people in enabling this to happen in just over one year.
The dream of bringing expert help to teach the leprosy patients how to care for themselves and each other to prevent the onset and increase of disability is about to be realised. Next week my friend, Julie and I will be conducting a one week training programme for eight village leaders. Jullie is hugely experienced in this area as an OT who worked with the Leprosy Mission Scotland in Nepal and Sudan for about five years before she retired (for the second time).
The idea is that we train some of the leaders in prevention of disability, with particular emphasis on the care of hands, feet and eyes which are extremely prone to damage and infection because of loss of feeling due to nerve damage in these extremities. These folk will then go back to the village and teach family groups what they have been taught by us - thus cascading the learning into the community.
Once we have gone, the programme will be monitored and overseen by the team that run the mobile clinic. The aim is to reduce the number of acutely infected ulcers and increase the general well being of the village people. This in turn will allow them to be more active in caring for their other needs themselves.
The teaching programme begins next Monday. So we would ask for prayer that we can convey what is needed clearly and that the learners are able to take it on board and be able to pass on their knowledge successfully.
The dream of providing a fully staffed and equipped mobile medical unit to help the people with leprosy in the neglected rural villages has been achieved thanks to the generosity and faithfulness of God's people in enabling this to happen in just over one year.
The dream of bringing expert help to teach the leprosy patients how to care for themselves and each other to prevent the onset and increase of disability is about to be realised. Next week my friend, Julie and I will be conducting a one week training programme for eight village leaders. Jullie is hugely experienced in this area as an OT who worked with the Leprosy Mission Scotland in Nepal and Sudan for about five years before she retired (for the second time).
The idea is that we train some of the leaders in prevention of disability, with particular emphasis on the care of hands, feet and eyes which are extremely prone to damage and infection because of loss of feeling due to nerve damage in these extremities. These folk will then go back to the village and teach family groups what they have been taught by us - thus cascading the learning into the community.
Once we have gone, the programme will be monitored and overseen by the team that run the mobile clinic. The aim is to reduce the number of acutely infected ulcers and increase the general well being of the village people. This in turn will allow them to be more active in caring for their other needs themselves.
The teaching programme begins next Monday. So we would ask for prayer that we can convey what is needed clearly and that the learners are able to take it on board and be able to pass on their knowledge successfully.
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