UPDATE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007

[ See also recent photos - September/October 2007 ]

Dear friends, namaskar.

As everywhere, also here at our project site we're experiencing climate changes. This year's monsoon season lasted longer than usual, and brought us unusually long and heavy downpours in September, when the rains have normally finished. This was partly due to a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. Apart from the usual longer power shortages which occur in the rainy season, it caused another section of our boundary wall (which is made with mud rather than cement between the bricks) to collapse. This could be repaired quickly, but a bigger problem was the flooding of a large portion of our land for many days. Fortunately the buildings were not affected as they're on higher ground, but most of the greens in our vegetable garden as well as a few medicinal herbs in the herbal garden died due to the long flooding. They were replanted when the weather became dryer again.

Whether overlong or normal monsoon rains, during the rainy season many walls get dirty or even mouldy. So we've now started the process of repainting various outside and inside walls, to make the clinic more attractive again. For protection against rain as well as sun, we constructed a shelter for our van behind the old clinic building. And for protection of our plants from the neighbour's cow as well as other unwelcome intruders, we've started replacing the already half-broken bamboo fence, which forms our inside compound boundary, with a sturdy barbed-wire and cement pillar fence.

To make the clinic also more comfortable for visitors and volunteers, we're presently constructing a small attached bathroom for each of our two guest rooms. Now visitors don't need to walk outside to get to the bathrooms, which can be inconvenient during the very hot or very cold months. Lastly, to extend the limited storage space in our only halfway completed main building, we're constructing a row of cabinets along the top of two of the kitchen walls.

Though the two herbal gardens suffered from the flooding, they could also grow well in the rainy season. Many herbs which we planted during the past dry months have now become much larger, and both gardens are much more green. The rainy season is also a good time to plant more. Over the past two months we planted 14 new herbs: 8 of them medicinal and 6 nutritional (greens for cooking), bringing the total to 82 varieties. Some of the over 50 banana trees which were planted a few months ago in the area behind the clinic have also come up to a good size. The many banana trees will help to make the area more cool and shady as well as green. At the front of the clinic we completed a small circular lawn area. Presently we're planting marigolds along the outside of both buildings, as these are also effective as a mosquito repellent.

As usual during and immediately after the rainy season, we went to a different village every week to disinfect the water of drinking water wells with chlorine powder as well as to spray stagnant water areas with diluted phenyl against breeding parasites. Unless the village wells are maintained properly, the rains wash much dirt into them, increasing diarrhoea and dystentery amongst the villagers during this period. In September we visited 5 villages and disinfected a total of 52 wells. Along with the well cleaning and spraying, we've been continuing to write educative slogans on village walls with chalk, such as "Eat more greens and vegetables and you will be free of disease and malnutrition." In October we visited the last village in our weekly water hygiene program for this season, with 7 wells disinfected.

While this program has come to a finish for this year with the rains over for some time now, our main nutritional education program, i.e. the screenings of our filmed drama on malnutrition and vitamins, has recently started again on a regular weekly basis. During the period of frequent raining, it was not possible to continue the outdoor screenings in the villages. Though we could not yet show the video regularly in September, we organized a special screening for the students of a village middle and high school, with approx. 200 students attending the program, and for approx. 50 women who participated in a rural women's awareness seminar conducted by another local NGO. At our general village screenings, approx. 140 attended each time.

At the clinic, our outpatient services in acupuncture, homeopathy, allopathy and physiotherapy have continued as usual. In September we treated 998 patients and in October 749, which means an average of 29 to 38 patients per clinic day. In October the numbers decreased because of at least one major festival in India which involves up to 10 days of activities, and also because many of the villagers were working more in their fields.

Physiotherapy is presently continuing one day a week. The patient numbers have not increased much yet since we started the regular treatments in August (approx. 10 patients per treatment day), partly because the news has not yet spread to all the villagers of the area about this newly offered treatment. At least half of the patients are children suffering from physical and mental retardation due to cerebral palsy, caused in this rural area mainly by malnutrition. But many can be effectively helped by acupuncture in combination with physiotherapy, if the treatment begins early enough. Some time ago we began treatment for a 4-year old boy with cerebral palsy, who couldn't walk due to his underdeveloped leg muscles and muscle contractures in one foot. After only 5 weekly acupuncture treatments with physiotherapy follow-up, he was able to slowly walk on his own.

Several weeks ago we held an eye-testing program with the help of a local optometrist, in preparation for our second "eye-camp" which will be held in November. 32 patients with poor vision were tested. 17 of them will receive free eye-glasses, the rest have a cataract on one or both eyes and will undergo a free cataract operation. The glasses and operations are being arranged by a local NGO, while our clinic takes care of the surveying, registration and provides the facilities.

Thanks to all of you for your ongoing interest and support. Please also feel very welcome to come anytime to visit our gradually improving clinic, to get a close-up experience of the project. Visitors can help our service activities in various simple but meaningful ways, as well as enjoy a calm and restful holiday in our green surroundings. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you're interested in this or would like any other information about the project.

Yours
Dada Devashuddhananda

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