India
Team just returned and had an amazing visit to Lighthouse GOA. All kids doing really well. We are trying to raise some extra supplimentary support for Graham and Tricia and get extra support for them so they have some security for the future.
They are about to buy a brand new school bus thanks to all the fundraising of the UCS team at Frognal. WATCH THIS SPACE.
Lighthouse GOA team will be recommencing their outreach work to other projects.
Bangalore
The team visited Grace Girls home and participated in a food program for children living in slum dwellings. Between 80-100 children were fed and this is continuing every week in 4 different locations/slums of the city Bangalore totalling between 350-450 children are fed every week and are given a really good mean. Its the best meak of the week!
Widows Support
In India we are supporting a Widows care program. WIdows in India do not have any source of income and rely on begging and other means often desperate as a source of income. In the culture a widowed woman with children for example would only even in exceptional circumstances be re-married, and a husband is often the soul earner. The situation is incredibly difficult for them. Between 150 -200 widows are supported every week with food and are given 100 rupees each., equivalent of £1.50 enough to buy rice and clean water. The cost of this program runs between £250 -£300 a week. LIM is helping support this project though we cannot meet all of this cost.
The Lighthouse Kerala
The construction of a brnad new childrens home in Kerala is about to begin. LIM has been given a beautiful plot of land in order for a new home to be set up. We aim to commence the work in October this year. The home which will be called The Lighthouse will become home to approx 60 children and will be similar to that of Bethany's Children home in India. which LIM built back in 2002. Watch this space for more news and this will feature in its own right on the India's project page on this site.
Leprosy Missions
Two of the villages were revisited following LIM's supply of medicines during this time 2-3 years ago. LIM sponsored an intense and vigorous mission to supply specific and comprehensive treatment to these villages suffereing the most from this dreadful disease and we are delighted to tell you and report that leprosy has been irradicated from these villages though we continue to supply food and we are hoping to set up an education program in the furture for them.
Another village north of LIM's offices in Tamil Nadu will be revisited soon and it is believed that likewise this village will have been cured of leprosy.
We are now recieving invitations like this to go to new villages where leprosy is still in a potent state so we can bring medicines so that the disease is checked and cured after subsequence treatments. We can only do this of course as of when funds allow.
Thanks so much to everyone at The Lighthouse church in Manchester for financing this latest visit which costs between £400 -£500 a visit including medicine and rice. Idealy we would like to visit a new village every month for 3 months to irradicate this disease. We will see...
Bethany's Children's Home
Thi visit was just the best ever. My wife and I were delighted to see all the children again. Though our joy was tempered by the fact that distant relatives of some of the children had removed some of the kids now that they have turned 12 and 13 so as to use them to go to work in factories and sweat shops to earn money for their aunts, uncles and grandparents and thus robbing them of an education which in our opinion is the best route out of poverty for these children. No wonder Jesus said "The poor you will always have with you" We are helpless to stop this happening as a distant relative can remove any of the children any time they please. I have spoken to the children about selling themselves for 200 rupees a day and being promised the world by working in one of these factories/sweatshops. It is total abuse and the indian government are against it and it is illegal but unfortunately it is endemic within the culture.
On a positive note some of our kids have gone onto further education succesfully and we are happy to see some of our supporters paying some of their costs which cost typically between £400 - £500 per year including accomodation. We would like all our children at Bethany to have the chance to go onto further education in the future . We have four more children that will be ready to go onto uni next year therefore we will need £1600 to fund their place i.e. £400 each
We were able to go and take our team to the local shopping centre where we did our annual spending spree purchasing cricket bats, ball and stumps, skipping ropes, babminton rackets, frizzbees, hoopla, tennis equipment and board games such as chess (which many of them love and only recently found out was invented in India!!!) along with their own version of Monopoly which is called 'Buisness' and is so popular we had to buy several sets. Also a game called caran board - an indian game - much loved by the kids which are new experts at the game. To cap it all we also bought them top of the range DVD player, with some DVDs, Jungle Book 1 and 2, which was their absolute favourite plus other DVDs Iceage, Tom and Jerry (Tamil version) All in all the cost of £400 was great value for money.
We also witnessed the building of the new shower block which is being built funded by a school near Ainsdale - Trinity St.Peters, Freshfield in Southport. Work has begun and will be completed in 3 weeks.
Great work going on amongst the tribal children by Pastor Solomon Daniel. LIM sponsored 8 childrens evenings accross 8 different villages. Here the children learn songs, had puppet shows and were taught great traditional stories with good morals and principals and this is very helpful for their educational development.
New need for Bethany at the moment. New school unifroms are needed at £500 for 60 children. Can anyone help? Also why not sponsor a day out at half term for all the children to visit black thunder water park also £500.
