LESLIE & JANET'S VISIT 2006
Leslie’s sabbatical allowed us to spend 10 weeks in South India. We were based mainly in Trichy Leslie’s home town. Our first visit to the orphanage was on 30 October 2006. The children were very excited to see us. It was an emotional experience for me going back to see the home which my father had started in the 1970s. In many ways Karuneipuri is very much as I remembered it although some of the original buildings were in a poor state of repair.
Moses Xavier the Director and Murugesan the Warden showed us around the classrooms, the girls and boys hostels pointing out some things that needed urgent attention. Of late funds have been dwindling and since April 2006 Moses Xavier has been without the regular monthly income which has been key to covering the full cost of running the orphanage. Moses Xavier and his wife Sathiavathy have generously covered some of the shortfall but are unable to continue this. Everyone was worried about the future. We discussed with them the immediate needs which we would be able to address using donations given by friends and family in the UK. We also promised to try to raise funds to cover the monthly shortfall so that the future of the orphanage can be secured. The donations that were mainly collected by our daughter, her husband and their three friends who were visited the orphanage in November were used to pay for:
- Fans in the dormitories and study halls to ventilate the rooms and reduce the mosquitoes.
- Additional lighting for the dorms and study halls so that the children could read after dark.
- Maintenance of one electric pump for a well.
- School uniforms for all 190 children so that they all had at least one set of good clothes to wear.
- Sports equipment so that the children all had something to play with.
- A sports day with prizes for the winners of the various races.
- A Christmas celebration– a special festive meal and presents for every child.
During our stay Leslie made contact with the Rotary Club of Trichy who were very positive about the orphanage and offered to help. They helped us to arrange a medical camp whereby a doctor, dentist and optician spent a day at the orphanage giving check ups and treatment for the children and local villagers.
We visited the orphanage regularly. On every visit the children rushed to meet us and loved to try out their few words of English. The older children looked very smart in their school uniforms. However, many of the younger children did not have adequate clothing. They would benefit from having an additional warden there is only the warden and his wife for 190 children. The cost of this would be about £15 a month.
We are looking forward to returning to Karuneipuri in August 2007
- Posted by david.cotton on 11/03/2007.
