Kandithankulam
 Projects Update
August 2014

Kandithankulam Development Projects Report

( August 2014)

 

I am very pleased that our Church is blessed with an excellent new Pastor, with impressive credentials. Raj and I, as continuing members of the Faith Church congregation, would like to welcome her to our Church and wish her all the best. 

 

Medical Camp (Free Clinic) 

  

I waited for our Medical Camp to be completed to send this mid-year report. The Medical Camp was held in the Light Eternal Medical Clinic on Sunday, July 13, 2014. A little more than 400 patients were treated for various diseases by ten doctors (Two Gynecologists, one Pediatrician, two Ophthalmologists, one General Practitioner and four Dentists). All the doctors, along with their Nurses and Assistants volunteered their services. 


 Sam, the capable Director of our Development Projects in India, made elaborate arrangements for the Medical Camp. Patients came from eight surrounding villages. We provided transportation for some of them. All the patients were provided with free medicines, and, as the practice has been for many years, the school children were given not only dental check up, but free tooth brushes and pastes.  

 

Patients waiting to be seen at the free medical clinic. 

 

 

One of the dentists examines a young boy's teeth and hands out tooth paste and tooth brushes so that good dental hygiene can be practiced at home.

  

Another dentist cares for a child's teeth.

A woman receives a check-up from one of the Medical Clinic physicians.

 

The Ophthalmologists have identified 10 poor villagers for cataract surgery.  We will arrange for them to be taken to a well-known Eye Hospital in a nearby town for surgery and treatment. We will meet all the expenses, for otherwise, these poor villagers will soon go blind.

  

We have included several photographs taken during the Medical Camp. You will see a couple of Police Office officers in one photo. They came to provide security for the Medical Camp as well as to get some free consultation for their family members. 


 

Two police officers help with security at the Medical Camp and get some free consultation for their family members as well. Here, they are shown talking to Sam, pictured on the right.


 The Ophthalmologists have identified 10 poor villagers for cataract surgery.  We will arrange for them to be taken to a well-known Eye Hospital in a nearby town for surgery and treatment. We will meet all the expenses, for otherwise, these poor villagers will soon go blind. 

 

We have included several photographs taken during the Medical Camp. You will see a couple of Police Office officers in one photo. They came to provide security for the Medical Camp as well as to get some free consultation for their family members. 

  

Toilets Project

 

We have so far completed 20 toilets. The Lutheran Church at Monmouth has met the cost of three of these toilets. As there is a big demand, we will continue to build these toilets at a cost of $ 750.00 each.  

As I mentioned in my August 2013 Report, a top official of the Indian Government has said that it is a shame that 60% of the village women in India do not have toilet facilities in their villages. He said that, "providing toilets will instill a sense of confidence, self-respect and security among these women." 

 

The security aspect is becoming more and more apparent as evidenced by several tragic events. It was reported even in the British Newspaper, The Guardian, (31 May 2014) that two teenage girls had been gang-raped and killed in an Indian village. According to this report, "Those two cousins, just 14 and 16 years old, had left their homes in the Indian village of Katra, in Uttar Pradesh, because they had no toilet at home. They were never to return, found hanging from a tree after being brutally attacked." According to the Times of India, a Police report says that 95% of cases of rape and molestation took place when women and girls had left their homes to "answer a call of nature". Our Toilets project is a small step towards saving these unfortunate and innocent women. 

 

One of the doctors who volunteered in the Medical Camp was very impressed by our Toilet projects. He told Sam that besides the feeling of security the toilets give the women, they greatly improve the sanitary conditions in and around the villages and prevent the spread of many diseases. We are providing septic tanks for each toilet that we build.  

 

       These women will now have a safe and sanitary toilet facility.

 

This woman is very pleased with her new toilet facility.
  

Computer Center
As you know, we have temporarily converted the Light Eternal Medical Clinic in Kandithankulam into a Computer Center. We are offering the following courses for the village children:
  • Kids dot com - For 1st to 5th grade students  
  • JDCO (Junior Diploma in Computer Operations) - For 6th to 12th grade students  
  • DCM (Diploma in Computer Office Management)

These courses improve the career prospects of the village children, most of whom, end up as farm laborers.  The diploma is being given by an accreditation agency.


 

Exterior of the Computer Center branch near the orphanages.
 
Interior of Computer Center showing two of the work stations.


There are four orphanages near Sam's house in a nearby town which is about 10 miles from Kandithankulam. We recently became aware that the orphanage children will greatly benefit from computer education. One of the orphanages is for the children of AIDS patients. We have opened a branch computer center in a rented and refurbished building adjacent to Sam's house. We now have six computers in the Kandithankulam center and five computers in this new branch. Depending upon the need, we may have to purchase a few more computers. Currently, the same teacher looks after both computer centers. About 20 students are attending the branch computer center and the orphanage children are very happy and enthusiastic about this opportunity that we are providing for them. 


 

Miscellaneous Assistances  

 

At the request of the village school in Kandithankulam, we provided pens, pencils, and learning kits for the school children at a cost of about $ 50. We have provided monetary assistance for a former headmaster of the Kandithankulam School whose wife has had kidney failure and is on dialysis. This headmaster, before he was transferred out of the Kandithankulam School, was an enthusiastic supporter of all our projects. We have provided monetary assistance for several villagers for livelihood, medical assistance and house repairs. I would like to add that, as always, 100% of all the contributions go towards the development projects as there are no overhead costs.


 

Raj and I do not know of any other congregation that has initiated, upheld and supported in every way a program of this nature for more than quarter of a century. You have changed for the better the lives of thousands of people half-way round the world. May God bless you.  

 

Raj  & Saro Ambrose 

 

2261 Carol Ann Court

Tracy, CA  95377