The ‘Love the One’ team have restarted their Mercy Home clinics and have been travelling all over Kerala to see the children in seven Mercy Homes. Mary and Cat saw the children with the help of their trusted translators, Nimmy, Shalil and Preslin. Andy did an excellent job of entertaining the children through play and basic child health demonstrations whilst the children were being seen.

   

During just one clinic, there were many heartbreaking stories that the children had to tell. Many of the children have experienced all kinds of abuse before arriving at their Mercy Homes, including sexual abuse. A recent report by UNICEF and Save the Children found that at least 53% of all children in India experience sexual abuse, which probably means the rate is higher amongst the Mercy Home children. The needs were very great and there were a lot of medical problems to treat including scabies and other skin infections as well as undiagnosed asthma and eye problems.

Each child was counselled and received free medical treatment and the Mercy Home parents were encouraged to keep going in the amazing work they are doing. Over the following few weeks the team are continuing to travelling across Kerala to do weekly clinics for these needy children.

“It's been a wonderful 4 weeks in Thrissur with the Love the One team, and Mercy Homes. I really wanted to get a taste of working in India, as it's a country that fascinates me and this trip provided the opportunity to experience the work that Love the One are doing. We visited Mercy Homes to treat children, took a trip to a Tribal Hospital and visited the land that will house the new, exciting, Kidz Haven project. It was a joy to visit the children in the Mercy Homes and I was often moved by many of their harrowing stories. Despite the children’s pasts there was a happy, family atmosphere in the homes and I loved playing cricket with the boys. The trip gave me an insight into the nature of this type of work, the fulfilling highs, as well as the difficulties of working in a developing country and different culture.

Visiting family homes has been a particular highlight. Everyone welcomed us with open arms and the hospitality was amazing, laying on copious amounts of food and drinks. We were even treated to a dancing and singing show at Amisha's and Amitha's home. People also allowed me to practice my (very) basic medical skills, under Dr Cat’s and Dr Mary’s supervision, which was a great experience as a medical student.

After a couple a trips traveling around India on the backpacker trail, I thought I had a fairly good idea about the country. I was wrong. I have learnt so much about this nation the last 4 weeks. I have encountered lots of shocking data and personal testimonies highlighting the great basic, medical and social problems the country faces. On the other hand it has been inspirational to see the difference organisations such as Love the One and Mercy Homes are making. Lives are being changed daily. Individuals are changing their surroundings by demonstrating and extending love and care to others. Organisations are daring to dream big into the far corners of the nation. It is my prayer that this work continues and that in God's hand India can blossom.

On arriving back in August (2009) Ben, a medical student from Nottingham, joined the team for a month to lend a hand in any way he could. During the last week of his trip, the ‘Love the One’ team visited a tribal mission hospital in the hills along the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala states. The tribal hospital has been running for 20 years, providing health care to the local tribal people. Over the years, the work has expanded to also provide schooling for the local tribal children as well as meeting the needs of the local tribal village including well digging and electric fences to prevent elephants from trampling their homes.

The lead doctor at the hospital has asked for ‘Love the One’’s help in setting up a small neonatal unit and paediatric ward. Many of the tribal women have very small babies that need extra care at birth, so the hospital is very keen to develop this area to help more children.

The team had time to see the hospital, children’s hostel and school. The school is in the process of expansion, to accommodate the increasing number of children from the tribal areas who now receive an education. The hospital is very busy with four dedicated doctors running it who have backgrounds in general medicine and cardiology, obstetrics and surgery. They also run a nursing college to train community health workers. Many of the students this year are former pupils from the school.

The team then travelled into the mountainous tribal areas to visit a couple of tribal villages. The first village the team visited was overshadowed by a massive wind turbine at the head of the village. Surrounding the village was a electric fence, to keep out wild elephants, which are a real nuisance to the villagers. The houses were fairly simple, made out of thatch, and there was an outdoor bathroom with a cauldron on bricks for heating up some water. We later found out that despite the massive turbine, the village relied on a single solar panel for their own electricity.

The following day we all attended a ward round. Ben was tested on his knowledge of all things tropical and Mary and Cat had a chance to review the needs of the hospital for a prospective neonatal unit. They are both very excited about helping to develop this work in the future.