Around Hope Centre in June

Permeena
I have mentioned Permeena before in my blog. Permeena had rickets, and both legs were bowed. Last year she had surgery on one leg, and this year she returned to have surgery to straighten her other leg. Because of the military strife and 10 days of strikes, she was unable to have her surgery the first time it was scheduled. But eventually she had it done. I went with Sami to the hospital the day she was released. Her bill was pretty big, because she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, with her mother. The surgery is donated, but not the hospital costs. Before leaving the hospital, Sami decided to see if he could get Permeena's bill reduced a bit. So he and I went to the office of the head of the hospital, to see if we could have an audience and request a reduction in the bill. We waited over an hour, because the director was out. Sami was going to ask for a 500 rupee reduction in the bill. This is $10 US. As we sat there, I began to wonder if it was worth all this time just for a 500 rupee reduction. But, as it turns out, it was worth the wait. When the head of the hospital heard that I came as a volunteer all the way from New Zealand to support Sami's effort, he wiped the whole bill, and offered additional assistance. The fact that volunteers were coming to help Sami was very important to the head of the hospital. He twice asked about my volunteer status during our short meeting. I took a photo of Sami when he returned to the hospital billing office with the good news.














Then Permeena and her mother were loaded into the van/ambulance, and taken home. There is still a long recovery period for her, and the danger of infection is very great.
















After a few days, I went with Sami to Permeena's home to "change the dressing". It meant scraping away the dried blood and other fluids around the pins going into Permeena's leg, and swabbing everything carefully with Betadine. I carefully documented everything Sami did, because this aspect of the work is so critical. Last year, Sami allowed someone else to do the dressings on a patient, and an infection set in which was so severe the leg was almost lost. The surgeons at the hospital were not happy at all, and now Sami does the dressings himself. My video footage will be used to help train a "dressing boy" for the future, so Sami can confidently delegate this critical job to another person.




























The process took over an hour, and was quite painful for Permeena. During this time neighbours and friends and family steadily arrived to watch. By the time we finished, we had quite a crowd in Permeena's room!















Picking up the Trash
One of the things I did in June was to go out and pick up the trash strewn around the area near Hope Centre and burn it. People really look at me strangely when I do this. But no one else will do it. And it just sits there. Wherever I am is my home. And I like my surroundings clean. So I go ahead and clean things up - just for me, and for the community. As I worked on this one Sunday, some of the children who I practice volleyball with came to see what I was up to, and they joined in. It was good to have them, because they were able to get to places on the steep slopes near the Centre that I wouldn't be able to get to. Some of the garbage we picked up was too wet to burn, so I left it in a pile to dry out and burn later. When we finished, I invited them to the Centre and made tea for the children.














The Indian tourists who come north are terrible about leaving trash. Not long after I had cleaned up the area near Hope Centre, I spotted this:

A group of tourists had stopped by the canal to have a lunch break, and left it like this.

Recently polythene bags were banned in Kashmir and Jammu. This was wonderful news for me. Much of my trash was whole or partial polythene bags - colourful, indestructible, and ugly. The ban was put into force with no replacement bags available for shopkeepers. So when they ran out of existing bags in June, everyone had to quickly change their behaviour. One day Imtiyaz came back from school and told me that in Ganderbal town the police were stopping people carrying polythene bags and cutting them open. Wow! They mean business!! I would have loved to have gotten a photo of that for you.















This photo shows better the area where we were picking up garbage. It is alongside the road, and is much more pleasant walking here than on the road. One morning a street dog was laying in my path, so I took a photo of it. Most of the street dogs are pretty pitiful. Not so much because they are starving (most look very well fed), but because most of them have terrible mange. You sure don't want to touch one!











The VIP Visit
One Saturday afternoon I was alone at Hope Centre, with instructions from Imtiyaz, the security guard, to "let no man inside", when there was a knock at the door. It was the Ganderbal District Welfare Officer, who I had met before. He said the State Commisioner of Social Welfare was here and would like to see the Centre. Because I was not to let anyone in, I decided I would come out and talk to whoever it was. Well, when I saw the Ambassador car with its flags (like the one pictured here but with lots more glitz), and the entourage of military jeeps, I decided that maybe it would be OK to give a short tour of the Centre to this guy. It was a very good thing I was there! Afterward, no one believed me when I told them that the Minister had come for a tour. I eventually convinced them, however. But I neglected to get a photo or have him sign the visitors register. Oh well.




Patient Follow Up
Sami and I visited a boy who had surgery a couple of years ago. He couldn't walk then, but is doing well now. He is mentally disabled as well. The boy's father is in one photo, and note the rooster with a string on his leg in the other.



















Nazia
Nazia came to the Centre with her aunt one day. This is the girl who Sami had chalked the blocks for in her entryway, way up in the mountains. She is walking now with no aids, and her foot, which had been turned 90 degrees, looks really good. I still can't get her to smile, though.

















Hearing Tests
Sami has a tiny room under the stairway where he conducts hearing tests. The hearing aids are used ones donated from New Zealand. Sami focuses his efforts on children with hearing loss. He doesn't have the time nor the hearing aids to help all the elderly people who come to him for help. So they go without.






This boy is deaf, and makes his way by himself every day to Hope Centre. He takes a bus 35 km one way to reach us. The small pin on his jumper lets people know he is deaf.