Well done, Jon! A magnificent marathon effort.

Update on my recent blog- Jon ran the Riviera Marathon and raised a magnificent sum in excess of £1300! Thank you Jon and also a big thank you to all your friends, colleagues and family for their support.
Jon has asked if we will spend this money on helping to buy equipment and resources for our new Crakehall School. I have just sent another bank draft to Venkat which includes this money and will hopefully feature the opening of the school in our next newsletter.

Sabina

Laura and Emily, two trainee doctors who spent their elective in Mettupalayam in July, held a general health camp in the village. During the camp they saw that Sabina, a 9 year old girl at Mettupalayam School, was suffering from malnutrition. This had been caused by long term tonsilitis, confirmed at the Government hospital. Sadly, at only 10kgs weight, she was far too underweight to have an operation, so we have been providing her parents with money each month to buy liquid food supplements. Venkat has now confirmed that Sabina has put on enough weight to have the operation which is now scheduled for the 21st December. This will be life changing for her, as we will be providing a good balanced diet at the school. This is just one of the local people who have been helped by Laura and Emily- thank you girls.

Doctor in charge

Many local people now help Venkat and IRDT. This is our very good Friend Dr Paramasivam who runs a weekly clinic at Mettupalayam on Friday afternoons. This clinic is open to all local people and whilst there is a small charge for any prescriptions, the consultation is free.

Not only do local people benefit, but Rosie was diagnosed with high blood pressure there last year- thank you my friend.

Becky teaching English

We have long been aware that the children's understanding of spoken English is very poor and that they may have a good vocabulary, but are unable to use it very well. We are therefore very lucky that Becky Bell, having decided to take a gap year before university, wanted to go to India to teach for 6 months. Through a contact with a very good Friend, Becky travelled out with me in early October and she is now spending her days working at Mettupalayam School.

In the picture, she is teaching one of the larger classes- I know that the children will pick up spoken English very quickly and look forward to being able to speak more meaningfully with them when I next visit in January.

Thank you Becky- you're a star!

Jon's marathon effort

On the 8th November, our very good Friend, Jonathan Power is running the Riviera marathon to raise funds for Friends of Mettupalayam. Jon stayed in Mettupalayam for a while some 2 years ago and was very impressed and touched by the work of Venkat and his team. Jon has decided to raise £1000 by running this, his very first, marathon!

You can support his fundraising efforts at www/justgiving.com/jonathanpower/

I will post a blog update when I know the total raised. Thank you and Good Luck Jon

Putting a lid on it part 2

Apologies, the photo didn't attach to thelast blog!

Putting a lid on it!

At long last, the roof is now being added to the new Crakehall School. The engineer is using a new system of construction which is speeding things along nicely. The roof will be strong enough to become the floor for new visitor and staff accommodation when money allows.
It is particularly nice to think of the students being able to admire the view from the windows- much better than the old school buildings!