Monday 22 September 2008

Disability work in action

Firstly, to all my readers, sorry for the long gap in blog postings whilst I have been on holiday!
Venkat continues to expand the disability work of IRDT in both our project areas and always has a story to tell every time I phone. Today he has been telling me about two 9th standard schoolgirls who are studying at the high school in RN Kandigai, close to Mettupalayam. One was born without a hand, the other had a bicycle accident, and because her parents lacked sufficient knowledge about hygiene, she developed gangrene and had to have her hand amputated. The girls have both been taken to APD in Bangalore for measurement and assessment and their artificial hands are now ready. Venkat hopes to be able to take them back to Bangalore for fitting next week. Total cost for both hands is 4500 Rupees, of which we will have to pay 1500 Rps, APD and the manufacturers subsidising the remainder. I hope to have photos shortly which I will post here.
The sterling equivalent of 1500 Rps is about £19, so for to our donors, thank you- this is typical of the way that your money is making significant improvements and helping some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in India.