EMERGENCY COVID APPEAL FOR INDIA

Please consider donating to help support our Brighter Life family in this very difficult time: any help you feel moved to give will be greatly appreciated – we will use these extra funds immediately to take advantage of any medical or other assistance they can get.

 

Several of our children are already seriously ill. Social distancing is not possible, so the virus is spreading rapidly. Richard and Sasees are exhausted, as you can see from the photo. 

Richard’s mother, Chandra, is ill and other relatives too. They live far away, in a part of India even worse affected, so of course this is adding  to their distress, as well as the death of four of Richard`s ex-school mates, all only in their forties.

 

There is no NHS in India, and most medical care is expensive, and even if there is the money for it, there is no vaccination available at the moment for most people –  as you will know from the news.

 

 Sasees tells us that the local hospital in Tirenuveli has advised: ‘steaming process for the children to avoid virus entry through nose and mouth. We have started this with our children. In the steaming process we boil water and then add eucalyptus oil. It clears the nose and throat and this process is helping us a lot.’  They, and we, are hoping this will also help protect Rosammal, the only older resident in our care at the moment.

 

Now we have heard that poor Mayakannan has a swollen face after his fever – as you can see in the photo – and the hospital are doing more tests. Any form of treatment for him or any of the children is expensive and adds to the worry for Richard

and Sasees. (They are trying to work within a very strict budget as they know our limited funds are very over-stretched at the moment.)

Any additional help you feel moved to add to the support you are already giving us will be greatly appreciated – so we can remove money worries –  allowing them to take advantage of any medical or other assistance they can get. (For example more nourishing food,  and herbs, and help for Sasees with the cooking, cleaning and washing! She is doing this now, in addition to caring for the children, and trying to keep up with their ‘home lesson’ as schools are of course closed again.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zahra’s progress

Veterinary colleagues

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Dear Sir, 

 

I wish you “Happy New Year 2021”, hope you and your family are happy also in good health.

 

Zahra has completed 5th semester and will continue 6th semester in the middle of Febuary 2021.  I attached Zahra’s pictures which done some activities …

 

Thank you very much for your kindness and success for you all. 

 

Warm regards,

 

Desy 

India update

2020 has been a difficult and challenging year for our Brighter Life Children’s Home in India:  It has been impossible for India to

conduct a successful lockdown against Covid 19 in the way that many others have succeeded. The sprawling population, many living on daily wages, have been unable to change their normal lifestyles very much.

To keep our children safe, and with all schools closed, Richard and Sasees have kept everyone at
home conducting their own devised school lessons (Sasees having been Head of English at a large school before she joined us).

Many families in the UK have struggled to care at home with two or three children for the long lockdown. Imagine the problems tor Sasees and Richard with over thirty. Self-discipline is a big part of the children’s home life and routine, and this has helped greatly to keep harmony and fun as main themes in 2020.

Inevitably the cost of food has risen to strain their budget and the loss of cook Rani, who now lives 100 miles away after her marriage, has compounded the challenges. But you can see from recent photos that the smiles are still there and everyone is growing stronger and brighter in the usual way.  The images and video here show the celebrations and some of the new clothes that the children received at Diwali.

New clothes for Diwali

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Nepal Update

Keshav and Sujata write from Nepal:

Christmas gift distribution program in Pokhara

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I have sent a few photos from this year’s Christmas gift distribution program in Pokhara. On the recommendation of my sister, we visited an elderly centre in Pokhara and gave away gifts to the elderly women and men there. The Centre has been providing for 12 elderly people (both women and men) of which two were in the hospital due to some regular health issues. The Centre is in the middle of a small woods but is sunny and fresh. For the winter, we provided scarves to the ladies and jackets to the men. To support their daily ration, we provided rice, lentil, sugar, tea, salt and a special Christmas food packet too. As you can see in the photos all residents were happy and grateful. They send you lots of thanks and warm greetings.

Rakshana’s Sinhala class

Rakshana was able to resume her classes on August 11th after the end of the lockdown

Arosamma’s dinner

The video shows Arosamma, a lady we are supporting in Sri Lanka, receiving a supporting income from Star Action at dinner time.

News from Brighter Life

[Show as slideshow]

Kate Neil Interview

Letter from the Trustees

Jenny writes to reflect on the work of Star Action over the last 13 years, and gives some updates on current projects

One of the most heart-warming things about our work with Star Action over the past thirteen years since we started our little charity has been the appreciation we have received from people we have been able to help – thanks to your support. As you may know, we began our work in Sri Lanka just after the terrible tsunami wave devastated parts of the south and east coast of this beautiful little island, which was also still suffering from years of civil war.  Now, thankfully, the war is over but there remain many repercussions from this time, many bereaved families and traumatised people.  The Tamil people in the war-torn area are still suffering inequality of opportunity, and lack of education, even in the basics of the language of the whole country (Sinhala), and this is one reason why we have been focusing recently on our education projects, as well as helping particularly sad and broken families and individuals in need of urgent medical help.

When Stuart and I were in Sri Lanka in February, we were particularly touched by the people who came to see us this time, not to ask for more help (although there were plenty of those too!) but simply to say ‘thank you’ and share what a difference Star Action’s help had made to their lives.  You see, with a little charity like ours, there is a personal link with individuals – some of these dear people feel almost like our own family, as we have met them now on a number of visits. They also appreciate the continuity of seeing the same faces.

This is also true of our children’s home in India, now called ‘Brighter Life’, but originally founded as ‘Save the Babies’ right back in 1996 by our Trustee  Kate.  Right from the beginning she did not want the home to be too big, so there would always be a family feeling.  She has achieved her goal, with the help of our wonderful houseparents, Sasees and Richard.

We are so happy that at last her family commitments at home (with help from me and Stuart in caring for her five-year old twins)  are allowing her to return to her Indian family.  She will be writing all about her visit in the next newsletter.

Star Action has also been able to give help in Nepal.  This is a country which we know has a special place in many of your hearts as it does in mine, since my trekking days there and, latterly, my visits following the devastating earthquake.  Keshav, our good friend now, also brings the ‘family feeling’ to all his work, both for Star Action, and as Deputy Headmaster of a large school in Kathmandu.  The same is true of Hamida and Fred, whose latest report on our Community Centre school in Ghana is included in our Africa section.

So, dear friends, we thank you very much for all your generous support which enables us to continue this truly worthwhile work.  We know it is just a ‘little drop in the ocean of need’, but the smiles on the faces of the people and children whose lives have been touched tell their own story.

With love from,

On behalf of all our Trustees, 

Joan, Kate and Stuart 

PS  I first drafted this letter just before the tragic bombings in Sri Lanka. We are glad to report that no one involved with our Star Action work was killed or injured, but our latest reports from Rohan are that the whole country is still deeply traumatised and the income of many is affected by lack of tourist visitors, so our prayers and continuing support of all our projects are very much appreciated.

Bangladesh – supporting Shakeenah

Shakeenah is our hardworking, hardstudying MBBS trainee doctor from Sri Lanka.  She is beginning her fourth year at Chittagong University in Bangladesh, where she has ambitious plans to specialise in Gynaecology.

Shakeenah is the middle child of three in a poor family in Sri Lanka.  She has excelled at school and passed into Chittagong Medical College, Bangladesh to study for MBBS.

The Sri Lankan Government pays her tuition fees and her Father has managed to find $130 (£100) per month to pay for her accommodation, food, and living expenses for the last two years. 

Mother has bad arthritis and the family are struggling to find this essential money to keep her at the College for another (minimum) two years.

Star Action is keen to pursue this support, not only for the prospect of another much-needed doctor to practise in the Sri 

Lankan Muslim Community, but also because the College is close to the massive recent influx of Rohingya refugees (mainly Muslim) driven out of Myanmar.  Shakeenah and the other training doctors are likely to play a valuable part in treating these homeless refugees in the next months.