Sunday and Monday 14th & 15 th February

Sunday was good for us. There was a very pleasant Holy Communion Service in the Chapel here, led by Dr Asha (no problems with womens' leadership here, then - hooray) and the speaker and celebrant was Rev Dr Tantarpale of Amravati who did Saturday's Bible study. He kindly invited me to help distribute the elements. All very nice. Several pre-school age children were present who found no difficulty in behaving well through an hour and fifteen minutes of adult worship, thought they made up for it, belting around the place afterwards.
In the afternoon we were taken up to Chikhaldara, a hill resort an hours away at Satpuda, 3,600 ft high. Huge cliffs with spectacular waterfalls in the rainy season so we were told, though sadly for us they are dry right now. Paid our first visit to a Hindu temple where we gave a nod, but no offerings, to Goddess Can't remember her name, goddess of money. Again the traffic and the wayside villages are unforgettable. I'll have to settle down and try to write a free-standing piece on the village scene. No time tonight 'fraid.
In the evening we were invited to attend the wedding reception for a young couple recently married in Mumbai. This was held in the field immediately outside our guest house. The groom's brother is on the staff here, we gather. A big enclosure was made replete with cream and purple hangings and a platform with a big silver two-seater throne for the happy couple. Here was some singing, a reading, a sermon and some prayers as they are christians Then they garlanded each other, cut the cake and stuffed wedding cake in each others' mouths. Then all the relations and guests started filing up to give gifts and pose for pix. There were fireworks (good ones) and then food and dancing with all the children bopping around and the adults looking on. It really was very nice, and I usually hate these things (apols to those of you whose family weddings I have attended) The was the ubiquitous video-man of course, who came right up to us during the singing, which was in Marathi, the local language. It seemed only polite to try and mouth some words rather than stand closed-mouths. So this unfortunate young couple will one day soon look at their wedding video and wonder who on earth were those odd, white strangers gawping their way like goldfish at their reception.

Monday.
Today was our first working day at Kothara. After morning prayers we joined in the morning ward-round with the doctors and the counsellor, Metali. We learned more of the medicine involved in treating the disease and, later, from Metali, some of the patients' stories. There was a man who had been dumped at the hospital gate beaten up and abandoned by a hostile family. A man who had come to the hospital in secret giving his family and neighbours an alibi of some sort, to avoid stigma and loss of business in his locality -a far from unusual thing according to Metali. There was a farmer whose labourers had refused to turn up for work once the word got out about his leprosy, though his wife remained suppportive. And much more.
The latter part of the day was shadowing Metali in the Outpatients' dept and, between patients, talking to her about her modus operandi. Here there was a poor tribal family where two women had to be told their skin patches had biopsied postive for leprosy. This is where her work in helping them come to some terms with the bad news is so vital. Altogether, it was useful learning for us though a lot of tiring listening, especially as all conversations are in the local language. Counselling here is on a different model to that in the UK, much more integral to the giving of straight health advice and much less formal and structured.
We would appreciate prayer as we feel a little daunted about how to connect and share with the staff and patients. We have been asked to lead a session for nurses on friday, and then one later for the doctors. Meanwhile we hope to see some operations tomorrow and continue to immerse ourselves in the place.
Bye for now
Andrew and Elizabeth