I'm writing this blog on Saturday evening. Since Wednesday evening, we have experienced a very traumatic time when one of our team, Micheal Mac Athlaoich from Portmarock became suddenly very ill. He is now in the CMC Hospital in Vellore. Colm, his son, arrived here from London last night. We all hold Micheal and his family deeply in our prayer. He has given so much to this part of India The evidence of this has been the large number of people who have come to the hospital (priests, students and friends). People like Fr. Stan, which whom Michael worked in India, has been a great stalwart, as have the students and teachers of the Community College (started last year with the sole funds that Micheal raised to tun this college for one year. Micheal knew many people here very well.
Myself, Fr. Joseph and Johnson are the only members of the CAI team now here; the others left at 5 a.m., to-day. Many things had to be looked after yesterday and to-day at the hospital led by Fr. Joseph and Fr. Stan.
It seems a long time since I arrived in India on February 1st. On the day we arrived, one of the visits we made was to the St. Joseph Care and Support Centre for Leprosy and HIV in Panchalam. This centre was built by Child Aid Ireland, and it's run by the Sisters of Cluny. While leprosy is now eradicated here, there are still people with the condition. There's a leprosy nearby, the people can come to the centre for food, medical support and care, and for them to be able to raise some income for themselves from goats' milk.
HIV and AIDS have grown rapidly in this area, largely because it's near a major road route, and the problems start at the places where long distance trucks stopp off. I will leave the rest to your imagination.
People here who are HIV positive are likely to be thrown out of their homes as having been "immoral". At the centre they can get HIV drugs which are provived by the sisters.
St. Joseph's is a quiet simple place in the countryside. There is a good spread of ages in the people we met there: elderly, younger people and children.
The Centre also has an outreach service going out to surrounding villages to identify people whom the Centre can help.
An extension has been built to provide as dining hall , kitchen and storeroom. The structure is up now and it only needs about €9000 to complete. A relatively massive sum of money here.
The centre impressed me by its atmosphere of quiet, warmth and care. If the Lord were walking through this land to-day, I would imagine St. Joseph's Centre for the support and care of Leprosy and HIV would be a place where he would be very much at home.
CAI gave them some goats.
