Their agenda includes multiple well dedications and some very remote medical camps along with a medical camp in the slum area of Tuni.

Here is a link to some more project photos from Trichy, hope you enjoy them – http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzq2GBc

Sue reports, “In Sirupathur we gave away cows and goats, viewed 80 homes and gave away clean home awards and dedicated the community center.  It was amazing to see the change compared to our first visit there more than 1 year ago.  Back then it seemed that there was no hope and so much disparity.  This visit which is my 3rd, the village was alive with excitement and they wanted to show us what they had been doing.   You could see an economic change there as well as emotional.  They had so much pride in sharing their homes with us and showing how much they had done and the homes were really pretty clean.   There were a few things here and there that could still change and some had little gardens going and there were some latrines.”

“In Manickapuram, the other village we dedicated a Wells for Life community center in, was pretty much like Sirupathur; cows, home viewing and prizes.  There was a small dance by 3 young girls for us.  Very cool.”

As you might imagine I am feeling very proud right now for all the work that has taken place to date and the transformation that is occurring in these rural villages.  I am very thankful for Dr. Kumra and his wife Valerie, their leadership and willingness to take a team from Santa Rosa to India and participate in the work being implemented by DPWA, our Indian partner in Trichy.  I am also so thankful for Sue’s willingness to travel to each of these villages in Trichy and implement much of our holistic work alongside the field staff of DPWA, if it wasn’t for their tireless efforts none of what we are now witnessing would be possible.

Here is a link to some photos from the work in Trichy – http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzpNPu8

Sue Shroyer joined them in Trichy (traveled south from Tuni) and she was the one I originally commissioned to undertake this holistic project in partnership with DPWA and she reported to Valerie that in all her visits to these 5 villages where we have undertaken the work, there were noticeable difference and huge improvements which were easily seen.

I was asked by Valerie what next as it appears that much of our work is accomplished in these places and my response was “we’ll have to ask Dhana” as he is our partner on the ground working in this area.

Ultimately I know our goal is for transformation that will carry on long after we leave the picture and so we’ll continue to work alongside DPWA and take whatever steps are mindful to help these villagers move forward in their goal for self reliance.

The next couple of days in Trichy for the team will be filled with water project dedications, medical camps and witnessing some eye cataract surgeries at a local hospital in addition to some more village visits and commissioning of building projects and income generating activities.

Aside from the heat, it’s really hot there now, the team is holding up well and enjoying the fact that they are on the ground carrying out the work that they have been looking forward too for the past 6 months.  It is exciting for me to know that each of these folks are living out a dream of being used by God to make a difference in the lives of the marginalized and oppressed lower caste people in rural India.  My only and continued regret is that I am not there with them as I know that despite the heat, sweat and long days; their having a party in their service to the people!

For the past several months our DPWA partner has been laying the groundwork and conducting mobile medical camps in several villages and recently reported the following concerning their success:  “We have completed 4 preparatory mini camps and have reached out to 40 villages where the health facilities are nearly absent. Our field health workers have done a commendable work visiting the people door to door, providing health education on primary health care and sanitation, identifying sick people for the camps, and in all 4 mini camps we were able to help over 1000 people. Of these people 98 cataract patients were provided with IOl surgery and post operative hospital care, over 300 people had their eyes refracted and provided with appropriate glasses, 960 people with different ailments were provided with curative medicines, and 62 patients received post camp hospital care at Sahayamatha Hospital.”

In addition to the medical camps our team will dedicate 2 community centers located in villages in which we have taken up our holistic work and also participate in the dedication of 11 water projects which have recently been completed in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

These guys are going to be very busy while in India and are excited about the opportunities that await them. Unfortunately I am not able to make this trip and marks the first time in our 11 years of working on behalf of the poor and needy that I haven’t packed my bags.  It does feel weird and I still am not sure if I can make it to July which is when I am next scheduled to go but I do know the value in creating space for others to lead and am confident in Dr. Kumra and his wife Valerie that they will do a superb job.

I end this post with a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who have helped provide the resources for this work; all of it, the community centers, the mobile medical unit, the medicines, and …. the clean water.

God’s blessings rest of each and every one of you.

Currently within the Trichy District of Tamil Nadu our partner has already laid the groundwork and conducted some pre-camp meetings which include creating awareness, performing medical exams and dispensing of medicines. These efforts are collaborative in nature and with our funding support DPWA has enlisted the services of medical professionals from Sagayamatha Hospital, AG Eye Hospital, and Thilak ENT Hospital who will work alongside our team members as we seek to make a positive impact amongst the rural poor in these villages.

Fr. Dhana of DPWA reports that “in most of the rural areas as a result of poor environmental conditions, poor nutrition and lack of literacy, communicable diseases are very common. Apart from the communicable disease, non-communicable and congenital diseases are also very common. Despite the fact that health facilities exist many of the rural poor can’t afford the care or are unable to get the necessary transportation to receive the care. Further compounding the problem is that many of the rural health centers facilities are not sufficient to meet all the health needs of the community. Resultantly, the need for a medical awareness campaign/camp is necessary and is being implemented through the generosity of several supporters of Wells for Life.”

The aim of this initiative is to once again touch the entire person and seek to restore some of the dignity lost due to poverty and discrimination and do so in a manner which reveals the love of God.

Within the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, we plan on undertaking similar programs within 3 rural villages alongside our NASA partner with the full scope of outreach to be shared by Dr. Premdas shortly.

The only regret that I have about this work is that I won’t be participating this time around but no worries; Vik and Val have what it takes to pull off a great trip so as their cheerleader I jump up and down and shout, Go guys, go!

In addition to project photos there are a bunch of photos from the clothes distribution which took place at New Life Children’s Home. These clothes were made possible by the generous giving of quite a few of you along with the fundraising efforts of others. All the funds collected were sent to New Life for 2 new sets of clothes, Christmas day treats and a special meal.

I trust you’ll enjoy the photos and thanks again for your generosity this past Christmas!

Picture sets

Video sets

I am discovering that tweeting is about the best way to communicate because in many places there is limited or no strong internet connection or if there is I can’t find the time to exploit it, however having a smartphone with downloaded apps sure does help.

I got one of these smartphones in Tuni and now if I could just figure out how to use it, you would think it would be simple and maybe it is but I think because I didn’t spend a lot I got the model which requires a coursebook for operation.  I have never had a phone with so many features and it pales compared to what is available on a Droid or iPhone however this Samsung Galaxy is supposed to be all that here in India; all I need to do is learn it or at least discover how to keep the battery from being drained and enjoy the touted 3 g speeds while seeking to look at emails, tweet or update FB.

Back to the trip.

We carried out 2 well dedications in Tuni for which video and photos will come once I return home but in each place the reception was amazing  and the power of water was evident.  God truly has a good thing going with water!

While in Andhra Pradesh, much of my focus was outside of Wells for Life as I was traveling with several of the leaders from Westside and we were engaged in meetings with those resposnible for running New Life Children’s Home where we have 200 kids.  Our goal was to share our movement towards a holistic approach towards ministry and our involvment with CHE or Community Health Education/Evangelism.

The time was productive and foundation laying and we’ll see how things progress. The upside of all of this is that I believe we are all on the same page and know where each other is at and where our priorities lay; at least I think we know that now.

Trichy was the main focus of my trip on the Wells for Life side as we were dedicating 10 village projects and a solar light panel project along with classroom building at Fr. Dhana’s school, Annai Erica.

I traveled to Trichy with Sue Shroyer, Chris and Sandy Karcher and Dan Southerland.  This was a first time experience for the Karchers and Dan in Trichy and it was fun to watch them go through the day. We couldn’t have asked for a better first experience for them; the weather was tremendous, the accomodations at Hotel Sangam were again perfect and the villages were incredible. For whatever reason of all my trips to Trichy this one felt the most successful for me personally.  Nothing was different on the outside, Dhana and his DPWA staff did an amazing job as always with every detail, I just have to believe that what I was sensing was the fruitfulness of our labor for the past 8 years.

Fr. Dhana and his work with DPWA and how he is moving forward in his development work within the villages and schools like Annai Erica is truly amazing, he has a firm grasp on sustainability when it comes to education and orphan care and I believe is also taking incredible strides in their holistic efforts within the rural villages.  We partnered with him in 5 villages for holistic development and in a short period of just over 1 year he has expanded the program to another 10 villages without our financial assistance; truly an amazing and God blessed man.  His son Prassanna isn’t that bad either; and as a side note, he can sure drive!

I leave Trichy today with a greater sense of accomplishment than I have had in previous trips and I am hopeful that this year we can made further gains within rural area with water.  Funding is the only thing that prevents us from doing more in this region and so my prayer will continue to be that God brings to us the resources so that we can exploit them here through providing the villages with clean safe drinking water.

As I close let me just end by naming some names; Jared Wells, Moonie Narayan, Hovey Williams LLP, Bible Action Group in Lenexa, Kid’s Ministry at WFC, Ron Medina and Hope and Helps Ministry, Allaina Mackay and friends of Wells for Life – you all made this trip possible and water possible in these 12 communities.  You are game changers, life changers, and incredible people; thanks for helping make a difference in rural India through water.

In reality this is what it boils down to; not making a profit, not supporting huge overhead or infrastructure, just trying to make a difference and save a life, or at least make it more meaningful and manageable.

I leave next week for India with the trip focus being two fold; first much time and energy will be spent with our Tuni partners handling some developmental activities that pertain to their future outreach efforts and our partnership with them in these.  After about 4 days of this work and a couple of water dedications in the Tuni area, I will travel to Trichy with 4 close friends and dedicate 10 projects that were originally slated for completion in October but were held up due to some local elections.  (Apparently development work comes to a halt when the local political power base changes and nothing starts up again until the dust settles.)  Thankfully we were able to get these projects completed and give these villagers the water they have been so patiently waiting for.

Speaking of patiently waiting, I was finally able to put together a Year End Summary for 2011 and thanks to my Mac it doesn’t look to bad, check it out by following this link – https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/3sYWmTreOAPpFi

2012 should prove to be an exciting year for Wells for Life because I believe good things are in store for us.  We have proved to be faithful with what we were given and I can’t imagine that expansion and growth won’t be the fruit of that stewardship.

This April we are moving forward in our medical outreach effort and sending a small group to work alongside our DPWA and NASA partners carrying out medical outreach on a village level.  In these camps there will be hundreds and hundreds of men, women and children who lack the resources or ability to receive basic medical care and so we’ll go to them with doctors, nurses and medicines.  It’s true we won’t be able to treat a cancer patient or take out a gall bladder in a grass hut, but we will be able to examine, bring a diagnosis, provide basic medicines, and educate.

Working in this context gets me excited almost as much as seeing water come up out of the ground for the first time from one of our water projects.  It causes me to consider the words of Christ when he talks about caring for those that were sick, hungry, naked, and in prison.  His words were something to the effect of when you cared for the “least” then you had actually cared for Him.

When stated in this way, reaching out and caring for these folks who are considered the “least”, the “untouchable”, the “low caste”, or the marginalized of society; well, when we touch them and help them with water, with medical care, then were really touching and caring for Jesus.  Is there anything better?

This leads me back to my slogan for 2012 and the impact that we all can make this year; so when you are considering where to give, well don’t look past us and give as much as you can because when you do, a whole lot of good will be done!

And for all of you who have supported us, regardless of the amount of your gift….Thank You!

I can’t say it enough because without you and your gift NONE of what I do would be done. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the rural areas of India would not have the life that they now have because of you and your gifts, so really, what has been accomplished is because you cared enough to give, so again, Thank You!