Hello Friends, Well more than a week has passed since I have arrived in Dindigul and I am very much enjoying my time here. The three of us (Ting Ting, Jamie and I) are living with a family whose father is the pastor of the church we are affiliated with. He is a very busy man, as most pastors are. We call him Apa, which is Tamil for father. Our Ama (mother) is a teacher at the church school, which has over 2000 students. They have 2 daughters, 19 and 23. Their names are Wilsie and Princey. Princey studies at university at the moment and Wilsie is finished and is gaining experience at a bio-medical lab. She will also be married Oct. 1, which we have been invited to attend. Should be great to see an Indian wedding. We are working at a place called Aragulam hospice, which is a home for those infected with HIV/AIDS. It is called a place of grace. It is 15 kms outside of Dindigul in a small village called Reddichatram. It is a beautiful and quiet place. You can see the mountains all around and there is space and clean air to breath. There are 32 adult patients and 12 children. Most of the children are orphaned or semi orphaned. Their ages are from 1 month to 16 years and the oldest adult is 60. Mostly, we just spend time with people; which is very difficult since I still only have grasped about a dozen Tamil words. We have learned the Indian version of Rummy and play for a few hours each morning. It is great fun. There is one young man named Nalathambi who is in the final stages of HIV. He is 16 years old. Both his parents have died from HIV and now he is very sick. There is an old woman who takes care of him and on Thursday I learned that she is his grandmother. She has seen a daughter and a son-in-law die and now cares for her sick grandson. I asked the coordinator what I could do to help and she suggested reading a story. Malathambi once understood English very well. So off I went to the local book shop to find an interesting English story, with lots of pictures. I ended up with Robinson Crusoe, not my first choice, but I cannot be too picky in a Tamil bookshop. I paraphrased the book to him and his eyes darted from picture to picture. He cannot speak anymore and a few times we stopped because he was in some pain. He is not able to stand and is confined to bed. His joints have seized and are stiff and he has bed sores. He breathes deeply on each breath. After reading the book to him and his grandmother, she began to emotionally speak about her grandson and his health. Although I could not understand her words, I could feel her emotions, so I just sat there and listened. She knew that I could not understand, but I think she just needed to air her feelings. We prayed silently together. I gave Nalathambi the book and said goodbye for now. After leaving his room my emotions caught me and many feelings rushed through my head. Are we doing enough as people for other people in this small world of ours? What more can I do? I feel very helpless at times here, but know that my life is being changed. Nalathambi has only days or months left with us. There are many funny stories to tell but it seems out of place today and this is already too long. I will write more of them soon. It has been great to hear from some unexpected people this past week. As you can see, email is working and also my cell phone reception is great. I hope everyone is well and enjoying their summer.
Peace
Michael
Michael Shewburg
TIM Program
C/O Dr. Dorairaj
Tamilnadu Theological Seminary
Arasaradi, 625010
Madurai, INDIA