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PL860
11th October 2020
Last week's newsletter was all about Vinod.
After a terrifying infection of Typhoid spread to his brain, he was quite literally at death's door. After 3 days of lying unconscious, battling to stay alive, he woke up! Immediate and drastic improvement followed in suit and he is now back here on the farm! We praise God for this incredible transformation and, though he still has a way to heal, we are elated to have him back here with us.
There has been a huge shift in the weather over the last 10 days as the climate has shifted gears and we now enter into the comfortable embrace of autumn. The hot sticky monsoon is now a memory in the back of our minds as we enjoy cool mornings and beautiful warm days. It truly is the best weather of the year.
This week's newsletter is going to be a big one. This entire week has been productive - even more productive than usual - as we tackled all of the odd jobs we had put off due to the heat, rain and general discomfort of the monsoon. Rather than spend too much time talking about it, we are going to let the photographs of this week share the story.
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One lovely afternoon this week was spent winnowing wheat.
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A large fan powered by our tractor is used to remove dirt and impurities before our wheat is turned into flour at the local mill.
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Jack holds the shutter up as Dhiraj brings in a 50kg bag of wheat like it's nothing.
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At 76 years, old Uncle Anil can still handle the heavy bags of wheat like one of the younger men - perhaps even better!
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With the monsoon over, our playground will soon be back in action.
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Over the next week, we will be replacing a few rusty and rough edges.
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Sunny really had to swing like a primate on the monkey bars as he cut and ground the sharp edges away.
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Rick started a big project that will be running for the next month at the back of our office: A complete redevelopment of our drainage and water system.
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Forget spring cleaning! Joey did an autumn cleanse to remove the cobwebs around the office.
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Parwat was out with the spray tank disciplining the weeds that have been uncontrollable during the monsoon.
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We called in the local recycling men to collect more than 2000kg of plastic, metal, tin, brass, paper, cardboard and aluminum. Job did a great job keeping account of it all to ensure we received the full payment!
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Can you guess what these are?
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If you guessed, "14kg of ceiling fan blades" you are absolutely correct!
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Aunty Peggy faithfully making sure our 10 o'clock morning tea is ready each day.
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Morning and afternoon tea are a great time to come together as a staff.
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A huge project has been the removal of an old bathroom at the back of the office.
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This photo is just for you, Clifford! Congratulations on accidentally breaking that water main - like we needed more work to do!
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Clifton had plenty of helpers to install a new water dripper system in the garden.
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By the end, Manisha had it all under control.
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Parwat was also there to help out with the watering system.
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Kevin was working so hard, he needed two shovels!
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Our poultry project stepped up a level with posts laid for the new fence to completely enclose our free-range run.
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Ikindar removing one of the old wooden posts of the chicken run.
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New posts being secured in with concrete. The wire mesh will be installed next week.
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We've now hatched more than 60 chickens in our incubator!
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At the staff accommodation, the final labor-heavy job is underway: construction of the roads leading up to the building.
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Manisha and Ruhani joined Clifton for a walk up to S. Block to see the new roads under construction.
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Even Uncle Malcolm and Aunty Sonia got into their garden; planting their winter vegetables with the help of a friend.
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We finally managed to varnish and hang our 8000 piece puzzle! it's taking up an entire wall in the dining room now!
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Of course, there has been plenty of everyday work around here as well - food to be cooked and clothes to be washed.
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Esther making sure the kids have their morning milk.
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A special dinner in memory of our dear friend Sam Saxena.
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Sam's legacy has forever impacted each one of us here on the Mission.
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More past children have returned home: Chandini and Dolly arrived late last week.
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Seema and her brother Bill came home from Nepal on Wednesday. Even though they had COVID tests at the border, we still require they quarantine for a few days.
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Mariyam is also here and spending some time with Priscilla.
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We were surprised with four great puzzles from a friend through Amazon.
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These puzzles have already been solved more than 20 times each.
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Our girls also got some lovely hairbands from our new friend Arushi.
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The nursery kids got some too!
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Sending thank you notes to Arushi.
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What manner of creepy crawlies are Jeffrey and Aaron playing with now? Worms? Ants? Spiders? Scorpions!??!?!
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Nope, it's just beads and marbles. Phew!
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Santoshi and Cynthia celebrated their 13th birthday together on Monday.
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A lovely afternoon birthday spread.
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Banana cake, popcorn, an apple, samosa and Pepsi!
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Reena also turned sweet 16!
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Pinky made a warm sun for Reena's cake.
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David Sir, our Principal is back too! When his birthday coincided with his quarantine, we still found a way to celebrate.
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School has continued the normal six days a week for our kids.
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Debby working on statistical analysis.
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As usual, Malik crushed his Math homework.
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Ruhani did a pretty awesome job for her art class.
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Shane, Dhiraj, Sareena, Pinky, Kushboo, Anthea and Lisa have continued their 3rd week of Year 11 through online classes.
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Jackie working on his Bachelor of Commerce.
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Of course, there has been plenty of play too - just ask Shivani and Shivam.
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Cricket is huge in India. Other than the quadrennial World Cup, the Indian Premier League is the probably biggest competition our kids get into.
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With the championship about halfway through, many of our kids are keeping a close eye on the scores.
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Of course, the IPL has inspired many matches between the matches.
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Shivam preparing to show the bigger boys what he can do.
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It's certainly not just the boys who have "cricket fever."
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The Senior Boys are taking the IPL the most seriously: staying up until midnight to watch each and every match.
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Ikindar, imagining being in front of 100,000 screaming fans.
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Parwat might have taken some liberties with the weed killer.
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Kamal had a pitch-side seat to the match.
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Sit back down Kamal, Dhiraj is going to catch you out.
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Well you have made it. This is the last, but the most precious, photo in this week's newsletter. Vinod, just a few short days ago, was in the ICU fighting for his life. Yet here he sits now with his brothers, healing and forever grateful for the incredible support he has received through this tough chapter of his life.
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How's that for a week? In truth, we did sneak in a few photos from last week but there were plenty more moments that we have not mentioned: a big one being that Clifton and our Chartered Accountant managed not only to complete our annual financial audit, they also filed our Income Tax Returns and completed some major formalities for the continued registration of our organization as a non-profit here in India!
We may only have another 4-5 weeks of this lovely weather but we will continue to make hay while the sun shines. We look forward to sharing more with you next week about all the little projects that we have going on around the place.
Blessing on you,
Rick, Clifton, Eugene & Priscilla
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For Those Who Pray:
- Pray for Vinod as he continues to heal. He still has moments of weakness, headaches and pain...but he is definitely mending.
- Pray for safety for all of us as we continue through the long list of odd jobs, mini-projects and even major projects.
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