India 2003
India '02 | India '03 | India '05
In the autumn of 2003 a work-team returned to the slum communities of Delhi, at
the invitation of ASHA.
Eight of the men had been on the 2002 team, but this year they were joined by
two others from First Ballymena Presbyterian. This joint initiative between the
two churches was a great success.
There were 3 tasks facing the team – repairing a
leaking roof in a slum clinic, painting the ASHA policlinic, and refurbishing an
office and teaching centre. The roof was repaired successfully, and the ASHA
policlinic painted, with the men working under the Indian sun in temperatures of
35-40C. The office refurbishment was a huge challenge – a concrete floor was
laid and the walls plastered. All the materials, sand and cement, were carried
by hand up to the 3rd floor office, where the concrete was mixed,
again by hand. There were frustrations, working in the enclosed space, in high
temperatures and humidity, with some unfamiliar materials and practices, but by
the end of the two weeks transformation had occurred.
It was enormously encouraging for us to see the work of
ASHA amongst some of the poorest in our world. We visited some terrible slums,
but also saw communities where conditions had greatly improved, where infant
mortality had dropped, where immunisation was transforming health, and where
people had dignity and hope. We were encouraged to see the arrival of two new
mobile clinics. These would bring health care to slum communities where, up to
now, there was none. And all of this as a witness to the love and compassion of
Jesus Christ.
