Progress during 2008-2009
December 2009 -
A package of clothes was received from Inkeri Markkula. Many thanks!
December 2009 - The SHE programme (Sanitation - Health - Education)
This programme has commenced in four of the villages adjacent to the Mercy Home. Staff have been hired to cook breakfasts for all children under the age of 5 who were attending the villages creches (sort of day-care centres) without eating breakfast; a lady has been hired to provide evening tuitions for school children, and we have started distributing healthy 'ragi' cereal (millet) to all pregnant and nursing mothers twice a week. This is just the beginning and we hope to extend both the range of services and number of villages covered. Click on the image to see a larger one.
December 2009 -
Meena, the little premature baby who weighed only 1.2 kg when she arrived ((2 1/2 lbs) has been adopted! She's now a beautiful, happy, healthy baby.
October 2009 — Thanks for recently received packages and supplies:
We have received so many packages of useful and needy items recently.
September 2009— Rani operated and more tiling completed.
An extra large room has been
tiled which we hope to use for a separate toddler room. Rani has been operated to correct twisted feet. She will have to wear casts for several months.
August 15th 2009— Initial village surveys completed. 
In preparation for the outreach programme.
August 2009— Update on the nursery and preterm babies
The renovation of the nursery has been completed, with the tiling of the toddler room, painting of walls, and tiling of the hallway where the toddlers play. Photos coming soon! (We do still need new fly screens and curtains, but the major work is finished. )
Sadly, baby Sohini (see Preterm babies) passed away. Meena, the other premature baby who arrived at the same time, is doing well.
May 2009— 750 gm. baby arrives at the Mercy Home.
Thank you Mrs. Hilka for raising funds for the ICU for babies like this.
May 2009 — Tiling of the ICU completed and new incubator delivered.
The ICU is finally almost complete. Many thanks to Mrs. Hillkka for making this possible. The ICU will be very instrumental in saving the lives of the many seriously underweight babies received by the Mercy Home.
April 2009 — Ambulance delivered and tiles bought.
Mr. Diwarker had a busy time at the Mercy Home, organising the painting of the ambulance, addition of a security bumper, and installation of the transport incubator. He also bought tiles for the tiling of the ICU to increase the sanitary standard. He also visited more villages to find our relevant information for the launching of the Outreach Programme.
March 2009 — New ambulance and launch of village outreach programme.
Thanks to donations received via Minna from Mrs. Hilkka, we were able to purchase a new ambulance. As well as transporting babies to hospital it will be used for providing prenatal care, information and assistance to pregnant mothers in surrounding villages.
March 2009 — New incubator and supplies.
At the beginning of March, we ordered a new incubator for the Mercy Home. This is a travel incubator that can be used in the nursery and also placed in the ambulance to take sick babies to the hospital. Two volunteers then undertook the 11-hour drive from Chennai to the Mercy Home to bring more supplies collected by dear friend, Minna. These included baby bath, strong baby walker, changing pad, toys and clothes. Our time there was spent discussing and evaluating our plans and future projects, as well as spending special, precious time with the babies.
November 10-11, 2008— Inauguration of new wing.
Two Relief Projects worker inaugurated a new wing to house staff at the Mercy Home, a project they had instigated. At the same time, they were able to check on progress at the nursery and review future plans.
A porter carries supplies
for the Mercy Home to the train.
August 14-15, 2008— Setting up proper nappy changing facilities.
We accompanied dear friends, Arnold and Minna to the Mercy Home to help with the babies. They brought lots of baby supplies that they had collected. Lots of training in basic hygiene was accomplished. To read the full story, please follow this link:
July 7th 08— First ICU equipment!
The first equipment for the neo-natal ICU was delivered: a baby warmer with suction unit and rescucitator, and a photo-therapy light. The Mercy Home receives a large number of premature and fragile babies with extremely low birth weight, and this equipment will increase their chances of survival.
July 3rd 08— New washing machine!
Thanks to Vaaka, we were able to buy a new washing machine to help with the large amount of laundry.
July 2nd 08— Sanitation upgrade with new nappies.
Delivered large number of nappies and nappy covers, as well as new clothes and waterproof pads. Until then, the lack of waterproof nappy covers meant that clothes and sheets often smelled of urine. The resultant lack of hygiene was causing many of the babies to have diarrhea; there were frequent trips to the hospitals with sick babies and sadly, several failed to gain adequate weight and became severely malnourished.