Yvonne visits Lalgadh in 2014, after 18 years…

Yvonne Simmonds, a retired nurse, first visited Lalgadh in 1996 and had a fantastic time. She went again in February of 2014 and writes of her visit to a village near Lalgadh:

“I spent anamazing day in March this year with the community team from Lalgadh, visiting a village about half an hour’s drive from the hospital. The team had previously made contacts in the area and were starting to assess the living conditions and health needs of the villagers. Ramesh took me to visit some people
affected by leprosy. One lady had been excluded from her family and was found living alone on an
island in the river. LLSC staff had persuaded her family to allow her to return to the village and helped
build her a small house. However, she was not at home – no! She was in the middle of a group of her
neighbours, now accepted and taking part in community life! Another lady affected by leprosy had been
taught to make and sell small baskets. She now has an income and has also been accepted back into her
family, which had initially rejected her. I watched a team working with dalit people (low caste), assessing the size of their houses and whether they had a toilet. They showed them three sizes of bowls to represent large, medium and small dwellings, and a small box to represent a toilet (no-one had a toilet). The
information was recorded and will be used to assess their needs. As we left, we saw some ladies washing their pots in filthy water in the local fish pond. Nearby was an unused water pump: clearly illustrating
the need for health education.”

Yvonne Simmonds