H C T V: Health Care To Villagers: 2009

Meet The Natives - Penang Style

We were recently blessed with the opportunity to bring a busload of villagers we work with, to visit Penang from 18th - 20th December 2009.

Part of the team posing with Rt Rev Anthony Selvanayagam, Bishop for the diocese of Penang

For more details and pictures, please click here

Why are they smiling?

Because YOU made a difference in their lives!

Thanks to your support, we were able to start work on building a dam as the first phase of C W TV - bringing Clean Water To Villagers.

We're still not done...but would like to share with you what's been completed so far.

We're grateful for those of you who contributed towards this phase of the project and gave us the courage to take this bold step...although a lot more needs to be done.

"No life can move forward without taking giant steps. No progress can be recorded without a step of faith. Not until you step into it, you can never step out of it!" - Rev. Charles Gbenga A. Popson

OK..with your support we were able to take that step of faith...now, we need to move forward. We need to re-enforce the dam before water can be diverted into it & allowed to run through the pipes.

Once the water supply is working as planned, we will need to build a filter so that the villagers will have clean water for drinking. This will be followed by the construction of bathrooms and toilets. Yes...it's big - but not impossible...together, we can make a difference.

We are truly thankful for those who chose to make a difference. Your support is a testimony of Gods presence in our lives. Because of your generosity, we know He is alive and working in our ministry.

For those who didn't get an opportunity earlier, but would like to make a difference in the lives of these people, do email us: health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

While we're not in a position to offer you tax exemptions, we can only assure you that your support can save lives. These people will never be able to repay you or give you any publicity for your contributions, but as John Wooden says: "You cant live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you".

May the good Lord who knows what you do even if it's not publicised, bless you for your generosity.

An urgent update

We have been informed that many of the villagers are unwell & being admitted to hospital. The closest health facility (about 2 hours away), is already full and villagers are being transferred to other districts that are still able to take in patients. The situation is very worrying & although we're scrambling to get the water project going by next week, it just doesn't seem fast enough.

We are grateful to those who contributed towards this project, but we're still way short of the targeted amount. Anyway, the need is so pressing that we will be going ahead in faith...believing that the much needed funds will arrive in time.

A wise man once said - there are 3 kinds of people in the world...

Those that MAKE Things Happen...

Those that WATCH Things Happen...

Those that SAY What Happened? "

Are You Willing To Make Things Happen?

We have been asked if we can issue tax exempt receipts for large amounts. We're sorry, but if you're familiar with Luke 20:25, we're encouraged to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. There is no exemption from taxes, but if you represent an organisation or company that requires an official acknowledgement, we will gladly do so.

Remember this--a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need and plenty left over to share with others. (2 Cor 9:6-8 NLT)

For details on how you can support this project, please email us at health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

Gold...Frankincense....Clean Water?

Christmas...it's that time of the year again....planning, giving, sharing....and we're reminded of the popular Christmas song:

Christmas...isn't Christmas...
till it happens...in your heart...
somewhere... deep inside you...
is where Christmas really starts...

so, give your... heart to people...you'll discover when you do...that it's Christmas....really Christmas....for you!

As Christmas is no longer celebrated by Christians only, some of us have

forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. In welcoming the season, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us:

“We could say that Advent is the time when Christians should awaken in their hearts the hope that they can change the world, with the help of God.”

We @ H C T V believe that: "Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach" - Clarissa Pinkola Estes

As we get into the mood of singing Christmas carols, we would like to share with you a little something we put together, to reflect our Christmas wish. It can be sung to the tune of O Come Divine Messiah, a traditional Christmas carol:

Oh Come Clean Water Supply
(sung to the tune of O Come Divine Messiah)

Oh come clean water supply
Our world in silence waits this need
And we will live in triumph
When sickness flees away

Clean water supply
Come, come to us now
Dispel your greed & meet our needs
And greet the King
With words & deeds
Oh come clean water supply
Our world in silence waits this need
And we will live in triumph
When sickness flees away

You eat & just get fatter
But now its time for real answers
Will you be inns or mangers
When baby Jesus appears
You know the needs,
But what will you heed
Trees, shopping, parties, wine, fruit cakes
Or pipes and joints to ease our pain?
Oh come clean water supply
Our world in silence waits this need
And we will live in triumph
When sickness flees away

We @ H C T V would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your prayers & support over this past year. We wish you a meaningful Christmas - a Christmas with a difference...because YOU can make a difference:

Don't turn your back..Lend a hand...Do something..and Touch a life!

For details on how you can support this project, please email us at: health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

H C T V plans its last trip for the year...

As the year draws to a close, we are taking stock and planning for our next trip in early December which will be our last trip for this year.

Thanks to your support, we are now looking into buying our own BP (blood pressure) & glucose testing kits. All this time, we were borrowing for each trip & just paying for the cost of the strips. Now that our trips are regular, we feel that it'll be more practical for us to get our own equipment. We still do not have our own vehicle, and will have to be renting another vehicle for this trip.

During this trip, we'll also be finalising our plans for CWTV (Clean Water To Villagers) - materials needed & time involved. We aim to have clean water supply for this village by early next year, and although we do not have the required funds in hand yet, we need to plan our work & be ready for the funds which will hopefully arrive in time. Lives are at stake, and "we cannot stand idly by, enjoying our own riches and freedom if, in any place the Lazarus of the twentieth century [or any century] stands at our doors.” (Pope John Paul II)

Happy WTD!

Today is WTD...and we celebrate it because:

2.5 billion people worldwide don't have access to proper sanitation, risking their health, stripping their dignity, and killing 1.8 children a year.

Diarrheal diseases kill five times as many children in the developing world as HIV/AIDS.

That's 5,000 children DYING EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Disease kills more children than either malaria or AIDS, stunts growth, and forces millions - adults and children alike - to spend weeks at a time off work or school, which hits both a country's economy and its citizens' chances of a better future.

The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter.

Lack of sanitation is the world's biggest cause of infection.

One gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.

Safe disposal of children's feces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhea.
For more info, pls click here
We @ H C T V would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for all your support and encouragement. Building the 1st toilet in the village was quite an achievement, but it cannot be the last either. We look forward to your continued support as we bring more "movement" to the toilet-less.
For more info on what's in the "pipeline" for H C T V, please click here

Next in the "pipeline"....

Now that we've got the 1st toilet up & running (no pun intended), we need to ensure that the villagers have clean water supply. As Kofi Annan, (former United Nations Secretary-General) said - “We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water.”

So here's a diagram of what we plan to do:

Please click on the diagram above for a clearer version. Thank you

For more information on this project, please visit our sister site: C W T V

H C T V 01 November visit

We were blessed with a rented car for this trip - a Ford Ranger which allowed us to take in our health team & a whole lot more of supplies.

Both the vehicles (Ford Ranger & Mitsubishi Storm) were filled up to the max with medical supplies, frozen breastmilk, food rations & infant formula.

These big cars also

helped us deal with the broken & bumpy roads - other than allow us to take in a lot more than we usually can.

While it seemed like a lot of stuff to take in, it'll only last the villagers a week or less. But it's the best we can do for now, and we're grateful for your support - for allowing us to do all this.

The highlight of the trip was checking out the long awaited toilet..:) Here's what it looks like:

We're pleased to share with you here, a video of our trip. It is a little choppy, so we suggest you play it once with the volume off (so you can do something else while it buffers), then hit the "replay" option so it will play smoothly. Remember to switch on the volume again before watching...;)

H C T V takes a forced break in October 2009

We spent a few days in the village last week & the roads have become very rocky and unsafe to drive on, due to the rainy weather & massive timber lorries that continue to cause damage. A van that travelled with us had a flat tyre on it's way out (on the jungle path, after dark), and so also a motorbike that accompanied us. While our little jeep made it out safely, much damage was done to the vehicle and our spines.

H C T V will be taking a break in October to allow our aching joints to recover, and also to give ourselves time to organise for another vehicle that will be hardy enough to take in our medical team from November onwards. Our most urgent need right now is a 4 X 4 vehicle that will allow us to continue with this mission, as the needs in the village are just too pressing for us to brush off just because of our discomfort. We will keep you posted on our developments.

In the meantime, we would like to urge you to spare a thought for the thousands of people still trapped in the floodwaters of typhoon Ondoy—or in relocation sites that have no food and drinking water. (Just in case you don’t know anything about what’s happening in Metro Manila and Rizal province, here are photos of the storm: http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/ondoy.)

Apart from sending drinking water & cooked food, Kerygma Family (a group that H C T V fully endorses & is a part of), will do the hard work of helping people rebuild their homes damaged by the floods—thus helping them rebuild their lives. It will be a long and difficult work—but Kerygma Family will be there for them.

Friends, we may not be there physically to help, but we can be their spiritual and financial support. First, pray for the victims. Pray for strength that they regain their hope. Many are devastated emotionally. Second, if you can, make a donation and help them.If you want to be part of our efforts to help Flood Victims, you can make a donation. Any amount will do. Click here to help the Flood Victims now! Or visit http://www.kerygmafamily.com/modules/subscriber/donationsondoy.php for more details.

Your donations will go directly to the flood victims. With your help, they can rebuild their homes and lives. May God's blessings be upon you & may He reward you for your generosity.

We are happy to include here 3 video clips of our activities during our latest trip on Sunday, 6th September. We did not have as many "patients" as we did last month,

as the menfolk were busy building the 1st toilet in the village, with part of our team . So this time, we were able to spend quality time with the women & children.

Generally, the villagers are looking much better than they did last month (most of them were down with the flu then). Some had even put on weight...:) The usual health monitoring checks were done by our healthcare team, and multivitamins given to all. Some with skin problems were treated accordingly.

Kids were reminded on the proper way to wash their hands, as we found that most of them came with dirty fingers again. Health education is not something that can be done in just one visit & we will have to keep repeating ourselves till cleanliness & hygiene becomes a part of them.

The kids were really blessed this time with lots of donated breastmilk (above left), and multivitamins (above right) donated by some very kind individuals. To promote breastfeeding & the consumption of breastmilk, Baby Paradise contributed 100 pcs of breastmilk storage bags which will come in very handy for us to transport the frozen breastmilk in, as it takes up less space than bottles.

H C TV - 06 September 2009

During the health programme, the men were busy with the construction of the toilet as they had to make as much use of the available daylight as possible:

To keep the kids occupied after the health check (and to make sure no one falls into the septic tanks while the toilet was being built), WoA organised a fun time for the kids

Some well-meaning city folk are questioning the need for our frequent visits, but since we realise that the concept of hygiene is practically non-existent, we have to persevere. There are some really bad cases of skin disease among some kids - some of the pictures may be quite gross, but we had to share them so that we are all aware of the need for this program, and its related projects like toilet building & clean water supply.

A two-year old girl recently died after having diarrhea for just one night - while were shocked that this could happen in this day & age, we just can't sit around & complain about what has not been done for these people. While we all have to accept the will of God & realise that death is not something we can control, it is time we realise that one innocent life was lost while we're busy complaining about the authorities, what should be done & what wasn't done. It is time to get off our rear ends...time is not on our side - lives are at stake. You can make a difference:

Don't turn your back..Lend a hand...Do something..and Touch a life!

For details on how you can support this project, please email us at health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

What's next for H C T V?

September 2009 - 1st proper toilet to be built!

The village has 15 families (approximately 100 people) and currently does not have proper toilets. Hence, the river adjacent to their homes is used for bathing, washing clothes, and used as a toilet.

The villagers built a toilet for visitors (see bottom right) sometime ago, which is a pit latrine. However it does not have water facility to flush down the waste, hence the offensive odour and pests.

The use of plastic fibre as walls is not conducive as

the gaps allow leaves and debris in. Recent visits showed that the toilet can no longer be used as it is clogged up with dead leaves and twigs.

The villagers have since resorted to the river as a solution. Raw human waste travels from the villages upstream, through to this village and to the villages downstream. As a result of this there are increasing cases of skin problems, diarrhoea, and other water borne diseases.

Ideally there should be one toilet per household. Nevertheless in this pilot project, we plan to start with one toilet. If the system is efficient and when there are sufficient funds, more will be built .The proposed toilet is a pour flush system with two septic tanks (pls see diagram below)

The sewage after being bio-degraded in the septic tanks, is released into the adjacent river. This system is most ideal as it will be free of smell, mosquitoes, rats, cockroaches and other pests. Water for flushing can be obtained either from rainwater harvesting or piped hill water supply that the village already has.The villagers will build the toilet using bamboo for walls and door, with thatch/ zinc roofing. We will use as much locally available materials as possible and work on the project together with the villagers, so as to save on labour costs. The materials needed are:

Porcelain squat commode (1 unit)

4 inch diameter PVC pipes (app 20 feet)

1 inch diameter PVC pipes (app 15 feet)

Pipe joiners & ends

Plastic/metal drums (2 units ), to serve as septic tanks

Cement (10 bags )

If you would like to make a difference in the lives of these people, do email us: health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

H C T V goes live!

Thanks to your generous support, we were able to launch H C T V as planned - on 09 aug 09, which was World Day for Indigeneous Peoples. While some of you have never seen the Orang Asli or the conditions they live in, you can be rest assured that your contributions are going right into the jungle - straight to the OAs. Through this website, we hope to keep you up to date with the project so you can keep track of our progress.

We are very happy to note that we received all the medical supplies we needed for this trip, just in time...and some left over for the next month (the only thing we need more of now ,is multivitamins for kids). Apart from medical supplies, we got some breastmilk & also infant formula for the kids. We were also blessed with donations of bottled mineral water (for dispensing ORS) and soap for all the families.

Your support is a testimony of Gods presence in our lives. Because of your generosity, we know He is alive and working in our ministry. We are grateful to the individual donors , G-Hotel & Wellings for their generous contributions...may God bless you all abundantly! We thank the prayer warriors in Malaysia & the Holy Family Intercessory Prayer Group in Toronto, Canada who have been praying for the success of this mission. Of course, all this would not be possible without the "green light" of our Father in heaven - to Him be all glory & honour!

For details on how else you can support this project, please email: health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

H C T V: Health Care To Villagers

H C T V is a long overdue project. It was launched on 09th August 2009 to commemorate with World Day for Indigenous Peoples, and is in memory of a 2 year old girl who died in July 2009 from dehydration as a result of diarrhea, as she couldn't be taken to nearest medical facility which is 2 hours away.

The grief-stricken father (right, with cap), shared how she suffered from diarrhea for just one

night and collapsed the next morning before they could get her treated.

While we’re shocked that this should happen in this day and age - especially when we read about medical tourism & promoting health care to neighbouring countries, all while the natives of the country are being denied basic health care. Although we’re sad about the way things are unfolding before our eyes, we realize we can’t just sit around & complain about the way things are. It’s time we do something and make a difference.

Together with a team of dedicated health-care professionals, we aim to visit the villagers regularly to conduct health monitoring & checkups, apart from providing them with information on hygience and basic health education where they can better manage their health. Worldwide, surveys have shown that hand-washing alone reduces the instance of diarrhoea by as much as 43 percent.

To be able to educate them and provide them with some basic medication, we need your support. The supplies we need are as follows:

PCM (panadol)
ORS(oral rehydration salt)
vit B
vit C
calcium supplements
immodium (diarrhoea)
calamine lotion
betnovate cream
cough mixture

Other than medication, we also need:

torch light
thermometer
tongue depressor
hand wash antiseptic
spirit cotton swabs

We would be grateful if you can support this project by providing us with the above supplies or the funds to purchase the stuff. For details on how you can support this project, please email: health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com

Apart from medical supplies, we also welcome any other form of support. We currently require a video camera to document our work and a reliable 4 wheel drive vehicle to transport the health care workers and medical supplies.

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. I John 13: 17-18

To find out how you can show your love and share your material possesions, please email us at health.care.to.villagers@gmail.com