St Andrew's United
Reformed Church
Frognal Lane
Hampstead
London
NW3 7DY
Tel: 020 7435 7920 AndrewsFrog.net
PROJECTS
The Jasperian Theatre Company
... has been based at St Andrews for many years. It began its life in 1992 and, apart from performances at St Andrews, it tours throughout Britain and beyond; in the past year from Inverness to Goldsithney in West Cornwall. The Company utilizes the skills of professional actors and major directors and is an extension of the varied ministry of Tony Jasper. Athough it does produce general revue material, its main object has been to depict the lives of major figures in religious and general history, as well as focussing on major events. It has also run with material on both the Old and New testament. JTC has received much praise in secular and religious journals for the high quality of its output.
Its own web site is www.jasperian.org with provision there for any contact to be made with Tony Jasper.
Day Care Centre for the Elderly at Chandrapadi, South India.
A report by Professor Irwin Parker, CSI Synod co-ordinator, Trichy-Tanjavur Diocese, India.
December 26, 2004 is a day that cannot be forgotten by many. One of the greatest disasters of mankind, the Tsunami, struck the residents of South Asia. It has taken many months for its victims to overcome the loss and sustain in their altered habitat. Some people have been fortunate in returning to a normal life while some others are still struggling. One such group of unfortunate citizens are the aged residents at Chandrapadi, South India. The Church of South India (CSI) Synod have generously supported a day care centre at the village since April 2006. Thirty people were selected as the most impoverished and have been provided food and a multifunctional lounge for use during the day. The centre offers medical care, a newspaper, television and includes activities such as regular worship, adult education and gardening. School children are also given tuitions during the evenings and regularly participate in the Sunday school held at the day care centre.
The day inmates have shown great enthusiasm in learning to attend to their day to day needs. When possible they even help out in cleaning and cutting vegetables from the kitchen garden. Here is a comment from one of the inmates:
Figure 1: Inmates in the lounge
"Though I have a fever and do not feel very well today, I do not want to stay at home and not come to the day care centre. I love being here and it is not just because of the good food I get, but also because of the good and happy atmosphere created for people like me. I do not wish to stay away even for a single day and I love the fellowship and friendship available here. I am grateful to God for giving me this comfort and thank the people who have made this happen." - by 90 year old Mrs R. Neelambal.
The members age 62 and above with 3 couples among the 30. Some of them are physical impaired and some require special diets. They do not demand much and appreciate what little is available to them.
The funding for the day care centre ends on February 29, 2008 and due to financial constraints the CSI Synod are no longer able to continue funding. In present conditions, 9 out of the 30 day inmates live on the single meal and two cups of tea provided at the day care centre as their family either cannot or refuse to provide supper for them. An attempt to close the centre will be a great shock to the senior citizens and hence I am forced to approach for help from other members of the public.
Figure 2: An inmate in the centre.
The following is a list of expenses in indian rupees (INR) and GBP per person per day at the day care centre:
Groceries
Rs. 14.50
~ 0.191 GBP
Gas for cooking
Rs. 1.50
~ 0.020 GBP
Staff Salaries
Rs. 5.00
~ 0.065 GBP
Rent, Electricity and communication
Rs. 2.00
~ 0.026 GBP
Miscellaneous expenditure
Rs. 1.00
~ 0.013 GBP
Total
per person per day
Rs. 24.00
~ 0.3157 GBP
per person per day
NOTE: The exchange rate is calculated for Rs. 76 for every Pound (GBP).
The cumulative expenses for 30 members is Rs. 720 (9.47 GBP) per day or Rs 21,600 (284.21 GBP) per month.
Figure 3: Inmate is fed.
I would like to appeal for any little contribution you can make to save the centre and its inmates. You can also nominate a member and fund them for a defined period of time. Thanks in advance.
For further details, please contact Sweta Parker -
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