In Touch
In Touch
Director’s Desk
As the year draws to a close, it is with a sense of gratitude to God that we look back on the progress made in Karigiri during the year 2010.
The leprosy services at the Base Hospital are functioning well with emphasis being on Multi disciplinary holistic care. In the field, 129 out of the 229 villages have not registered a case of leprosy over the past 10 years indicating near eradication of leprosy in these villages. Financial situation with support from ILEP members has been satisfactory for maintenance. However, capital needs require funding.
Research is progressing well with new studies supported by ICMR / ICSSR in the laboratory and in the field. Training of Program Managers of NLEP (DLOs and SLOs) in leprosy has been the highlight of 2010. All of us at Karigiri are conscious of the fact that there is much more to be done and pray that our God will continue to pour out His love and care on this institution.
Dr. Mannam Ebenezer,
Director
AHBAAS (A Hepatitis B Awareness and Safety Initiative)
The Inaugural function of, Hepatitis B Vaccination in collaboration with CMC, Vellore and Bristol Management
Survey was held on October 08, 2010 at the Auditorium.
Dr. Samuel Solomon, the Deputy Director welcomed the gathering . The Chief guests were Dr. Eapen (Deputy
Medical superintendent CMCH), Prof. Ian from Australia, Prof IIias from UK & Mr. Nilanjan, project Pro- AHBAAS (A Hepatitis B Awareness and Safety Initiative) gram coordinator. Dr. Eapen said that this Vaccination project is started to eradicate Hepatitis B in the society, as it is a viral infection of liver causing many consequences in the human body. In India 2 to 3 out of 100 people suffer from this disease and are not aware about its consequences. The Bristol Management Survey, under the leadership of Dr. George Chandy, former Director
of CMC is helping this project in creating an awareness , and to be made available, to all the sections of the society, it is charged at a lowcost Rs.15 per dose, compared to Rs 200 and more at the earlier days, and said that everyone should participate in eradicating this disease in the society.
The Director, Dr.Mannam Ebenezer, in his address said that it was a redletter day in history of Karigiri for taking initiative, in creating an awareness and reaching to all the people about this vaccination ,compared to Hepatitis B, leprosy is less in the society, but causing more devastating, effects on patients in terms of nerve damage. There is no vaccination available to prevent leprosy, Hepatitis B, has a vaccination available at a very low affordable cost which could be utilized by everyone, and avoid spreading of this disease. He also proposed for a conduct of study on the benefits, achieved through this vaccination and thanked CMC, BMS Coordinators and Dr. Lavanya Jacob, Pediatrician, for organizing this project at our hospital. Through the Department of Community Health 43 children were vaccinated at this inaugural function.
Haggai Seminar
The Christian Leadership Seminar conducted by the Haggai Institute was held at SIHRLC Karigiri from 22nd to 24th October was very meaningful for each of the 19 participants. There were various sessions that covered important topics like Integrity, Biblical Mandate for Evangelism, Leadership, communication and Goal setting, all with the Haggai Seminar Christian Leader in mind. The awe inspiring sessions, touching testimonies and amazing experiences of each of the faculty in this field, was an enriching experience for the participants. The feedback received from the participants indicated that each one was touched by these sessions. The participants felt that they have been enabled to become effective Christian leaders. Thanks for the Institution and the Haggai Institute.
Mr.David Prakash Kumar
Dept of Physiotherapy
Welcome and Hospitality received at Karigiri
The St. Olaf Biology in south India students, Paul Ranum, Leah Anderson, and John Hartzheim have had a wonderful experience here at the Schieffelin Institute of Health-Research and Leprosy Centre. Our time was spent in the successful completion of independent research projects in the departments of Physiotherapy and Ophthalmology.
Leah’s Project focused on an evaluation of the current school vision screening programs and an assessment of the barriers to gaining access to children’s eye care services. Gathering data consisted of conducting school vision screening at a local chool, analyzing vision screening data recorded by the ophthalmology department over the past four years, interviewing the ophthalmology staff, and conducting a community survey asking caregivers questions about their children’s eye health.
Paul had the pleasure of working with the physiotherapy department on a project involving nerve sensation in the feet. The objective of his study was to measure the levels in foot sensation in two different populations, barefoot rural laborers nd shoe wearing office workers, in order to assess the sensivity of the Semmes Weinstein sensory test for both footwear-wearing and non-footwear wearing patients.
John spent the month working with the physiotherapy Department as well, re-examining data from a leprosy patient steroid regimen study carried out at SIHRLC several years back. Patient charts from the study were evaluated using sensory and voluntary muscle test scores obtained over the course of the study. Improvement or decline innerves function for each patient will be determined based on change in the test scores. The goal of the tudy is to correlate improvement with a particular steroid regimen, while taking into consideration factors such as duration of nerve function impairment prior to steroid treatment. Although results are not yet formatted, they will be available to SIBRLC in the near future.
Some of the lasting impressions that were gained from our projects include our experiences with the welcoming nature and hospitality of both the staff here at SIHRLC and of the members of the local communities. People were always willing to step out of their way to provide assistance and advice. Without the help of many of the staff here at SIHRLC our projects would not have been a success
Leah, Paul & John
ChaplaincySt. Luke’s chapel Sunday school retreat was held on 28th Nov at MBKG pannai kasam, 59 children participated.The resource persons were from Children’s Evangelical Fellowship Vellore and led the retreat on the theme “Joy of God”. Programmes such as teaching new songs, skits, group discussion, puppet show and bible stories were organised to make the retreat more meaningful. All these programmes helped children to spend a day with god and to his receive his blessings. |
Interhouse Cultural Competition
The Inter-house cultural competition between four houses namely, Kurinji, Tulip, Daffodil and Jasmine was conducted on 26th Friday at the Auditorium. The programme began with an opening Prayer by Rev. T.Devadoss, Dr. Samuel Solomon welcomed the gathering and Mrs. Valsa Augustine, Introduced the judges. The judges’ panel included Mrs. Emma Koshi, a social worker who had been a longtime associate of Karigiri, Mrs. Vatsala, Headmistress, Kings Matriculation School, Kasam and Dr. Jayanthi Abraham Professor from VIT.
Each House was given a time span of 15 minutes to perform cultural events. The Podapone-zoo zoo dance of Tulip and tambourine instrument group dance of Daffodil house were much appreciated.
The judges announced the much-awaited results. Tulip house was declared as the best House, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places, went to Kurinji, Daffodil and Jasmine. The best Individual performance title was given to Ms. Cheryll’s solo dance from Tulip.
First runner up individual performance went to Kurinji’s medley. The best in each house was as follows tambourine group dance to Daffodil, jokes in Jasmine, skit in Kurinji and group dance in Tulip. Mrs. Emma Koshi one of the judges appreciated the talent, performance and creativity of participants. The Director Dr.Mannam Ebenezer said that audience had wonderful time watching this cultural program. The talents and creativity of 
the younger generation has to be nurtured, He thanked the judges for giving their precious time in coming and judging this cultural competition.
Nurses League ConferenceThe National Nurses League CMAI Conference was held on November 25th to 27that Thiruvalla in Kerala. Mrs. Kanthimathi, staff nurse, Mrs. Angeline Salomi, nursing tutor, Myself along with 5 nursing students attended. The conference for the nurses was based on the theme “sharing the Pain”. The values of leading a committed Christian our day-to-day work activities of caring for the patients were highlighted making the conference meaningful. During the cultural program the nurses from Kargiri participated and performed a skit based on stigma associated with leprosy patients in the society, their rejection and their emotional pain and stress. The skit brought out the message they should not be rejected from the society and have to be accepted as one among us to be given love, are and affection. In a mono acting competition, I played the role of Moses in the burning bush, for which I was offered 5th prize. On the whole it was a memorable event for all the participants who attended this conference. We thank the institution for giving us an opportunity to attend this conference. Mrs.Devanayagi
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Christmas Carol Service
The much-awaited Carol service was held at the Auditorium on 16th December. The Director Dr. Mannam Ebenezer lighted the candle and began the program. At the start of program, the prelude o come, o come Immanuel was played melodiously by Dr. Samuel Solomon (keyboard) and Mr.Raja Samuel (violin). Rev. T. Devadoss gave a short Christmas message, reflecting on star of east and Magi depicting Joy, Hope, Guidance
and a new life. The choir team praised god through carols in different languages such as English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, sadri and Khasi. Among these the tribal song, Sadri language sung by Dr. Bina and team, Khasi tribal solo song by Dr. Benjamin received much applause of the audience. The Director, Dr.Mannam Ebenezer said that it was a wonderful carol service of different language carols, all reflecting on the birth of Jesus coming into this world to save us. He congratulated Dr.Daniel. K. Mani for organizing it wonderfully with a special appreciation to Dr. Bina, Dr. Benjamin, Dr. Samuel and Mr. Raja Samuel. The final prayer and benediction was pronounced by Rev. Harris Suganandam.
Award to Mr.Kulothungan
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I am proud to announce that Mr. A. D. Kulothungan (who has been both my patient and a friend here at Karigiri for the past 30 years) has been recognised for his services to Patients Affected by Leprosy at the national level. He was recently awarded the “National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities” instituted by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This award was presented by the President Mrs. Prathiba Patel in New Delhi on December 3, 2010. He has earlier received the award in 2002, and I am overjoyed that he was selected for this award for the second time. This exemplifies his interest in continuing to serve the differently-abled, in spite of having Hansen’s himself. He is a role model for all of us, and especially those with Hansen’s disease.
Patient’s Cheer Christmas Program
As part of celebrating Christmas with patients to convey the message of Christ’s Love, Joy and Hope was celebrated on 15th December. The Program began with an opening prayer by Rev.T.Devadoss. Mrs.Rita Vanmalar, staff nurse, welcomed the gathering and the Administrative Manager introduced the Chief Guest Mr.Arulappan, Professor from Voorhees college.
The Chief Guest addressing patients, spoke on the birth of Jesus into this world. He said His birth was conveyed to the poor community like the shepherds, and the three wiseman of Mesapotomia. Similarly today god is among the poor. sick, rejected, and those who face defeat in life. He also said that one doesn’t become rich by following Jesus, as Jesus himself was poor and worked as a carpenter. He gives his peace and eternal life to those who follow him and this is the greatest gift in life. So let us be free from our fear, anxiety and follow the almighty Lord Jesus who will not forsake but will bless and lead us in this world. He wished everyone a Happy Christmas and New year.
On behalf of the Director the Administrative Manager expressed his thanks to the chief guest for giving his time to come and for the meaningful and thoughtful message. Mrs. Mahila Adline Nursing manager proposed vote of thanks. The prayer and benedition was pronounced by Rev. T.Devadoss.