Pallium India

Rahul, 16 years of age, has Juvenile arthritis. He has been receiving palliative care for many years. He cannot walk due to deformities in his legs and require support for his daily activities. He lives with his mother and his younger brother, who also has Juvenile Arthritis. We at Pallium India have been privileged to be their co-travellers.

Rahul often experiences severe pain and he finds great relief when indulging in his favourite hobby – drawing. Even though he has deformities in his fingers and cannot hold a pencil properly, he always wants to draw. He is so good at it, despite his limitations. Its a joy to watch him intent at his work, poring over his drawing, and his favourite theme is Lord Ganesha. See some of Rahul’s drawings and you will know what we mean. Cheers to our young champion!

Nirmala Palliative Care Centre, a Division of Health Care Charitable Society, has started functioning from their premises in Vadavucode, near Kolenchery in Ernakulam, Kerala. The centre was inaugurated on September 20, 2018, by Dr. D Babu Paul, I.A.S. in the presence of Justice P K Shamsudeen, Adv. V P Sajeendran, M.L.A, Dr. Thomas Varghese, Mr. C V Jacob and dignitaries from the Vadavucode-Puthencruz Grama Panchayat.

The centre provides outpatient, inpatient and home care services. A doctor trained in palliative care is present during day time and available on calls. Nurses are positioned round-the-clock. All the services are free of charge. Contact: Mr. Eliyas at 91 9400660072

Congratulations and best wishes to the team at Nirmala Palliative Care Centre.

An important part of our flood relief work has been restoring physical aids to the differently abled – wheelchairs, walking aids and so on, lost during the chaos of floods.

Here is an example from Varandarappilly, Thrissur, Kerala. M is a cancer patient who had undergone tracheostomy. He lost all belongings including his voice box when his house was inundated in the floods of August 2018.

We had received the request for an electrolarynx via whatsapp, and with the support of local community including Varandarappilly Disaster Response Force (VDRF), we collected the details regarding treatment and family situation, and were able to acquire the voice box for Mr M, who had been fearing that he may have to go through the rest of his life unable to communicate.

Heartiest Congratulations from all of us at Pallium India to our friend Dr. Chitra Venkateswaran, who was conferred the Kairali People Doctor’s Award by Kairali TV Chairman, Shri Mammootty, on September 29, 2018.

Swarga Foundation celebrated their fourth anniversary and the launch of the calendar “Women of Substance” – featuring twelve differently-abled women achievers from across India – at an event in Coimbatore on September 29, 2018.

It was a proud moment for Pallium India as well, since our volunteer, Ashla Rani is one of the women featured in the calendar. Ashla writes:

Imagine that you are watching a spell-binding dance performance and you fall in love with the passion you see in the eyes of the performer. Later, you are told that she cannot hear the music, but she has learnt it from her guru through interpretation!!! She loved dancing from her childhood. In spite of evident obstacles in her path, she and her guru found ways to learn the rhythm. When you are born with a talent and have the passion to take it forward, there is no limit to where you can reach! Prerana, (true to her name, which means ‘inspiration’) encouraged everyone to follow their passion and achieve what was possible, and even those that appear impossible …

It was an honour to be a part of Swarga Foundation’s 4th anniversary celebration and even more so to be featured in their calendar. It was an evening where everyone enjoyed EQUALLY. There were no differences even when each one was different in his/her own way.

Swarga foundation was founded by Swarnalatha, who has been living with multiple sclerosis since 2009. Read more about Swarga Foundation and about Swarnalatha, the founder.