CHRISTMAS
2014
NEWSLETTER
ISSUED IN DECEMBER 2014
CHRISTMAS:
WHAT A TENDERNESS
A GOD THAT IS IN NEED
AS WE ARE;
WHO KNOWS THE PLEASURE
OF FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE
AS WE DO:
WHO HAS TO FLEE AT AN EARLY AGE
AS MANY OF US HAVE TO
AND WHO WAS DOUBLE-CROSSED BY LIFE
LIKE OTHERS TOO.
ABSOLUTE POWER, STRENGTH AND SIZE
HAS NEVER RESCUED ANYONE.
BUT THE OMNIPRESENT TENDERNESS
IS A GREAT COMFORT.
FULBERT STEFFENSKY
DEAR FRIENDS OF OUR SHANTI-FAMILY,
We do not have to continue
to livein the same way we used to live.
Detach yourself from this view
and thousands of possibilities
invite us to start a new life.
Christian Morgenstern
When we all put our clocks forward on the last
weekend of October, resulting in darkness coming
much earlier, I realised one thing: 2014 is coming
to an end. What a politically difficult year! The media repeatedly reported on the start of World War I
and the unbelievable suffering that it inflicted, this
therefore being our past.
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At the same time, we repeatedly hear reports
on the news about the military conflicts that are
currently taking place – some of them close to
Europe and others in remote parts of our world.
I – and certainly many of you too – often felt a
sensation of powerless desperation when I tried
to imagine the horror. And the following question
popped up automatically: What can I as a single
person do in the face of such endless suffering?
How fast this question can result in resigned passiveness, and the trap of helpless inactivity snaps
shut. This only makes us sad and paralyses our
inner strength, but it does not help anyone at all.
CHRISTMAS
2014
In such moments when I sense such a trace of
resignation, I recall the touching hopeful African
saying:
Many small people,
in many small places,
that take many small steps,
can change the face of the world.
And that‘s really what happens: we notice ourselves how our mood improves as soon as a person looks at us with a radiant smile. When we are
happy then we achieve something, bring about
changes, even if they are initially only small ones
that are hardly noticeable.
This reminds me of how small the beginnings of
Shanti have been in 1992! And how widespread
the offers of help the people at Shanti can now
place their trust in – thanks to the loyal support of
so many of you!
Leprosy, this terrifying disease that made people
„lepers“ or the abandoned ones in biblical times –
in Nepal this disease has lost much of its terror
as its consequences are now controllable. This
diagnosis caused panic just two decades ago, but
nowadays, the patients are told to „Go to Shanti!
They will help you!!!“
Nobody had ever dared to hope that we would
succeed in taking such a decisive step! The step in
the direction of being a reliable place to be where
the worries and especially the fears of each of the
people are taken seriously and lovingly deprived of
their power.
I am firmly convinced that this path leads away
from the own resignation. And I am repeatedly
astoundingly thankful for the fact that you have
taken this path with us; that you have not resigned
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in view of the enormous number of those who are
in existential need. After all, one thing is clear to
us: each donation is backed by your trust that we
are able to be of assistance – with both large and
small amounts.
The greatest problem can be coped with if one
takes a step in the direction of reaching a solution.
This grippingly positive attitude forms the foundation on which Shanti has been built. Today, Shanti
cares for around 1,000 people in need. I would
never have dared to dream this when we started
providing assistance in Nepal!
I was recently looking through some old photos
and I was deeply moved while looking at so many
familiar faces and it became clear to me, how
many people we have enabled together to live a
life in dignity, but also to a lovingly accompanied
death.
After all, one thing has to be clear to us: Nepal is
so poor that there is no welfare whatsoever for the
poor, except for the 3.70 Euros per month widow‘s
pension for women aged over 60. I believe that
in our society that is secured in so many different
ways, we have difficulty in imagining how unsecured life in Nepal is.
PEOPLE AT SHANTI
Shanti is therefore a highly diversified protective
space, e.g. for the outcast young ones such as five
year old Justina. She was brought by a woman
who said that she is the aunt of the girl. Her
mother unfortunately was no longer able to feed
her. But the child always called her „Mama“ … Later
she explained: the mother got married to a new
husband from whom she had a son. So the daugh-
CHRISTMAS
2014
ter of the previous man was no longer wanted! At
least it was the best that she brought the child to
us! Justina immediately searched for „her“ family:
Kopita‘s family (I told you about Kopita exactly one
year ago). Justina saw Kopita‘s mother Kolpana,
immediately crawled onto her lap and never left
her since then.
The warm-hearted Kolpana then took her into her
minute apartment with the 18 year-old Kopita, the
3 year-old Alok and her sick husband Krishna, as
if it was the most natural thing to do. I would like
to impart my pleasure about this development to
you, by translating the mail that Kopita wrote to
me recently:
„I have some wonderful news: I have a new sister.
She is so sweet! When I am annoyed, she comes
to me and says very courteously: „Big sister, why
are you so annoyed?“ and then I start laughing. I
am so happy that she is with me! She loves me so
much that she does not want to be without me –
she always needs me. I always thank God that he
has given me such a sweet sister, a brother and a
family.“
As a protective space Shanti also protects the most
severely disabled children such as Uttam. This
week, he is taking his final path on our nursing
ward. He has been living at Shanti for the past nine
years. Nobody knows his story. He was simply left
there. Uttam is suffering from kidney failure and is
in a state of stupor, but now and again a compassionate patient sits at his bedside, caressing his
hand and causing Uttam to smile.
Also abandoned old people such as Champa find
protection. She was a nuisance for her family
so she was brought to us. Her fingers and toes
are deformed due to the leprosy, she is lean and
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fragile but her golden heart makes her a helpful
and lovable Shanti grandma who is also capable of
giving love. She reared our puppies that nowadays
protect the ward as two powerful guard dogs and
rat catchers. She cares for the new-borns and their
mothers, and in addition she is cleaning the office
every morning. Champa is loved and also loves
herself.
It is these small everyday pleasures that make the
family life lively and warm. This is why we are
repeatedly thankful to you for helping us to buy a
piece of fruit for everyone or cook caramels from a
sack of sugar.
At Tihar, the large festival of light that takes place
in October, we were able to give everyone a real
festive meal. Someone had even written „For meat
for the festival!“ on the payment transfer slip.
Everybody was excited and the cooking turned
into a happy joint effort with the men also lending
a helping hand.
Although I have been a vegetarian for decades, I
did not begrudge the Shanti members their enjoyment of chicken with all my heart. The chicken is
to the festival what the goose is to Christmas or
the blue carp to New Year´s Eve for us.
MUKESH‘S FISH FARM
Talking of carp brings me to our latest project that
is linked with the story of a patient and his family
that originates from Shanti.
18 years ago, a teenager named Mukesh came to
us in the clinic. The doctors had diagnosed a bone
marrow inflammation affecting the lower leg and
they only saw one way to save him: the leg had to
be amputated but he did not have the money for
it. A friend of ours, a pharmacist in Germany, sent
CHRISTMAS
2014
us expensive wound dressings that had been
impregnated with penicillin and we succeeded
in saving his leg. Then we helped the wiry
young man to train as a motor vehicle mechanic. We were very pleased when Sati Devi, our
lovable and gentle kindergarten teacher, fell in
love with Mukesh.
Sati Devi was at the end of her twenties – almost too old to marry for a Nepalese woman.
As the obedient daughter of her parents who
suffered from leprosy, she had waited for them
to find a husband for her. She was a member of
the Brahman caste, so she was a member of the
highest Hindu caste. The parents insisted that
she marries a Brahman, but which Brahman
would marry a woman with parents suffering
from leprosy, so that she was obviously cursed
by the Gods? A woman who was also still poor?
So they married against her parent‘s wishes. Sati
Devi soon became pregnant. I can still recall
her radiant face when she took her little son
into her arms directly after having given birth.
I was by her side, holding her hand until the
contractions started and the entire Shanti family
celebrated happily when the mother and child
returned to the centre from the gynaecological
clinic.
Mukesh wanted to provide his family with a
financial basis and went to Arabia as an unskilled worker for a period of three years – this
is where Nepalese helpers are now building
the FIFA stadium. Upon his return, he invested
all his money in a small agricultural enterprise.
Together with two partners, he built fish ponds,
bred pigs and cultivated a small amount of
rice. However, his business partners deceived
him and Mukesh was quite desperate. The fish
farm had been such a success! Restaurants and
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private people had only been too pleased to buy the
tasty fish. In his desperation, Mukesh wanted to return
to an Arabian country in order to earn some money
for a new start. This would have meant again three
years of hard work in besetting heat, living together
with others in smallest dormitories, the only contact
with his family being via Skype – and at the end of all
that torture savings of just around 2,000 euros.
Heiko and I were able to convince him that we need
his competence at Shanti and we were extremely
pleased when Mukesh agreed to stay. He vigorously
assumed responsibility for the agriculture in Sundarijal and together with the patients there, he built
new fish ponds. The strip of land that the pond was
created in is not very fertile.
A few weeks ago, hundreds of small carp were placed
in the pond and the school children look forward to
go on a trip to Sundarijal to see how the minute animals have turned into really big fish! I am so thankful
to you that you all enabled us to do this with your
solidarity!
The enclosed elephant is a sign of the gratitude our
patients feel. They have been cutting the forms out
and painting them since the summer. An elephant
with a raised trunk means „good luck“ in the Nepalese
culture and it goes without saying that we wish you
all the same!
I would now like to greet you in a heartfelt manner
with the New Year‘s Blessing from Klaus Peter
Hertzsch that is on the back of this letter and I hope
that his confidence shall also accompany you into the
new year.
Please remain protected!
Yours
Marianne Grosspietsch
CHRISTMAS
2014
NEW YEAR‘S BLESSING
THE NEW DAYS OPEN THEIR DOORS.
THEY CAN DO WHAT THE OLD ONES COULD NOT.
IN FRONT OF US THE PATH THAT LEADS FAR AWAY:
THE FIRST STEP. IN THE COUNTRY. TO THE HORIZON.
WE DO NOT KNOW WHETHER WE SHALL ARRIVE AT OUR DESTINATION.
BUT WE START OFF. BUT STEP FOLLOWS AFTER STEP.
AND AT LAST WE UNDERSTAND: THE DESTINATION WAS ACCOMPANYING US;
AS THE ROUTE DECIDES AND HE WHO STARTS IT,
THE LORD OF TIME ACCOMPANIES US EVERY DAY
KLAUS PETER HERTZSCH
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