Greetings all.
This month
Kris will chat about her progress starting a breast cancer awareness program, this is a really good piece well worth reading if you want to know how to self examine.
A look at the modifications I have done to my motor cycle to make life easier for Kris and I.
Sodis (Solar
Disinfection (of water)), an update.
Community
activities, Holi; the festival of colour.
And this
month since it is our 21st a FREE gift; YEEE HA.........enter the link then download
a Chris and Kris in India Calendar.
This will save in word or as a Pdf.
Firstly
though as regular readers will know, I have been commenting on the relevance of
the Ten Commandments in our daily lives. I hope you have found it interesting
and perhaps thought provoking at times……..but I'm not done yet.
In the old testament
there are 613 laws given to the Jewish people, these covered such things as
women sleeping outside the camp during their menstrual cycle, when and how to
worship etc. For a full list try ‘aish.com’.
Some will
say these laws are not relevant to us as they were given only to the Jewish
people. This of course includes the ‘Ten commandments’.
Technically when Jesus came, He was the Law, so
any Jewish laws had no meaning if you are a follower of Jesus...but obviously
the Jewish texts are to be revered and so many people still followed Jewish law
(they were Jews before they were Christians)...and that practice has carried
over with the 10 given to Moses into modern times.
The way to understand this is I believe by
understanding covenants.
The covenant that contains these 613 points of law is like a contract. The parties to it were God and Israel. These laws were intended to guide the priests in administering their society.
Christians were never a party to this covenant. So how can one be held to the conditions to a covenant they were not a party to? They cannot.
There is a new covenant. It replaced the old. ‘The new is not like the old’. (Heb. 8)
The new is of the Spirit, and not the letter of the law (Rom. 7:6) However,
The covenant that contains these 613 points of law is like a contract. The parties to it were God and Israel. These laws were intended to guide the priests in administering their society.
Christians were never a party to this covenant. So how can one be held to the conditions to a covenant they were not a party to? They cannot.
There is a new covenant. It replaced the old. ‘The new is not like the old’. (Heb. 8)
The new is of the Spirit, and not the letter of the law (Rom. 7:6) However,
Paul said, ‘Do we
nullify the law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish
the law.
Romans 3:31.
In Mathew we read,
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducee's,
the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with
this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ‘This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ‘This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus does not tell us to ignore the old testament
teachings but to embrace the two greatest of the commandments he has given to
us and by so doing we will obey all Gods commandments, how can we do other than
this if we follow his word. Yes we now live under the new covenant but to
understand Jesus I believe you must also understand what came before.
Researching this series on the commandments has led
me to several conclusions that have surprised me.
Like many Christians we have on the wall of our
main room a framed ‘Ten Commandments’ that we try to live by. Perhaps we should
have (instead of or as well) Matthew 22:34-40.
We now live under the law Jesus gave us but that
does not mean the old testament is somehow ‘out of date’, it can never be, it
is the history of our faith, the foundation of all our beliefs. To read it is
to enlighten one’s self, to help understand why Christ came to save us all when
he did. His purpose in fulfilling the prophesies of His coming in the Old
Testament.
It is also a great read, OK so I admit I skip the who was the son of, son of, parts but there are some great battles, love poems, tales of struggle and endeavour, there is even a talking donkey! The list goes on and on, my favourite story has to be the parting of the sea by Moses, the scientist in me searches for how, was it the wind, freak weather, or was it as depicted in the film 'The ten commandments, where a path was created between two huge walls of water, I admit I have no idea How God did it but the story fascinates me. If you read nothing else in this life read the Old Testament..................what a book! Try not to think 'I am reading the bible.........borrow a copy of a modern translation (no thee's thou's etc) from the library and read it just as a history adventure, its great, it really is!
It is also a great read, OK so I admit I skip the who was the son of, son of, parts but there are some great battles, love poems, tales of struggle and endeavour, there is even a talking donkey! The list goes on and on, my favourite story has to be the parting of the sea by Moses, the scientist in me searches for how, was it the wind, freak weather, or was it as depicted in the film 'The ten commandments, where a path was created between two huge walls of water, I admit I have no idea How God did it but the story fascinates me. If you read nothing else in this life read the Old Testament..................what a book! Try not to think 'I am reading the bible.........borrow a copy of a modern translation (no thee's thou's etc) from the library and read it just as a history adventure, its great, it really is!
I wear a cross as a symbol of my faith, it really
says ‘this was the beginning’ because by dying on it Christ saved us all from
bearing sin ourselves as it had been in the old covenant where sacrifices had
to be made to appease God.
Jesus Christ made for us the ultimate sacrifice
and freed us. So my cross becomes a symbol not of my faith alone but also of my
freedom.
Throughout these writings on the commandments I
have repeatedly said how you live your life is important, I can only hope some
will have been helped by my ramblings! I know some will disagree, sorry, but it
is my belief that accepting Jesus into your life fills a place within you that
will otherwise remain empty. Except Him and you will never be alone again. Kris
and I tell people that there are three in our marriage, Kris, I and Jesus, and
as any engineer will tell you a triangle is the strongest load bearing
structure, so Jesus is our strength and our saviour, He makes our triangle, He
helps carry our load.
SODIS.
Well we
seem to have solved all our problems of algae growth by not allowing the light
to reach the water before purification. On our home water plant this will mean
some plumbing to fit light proof pipes and filter body but for the field model
we are I think ready to go.
It consists
of a panel of galvanised corrugated steel and 2ltr plastic ‘PET’ (food safe)
bottles, and a piece of folded cotton fabric. Total cost per unit under Rs200.
Our home
system and test bed
This is the
algae cause, light getting to the untreated water. TO BE REPLACED! But it has done its job and proved the system works.
We now use
this system to produce all our drinking and food washing water. We run it about
every two or three days. Overnight it filters 10ltrs. This we put out on the steel
‘bed’ in five 2ltr bottles. We do this for two days so we produce all the water
we can store,20ltrs in two ten ltr bottles. As soon as we have used ten ltrs we
repeat the process.
In the
field we will use clean cotton over the mouth of a water jar and pour the
sourced water through it to remove particulates, this water will now go to the
bed in 2ltr ‘pet’ bottles.
One two ltr
bottle for every two litres required by the user. IE, a family may use six litres
a day in which case they will need nine 2ltr bottles. (3x3)
It works
like this:
DAY 1.
Place (in
this case) two full bottles on the back of the bed either early AM or late PM. (The
time can be to suit the user but must remain regular at the chosen time)
Day 2
Move yesterday’s
two forward and place two more on the back of the bed.
Day 3.
Move the
four forward and place two more bottles on the bed.
Day 4,5,6
onward
Remove the
now pure water from the front row of the bed, move others forwards and add two
more bottles to the back of the bed. It takes six hours of sunshine to disinfect
the water, we recommend two days just to be safe, even in summer we get the occasional
cloudy day.
In this way
pure water is produced daily and can be increased as required by the user by
adding more bottles to the cycle.
Rajasthan
has two things this system needs, foul water in plenty and sunshine.
Simply by
using this we can reduce infant deaths dramatically. Approximately 40% of all
infant deaths are caused by foul water; the peak occurs in late summer when the
need for water is greatest and the sources at their most concentrated
lethality.
With the coming
of the monsoon death rates drop dramatically as people collect rain water and
the lakes and pools fill to overflowing. This pattern goes on year after year.
Thousands of children die needlessly.
We are now
trying to find sponsorship to distribute this system and educate people in its
use. Our first stop will be our NGO for advice on fund raising for this sort of
project. We will keep you up to date on progress.
Great news: NGO will give us Rs800 (£1 = Rs 0.93) to build four demonstration units to train their field officers with. The training is more important than the money. They will take them home and show their villages how it works...................a beginning.
Great news: NGO will give us Rs800 (£1 = Rs 0.93) to build four demonstration units to train their field officers with. The training is more important than the money. They will take them home and show their villages how it works...................a beginning.
My other
love.
My Royal
Enfield Classic 500cc desert Storm.
While I was unable to ride (oh great
sadness, five months banned from my bike) I decided to do all those little jobs
on it I wanted to do. By the way, I also did lots of DIY around the house as
and when I could manage.
Kris and I really enjoy our rides out
with the local bike club who are amazed that ‘at our age’ we still go out and
have fun on a bike! For the first few trips we were taken care of to make sure
we were ok, now they don’t bother. Even riding cross country is a challenge
that we do two up. Great fun.
Kris did have one complaint though,
her very small seat (no not hers, the one on the bike), so I decided to replace
it with a riders saddle and do a couple of other mods….
 |
| Without Panniers. The rear rack and carrier is a heavily modified off the shelf system, 'cant fit that to a desert storm mate' |
 |
| And with. |
 |
| Kris's new leather seat |
 |
| Air springing...two tennis balls and rubber bushes hinged at the front. |
 |
| Looking good. |
 |
| The black strip Led's are brake lights, the lower set is indicators they are both really bright. |
 |
| Tool bag. |
All the
leather work (Buffalo) was done by a local shop, he covered the seats the
panniers (single bolt releases them) and the backrest. I modified and fitted it
all, first bike he has ever done. He also made me an excellent tool bag that
fits below the rear rack. Kris now has a comfy seat that is air sprung, please
note the tennis balls and rubber stops under her seat. It really works very
well about 38mm travel! There is also a power socket in the side panel that
charges the satellite navigation system so even if we just turn at random and
end up who knows where we can get home just by pressing a button ‘Take me Home’
…….excellent. I have earphones on so it really is easy to use, saves all the
AAAAH we are lost stress!
On the carrier there are LED’s as repeaters for the brake light and indicators. The boxes at the back left and right each hold a one gallon container for water or fuel. I changed the handle bars to give a little more width and height, 2" up and 2" wider, I find its now sharper to turn and easier to hold on line two up when off road. The headlamp now has a Quartz Halogen 80/100w bulb in it, the bulb that came with the bike was sad to say the least. The number plate is home produced (as is Kris’s) and the backrest is from a different model. Well that’s my baby, hope you enjoyed the tour. Oh and it has tassels.
Holi
The festival of colours. Hindu's celebrate it as part of their faith, the rest of the population celebrates the victory of good over evil and because it is great fun to go around throwing colours at each other. The children run around with water pistols (the adults as well!) and a great time is had by all. This is a celebration by the whole community and brings all faiths together to enjoy simple fun.
Kris lost her head! I turned into this!
GOT HIM, I was the next target!
Aftermath!
We returned home after a mornings fun to be pounced on by two very good Sikh friends who 'got us' Kris and his wife however can be seen in ' Hot pursuit' in the end we all needed a shower! Which of course led to a hose fight From here we went swimming and then ate together. They are a lovely couple who have only been married 4 months.
We know some Christians don't do this but we believe strongly that by involving ourselves in community celebrations we can witness far more often than if we sat indoors with the doors locked.
On the same principle we have sat with Muslims on one of their holy days on a mat on the floor and discussed the differences between our faiths while we ate as honoured guests in their home. We have as guests attended Sikh, Hindu and Christian weddings since we have been here, we are well known and we feel liked by our neighbours and in the shops and local area. We do not say to them 'you are wrong, ours is the only way' we try to show that as Christians we live a different way because of our faith.
We are not tourists.............we live here! This simple comment has introduced us to a side of Indian society that so many never see. We ride with an Indian bike club in which there are Hindu, Sheik, Christian faiths. A short story:
We were riding one day to visit a temple, on a duel carriageway I was running fairly fast with Kris on the back but was being passed by a car to my right. At that moment a cow leapt out from the grassed bushy area of the central reservation into our path, the car slammed on all his brakes as did I and I heaved the bike around the horns of the cow and missed it.(Just)
A little way up the road I stopped and some of the other club members who had seen it were saying how close it had been, I said thank you Lord, that led to a good natured discussion over whether it was my Christian God who saved me, or the Hindu gods who saved the cow! This is an example of how we are always testifying to our faith. God gives us many many opportunities.
On the whole we are no longer treated as 'Rich foreigners' in our local area and are well known because we have really tried hard to integrate. We make no distinction between faiths, colours or castes all are treated with respect and given hospitality in our home. Yes, we have made some humongous mistakes but we usually are politely corrected by friends who are very tolerant of us! Strangely the only people who have a problem with our lifestyle are an Indian Christian couple...........It is perhaps easier for us to be as we are than if we were Indian? No doubt as time passes we will continue to learn more about our adopted country. We both love India, it really feels like 'home' to us, isn't God clever sending us here!
Work
Well as you all know I have been unable to teach in college this semester. I have though spent my time developing Sodis, regaining my strength and generally getting fit again. My two 'Home' English students have kept my hand in and have moved on to be able to speak English as they need to for their work.
Kris has done what I can only call a fantastic job teaching 'conversational English' at college through the use of Art. Her class is popular and her students have shown real progress in their use of English. This was supposed to be a temporary 'lets try it' idea but I hear she will be expanding her classes next semester. I have helped her when I can with different teaching techniques, but this is her class using her style of teaching, and yes I am very proud of her, I know how hard she works to be as good as she can be.
We have been approached by a teacher from a local orphanage to see if we would help by Kris teaching art and crafts and me English. As yet we have not given an answer as we need to clear it through our NGO but we are hopeful and looking forward to a visit before we make a decision.
Ben Westerman and friends visited a while ago to run a sports seminar, all the students had a really good time learning and playing sports together. The girls Frisbee final was positively dangerous! Here are some pictures we may not have shown you. Because there are so many we have transferred them to dropbox, enter link to view or download.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hk156wplke8oml7/PUFswtI49D
Because of space these will only remain available until the next blog (one month) so if you want to copy/download them please do so asap.
Nothing to do with anything but I had to
include it..............Yes I admit it I
am still
a Motorcycle addict!
Home
Janet leaves us soon to return to the UK for summer, we will miss her company and visits. She and a student Annie came for the afternoon this week, we went swimming at the local resort and ate together, Annie is here from Durham for a few weeks working with PMF. While she is here we hope to show her a few of our local sights, oh and she likes riding on bikes! That's a brownie point to begin with! She is also Welsh/Australian, yep, another brownie point!
The temp here hit 94degF this week in the shade. Summer is on the way.
Successes, all our 'green' crops, radish (Indian and English) Carrots, Gourds and Tomatoes, one real failure this year has been the Lettuce, I think we waited to long to germinate the seeds, it got hot very quickly this year.
The bees continue to thrive, we are a little concerned about the summer heat but are still learning so we are listening to any advice we can get..................any bee keeper out there your advice would be most welcome by two complete novices.
Look what Chris found!
Yes, that does say PIZZA HUT! new one opened in Udaipur
even does peperoni and cheesy garlic bread, it was brilliant!
Well that is all from us this month, hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to get your free gift.
Take care
God Bless
Chris and Kris
On the carrier there are LED’s as repeaters for the brake light and indicators. The boxes at the back left and right each hold a one gallon container for water or fuel. I changed the handle bars to give a little more width and height, 2" up and 2" wider, I find its now sharper to turn and easier to hold on line two up when off road. The headlamp now has a Quartz Halogen 80/100w bulb in it, the bulb that came with the bike was sad to say the least. The number plate is home produced (as is Kris’s) and the backrest is from a different model. Well that’s my baby, hope you enjoyed the tour. Oh and it has tassels.
Holi
The festival of colours. Hindu's celebrate it as part of their faith, the rest of the population celebrates the victory of good over evil and because it is great fun to go around throwing colours at each other. The children run around with water pistols (the adults as well!) and a great time is had by all. This is a celebration by the whole community and brings all faiths together to enjoy simple fun.
Aftermath!
We returned home after a mornings fun to be pounced on by two very good Sikh friends who 'got us' Kris and his wife however can be seen in ' Hot pursuit' in the end we all needed a shower! Which of course led to a hose fight From here we went swimming and then ate together. They are a lovely couple who have only been married 4 months.
We know some Christians don't do this but we believe strongly that by involving ourselves in community celebrations we can witness far more often than if we sat indoors with the doors locked.
On the same principle we have sat with Muslims on one of their holy days on a mat on the floor and discussed the differences between our faiths while we ate as honoured guests in their home. We have as guests attended Sikh, Hindu and Christian weddings since we have been here, we are well known and we feel liked by our neighbours and in the shops and local area. We do not say to them 'you are wrong, ours is the only way' we try to show that as Christians we live a different way because of our faith.
We are not tourists.............we live here! This simple comment has introduced us to a side of Indian society that so many never see. We ride with an Indian bike club in which there are Hindu, Sheik, Christian faiths. A short story:
We were riding one day to visit a temple, on a duel carriageway I was running fairly fast with Kris on the back but was being passed by a car to my right. At that moment a cow leapt out from the grassed bushy area of the central reservation into our path, the car slammed on all his brakes as did I and I heaved the bike around the horns of the cow and missed it.(Just)
A little way up the road I stopped and some of the other club members who had seen it were saying how close it had been, I said thank you Lord, that led to a good natured discussion over whether it was my Christian God who saved me, or the Hindu gods who saved the cow! This is an example of how we are always testifying to our faith. God gives us many many opportunities.
On the whole we are no longer treated as 'Rich foreigners' in our local area and are well known because we have really tried hard to integrate. We make no distinction between faiths, colours or castes all are treated with respect and given hospitality in our home. Yes, we have made some humongous mistakes but we usually are politely corrected by friends who are very tolerant of us! Strangely the only people who have a problem with our lifestyle are an Indian Christian couple...........It is perhaps easier for us to be as we are than if we were Indian? No doubt as time passes we will continue to learn more about our adopted country. We both love India, it really feels like 'home' to us, isn't God clever sending us here!
Work
 |
| Kris and her class last session this semester, the boy on the right is Debidutter's (PMF) son who comes in and takes part in some of the classes! Kris bought them the cake. |
Well as you all know I have been unable to teach in college this semester. I have though spent my time developing Sodis, regaining my strength and generally getting fit again. My two 'Home' English students have kept my hand in and have moved on to be able to speak English as they need to for their work.
Kris has done what I can only call a fantastic job teaching 'conversational English' at college through the use of Art. Her class is popular and her students have shown real progress in their use of English. This was supposed to be a temporary 'lets try it' idea but I hear she will be expanding her classes next semester. I have helped her when I can with different teaching techniques, but this is her class using her style of teaching, and yes I am very proud of her, I know how hard she works to be as good as she can be.
We have been approached by a teacher from a local orphanage to see if we would help by Kris teaching art and crafts and me English. As yet we have not given an answer as we need to clear it through our NGO but we are hopeful and looking forward to a visit before we make a decision.
Comments from Kris
This month has flown by I cannot believe it is now nearing the end of
March.
I have been continuing to teach conversational English through Art and
Discussion of everyday life with some female students It has been enjoyable but
very hard at times trying to encourage them to actively speak in English rather
than in Hindi. They enjoy the art it is simply painting pictures I provide
which helps them relax and be less self-conscious about speaking in front of each
other.
Now for a subject that is very close to my heart (no pun intended)
Breast Cancer, I have a close relative who is currently undergoing treatment
for Breast Cancer and she is just one year younger than me. For all those who
wondered but were too polite to ask I will be 55 this year, and yes I am in the
higher risk group.
I am busy re writing my breast cancer awareness programme which I have
previously delivered to villagers in Pai. I believe this is a vital programme
and when I did it in the village (female villagers walked from their own
villagers to Pai where I had a room for the health programme) I got one young
lady who had been so convinced by everyone in her village that she was to
prepare for death as they told her she had breast cancer. She walked 20Kms to
come and hear me and came back the following week when I found out through an interpreter
what she had been told. Bless her she was extremely scared and had a very young
baby whom she had been breast feeding but had stopped, following advice from
her friends in the village. The reason to stop was so the baby would not get
the cancer from her milk. It was a huge relief to me that upon examination it
was very obvious that she had mastitis following the birth of her baby. I could
reassure and get her to see the local doctor for antibiotics and a further
check from him and that using warm cloths on the breast and continuing to
breast feed, taking the antibiotics for the mastitis all would alleviate the
symptoms. It was like a death sentence had been lifted from her as her facial
expressions changed when she understood what I was saying, she was told to
continue doing the self-breast examination as this would enable her to deal
with any problems in the breasts as soon as they were detected. I was informed
by the village field agent employed by our NGO that following antibiotics and
my advice she was now ok. If she is the only person I will help doing this
programme I will still feel it was worth it.
However I feel that the programme needs adapting and more information
needs to be given so I am in the middle of changing it I will give a brief
overview of the process to explain.
I plan to take the programme to the following areas, villages as I have
done previously around Udaipur, community centres or the Indian equivalent meeting
place for ladies if you know what I mean and to schools to speak to the older
girls, female teachers and the children’s mothers.
We are writing a script then making a video to show the method of SBE
and to explain what is normal and what to look for when doing your own
self-examination.
The programme will include a short introduction from me, who I am and
why I am there, a video, opportunity for questions and answers and if required
I will do individual breast examination techniques in a private area there will
be a Hindi interpreter throughout the programme, and I will give a leaflet
explaining in images how to do self-breast examination (SBE) I will also
include information for follow-up consultation with breast cancer doctors at
both the American GBH Hospital (without medical insurance this will have to be
paid for) and the government RMT College Hospital. (Government hospital offers
free medical treatment and consultation to Indian citizens)
I then plan to show the short video which shows how to perform self-breast
examination and discusses other breast related issues i.e. discharge from the
nipple, more about this later. I believe that by using video as well as the
discussion it will reinforce the message and take away the fear of the
examination method. It is really simple to do, but most of us learn by watching
demonstrations so the video is important.
Do you know why men have nipples? importantly men can and do get breast
cancer, It is simply that the nipples develop in the womb before the sex of the
baby is decided, however I am concentrating on women only at this time. (Sorry
guys).
Why I am doing this and what does it involve? I will try to explain. A
breast self-examination involves the woman checking her own breasts to help
detect any breast problems or changes. Many breast problems are first
discovered by the women themselves, often by accident. Breast lumps can be
noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Breast cancer can occur at any
age, though most common in women older than 50.
Breast self-examination involves checking your breasts for lumps or
changes such as mastitis or cysts whilst standing and lying in different
positions and whilst looking at your breasts in a mirror to note any changes in
their appearance. Remember every woman’s breasts will look different we are
individuals, but once you know what your breasts normally look and feel like
you will be able to identify any lumps or changes. If you notice changes or
have concerns this is the time to get a doctors opinion, but remember most
breast problems and changes are not because of cancer.
The best time to examine your breasts is usually one week after your
menstrual cycle/period begins, when your breast tissue is least likely to be
swollen or tender. If your menstrual cycle is irregular, or you have stopped
menstruating due to the menopause or following removal of the uterus by
hysterectomy, do your examination on a day of the month that is easy to
remember.
Pregnant and breast feeding women can continue to examine their breasts every month. It is best to examine after breast feeding or after using the breast pump so the breasts have as little milk in them as possible making examination easier and more comfortable
Pregnant and breast feeding women can continue to examine their breasts every month. It is best to examine after breast feeding or after using the breast pump so the breasts have as little milk in them as possible making examination easier and more comfortable
The woman will need to remove all clothing from above the waist and lie
down. Lying down helps the breast tissue to spread evenly over the chest wall
and is as thin as possible making it much easier to feel the breast tissue.
Using the pads of the 3 middle fingers of your left hand not your fingertips
check your right breast, by moving fingers slowly in small coin sized circles.
Use 3 different levels of pressure to feel all the breast tissue. Light
pressure to feel tissue close to skin surface, Medium pressure to feel a little
deeper and firm pressure to feel tissue close to breastbone and ribs. A firm
ridge in the lower curve of each breast is normal. Use each pressure level to
feel your breast tissue before moving on to the next spot.
Check your entire breast using a lengthwise strip pattern, feeling all
the tissue from collarbone to the bra line and from the armpit to the
breastbone. Start in the armpit and work down to the bottom of the bra line,
move one finger width towards the middle and work up to the collarbone. Repeat
until you have covered the entire breast and repeat the same procedure for the
left breast.
You can also examine your breasts using a spiral pattern; again use the
3 different levels of pressure. Avoid lifting your fingers away from the skin
as you feel for lumps, unusual thicknesses or changes of any kind.
Remember most breast tissue has some lumps or thick tissue. When in
doubt about a particular lump, check your other breast. If you find the same
kind of lump in the same area on the other breast, both breasts are probably
normal. Pay attention to any lump that feels much harder than the rest of your
breast. If you find anything that concerns you visit the doctor.
Remember the important thing is to learn what is normal for you and to
report any changes to the doctor. Most changes you find will not be cancer but
should be checked. These changes may include:
Any new lump. It may or may not be painful to touch. Unusual thick
areas. Sticky or bloody discharge from
your nipples. Any changes in the skin of your breasts or nipples, such as
puckering or dimpling. Inverted nipple. An unusual increase in the size of one
breast. One breast unusually lower than the other
In
addition to examining your breasts whilst lying down, you may also check them
while in the shower, as soapy fingers slide easily across the breast and may
increase your chances of detecting a change. It’s easy to do stand in the
shower place one arm over your head and lightly soap your breast on that side.
Then using the flat surface of your fingers not the fingertips gently move your
hand over your breast (using the strip pattern I described above) feeling
carefully for any lumps or thickened areas.
I
hope that all women all over the world will do breast self-examinations and if
this piece can help educate and encourage others I will be happy.
In
The Times of India newspaper 28/3/14 there is an interesting article on the
front page. WHO declares India polio free, isn’t that fantastic news. India is
now one of the 11 countries in the South East Asian Region which has been
certified as being free of the wild polio virus. The Union Minister Ghulam Nabi
Azad received the official certificate at a function on Thursday 27th
March 2014. India has been polio free since Jan 2011 after embarking on a
programme in 1995 to eradicate the disease which used to cripple more than
50,000 children in the country every year. This is really tremendous news; I
just had to share it with you.
I
am still amazed at riding in traffic in the city, Udaipur City the other day
was like an Indian version of the M25 at standstill nothing moving in any
direction. It was chaos and I was in the middle of it luckily when it did inch
forward I know lots of side streets to get out of trouble. I had an embarrassing
moment yesterday, I was out in shopping, I pulled over my scooter at a fruit
and vegetable stall which I use regularly. It was very busy as usual with
little space for parking, I got my goods then went to my bike to climb on but
before I could do so I slipped on the loose dirt and stones and pulled my bike
over, literally dropping it. No damage done just mega embarrassed and a little
bruise on my arm. The locals helped me up and checked I was ok, moral of the
story ensure I park on flat even surface even if it means parking and walking
to the stall.
Chris
and I are going to embark upon an exercise programme at home, I need to tone up
and strengthen my leg and knee muscles, I still do my exercises following the
knee surgery but I need to extend the range more. I am much more active now I
can walk a lot further go up and down stairs normally, but still can’t kneel. I
still get some pain but for those of you out there who don’t know I now take
very little in the way of pain killers. I have stopped using the pain patches
(Fentanyl which is a controlled drug) the strong pain killers and pain block
drugs I was using. I now use paracetamol and an occasional stronger pain killer
when I have overdone the exercise etc. I still get the need to have the drugs
but have remained strong for several months now and will continue to stay off
them God willing. I know I was addicted to prescribed pain killers and will
probably always have to fight that urge but with Chris’s help I have coped and
I feel really good about it.
I
am so happy to have Chris riding his bullet again being out with him riding has
been so good this last week and I have missed it, but probably not as much as
him. As Chris has already said we had a really good time celebrating with
friends and neighbours the festival of Holi which is good over evil. It is a
fun time and also a good opportunity for us all to share our faith.
Well that's my bit done again, more next month.
Ben Westerman and friends visited a while ago to run a sports seminar, all the students had a really good time learning and playing sports together. The girls Frisbee final was positively dangerous! Here are some pictures we may not have shown you. Because there are so many we have transferred them to dropbox, enter link to view or download.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hk156wplke8oml7/PUFswtI49D
Because of space these will only remain available until the next blog (one month) so if you want to copy/download them please do so asap.
Nothing to do with anything but I had to
include it..............Yes I admit it I
am still
a Motorcycle addict!
 |
| Hoppy feeling the heat, 92degF. |
 |
| Ant city........in our neighbours garden.....best left alone, this was built in about a month! There must be millions of ants in it they are tiny but ferocious. |
Home
Janet leaves us soon to return to the UK for summer, we will miss her company and visits. She and a student Annie came for the afternoon this week, we went swimming at the local resort and ate together, Annie is here from Durham for a few weeks working with PMF. While she is here we hope to show her a few of our local sights, oh and she likes riding on bikes! That's a brownie point to begin with! She is also Welsh/Australian, yep, another brownie point!
The temp here hit 94degF this week in the shade. Summer is on the way.
Successes, all our 'green' crops, radish (Indian and English) Carrots, Gourds and Tomatoes, one real failure this year has been the Lettuce, I think we waited to long to germinate the seeds, it got hot very quickly this year.
The bees continue to thrive, we are a little concerned about the summer heat but are still learning so we are listening to any advice we can get..................any bee keeper out there your advice would be most welcome by two complete novices.
Look what Chris found!
Yes, that does say PIZZA HUT! new one opened in Udaipur
even does peperoni and cheesy garlic bread, it was brilliant!
Well that is all from us this month, hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to get your free gift.
Take care
God Bless
Chris and Kris
