And the HEAT Begins--March 2016 in Rajahmundry

Pay phones on the street of Rajahmundry...

The wire is strung across trees, bushes and whatever is accessible.

It is also portable. Just unplug the phone cord like a power cord and move it...


Nice shade on this one, huh?

About 125 youth gathered at the Rajahmundry Church House, above the ICICI Bank in Danvaipeta on Monday, March 7th to learn Gospel principles and have Youth Conference. The custom here is to schedule Youth Conferences and other major events on Festival Days--Holidays. This time it was the Hindu Festival for Maha Shivratri--dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva.

The leaders must think we are the "Party Animals" because we seem to always get the assignment to do the games.


Here is the hula hoop step-through relay race.

We also did the "Cat-Rat" game...

A blind-folded Cat must find the Rat.  The Cat says "Cat" and the Rat says "Rat" immediately so that the Cat can listen and go find the Rat.

The rest of the group form a perimeter so protect the Cat from injury.

Here are some of our favorite people...







Elder Rajendran and the rest of the Hyderabad Zone Elders.

Elders Singh from New Delhi and Grimmett from Idaho--our District Leaders in Rajahmundry.


Here is a random photo that Raju Neelapu sent us on What's App...

Raju and his wife, Sudhira are in the smaller heart.

Darla had Indian Cooking Lesson Number Two: Prawns and Egg Curry and Vegetable Rice--Wow!

When we went to check on some aluminum beds we had made for an orphanage in Gumbhariguda--called "Jasodah Anath Ashram Orphanage", we found these guys making bamboo-framed chairs. Notice that to bend the wood it is heated.

Here are some finished hanging chairs.  We are considering purchasing a double hanging love seat chair and shipping it home to Utah to put at the Bear Lake Cabin.

The apprentice becomes the journeyman...at least at making Indian Roti.

Morning walk discoveries...

Post (not mail) box to send letters.


Fire hydrant. Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't.

Huh, abacus and Vedic Maths training summer camp. I remember using a abacus in Junior High school about 1960.

Vedic Mathematics is the name given to the ancient system of Indian Mathematics which was rediscovered from the Vedas between 1911 and 1918 by Sri Bharati Krsna Tirthaji (1884-1960). According to his research all of mathematics is based on sixteen Sutras, or word-formulae. For example, 'Vertically and Crosswise` is one of these Sutras. These formulae describe the way the mind naturally works and are therefore a great help in directing the student to the appropriate method of solution.

We had lunch at Deccan Fried Chicken--DFC.

No sign of Colonel Deccan this time... 

We started walking for an hour in the mornings before the heat of the day sets in. This week we stumbled on this small neighborhood park. It has lots of trees, shrubs and is very clean.

On the way home one day we found this man carrying an Indian flute and dressed in native clothes. He let us take his picture for four rupees and a stainless steel washer. 

OK, so I gave him the washer by mistake...

We had lunch at Dominoes Pizza. Yes! Good pizza and Diet Coke.

We found this medical supply company just down the street from the rented Church space above the ICICI Bank.

Looks like Legacy Home Medical, India Branch.

We came home and found some super Hoddys unloading bricks--throwing three at a time, with no gloves--at our apartment building. We are told that a motorcycle dealership is moving in to the second level of our apartment building.

Inauguration of Two New Vision Centers in Rural India--1 Mar 2016

Two New LDSC-Sponsored L.V. Prasad Eye Institute Vision Centers Open in

Sujatha Nagar and Chebrolu, India

On March 1, 2016 the Sujatha Nagar L.V. Prasad Eye Institute Vision Center was inaugurated by LDSC Humanitarian Missionaries Elder and Sister Newton along with the staff of the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute.

People began to assemble early in the day in anticipation of the opening of the new Vision Center.

Elder Newton had the honor of cutting the ribbon to officially open the Vision Center. There were smiles and excitement all around.

Dr. Gurucharan Singh—surgeon at the nearby Nava Bharat Eye Center in Paloncha, Khammam District—officially opened the eye examination section of the Vision Clinic.

A short public meeting, in which the efforts of the partnering organizations and government leaders were recognized, was held under a canopy in front of the new Vision Center.

 Elder Newton had the opportunity to speak briefly about how strong, happy families are the foundation to every community and nation, and to point out how important health is to families everywhere.

Patient number one was an infant brought by her young mother who was concerned about her new baby.

We next visited the Nava Bharat Eye Centre in nearby Paloncha. People from villages, towns and cities near and far were patiently waiting for the eye care they needed in a comfortable and caring environment. Some people are given free services because of their poverty. Others pay what they can. Still others willingly pay for their own eye care or surgery, plus that of another who cannot afford to pay.

The next day, on 2 March 2016, we traveled to Chebrolu to open a new Vision Center there.

The community was waiting with anticipation and excitement for the inauguration of their new Center.

There were more inauguration ribbons to cut…

Outside…

And inside…

Then it was time to see patient number one—

Seven-year-old Baby Kamadula Madhuri. She had waited with great anticipation with her father to find out how her vision could be improved.

There was no room for a public meeting at this location but this opening was well attended by the leader of the Chebrolu Panchayat, the local Chief Inspector of Police and other local doctors who were champions of this project.

Our two dynamic leaders from L.V. Prasad Eye Institute—

(Left) Dr. Srinivas Marmamula, Section Head of the International Centre for Rural Eye Care

(Right) Uday Kumar, Head of Optometry, Gullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye Care