Sarah and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire last night. It depicts a boy growing up in the slums of Mumbai, who eventually finds his way onto India's version of the t.v. game show "Who wants to be a millionaire?"
The horror of the movie is that the suffering and poverty are all too believable. Is Jobat like the slums of Mumbai? Not exactly. The issues are different, but some of the themes are the same: access to nutrition, health care and education for poor kids; threats of violence from religious extremists; corruption of public officials.
In spite of the suffering, we see joy and goodness. The plot is ingenious and the movie is well-crafted. Good food for thought.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Eggs and Bricks
Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada has set up two funds to benefit the children in Jobat.
1. The Sam Travis-Miller Memorial ("Eggs") fund flows to the children of Jobat at the discretion of the local leadership (the principal of the school, the superintendent of the hospital and the minister of the church). Sam's family raises funds in Canada, the WMS transfers those funds twice-annually to Jobat India, and the local leadership reports annually on the use of the money. The only stipulation is that the money must benefit the children of Jobat.
1. The Sam Travis-Miller Memorial ("Eggs") fund flows to the children of Jobat at the discretion of the local leadership (the principal of the school, the superintendent of the hospital and the minister of the church). Sam's family raises funds in Canada, the WMS transfers those funds twice-annually to Jobat India, and the local leadership reports annually on the use of the money. The only stipulation is that the money must benefit the children of Jobat.
School children in Jobat India
2. The Jobat Hostel ("Bricks") fund is being raised specifically to build a new hostel for the children from outlying villages who board at the Jobat school. The existing hostel lacks latrine facilities and is located some distance from the school, outside the safe compound. For $25 you can give a brick in honour of a loved one.
Rev. Sarah Travis with children in Jobat
Donations will be gratefully received by:
Women's Missionary Society
50 Wynford Dr.
Don Mills ON M3C 1J7
Please make cheques payable to Women's Missionary Society
and indicate Sam Travis-Miller Memorial or Jobat Hostel in the memo line
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The India Connection Part 3
At Sam's funeral in October 2007, we asked our friends to make memorial donations to the Jobat Christian Hospital so that kids there could have a chance like he did. We raised over $20,000 which was enough to refurbish the whole children's ward and equip two pediatric critical care beds. The community decided to name the new ward after Sam. In January 2008, Sarah and her father traveled to Jobat with a delegation from the Women's Missionary Society. While they were there they helped to cut the ribbon at the new children's ward.
Slide show of WMS India trip January 2008 (4 minutes 46 seconds)
The WMS group toured the hospital and the school and the church in Jobat and also in several surrounding villages. Part of the school in Jobat is a hostel (dormitory) where children can stay if their home is too far away to walk back and forth each day. The children are provided with meals and a place to sleep, but the conditions are poor.
Sarah asked what the children eat. The only food available is a bowl of porridge each day. Sarah had some cash from Sam's memorial fund and she gave it to the principal of the school to augment their nutrition. The next day the principal told her "they had eggs today". An egg in Jobat costs about 2.5 rupees or about $.08 Cdn.
The children sleep on bare concrete with inadequate bedding, with sacks of food stacked in the room. There are no latrines in the building, and the school compound is a distance away, so children must walk up the street. In a province where Hindu extremists have targeted Christians, the safety of these children is a concern. The WMS representatives decided to start raising funds for a new hostel in Jobat.
January 10 2006 (The India Connection Part 2)
On 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday January 10 2006, Sarah was in a staff meeting at the church. Wilma Welsh announced that the Jobat Christian Hospital had received the money from Sam's baptism and they had successfully installed a new baby warmer in the maternity ward.
At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday January 10th 2006, the paramedics arrived at our house. Paul and Sam were at home recovering from the flu and there was something very wrong with Sam. He was in shock. The paramedics rushed him to Emerg at the Guelph General. The team there revived him and sent him to McMaster University Children's Hospital by air ambulance.
Our email updates about Sam's situation reached Pauline Brown in Jobat, India. The church held a special service of prayer and the schoolchildren in Jobat said prayers for Sam's healing.
After two weeks at McMaster, Sam was well enough to come home to Guelph, but then in February he developed blood clots in his liver and had to go back to McMaster. By the end of March, the team at McMaster had done everything they could for Sam and so he was admitted to the liver transplant program at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario in London. By the end of April, Sam was well enough to come home to Guelph once again while we waited for a donor liver.
We got the call at 2:00 a.m. on July 27th and Sam underwent his first liver transplant surgery. The surgery was successful but then the setbacks came one after another. His immune system rejected the biliary tissue in the new liver... four bowel obstructions in 6 weeks... back on the transplant list... in December, emergency surgery to repair a diaphragmatic hernia. Sarah resigned her position at Knox Church in Guelph to care for Sam full-time.
Christmas 2006 with Santa at the Eaton Centre in Toronto
In 2007, Sam was still on the waiting list but he was home most of the time. Sarah decided to go back to school. We sold our house in Guelph and moved to Mississauga. We took lots of day trips to Niagara Falls and the zoo.
Ben and Sam August 2007
At 4:00 a.m. on October 4th 2007, we got the call once again. Sam underwent his second transplant surgery. It did not go well. The clots came back. The transplant team expedited yet another transplant and Sam had his third surgery on October 6th. Unfortunately, the strain was too much and his heart stopped on October 7th. It was Thanksgiving Sunday, Sam's 3rd birthday. Most of the family was at the hospital, so we all got a chance to hold him for a few minutes and say good-bye.
On the long sombre drive home without Sam, we thought about the kids in Jobat and wondered how we might help them and honour Sam at the same time.
At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday January 10th 2006, the paramedics arrived at our house. Paul and Sam were at home recovering from the flu and there was something very wrong with Sam. He was in shock. The paramedics rushed him to Emerg at the Guelph General. The team there revived him and sent him to McMaster University Children's Hospital by air ambulance.
Our email updates about Sam's situation reached Pauline Brown in Jobat, India. The church held a special service of prayer and the schoolchildren in Jobat said prayers for Sam's healing.
After two weeks at McMaster, Sam was well enough to come home to Guelph, but then in February he developed blood clots in his liver and had to go back to McMaster. By the end of March, the team at McMaster had done everything they could for Sam and so he was admitted to the liver transplant program at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario in London. By the end of April, Sam was well enough to come home to Guelph once again while we waited for a donor liver.
We got the call at 2:00 a.m. on July 27th and Sam underwent his first liver transplant surgery. The surgery was successful but then the setbacks came one after another. His immune system rejected the biliary tissue in the new liver... four bowel obstructions in 6 weeks... back on the transplant list... in December, emergency surgery to repair a diaphragmatic hernia. Sarah resigned her position at Knox Church in Guelph to care for Sam full-time.
Christmas 2006 with Santa at the Eaton Centre in TorontoIn 2007, Sam was still on the waiting list but he was home most of the time. Sarah decided to go back to school. We sold our house in Guelph and moved to Mississauga. We took lots of day trips to Niagara Falls and the zoo.
Ben and Sam August 2007At 4:00 a.m. on October 4th 2007, we got the call once again. Sam underwent his second transplant surgery. It did not go well. The clots came back. The transplant team expedited yet another transplant and Sam had his third surgery on October 6th. Unfortunately, the strain was too much and his heart stopped on October 7th. It was Thanksgiving Sunday, Sam's 3rd birthday. Most of the family was at the hospital, so we all got a chance to hold him for a few minutes and say good-bye.
On the long sombre drive home without Sam, we thought about the kids in Jobat and wondered how we might help them and honour Sam at the same time.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The India Connection Part 1
In September 2004, Sarah was working as the Associate Minister for Youth and Families at Knox Presbyterian Church in Guelph. Pauline Brown came to speak about her work in the Bhil field. Later that night over dinner, she told us more about the health programs and some of the needs at the Jobat Christian Hospital.
Community health workers in Jobat IndiaSam was born October 7 2004 at Guelph General Hospital. 8 lb 10 oz
Sam being examined by the midwife shortly after he was born.In honour of Sam's birth and baptism, our friends at the church wanted to help us celebrate so we asked them to make a donation to the Jobat Christian Hospital. We raised just over $2,000.
Sam's baptism January 2005
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sam
Facts & Arguments: LIVES LIVED
The Globe and Mail December 20, 2007
SAMUEL JONATHAN TRAVIS-MILLER
Son, brother, grandson, hero.
Born Oct. 7, 2004, in Guelph. Died Oct. 7, 2007 in London, Ont., of complications following two liver transplants, aged 3.
Sam was born at 2:01 a.m. on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, a healthy and bouncing 8 pounds, 10 ounces. He was a chubby, hungry, normal baby.
But at 15 months he fell suddenly and catastrophically ill, with no explanation. The mystery illness resulted in blood clots in his liver, necessitating a liver transplant in July, 2006.
His body rejected that liver and he waited 11 months for another transplant, followed immediately by a third when the second liver failed. Sam spent weeks at McMaster Children's Hospital followed by months at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario. Although he slept in his own house many nights, his days were a blur of hospital visits and procedures.
Despite pain, despite tubes in his nose, chest and stomach, Sam always laughed. He loved Blue's Clues, balloons, bubbles, stars, helicopters and his big brother, Ben. He didn't learn to walk until he was 2½, but his physical limitations never stopped him from having a good time. During one medical procedure, as Sam began to wake up from being sedated, he looked around at the nurses and surgeon and said with complete sincerity, "Thanks for coming, thanks for coming!"
Sam always participated in his medical care. When his IV machine (affectionately called Ivy) beeped, he would stand at the door of his hospital room and shout, "Nurse! Nurse! Ivy is occluded," which meant the flow of intravenous fluid was blocked. But he also learned to say the important things: "I love you" and "thank you" and "want to cuddle."
He will be remembered for his smile, his dimpled cheek, his hair standing up on end and the wicked sparkle in his blue eyes. Sam was affectionate, wise beyond his years and a joy to those who shared his little life. This little life was lived big. Thanks to e-mail, hundreds of friends, relatives and acquaintances were kept informed of Sam's illness.
He taught us how to be brave and how to cry knowing that a smile is just around the corner. And we learned about other heroes - the health professionals who saved him time and again, and the families who donated the organs of loved ones who died tragically young.
Sam died on his third birthday when his heart stopped following two transplants in 72 hours. We miss him every minute. Yet we are blessed by his legacy. When Sammy sensed we were sad, he would come up and whisper, in the words of Blue's Clues, "Don't give up, just go on." We will go on. And we will give thanks that our lives were so enriched and changed by our little miracle.
Rev. Sarah Travis is Sam's mother.
The Globe and Mail December 20, 2007
SAMUEL JONATHAN TRAVIS-MILLER
Son, brother, grandson, hero.
Born Oct. 7, 2004, in Guelph. Died Oct. 7, 2007 in London, Ont., of complications following two liver transplants, aged 3.
Sam was born at 2:01 a.m. on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, a healthy and bouncing 8 pounds, 10 ounces. He was a chubby, hungry, normal baby.But at 15 months he fell suddenly and catastrophically ill, with no explanation. The mystery illness resulted in blood clots in his liver, necessitating a liver transplant in July, 2006.
His body rejected that liver and he waited 11 months for another transplant, followed immediately by a third when the second liver failed. Sam spent weeks at McMaster Children's Hospital followed by months at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario. Although he slept in his own house many nights, his days were a blur of hospital visits and procedures.
Despite pain, despite tubes in his nose, chest and stomach, Sam always laughed. He loved Blue's Clues, balloons, bubbles, stars, helicopters and his big brother, Ben. He didn't learn to walk until he was 2½, but his physical limitations never stopped him from having a good time. During one medical procedure, as Sam began to wake up from being sedated, he looked around at the nurses and surgeon and said with complete sincerity, "Thanks for coming, thanks for coming!"
Sam always participated in his medical care. When his IV machine (affectionately called Ivy) beeped, he would stand at the door of his hospital room and shout, "Nurse! Nurse! Ivy is occluded," which meant the flow of intravenous fluid was blocked. But he also learned to say the important things: "I love you" and "thank you" and "want to cuddle."
He will be remembered for his smile, his dimpled cheek, his hair standing up on end and the wicked sparkle in his blue eyes. Sam was affectionate, wise beyond his years and a joy to those who shared his little life. This little life was lived big. Thanks to e-mail, hundreds of friends, relatives and acquaintances were kept informed of Sam's illness.
He taught us how to be brave and how to cry knowing that a smile is just around the corner. And we learned about other heroes - the health professionals who saved him time and again, and the families who donated the organs of loved ones who died tragically young.
Sam died on his third birthday when his heart stopped following two transplants in 72 hours. We miss him every minute. Yet we are blessed by his legacy. When Sammy sensed we were sad, he would come up and whisper, in the words of Blue's Clues, "Don't give up, just go on." We will go on. And we will give thanks that our lives were so enriched and changed by our little miracle.
Rev. Sarah Travis is Sam's mother.
The Bhil Field
.JPG)
The relationship between Presbyterian Church in Canada (click here for more about the PCC) and the Bhil people in central India dates back to 1897, when Rev. Dr. John Buchanan and Dr. Mary Buchanan arrived in Indore.The Bhils are an aboriginal tribe native to the state of Madhya Pradesh. Historically, they faced discrimination because they were without caste. In other words their status was below even the lowest caste.
The Buchanans and others who followed after them set up churches, schools and hospitals throughout the region including Jobat, a small town located at the western edge of Madhya Pradesh.
In 1952, a young nurse from Ottawa by the name of Pauline Brown arrived in the Bhil field under the auspices of the Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She set up public health programs to train local villagers in nutrition, disease prevention and midwifery.
Pauline ended up staying for 55 years, with a short break in the 1970's to earn her MSc degree in public health at McMaster University. Pauline is widely recognized for her distinguished service in India. Honours include an honourary doctorate and the Order of Canada. Pauline retired officially in 2007 but she continues to live and work part-time in India.
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