May Report

Dear Family and Friends:

May has come and gone so fast. We continue to be happily involved in may different aspects of the Lord's work here. Below are some of the events we experienced in May.
Sorry we don't have any new pictures to include in this posting, didn't use the camera much this month.

Perhaps the most significant and impactful event of the month was Elder Brown's trip to Patna, the capital city of the state of Bihar. It was a 1-1/2 hour plane trip away from New Delhi. This trip was to introduce us to the UNICEFF and local doctors involved in the upcoming neonatal resuscitation training project co-sponsored by UNICEFF, NNF (Neonatal Forum of India) and Latter Day Saint Charities. Elder and Sister Dunn returned home from their mission on the 19th. Since their replacements have not yet been called, we have been asked to continue supervision of this project.

The trip to Patna was one of the most impactful experiences in India thus far. I have never felt the ever present oppression of poverty as I experienced it in this city. To give you some idea of the magnitude of this project, I want to share the following: The State of Bihar has a total population of 85 Million. In comparison this is the same size as all of Vietnam, twice the size of Myanmar and three times the size of Malaysia. It is composed of 38 districts or counties. The health statistics of Bihar illustrate the incredible poverty and suffering of this region.
There are and estimated 416 newborn deaths each day, making Bihar the state with the highest newborn mortality rate in India. Sixty percent of the population is below the poverty line for India ($1 us dollar per day). The present health system is in a significant upsurge in improvement due to recent changes in State Government leadership. The desired midwife ratio of one per 3,000 people is one per 30,000 instead. The health center ratio of a desired one per 30,000 is one per 300,000population.

The upcoming training project is truly monumental and will have a significant impact on the infant mortality rate. This project will train 160 master trainers who in turn will train other doctors, nurses and midwifes in the simple procedure of resuscitation. Asphyxia at birth accounts for 23% on all newborn deaths in the first week of life. The project includes providing the simple equipment and training materials needed in 36 counties (districts). When finished in Dec. 2008 the projected number of doctors and para medical professionals is estimated to reach 2,496 medical care personnel. A team from Salt Lake of Doctors and nurses from Latter Day Saint Charities will arrive in Sept. to facilitate the training.

The future of this project is expected to be extended to at least two if not 3 other states with equally high infant mortality rates. This is an amazing project with such far reaching results in the lives of millions of people.

I have taken time to share this with you in the hopes of increasing your awareness of how far reaching the Lord's work is in behalf of the poor and the needy of the world. And remember this is only one of 4 major initiatives that are part of the Church world wide humanitarian efforts, not to mention the disaster relief efforts. We are so blessed and feel it such an honor to be part of this, the Lord's work in these latter days. You should know also that the funds for these projects are not taken from Fast Offering contributions but come from contributions to Church Humanitarian Services not only from individual church members but from major corporations as well. The best part is that this is mostly administered and delivered by a great army of volunteers who give of their time and talents to furthering this the Lord's work. There are no middle man administrative costs it all goes directly to those in need. WHAT A PHENOMENAL WITNESS OF THE LOVE OF GOD AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST AND TESTIMONY OF MILLIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERS WORLD WIDE!

Well as you can tell we have very stong feeling about the humanitarian part of our mission. We were not expecting to be involved in this work but are so thankful for the experience with this side of missionary work in India.

We continue to be meaningfully involved in the spiritual side of life here as well. Reynold continues to be engage in employment services and is spending much time in one on one coaching with those who are seeking to improve their employment and educational needs. We meet with the little Branch here in Dwarka weekly and feel such a strong sweet spirit of strength and faith among the members here. We will soon be teaching a Church Institute Class on a weekly basis. Diane continues to teach Primary and loves the enthusiasm of the chldren. The are so egar to learn. We are also finding much joy in teaching Spoken English each week. We have recently added 4 new students, a Grandfather with his 3 grandchildren. We met him one day during our morning walk in the park. This daily morning walk is such a pleasure as we are greeted by so many people and have many opportunities to make new friends and answer questions about why we are here. We go all day each day in this area and never see another "white" person or foreigner.

Well I think I have rambled on long enough for now. We hope this little blog is giving you some feeling and understanding of the joy of serving the Lord. We are in good health, in fact we are loosing weight and feeling so good. If any of you have been wondering about serving a mission in your "advanced years" please know that from the Browns we think there is nothing better for this time of life.

Until next month - Love Reynold and Diane