Bitten by a Snake (Russell's viper) | Rich Chocolate Cake | Ruptured Appendix | Rations given out during lockdown in Goa | Food Distribution at Govt (District) Hospital, Mapusa

One of the older boys had a shock when he stepped out to use the bathroom last night. He opened the door and felt something bite his ankle. He looked around expecting to see a rat, but instead he saw a strongly marked snake curled up next to the step.

It was close to midnight so everyone was sleeping, but he managed to wake a neighbour who took him to the district hospital (along with snake) so they could identify it and ensure that he received the correct Antivenom.

He managed to get to the hospital within 15 minutes, which was good as the snake was identified as one of the most dangerous snakes in the world! (Russell's viper).

To put things into perspective....

"Symptoms begin with pain at the site of the bite, immediately followed by swelling of the affected extremity....

Blood pressure drops, and the heart rate falls. Blistering occurs at the site of the bite, developing along the affected limb in severe cases.

Necrosis is usually superficial and limited to the muscles near the bite, but maybe severe in extreme cases.

Vomiting and facial swelling occur in about one-third of all cases.

Kidney failure (renal failure) also occurs in approximately 25-30 percent of untreated bites.

Severe disseminated intravascular coagulation also can occur in severe cases.

Early medical treatment and early access to antivenom can prevent and drastically reduce the chance of developing the severe/potentially lethal complications.

Severe pain may last for 2?4 weeks. Locally, it may persist depending on the level of tissue damage. Often, local swelling peaks within 48?72 hours, involving both the affected limb and the trunk. If swelling up to the trunk occurs within 1?2 hours, massive envenomation is likely.

Discoloration may occur throughout the swollen area as red blood cells and plasma leak into muscle tissue.

Death from septicaemia or kidney, respiratory, or cardiac failure may occur 1 to 14 days after the bite or even later." - Taken from Wikipedia.

He seemed better this afternoon and we wish him a full recovery.

*** UPDATE 4th July ***

Our student is still admitted to hospital 4 days later, after the initial swelling on his foot, it did extend up his leg, but things have reduced and he seems in good spirits. There haven't been any other problems so far so everything is looking good. Fingers crossed that the next update will mention him returning home.

*** UPDATE 6th July ***

We are happy to report that he has been discharged from the hospital and seems well on the road to recovery, his foot is still a little swollen and sore and he is limping a little, but much better than it was. Thank you to everyone for all their support.

We have been thinking about getting an oven for quite a while as we do treat the children to homemade cake and pizza and up until now we have been cooking these in frying pans on a gas stove. Which isn't ideal. Last week we saw a Microwave Convection oven on sale so we went for it!

Its quite a nice little machine, Samsung microwave/oven and so far we have tried a few recipes with it.

Todays was a rich chocolate cake. We followed a recipe from the internet and thought we'd add a little dark chocolate to add a little extra. Oh my! It was very rich and really good actually (Thank you Amina for helping mix/cook).

The cake wasn't quite as deep as I had planned (we did split the cake mixture between two cake tins which didn't help) but the taste was spot on.

I think we will have to get a mixer next as the hand whisk is quite time consuming and a little messy and a couple of cake tins that are the same shape at least! .

We cut it up and gave to the kids and it was very well received.

UPDATE : We are happy to announce that our young patient is feeling much better and has been discharged from hospital. We are so happy for her and would like to thank everyone for your support!

One of the girls who has just finished primary school was taken to the intensive care unit at Goa Medical College last week. She was having severe pain in her abdomen and was diagnosed with Appendicitis.

We gave them a few basic items when she was admitted and to make her feel more comfortable.

Unfortunately she was a little weak and the operation was delayed. Finally her operation was conducted on Saturday as her appendix did not want to wait any longer. Her appendix ruptured, which added to the complexity of the operation.

Thankfully the operation went well and she is now recovering. Our thanks go to the surgeon and support staff for their work.

Please wish her well and we will be happy once she returns home.

Goa has had falling covid rates during the last week which is a welcome change. Yesterday saw 1 in 7 people testing positive for Covid, which is still high although much better than a few weeks ago when it was 1 in 2 people testing positive.The Goa Govt has decided to start online classes for college students from the 7th of June and schools will open for administration staff also (not sure about online classes yet)

For many of the children the last year has been disastrous in terms of education. For those children who struggled while being in front of a teacher have found it nearly impossible to get to terms with online classes and for those without mobile phones the covid situation has basically halted any chance of learning.

I have no idea what the next year will bring but the likelihood of another wave of infections is always on our mind. If anyone has any old android phones (in working condition) or tabs that can be given out to the families we would be delighted to receive them.

Here is a photo of some of the items we have been giving out. The only issue was how they would take them home!

Robert was kindly invited to help out at a food stand at Mapusa District Hospital today giving out food parcels to those in need at the hospital looking after relatives and also later in Mapusa town.

The food was a simple hot cooked meal, but was well recived. The event was organised by Sachin and the Rotary Club and Rotaract of Mapusa.