Work has begun on a new hospice for HIV/Aids sufferers in Mizoram, north-east India, thanks to money raised by members of the Presbyterian Church of Wales in 2006.

The Moderator of Mizoram Synod, Revd H. Lalchhanhima,
lays the foundations of the new hospice (25 March 2009)

In the Binding Wounds in the Bonds of Love appeal, £35,000 was raised in order to support the Mizoram Synod's HIV/Aids prevention programme. Although HIV/Aids levels in Mizoram are comparatively low, the appeal was intended to help prevent the spread of the disease. Some of the money was spent on sending a team of Welsh experts to help implement the strategy and on an awareness-raising campaign. The rest of the money, along with £25,000 from the Church's central fund, will be used to build a new hospice in Durtlang.

The foundations have now been laid for the new Grace Home hospice, which will care for HIV/Aids sufferers. It is hoped that the new hospice will be ready within a year, when the staff of the present Grace Home, a community care centre, will move into their new state-of-the-art premises.

Grace Home staff in front of the present building