A SIDMOUTH nurse is settling back into work after a mission to help an Indian jungle community fight poverty and sickness.

A SIDMOUTH nurse is settling back into work after a mission to help an Indian jungle community fight poverty and sickness.Sally Dalton, 56, took three-months unpaid leave to travel to the village of Adivaashi, in the interior area of Madhya Pradesh to work with the Tulsi Trust.The Tulsi Trust is working with resettled Bengali refugees and indigenous Adivaashi aboriginals to build a jungle health and education project in the village.Sally, who lives in Axminster and works at the Blackmore Health Clinic in Blackmore Drive, said: "I went to a hospital about three hours away with some boys who were suffering from cerebral malaria. One boy, who was 12, was carried across the river on his bed by his parents so we could take him to hospital."We had to take him straightaway and I thought he was going to die. Four or five days later, he and his family came back with some coconuts as a present for the temple to thank us."A particular cause Sally would like to raise more money for is an 18-year-old boy who needs a new prosthetic leg.She said: "He needs to have his prosthesis removed and replaced with a more sophisticated one. He has a difficult gait due to his ill-fitting leg. We'd need to send him to southern India or Calcutta to get it done, which would cost about £1,000."Sally visited private hospitals in the area to see what was needed to set up the hospital. The Tulsi Trust hospital needs about £1,500 worth of equipment to set up a pathology unit and is also hoping to raise enough money to build a wall to provide security for the staff and patientsWith the help of the Axminster Rotary Club and an Axminster firm, Sally has been able to send out medical books, crutches, microscopes and school supplies.Sally said: "I would like to thank the people who helped me get there. The Sidmouth Lions donated some money plus all the other donations I received. Without all that I wouldn't have been able to go."For more information about the work of the Tulsi Trust visit www.tulsitrust.org.uk.