Cinema Reborns as Earthquake Relief Centre

The Melody Cinema had sat fallow for two years, ever since a mob of religious radicals set it on fire and reduced it to nothing more than a charred, trash-filled shell. Today, it has been reborn as the Melody Relief and Rehabilitation Center, and the occupants of its 53 beds are women with broken backs. Volunteers come every day to help. The full-time staff includes nurses, cooks, sweepers, two doctors and a psychotherapist. The operation is fully financed by charitable contributions, and it costs at least $200 a month to sustain each patient. The women are learning how to insert a catheter, how to strengthen their arms to maneuver a wheelchair, how to embroider or read to keep themselves occupied, and perhaps how to make a modest living.