The idea is brilliant: “Five railway coaches converted into a surgical hospital to travel to remote districts transforming lives and prolonging lifelines against avoidable disability.” Welcome to Impact India Foundation’s Lifeline Express- where health care is provided at no cost to disabled Indians.
On Friday, we met with Mrs. Naleem Kshirsagar, the General Manager, and leader of Special Projects for IMPACT. All together we took a trip out to the rural villages [Thane District of Maharashtra] to learn more about IMPACT and their initiatives. Just 3 hours outside of the busy city of Mumbai and the scenery around us drastically changed; outside we were welcomed by greenery and fields of land and young school children waving to us with smiles on their face. Our first stop was to an ashramshala [a tribal residential school]. We walked into a room filled with girls, between the ages of 7 to 14. They sat patiently and you could immediately tell these girls were polite, well mannered, and had an eagerness to learn. The girls selected as health monitors began by handing each of us a rose; a kind gesture to welcome us to their school. Next we helped the school’s doctor to hand out Vitamin A and Folic Acid supplements. When the girls were questioned about the benefits of taking these vitamins they knew every answer. At the end they were given the chance to ask us questions and their main question was “How can we be big and healthy like us?” This just goes to show that these girls want to be healthy; they want to be fit and strong, yet because of the lack of resources it is a harder task for them. Young girls need not only be well nourished but also empowered. We tried to do our part by telling the girls how beautiful they are, that they should not use fading creams, and that we wish we could have hair like them. To which they responded with laughter, smiles, and the recommendation of using coconut oil for our hair.
Our next stop was to another school. Here we met the nurse, schoolgirls, and newly pregnant mothers. The mothers were there to learn about antenatal care. Some of them brought their babies with them. I really hope that these women listen to the nurse’s advice because the first few days of your newborn’s life can be the most important. Afterwards the nurse told us about the problem with anemic girls. Because many of them don’t eat red meat along with other factors they have below the normal quantity of hemoglobin in their blood. Both of these encounters proved how important it is to have educational health initiatives all around the world. If more people knew how to better their health we would have healthier people worldwide, especially in countries like India where there are a lack of these types of campaigns.
On the trip, we also got to see one of IMPACT’s express clinic vehicles, where children were getting their vision tested. Our last stop was to a community health clinic where we met with two Doctors. Here we learned about the challenges they face such as not enough staff or other clinics, patients that don’t come back for check ups or are eager to leave after a pregnancy. This clinic was so small yet with the help of the doctors, nurses and at-times student interns they are able to help the people of the community. We got to see a lot- from a man’s snakebite, to a woman that just gave birth just mere hours ago yet was ready and dying to leave the clinic. Intercultural communication is important here because there is a reason behind their discomfort at hospitals or seeking out medical advice, and it takes someone to understand why and how the doctors can change that way of thinking,
On our way back to the hotel we got to continue our discussion with Mrs. Kshirsagar. We asked her where she saw the Lifeline Express in 5 years. She said “my hope is for there to be a lot more awareness in South India, for there to better hospitals and as a result the lifeline will be redundant.” What I found most interesting about IMPACT was that “It acts as a catalyst to bring together the Government, the corporate sector and existing NGOs in mass health programs of national priority.” This group effort I believe is the key to success. Through the site visits with IMPACT I saw their vision, Action Today To Prevent Disability Tomorrow, come alive before me.
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