My Experience of a Rural Health Camp: A Journey To a Small Town, 500km Far From Delhi (2020)
My Experience of a Rural Health camp 500km Far from Delhi
Here the Journey Begins😊
It is said that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with one single
step" and here I begin. It was a beautiful day on March, 14th, 2020, When every
person in this world was avoiding going outside and was worried & scared
due to COVID-19 and its spread, I started my journey from DELHI to ‘RATH’
(a small town in district Hamirpur, U.P) along with Mr. Samiran Majumdar, a versatile personality, who wanted to explore the nature of a small village.
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| With Mr. Majumdar |
My family was not allowing me to go there due to fear of the CoronaVirus, but as it was my prior commitment, which cannot be avoided, so I left
for RATH. Although Samiran and myself left Delhi on the night of 13th,
March and it was an overnight train journey, our main journey had started
from KANPUR to RATH which is 145km far from KANPUR, in a rented car.
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| Mud House |
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| The Little Sparrow |
The weather was awesome, a cool breeze was blowing with little drops of rain. But the rough and broken road was not allowing a smooth drive. After some time, we started feeling that this journey is never-ending.
Samiran was very excited to see the mud houses,
different types of birds including peacocks & little sparrows (which have disappeared in Delhi for a long time), and greenery along the road. Due to
the bad conditions of the road, we completed a three hours journey in four
& a half hours.
Oh God! We reached 'RATH'😌
At last, we reached RATH (Rath's name came from the word "Virat". It was called Virat Nagari in ancient times, where all the Pandavas along with Draupadi lived in Virat Nagri for one year in hiding (Agyatvas). Virat is the name of a king of Virat Nagari on whose name the city was named.
Around
11:30 am. A cute boy ‘Aditya’ was there to welcome us and he welcomed us with a
pleasant smile and a beautiful bouquet. The program had already started at
10:00 am and was in a village called “Kaithy” which was again 20 km far away
from our hotel. The hotel was in a pathetic condition as there was no light and
rooms were stinking. We called the caretaker and asked to clean the room and
change the bulb as we have to leave for the medical camp in Kaithy village.
We
were just traveling for the last 12-13 hours and now without any rest, I have
to give medical services to the poor and needy villagers. We immediately took
a bath and got ready in less than an hour and left for another journey to
Kaithy village.
At Health Camp in 'Kaithy' Village✌
It was a beautiful sunny day. The sky
was clear with pleasant weather. When we reached our destination, many people
were already waiting for us to get free check-ups and medicines. It was my
second time coming here for this health camp.
Last time I came here six months
back with one of my office colleagues, Ms. Priyanka Rautela. It was a wonderful experience.
They felicitated me
with a bonsai and I forgot my tiredness and my aches.
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| Felicitation at Kaithy Village |
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| A Glimpse of First Health Camp |
The Most Common Ailments of Patients😡
Though the whole world was facing the
outbreak of a pandemic disease in the form of COVID-19, I have seen, I have felt
and I have faced the daily pandemic faced by poor and resource-less villagers
of 'Kaithy' and 'Amoond', just 150km far away from a well-known and industrial
city of Uttar Pradesh.
Most of the people, especially children were malnourished
with poor health and were living in unhygienic conditions.
Most of the patients were having
disorders of the skin, anorectal, joints & muscles, respiratory diseases, digestive,
and kidneys. Children and ladies were malnourished and were having problems
related to a lack of vitamins and calcium.
The condition of some patients was
so pathetic that I was feeling very helpless. I tried to give every possible
solution to their problems.
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| Listening to the complaints of Patients during Camp |
Due to the fear of the spread of the
Coronavirus, we had to wear a mask on our face and we were using sanitizer
regularly. But at the same time, we were doing our duties to give better health
solutions to the needy one.
On that day we have seen around 200 patients
without any break. We have also distributed the medicines to them free of cost.
In the evening we were very exhausted.
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| Villagers waiting for Health Check-ups |
Excellent Work by ‘SRIJAN’ - The NGO👍
10 to 12 volunteers from the NGO
‘Srijan’, were there to help the villagers and provide fruits to all persons,
who came there for health check-ups.
'Srijan' is a non-government organization
(NGO), run by Mr. Prabhat Saxena who had adopted some villages in RATH. This NGO is
doing excellent work by providing education and health services in these
villages. They have been working for these villagers for quite some years. But still, there are miles to go.
In the night, we were invited by the
parents of Mr. Prabhat for dinner. Although Mr. Prabhat was not in town,
his mother cooked very tasty food for us. She made so many things for us that
we were not able to eat all things. The food was very delicious and his parents
treated us like their own kids.
Finally, we reached our hotel, took a bath, and went to our bed. We were so exhausted that as soon as we lay on the bed, we went into a deep sleep.
Blessings of God
The next day on 15th, March, we were woken
up with new energy and a smile on our face. There was a big temple (Called Chopra Temple, Rath) beside our
hotel which is considered from the time of ‘Pandavas’.
It is thought that during
the 'VANVAS' time, Pandavas stayed in this place and converted this place
into a temple. We spent some time in the temple, did some worship, and took
some pictures. The environment in the temple was very peaceful.
After some time
we went to our hotel and started getting ready for a health camp in the next
village called “Amoond”.
Health camp in Ammond
We reached ‘Ammond’ by 10 a.m. The
‘Pradhan ji’ of that village felicitated us with garland, and then we started the health camp.
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| Felicitation at Amoond Village |
By the end of the day, we have seen more than 150 patients
there. The diseases and the conditions of villagers were the same as the
conditions of people from ‘Kaithy’.
Sometimes it feels very pitiful and helpless
to see these people. After so many schemes and fundraising by our government,
why has nothing reached these needy people? After so many years of freedom,
many peoples in our country are compelled to live in such pathetic conditions.
It is so painful and disheartening. Nobody can’t imagine how they manage to
survive in those conditions, where they barely receive even basic health
services.
In the evening, we spent some
quality time in that village with the family of Mr. Vinay Gupta (one of the volunteers
of the NGO) along with other volunteers. We took some group pictures and
selfies.
The Farewell😌
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| Lord Ganesha's idol as a farewell gift |
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| With the Team of 'Srijan' |
Conclusion
Being a doctor or it's better if I
say, being a human, it’s my responsibility to serve my society with a purpose
and with a motto, by looking beyond my barriers and creating a possibility of
serving people with a healthy life.
I take every opportunity to serve society, especially the poor and needy persons, as the purpose of my life. It also
gives a way to learn something new and that is why I am always ready to take
it.
In the late evening, we left for
Delhi by train and reached Delhi on the morning of 16th March. In short, it was continuous traveling for the last two and a half days, but I enjoyed it.
Due
to this journey, I came to know that life is so hard and difficult in
some parts of our country. But I took it as an opportunity to serve
those people who needed me.
About the Author: Dr. Rahul Singh
Dr. Rahul Singh is a registered Homeopath and Certified Nutritionist with over 16 years of experience and recipient of multiple awards, helps busy people in this fast life, re-energize with tips on a healthy diet, yoga, beauty, health, and wellness strategies that have an impact on their life.
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