Health Camp in Pune

If you think you can, you can!

This is what comes to mind when Vibha volunteers, along with organizations Rachana & Door Step School (DSS), conducted two successful Health Check-Up camps on 18th & 26th of April, 2009 for 300 kids from various slums and villages in and around Pune. Watch a video capturing the experience below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObYO9YLkNPM]

A full report follows …

Vibha, Pune comprises about 50 volunteers from various backgrounds, all coming together with a common belief – ‘Together, we can make this world a beautiful place to live’.  In the past, this group has conducted a number of creative workshops, in collaboration with organizations such as DSS and Rachana, which are funded by Vibha for their various educational activities for children.  But this time we wanted to take it up a notch by organizing a health check-up camp for the children supported by these organizations!

With a team of around 30 volunteers that included 6 doctors, few medical students and volunteers of Vibha, Rachana and DSS, the health camp saw around 300 kids between 5-15 yrs of age from nearby villages and slums of Pune for an eventful and fruitful day, away from their mundane daily routine.

The first camp was hosted for 100 students at the Municipal School in Bahuli Village (40 Kms from Pune) on 18-Apr, while the second camp was conducted in Dattawadi on 26-Apr where 200 kids participated.

During the camp, health cards were issued to all the kids. Once the health cards were issued, the kids were taken in for height, weight and chest measurements. Then these kids were checked for eye, dental, cardiovascular, ENT and other related problems. The idea behind the check-ups was to find out if any child needed immediate attention regarding some disorder that might go unnoticed otherwise.

While the check-ups were being done in one of the rooms, the biggest challenge was to manage the kids waiting in two other rooms.  But Vibha volunteers were well equipped and fully prepared for this challenging task right from the beginning. The hot Sunday sun could not roast away their high spirits! There were drawing activities and fun games lined up for the kids, which kept them high spirited throughout the day.  It was really surprising to find some great artists among these kids, and it was a heartening experience for all the team members to spend such great time with those creative and lovely kids.

There were arrangements in place for re-hydration drinks and food for all the volunteers, doctors and the kids.  In the end, it was an exhilarating experience for the team to see the camp ending with big smiles on the faces of all the kids and everyone involved.  The team got bear hugs and thank you notes from the kids. Everyone around were simply delighted with a beautiful Sunday spent well.

The camp would not have been successful without the constant words of encouragement and guidance from Mrs. Rajani Paranjpe & Mrs. Sangeeta Banginwar, from DSS and Miss Swati and Mr. Konde from Rachana.  Special thanks to Dr. Venkatesh, Dr Gayatri Aghashe, Dr. Renuka Surpur, Dr. Prachi and all other physicians and dentists, who took time out from their busy schedules to be a part of this camp and made it a success.  All the Vibha volunteers were delighted after two successful health camps.

Follow-Up Activities:

All the kids who were recommended for further checks were taken to hospitals along with teachers and parents. Volunteers and Teachers worked with groups like Samvedana (NGO for medical assistance), Singarh Dental college  and Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital for follow-up and treatment activities that is still in progress.

The Vibha Pune team plans to conduct similar health-camps in the future in collaboration with various other groups to make sure that each and every kid stays healthy and educated.

Event Details: http://pune.vibha.org

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObYO9YLkNPM

Vibha Projects: Rachana, Door Step School