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>>Lalanbai
Lalanbai Kadam
As
a Village Health Worker (VHW) for more than 36 years, Lalanbai
has worked with CRHP since its inception. Before becoming a VHW,
she encountered many obstacles as an outcaste woman in a rural
community. She was married off at the age of six, although
didn't live with her husband until she was sixteen. At
twenty-four, she was remarried to a man more than three times
her age after her first husband died unexpectedly. She had a
child from each marriage, but both died during childhood. As a
member of the untouchable caste, she was forced to live outside
the village with hardly any work and was paid in leftover scraps
of food.
Lalanbai says “I was a stone...one
of the first things I learned at CRHP was how to be a human
being.”
Lalanbai met the Aroles when they arrived in her village, Alwa,
to work on drought relief in 1971. The village was asked to
nominate a woman to undergo training as a Village Health Worker
(VHW). The upper caste men chose Lalanbai. As a widowed,
outcaste woman they thought she was dispensable and would do the
work no one else wanted to do.
At CRHP, she became educated in basic health practices and
health promotion. After receiving her training, she committed to
improving the health in her village. Her accomplishments include
delivering 750 healthy babies, reducing the neonatal/maternal
death rate in her village from approximately 50% to less than
0.5%; virtually removing all cases of tuberculosis, leprosy and
malaria; breaking down barriers within the caste system; and
dramatically curtailing “violence and hatred against women,” as
she puts it.
Now Lalanbai shares her experiences as a
longtime VHW with new generations at the CRHP campus. Her time
with CRHP has filled her with a newfound sense of respect, “You
cannot fear anyone in your village, even those from upper castes
or those opposed to your efforts. Treat each family
individually, recognizing their individual needs.”
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