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Comprehensive Rural Health
Project, Jamkhed, India
Placing Health in People’s Hands
Dear Friends,
Please take a moment to
learn how a small gift on your behalf can make a world of
difference for some of the most impoverished people on Earth.
Your contribution, no matter how small, will go to improve the
health and quality of life for thousands of women, children and
men living in rural areas of western India. In a country of 1.1
billion people, 800 million are living on less than $2 per day
(World Development Indicator, 2005). These people
represent the forgotten India and in many cases reflect the
growing inequality and disproportionate access to resources that
is rarely talked about.
This letter is on
behalf of five medical students and health professionals from the SUNY Downstate College of
Medicine, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and the Hallowell Center in New
York City who joined an
international fundraising campaign for the construction of a new
rural hospital to be operated by the Comprehensive Rural Health
Project (CRHP). The hospital will provide free or low-cost essential
medical services to a grossly underserved population of about 1.5
million people, many of whom would otherwise have little or no access to
safe and effective medical care. Major construction is slated
for completion by June 2008 and fundraising efforts are underway
to secure funds for essential medical and surgical equipment.
Since 1970 the
Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) at Jamkhed, India has
been working to effectively meet the immediate and long term
needs of the poor and marginalized through grassroots
mobilization and partnership with the village communities. CRHP
is a non-profit community-based health and development
organization located 380 km east of Mumbai in a remote area of
Maharashtra. This project was founded by Drs. Raj and Mabelle
Arole, who committed themselves to serving and uplifting India’s
rural poor and marginalized population, especially women. The
Aroles graduated from CMC (Christian Medical College) Vellore,
South India and completed their residency training in medicine
and surgery, while obtaining Masters Degrees in public health in
the United States.
The district block known as Jamkhed became the base of operations due to the
extremely poor and drought-prone conditions of this area. The
people of Jamkhed were constantly plagued by high rates of
malnutrition, infectious diseases, maternal deaths, and
occupational injuries. People lacked basic health knowledge and
access to effective medical care. Social injustices such as the
low status of women and caste-based prejudices likewise
contributed significantly to this chronic state of ill health
throughout the many village communities. Following requests from
different state and local governments similar projects were
later initiated in poor tribal villages hundreds of kilometers
away.
Drs Raj and Mabelle
Arole had a vision for health in its broadest, most holistic
sense when they started the program. They believed that health
does not just mean high-tech hospitals, doctors, nurses and
medicines, nor does it exist in isolation. Health is
interrelated with nutrition, agriculture, economics, education,
women’s status and other factors. Therefore, they felt a
comprehensive, holistic approach would represent a viable
solution for dealing with the health problems of the poor.
The project functions
at three levels – village, mobile health team and hospital &
training center. The first level is at the grassroots. A woman,
selected by her community, is trained in health and development
through a values-based approach emphasizing personal growth and
leadership. She is known as the Village Health Worker (VHW). She
may be illiterate, but has a genuine interest in serving her
community. She delivers basic/primary health services and
education in prevention and treatment of common and minor
illnesses. She helps to organizes groups in the community which
are motivated to improve their situation, especially the poor,
the marginalized and women.
An example is Muktabai,
who became an exemplary health worker and was invited to speak
at an international health conference held in Washington DC. A
bit of her experience is given below:
In a huge
conference hall in Washington DC, over a thousand participants
listen with rapt attention to Muktabai Pol, a village health
worker from Jamkhed, India. The listeners include officials from
WHO and UNICEF, ministers of health, health professionals and
representatives of universities from many parts of the world. Muktabai shares her
experience of providing primary health care
in a remote Indian village. She concludes her speech by pointing
to the glittering lights in the hall. “This is a beautiful hall,
and the shining chandeliers are a treat to watch,” she says.
“One has to travel thousands of miles to come to see their
beauty. The doctors are like these chandeliers, beautiful and
exquisite, but expensive and inaccessible.” She then pulls out
two wick lamps from her purse. She lights one.
“This lamp
is inexpensive and simple, but unlike the chandeliers, it can
transfer its light to another lamp.” She lights
the other
wick lamp with the first. Holding up both lamps in her
outstretched hands, she says, “I am like this lamp, lighting the
lamp of better health. Workers like me can light another and
another and thus encircle the whole earth. This is Health for
All.” The audience rises to its feet in a standing
ovation.
Women like Muktabai
are transformed. These women called Village Health Workers then
become agents of transformation in their villages. The fact that
80% of the health problems can be taken care of at the village
level makes the work of VHWs an integral part of the project and
its success.
With a wealth of
experiences and lessons learned over the years CRHP founded the
Jamkhed Institute for Training and Research in Community
Health and Development in 1992 in order to formalize the
training that had been provided over the years. The training
center receives both national and international participants. To
date, CRHP has received over 11,000 participants from
India and nearly one hundred other countries representing
health and development workers from government, non-government
and faith-based organizations, grassroots workers, doctors,
nurses, government workers, administrators, and students. They
receive training in the principles and practices of
community-based health and development, leadership skills and
personal development. Research projects are conducted
periodically with results being published in various journals
and presented at public health conferences throughout the world.
Over the years CRHP
has done much to mitigate the effects of poverty and reduce the
burden of disease for a combined population of nearly 500,000
(including tribal areas). The “Jamkhed Model,” as it has come to
be known, was acknowledged by the World Health Organization and
UNICEF as a model for sustainable primary health and
development. Drs Raj and Mabelle Arole were also awarded the
Magsaysay Award, popularly known as the Asian Nobel Prize, for their
tireless efforts and contributions to the field of
community-based primary health care. Through its training
activities CRHP has empowered people throughout the world from
Latin America to Africa and Afghanistan to initiate similar
projects which have sparked a movement toward comprehensive
primary health care.
This summer
we will spend 4-6 weeks at CRHP, Jamkhed
undergoing training, volunteering and conducting research. With
your help, no matter how small, we hope to make this fundraising
campaign a success so that poverty will no longer prevent the
people of this remote part of the world from accessing essential
and often life-saving medical care. The new building will house
the hospital and health center and will replace an old structure
in disrepair that is currently being used to provide services. The original hospital
was built in the 1970s as a temporary facility to provide
emergency treatment in the early years of the project. It is
currently in an unacceptable condition and is no longer capable of
safely and adequately serving the large population in CRHP’s catchment
area. The new hospital will provide free or low-cost quality
secondary care services including emergency, medical, surgical,
outpatient, and inpatient care. Each year there are currently
20,000 outpatient visits, 250 deliveries (high-risk
referrals), and 450 surgical procedures performed. CRHP
is also the only hospital in the area that provides anti-snake
venom and treatment for various forms of envenomation and
poisoning. The ability to treat these cases prevents the deaths
of many dozens of children, women and men each year. The
new facilities will enable CRHP to expand its capacity in order
to meet the demand of this greatly underserved population.
Donations to the Comprehensive Rural
Health Project, Jamkhed, can be made through its partner
organization, Jamkhed International – North America (JINA).
No amount is too small and 100% of your donation will be transferred directly to CRHP,
Jamkhed to support its work and mission. You may indicate where
you would like your gift to be applied (new hospital
construction, child development program, adolescent girls
program, environment program, appropriate technology, etc.).
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JINA is a registered 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization and all donations made from the United
States are tax-deductible.
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CRHP is a registered non-profit
charitable society in India and is officially recognized by the
Government of India as the Society for Comprehensive Rural
Health Projects.
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