17th ANNUAL REPORT 2010-11 Dr.Roda Patel- An Unexpected Departure All our well wishers, friends, donors have known our Trustee Dr.Roda Khushroo Patel and her passion to work for the under privileged children. Dr.Roda Patel worked as a paediatrician in Chicago for many years but her heart was in India. She longed to do something for the poor and needy children in India. With this mission she came to Kharel in 1995 and after that visited Kharel for 4 months every year. She was a major force behind the Child Health and Nutrition Project started by the organization, to improve the malnutrition and health in the poor tribal children. She was very concerned about the malnutrition in these children Dr. Roda Patel and worked day and night to collect donations from friends, well wishers, philanthrophic organizations in India and abroad. She started the Gram Seva Foundation in U.S.A. for this purpose and all donations to this foundation are utilised for the children's welfare project in Kharel. The Foundation continues to give money for this purpose. Dr.Roda Patel was the inspiration behind the Balawas Project. This project provides residential facilities and education to children, whose parents are migrants, who are orphans or come from broken families. The project was very close to her heart and she wanted to expand it so that more and more children benefit. Dr.Khushroo Patel, their children, family and friends have pledged to fulfil her dream and this project shall be completed soon. Dr.Patel was not only a very good doctor, a loving and compassionate human being but also a great artist. Her enthusiasm for life was infectious. Her paintings, which generally had mother and children as subjects, were displayed every year in an exhibition in Chicago and the amount generated from their sale was donated to the welfare of the children. Her paintings were described as full of Feelings, Love and Purpose. We lost this warm, compassionate and loving person, our Mother Teresa on Aug 8th 2011 at Chicago. Gram Seva family has lost their pillar of support. Her demise has caused a big void e are lamps and in our lives which will be difficult to fill. Rodaben as lovingly called Wour burning is by all and Rodaaji to the Balawas children, has a special place in what we call "Life" our hearts and will always be an inspirational force behind Gram - Vivekananda Seva and our lives……… GRAM SEVA TRUST - Annual Report 2010-2011 Preface It gives me a great pleasure in extending warm greetings for the New Year to all our dear friends and well wishers… Gram Seva Trust, started with the mission of reaching out to rural population, has completed 17 years devoted to public health and community development. During these seventeen years, the Trust has worked hard and with utmost sincerity to take medical and public health services to the disadvantaged in Navsari and Dang districts. We can say with humility that the organization has largely succeeded in meeting the goals it had set for itself. However, with experience, we also learnt that the health services alone are not enough. These need to be complemented with efforts at social and economic upliftment of the rural poor in order to make a palpable change. The ‘Halpatis’ are amongst the most backward in South Gujarat. Poverty, illiteracy, alcoholism and other addictions have deprived them from fruits of development seen in other regions. High maternal and infant mortality, malnutrition, inadequate housing and poor sanitation causing common infections are the frontiers that still need to be paid attention to. The Trust has taken several initiatives to contribute towards social and economic betterment. There are projects aimed at improving their economic status by way of facilitating Self Help Groups for small savings, micro- credits, and vocational training. The communities still lack literacy and are victims of ignorance, superstitions and mis-beliefs. The education being offered to children lacks both direction and quality that could make a visible impact in empowering them to lead a life with higher self-confidence and self-esteem. In order to get around the inadequacies of formal education system, we have started a shelter home where the neediest amongst these children can experience an environment of love and care while they continue with regular schooling. In addition there are coaching classes in every village to strengthen the basic education. We hope this will have positive results in bringing about value based education and the meritorious students will be able to compete with the best. Such examples will raise the bar for others too in the community and then only we can feel the sense of achievement. We will like to set this goal post to devote our future strategies and energy with utmost sincerity and honesty. Untimely demise of Rodaben Patel has been a cruel blow to the organization since she was a pillar of support to the Trust, through her unmatched dedication and hard work especially for the children related projects, since the beginning. It is an irreparable loss for all of us at the Gram Seva Trust. The details enlisting the activities of the Trust are presented in the following pages. You have stood by us in times of our trials and tribulations like a rock and we seek your love, guidance and support for the coming years also. Thanking you, Dr.Ashwin Shah, Date : 10th December, 2011 ( Managing Trustee) Place : Kharel On behalf of Trustees. 1 GRAM SEVA TRUST - Annual Report 2010-2011 New Activities and Facilities over. The incidence of non-communicable diseases like High Blood Pressure, Diabetes Mellitus, and Hospital Expansion Cataract related blindness often go unnoticed and untreated in the elderly. This has resulted in many The hospital expansion work had started last patients presenting to the hospital with paralysis, year and the same was completed and commissioned heart attack, kidney failure, retinopathy and other during 2010-11. The new wing has an Intensive Care complications of high BP or Diabetes. These lead Unit (ICU), a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), to serious consequences like ICU admissions and a a Children’s Ward and the new Labor Room. The compromised quality of life after discharge from the wing also has the renovated kitchen and a much larger hospital. Many of these undesirable complications Dining Room. These new improved facilities benefit can be prevented by early diagnosis and treatment. the patients, public and the medical staff and have Similarly timely cataract surgery can check the been appreciated by all. incidence of blindness amongst the elderly. The new expansion was dedicated to the Geriatric medicine has become a separate public by famous author, Kundanikaben Kapadia speciality since the needs of the elderly are as special of Nandigram, Valsad on 05/02/2011 in presence as those of children. Most of our public health of the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Shri projects are designed for woman and child health or Sudarshan Ayengar, Director of American Springs for control of communicable diseases and do not take and Processing Works and Aspee Agro- Bilimora, into consideration the increasing incidence of non- Shri Kiranbhai Patel and the other dignitaries. The communicable diseases among the elderly. The elderly generous donations towards the hospital expansion are further neglected in the households since they are program were gratefully acknowledged by honoring not earning and are economically dependent on their the donors of each new facility. children. Often their condition goes undiagnosed The NICU with advanced facilities will make since there is no one to bring them to the hospital. it possible for us to take better care of premature We were seized of this issue for some time and newborns and low birth weight babies and help wanted to make an intervention. Fortunately the Aum in reducing the mortality in this high risk group. Foundation of Australia came forward to fund this Similarly in view of increase in hospital deliveries, project and we have finally started this much needed the new labor room fulfills the need by offering more service. space and privacy to the women in labor. A separate An initial survey of the population above 50 Children’s ward allows the doctors to treat the children years of age was done in the selected villages. A in their own environment in stead of being kept with trained field worker visits these households to check the adult patients. them for high BP, Diabetes and Cataract. Further those needing further investigations and treatment Geriatric Project (For the Elderly) are brought to the hospital by our transport and are followed up at home. The elderly population is on the increase and their special needs have been recognized the world 2 GRAM SEVA TRUST - Annual Report 2010-2011 Other ongoing Projects met by the Trust through donations. 1241 women and 1180 newborns received the care under these schemes Hospital Services during this year. Our hospital has been serving the population Annapurna Bhojnalay ( Kitchen) from 300 villages of Navsari and Dang districts by extending quality medical care at highly subsidized We now have a large dining room and a cost and many a times free of cost. The number of well equipped kitchen after the new building was patients availing these facilities has steadily gone up. commissioned. The kitchen serves free meals and This year 57741 patients were seen in the out patients twice a day milk to all patients admitted in the General department while 5959 patients required admission Wards, giving not only a nutritious diet to them but and treatment in the hospital. The cost of medical care also a big relief to the relatives from far flung areas.