6000 child die per day in India, i.e 1 in every 15 seconds. Most of these deaths are preventable. Malnutrition, Contaminated Drinking Water, Unhealthy & Unhygienic practices, total lack of awareness, Utter Neglect and Dependence on Quack doctors and village Medicine Men are some of the major reasons.
The Trust started with conducting weekly homeopathy and allopathy clinics for the tribal people of Rangabandh village in November 2002. Along with medicines, supplementary food for lactating and pregnant women was also provided. Periodic medical camps were also conducted. It was noticed that the majority of the patients complained about skin disease and stomach ailments which the doctors were able to relate to unhealthy drinking water. The soil being laterite the nature is porous, as a result water holding capacity is poor. The ponds, open wells, ditches and hand pumps are found to go dry as early as in February. Hence there is acute water crisis. The plight of the villagers forced us install 3 hand pumps in Rangabandh in August 2003 solving the poatble water problem to a large extent. This resulted in request from neighboring tribal villages for similar facility. From 2005 to 2007 the Trust installed 7 more hand pumps in the villages of Bansuli, Panskura, Phoolbagan, Khayerdanga, Jambuni, Purandhil & Sayerpara and a mini submersible pump in the Rangabandh Primary School. Thus in all 10 hand pumps and 1 minisubmersible pump were installed covering 10 villages. The intervention benefited around 1600 people.
The villagers were encouraged to develop community kitchen gardens near these hand pumps utilizing the run away water and the yield thereof was consumed by the villagers, thus adding value to their otherwise nutrition less diet. It also helped develop the use of vegetables in the daily diet of the tribal people.
The Trust has been conducting free eye camps since 2009 in association with an organization named “Ainak”. Distribution of spectacles and conducting cataract operations have been part of the follow up process. In the last 2 years a total of 337 patients have been tested, 153 given spectacles and 35 operated upon with 100% success.
Case I: The poor health condition of the villagers forced the Trust to conduct weekly homeopathy and alopathy clinics in 2002. 60-70 patients were seen lined up in each such sitting. With installation of hand pumps condition of potable water improved immensely. Within 6 months the number of patients starting decreasing. On enquiry it was found that skin and water borne diseases had decreased considerably. The tribals being reluctant users of medicines for common ailments like cold, cough, fever etc. there were hardly any patients for treatment, so much so that weekly clinics had to be replaced by occas ional medical camps.
Case II: Two volunteers of the Trust drank the water being used by the villagers of Rangabandh for drinking in 2003 (before the our hand pumps were installed). Both suffered from upset stomach over the next 5 days. This incident opened our eyes to the pathetic condition of the villagers. Our volunteers were forced to carry drinking water with during field work. In the next few years 10 hand pumps were installed in as many villages. Today our volunteers do not carry drinking water but drink water from these hand pumps.
The core purpose of NMCT is to change the plight of the tribals who do not have control over their own lives, by empowering them with tools and trainings that are necessary for shaping their own destiny.
Copyright 2020 Nayantara Memorial Charitable Trust. All rights reserved.