“Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” As a solution to this question asked by activist and leader of the civil rights movement ‘Martin Luther King, Jr.’, ‘Switch India’ in collaboration with ‘Robinhood Army’, organised a free medical camp at Talegaon on 21st July 2019, Sunday.
The soul intent of the camp was to serve the underprivileged, help them fight against lifestyle-related diseases and to create awareness regarding child hygiene and sanitation.
Gaining knowledge isn’t too big of an issue. Applying it, on the other hand, is a lot more challenging, especially when you consider how little time we have throughout our busy days to stop, breathe, and just be.
So, to help the indigent improve their quality of life, our team of 15 volunteers comprising of 12 dedicated medical students with 2 enthusiastic physicians and a skilled physiotherapist reached the camp site. As soon as we reached the site we were welcomed by a huge number of people who had come for their health check-up.
The camp site was divided into 6 stations and duties were appointed accordingly. At desk 1, registration of the patients was done by RHA volunteers; desk 2 was where blood pressure was evaluated by 2 volunteers of switch team. On desk 3 detailed general examination, with head-to-toe and systemic examination was done.
On desk 4, general physician counselling and prescription of drugs were done as required. Dressing of wound if needed was done. Patients with musculoskeletal complaints were referred to the physiotherapist where assessment and exercises were taught.
At the last desk, an effort was made to guide the mothers regarding personal and environmental hygiene, health and nutrition, malnourishment and sanitation. Appropriate referrals were given to tertiary care hospitals with affordable health care.
This camp was a huge success because we were able to screen and counsel 112 individuals, including 59 paediatric and 53 adults for most of the health issues they had.
Amongst the many complaints that the patients came with, most common were age-related diseases like senile cataract and postural myalgia. On the other extreme, malnutrition and skin diseases were extremely concerning in children. The volunteers themselves cut the nails of children to make them understand the importance of personal hygiene.
The camp was very well headed by the camp leader Suraj Barne, who volunteered to take upon himself the responsibility and made sure that the camp ran perfectly at every step. Coordination from RHA volunteers was the much-needed icing on the top.
The smiles we received after treating the needed were way too precious. They brought deeply meaningful changes in our life. It made us realize that even though we have a very tight schedule and we are always at a run for one or the other thing, we can always find time to give back to society.
This camp in particular also brought into perspective to appreciate and cherish life in every means. So, let us make this journey of life worthwhile and take that huge leap from grumbling to gratitude.
We feel fortunate enough to be part of Switch and make a positive transformation in people’s lives. We are grateful to Switch India for the efforts they’ve been putting through so many camps and hope they keep doing so for a very long time.
