Children are special-they have their innocent vibes spreading bliss everywhere they go. But when they turn sick and bud in in their shells it is something to worry about. Kids should smile and play and bubble and be carefree in their lives. Don’t we know that nurturing of a child in a responsible way will lead to proper development of children? But for that a family needs to be educated. However, our country is comprised of families who cannot reap such benefits of society. And this strata of population resides in the rural sections of our country.
With this aim we, a 24 group of young active change-makers of ‘Switch-India’ marched towards Mahuli, a village in Asangaon. The camp was organized by Switch India in collaboration with Trailblazers Foundation, a voluntary organization which like Switch India undertakes social initiatives to bring in a change in the healthcare system of our society. It was Zilla Parishad School where 90 odd children awaited us with utmost excitement-the zeal which matched ours as well.
We were whole-heartedly welcomed by the school administration and members of Traiblazers Foundation. We knew it’s going to be an exhausting task today, but we were prepared. Medications for anemia, antibiotics, malnutrition packets (thanks to Decimal Foundation), deworming tablets-our army was ready to fight the challenges which health of these kids face. A separate room was kept for dental examination, general examination, deworming, and counseling and health education. Rachit and Niyati started working with registrations of the kids with they not realizing how chirpy the kids are. Kids of age group 4-13 years were registered. After that even their family members were registered and examined and educated.
(Point No. 1: Adult counseling was attained). The line management was a tedious task and kudos to these young enthusiasts that they managed it so well.
(Point No. 2: We noted that luring of the kids is a pre-requisite to tame them). There was Neha, Khushboo and Tanisha heading the anthropometry department. The girls did a wonderful job with noting the height, weight and mid-arm circumference (less than 5 years) of the kids. Calculating the BMI and then plotting the findings on growth charts with such accuracy is a commendable job.
(Point No. 3: They learnt the importance of growth chart and what important tool it is to note the development of a child). Proper anthropometry plays an important role in the follow-up of children. We found out that all the children were underweight and there is an immense need of alleviating such malnutrition in children. Proper advice regarding their nutrition will serve as a salient follow-up mechanism for these kids. The kids were then instructed to another room where our only dentist on the camp-Gargi waited with her tools and instruments. She did a daunting task managing the rigorous dental examination and oral hygiene.
(Point No. 4: She wrote an advice in Marathi on a chit instructing the parents for dental follow-up so that parents will take the initial steps on being informed). Amidst all this was our organizer Dr. Vinit looking into every managerial task with help from Dr. Gauri guiding us for perfect co-ordination. The kids, after their dental examination were sent for General Examination where the talented Dr. Nitish, Dr. Sagar, Shubham, Bhagyashree, Aatmika, and Vanni were ready to flaunt their examination and diagnostic skills. From general, to head to toe, to their Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) examination were covered.
(Point No. 5: More doctors so effective and detailed examination of the kids). And then there was me, the co-organizer running from registrations to dental to general examination to counseling departments and when time permitted examining the kids. We found out that maximum children had impacted wax in their ears and were anemic. Don’t we know how grave these problems are? Proper referral was done to the ENT department at the subsequent PHC. A kid was also found with burn wounds on her legs, with her parents demanding an ointment to be applied. Aiding her, we realized that the rural sections of our country are devoid of adequate health-care facilities. Proper provisions must be done by the health-care policy makers to achieve the health for all agendas of these rural sections. Kids were also diagnosed with improper vision thus the need for spectacles.
(Point No. 6: Referrals to ENT will have all wax removed leading to proper hearing.)
(Point No. 7: Referral to Ophthalmology will have kids get spectacles leading to proper vision of the kids). After the kids, even the adults who accompanied were examined and advised. This was followed by the deworming sessions of the kids by Khushi and Vidisha who did a stupendous job of convincing each child to effectively chew the tablet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 870 million children are at risk of parasitic worm infection. Infected children are often too sick or tired to concentrate at school, or to attend at all.
(Point No. 8: Every child was dewormed. Now we’ll have complete concentration of every child at school with good attendance). The counsellers and health educators on our team were astounding. Not only they were fluent and confident while conveying their message but also impressive in making the children listen to them. Aatmika and Dr. Sagar also gave a presentation to the children about general health and hygiene.
(Point No. 9: Volunteers’ marathi communication skills did improvise). Pubertal and pre-pubertal girls were advised on menstruation and the problems concerning it. The girls listened attentively and I am very hopeful that they understood it.
(Point No.10: Taboos involving menstruation were tackled and now we will have healthy adolescents). With this, our camp ended. There was a video session where I and Gargi emphasized the health problems the kids here at Mahuli faced and the level of prevention required to tackle them. We sincerely hope that our message and this initiative will reach the right authorities who can then intervene on a much greater scale than ours. After our felicitation, we ended up by 3 pm with a bumpy ride which made us reach our lunch avenue and then heading to our respective homes.
What I wish to highlight here is that there is an immense need of adequate health-care facilities to these challenging problems this bubbly future of our country face. With proper nourishment and support-both physically and emotionally, will we get healthy disease-free adults. I appreciate all the volunteers for giving their best to make this camp a very successful one!
