Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am sure that this question must have hit the conscience of many. Being a medical student, this is one of the things that has never failed to haunt me.
Soon, an opportunity knocked on my door. Switch India, in collaboration with Robinhood Army, gave me a chance to serve the people in need.
12 Switch India Volunteers comprising of physicians, physiotherapists and medical students from colleges of Mumbai and Pune, put into two teams, stepped forward for conducting Health Camps at Lonavala. We were all geared up for this with our stethoscopes, BP apparatuses and a lot of anticipation.
We reached Lonavala at 8 am on the 19th of May, 2019 and we were soon allotted our roles. The first team set out for their camp at Kurwanda. Overriden by excitement, we were "almost" ready for our first camp. We screened approximately 70 people within a span of 90 minutes. Children and adults of all age groups came to us.
We built a rapport with them and soon everyone was very comfortable with all of us. After checking their BP and examining them, we prescribed medicines for their ailments and referred them to a RHTC (Rural Health Training Centre) when we didn't have the appropriate medicines.
We did deworming of around 20+ children. Almost all the women and children were were poorly nourished. Many of the patients were given iron and calcium supplements. We taught them the steps of basic hand washing, the importance of balanced diet, especially in a child's growing years.
We were helped a lot by the physicians on the team and it was such a wonderful learning experience for all of us.
Meanwhile, the second team visited Bhushigaon where we screened around 50+ people. The two camps in this village were merged. 6 volunteers worked tirelessly despite the scorching heat of the sun.
We counselled them and prescribed medications for some common ailments. For patients who didn't speak Hindi or Marathi, we were connected to a translator, which was definitely a bonus.
At the end of the camp, we were tired but the feeling of satisfaction was unparalleled. This camp was one of my firsts. We counselled villagers about personal hygiene, dietary modifications that they could afford and exercises that they could easily perform. RHA provided the populace with food at the end of the camp and their faces were lit up with content.
It was probably the most productive Sunday of my life and I owe it all to Switch India and RHA. Thank you for letting us do this. We now know the skills we have and those that we need to develop further. This camp took us one step closer to becoming better physicians, and most importantly, better human beings.
