Carmelite Sisters of Charity , Bardipada, Gujarat

Vedruna Carmelite Sisters of Charity , Bardipada, Gujarat

Deep in the tribal belt at the Gujarat- Maharashtra border is the hamlet of Bardipada. After a road journey of about 110 kms from my previous stop at Zankhvav, I reached Bardipada to be greeted by an amazing sight of community work. There is a combined venture of the Jesuit priests doing developmental work and the Vedruna Carmelite Missionary Sisters doing healthcare and educational work.

 

 Dr Sr Joemol Peter( Batch 0f ’97) is doing her second stint here, back after her OB& GYN postgraduation. She is in the process of revamping the system to further help the community. In addition to her specialty, she sees a variety of medical and surgical cases, with an interesting case of leopard bite (more like mangling) being the most recent.She has been requested by governmental agencies to help out with maternal and child services in few adjacent health centres.

Herbal medicines

Having worked out of thatched huts with minimal to no electricity and pumped water, the group is a hardy and versatile lot. Over long years of interaction with tribals, there are many herbal medications the nurses have discovered which work well in a variety of conditions. 

Mahouda fruit

Use of aloe vera and the fruit of the mahuda/mahua tree(the brew of which is also used in these parts of prohibition Gujarat for other interesting purposes) is common in some of these preparations.

As a major bonus, I got to meet Fr Ignacio Galdos, a legendary Spanish Jesuit missionary. Having established the Zankhvav and Unai missions, he now lives at the Bardipada mission.  Here in addition to all the development work, he has established a wonderful museum highlighting all facets of the tribes of the region from prehistoric times. Respecting the elements of nature and the tribal way of life is the practise of this religious community.

Fr Galdos at the Museum

The Altar at the Hospital Chapel

  

The Jesuit order which established this missionary outpost is appreciative of the Sisters, especially a specialist like Sr Joma, who now faces the onerous task of scaling up the health services.

The Medical Team

DAYASADAN DAVAKHANA, ZANKHVAV, SOUTH GUJARAT

DAYASADAN DAVAKHANA, ZANKHVAV, SOUTH GUJARAT

 

Daughters of the Cross run  the Dayasadan Davakhana in Zankhvav, South Gujarat. Dr Sr Annette Fernandes ( Batch of ’78) has been holding the fort there for the past 27 years. An astute clinician, she has worked with meagre resources treating all kinds of clinical cases, often being the only qualified doctor in the entire region.

The region itself has seen improvement in the last few decades, a far cry from the time patients used to be brought in cloth cradles on bamboo poles.

With a strong commitment to community health programs, the Centre has been consistently awarded the best healthcare organisation in the NGO sector in the last few years. Sr Annette has also been organising camps at her centre; she is especially proud of the one where a group of Johnite doctors- Gary Chen, Dominic Lobo, Dr Srs Angela, Roshni, Shiny etc came over to help her.  The next camp in April 2012 is for children with cleft lip/palate where a group of doctors from Surat are coming in.

Recognition from the Gujarat government- the first of many

One of the outstanding contributions of Sr Annette has been in the field of sickle cell anaemia. Noticing the numerous cases of sickle cell anaemia, especially in crisis, she wrote up a proposal for large scale screening of the community. From the years 2002-05, in addition to her clinical work, she systematically screened 100 villages with health workers and established a comprehensive registry of all the inhabitants, showing people with the disease and career traits. Due to the consistent follow up and counselling, there has been a marked decrease in the morbidity and patients coming in sickle cell crisis.

The meticulous sickle cell registers

A clinician with a deep commitment to community and tribal health, she has also been the first to volunteer in times of crises like the Orissa super cyclone and the Gujarat communal riots (some of those experiences can be included in another post). Her fervent wish at present is for another doctor at her centre, freeing her for some time to work in the outreaches with the tribals.

Faced with de recognition- Johnites on the streets in protest(Archives)

The Batch of '78(Archives)

A personal note of thanks and wishes

A personal note of thanks

Three days before my trip to Gujarat, I met with an accident on the Bangalore Airport road which left me deeply shaken and stirred (in more ways than one). My vehicle and the road divider fortunately took most of the impact, with yours truly landing up with a badly sore shoulder and knee. Nursing real and imaginary bruises the morning after, I got a surprise call. 

Here was Dr Gary Chen (Batch of ’78) calling me from Bharuch, Gujarat. What followed has left me deeply grateful . He called me up to tell me that I need not worry about conveyance or other logistics when in Gujarat. True to word, from the time I reached Vadodara to the time I left, Gary and Sr Annette (also Batch of ’78, more about her in a subsequent post) made sure that everything was taken care of. Gary himself dropped me to the Ankleshwar station when I left Gujarat. Little does he realize just how much I needed this at that point.

Neelam and Gary Chen

Coincidentally, now in Dimapur(Nagaland), where I am stuck due to an ULFA ( Assam) bandh,another Johnite from the same batch, Dr Bijoy Sethi is taking care of me.

Bijoy and Sarita Sethi

Here is providence acting in the form of affectionate Johnites.

A meaningful and Happy Easter to all of you.

'Germany Hospital'- Jhansi

St Jude’s Hospital, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh

Stepping down at the Jhansi railway station, I mentioned St Jude’s Hospital and was greeted with blank stares. In Jhansi, this centre is popular as the ‘Germany Hospital’, a throwback to the time when there where German missionaries in the region.

One of the main reasons to visit this centre was the opportunity of meeting three generations of Johnite doctors in the same Hospital. Sr Faustina( Batch of ’63) has been at this Hospital from the time the congregation was handed over the Hospital from the German missionaries. She and Dr Sr Herman ( Batch of ’64) established the services over the initial period. Sr Herman has since moved to Ashta in Madhya Pradesh, where she continues to do wonderful work, alone for the most part- still doing Caesarians and emergency procedures. Sr Faustina, despite a limiting stroke recently, does regular OPD work.

Dr Sr Faustina

Dr Sr Augusta

Sr Augusta (Batch of ’74) has been at the centre for 3o years now. A paediatrician, she has over the years developed services at the Hospital, which now is considered one of the better referral centres.

Dr Sr Bindu

Sr Bindu( Batch of 2000) is the junior Johnite here, She is learning the ropes before she moves on to her own centre in the outreaches ( Nagpur district).

At the Hospital Chapel

Tribal Hospital, Sittilingi

Recieved this write-up yesterday from Murtuza Ghiya(Batch of 2005)


TRIBAL HOSPITAL

Sittilingi, a remote village in Dharmapuri district…..
A place where the BOND may not sound so much like a burden …
Randal Sequera from b/o 2005 , was the lucky person to have hit the jackpot and embraced this place as his bond centre.

Having paid off my bond, I went there to work for a month, awaiting entrance exam results. It took me 3 buses (the last 2 very similar to those we see on TV when the Ad- maker is trying to portray a remarkably rickety bus there by implying a remarkably rural place!!)
I was already feeling special.

The master minds behind this beautiful campus are – Dr Reji and Dr Lalitha , popularly called JI and THA by everyone ( from the nurse's 5 yr old daughter to the 65 yr old cook at the mess) !! More than 2 decades ago Ji went on a trip exploring medically underserved areas and found that this area has by far one of the highest infant mortality rates. With very little support from NGO s they set this place up amongst a variety of risks and uncertainties!! They bore in mind the Gandhian principles they learnt at Gandhigram ,Tamil Nadu- about how India s true wealth and power is in the villages and hence every aspect of rural India including health, culture, craft, farming , ideology needs to be promoted in its purest form! Hence they have an organic farming office, and an embroidery office, amongst others in the campus!

Apart from the rustic , yet suave architecture on campus , the most striking thing on campus is the humble hustle of the 2 dozen odd tribal nurses. Without a “Degree” I am amazed at the way they are so professional with their work. They are as good as any with formal education, in fact better!! Immediately I learnt that its all about attitude and not the badges ( that we , in big hospitals tend to get carried away with!)

Dr Randal has rediscovered himself here. Not only does he perform his mandatory 3 tiring OP duties a week , OT duties , ward work etc sincerely , he has taken keen interest on the “outreach programme” which is a new extension project on the other side of the hills that surround Sittilingi. Along the line of thought of his boss , he emphasizes on education in all spheres with the epicenter being maternal and child health. He takes occasional English Grammar classes for the young nursing trainees , basic pharmacology classes for the pharmacists , role plays about health ,nutrition etc for govt school children.. he always finds time to inspire and encourage many people ( including myself) cocooned in the cities to have a look at the inspring work done here !!

Randal has made himself a part of the system and a part of Sittilingi, identifying with the people with ease. I stood in awe watching how Randal , a Bombay boy , struggled to speak kannada after 6 yrs in St Johns , Bangalore ; but managed to speak fluent , dignified tamil in less than 6 months!! It gives me immense pleasure to learn how this rather carefree playful chap has learnt to be so intensely committed ; How SPAZ (spastic) Randi has transformed to Rural Randi!!
At the end of it all I can say one thing without a shadow of a doubt- that he has no regret doing his bond , which , from my research and understanding is not a very common scenario with most other bonders. While most of us maybe busy finding GOD in a Sachin Tendulkar or Anna or a Narayan Murthy ; Sittilingi worships a different set of deities – JI and THA assisted by a reliable Randi!!

PS-I sincerely apologize to any johnites I may be offending in any way, specially the bonders! Dr Randall, JI and Tha for any factual errors and the above mentioned celebrities for slighting them , if at all!!

Thank you for your patient reading,
Murtuza Ghiya ,
St Johns, batch of 2005.

Murtuza and Randal

In patient and OT Complex- Exterior

OPD Block

Inside the OT

My sincere thanks to Murtuza who I met briefly before he left for Sittilingi when I shared my plans as well as Randal who has been working there all these months.Thanks for showing that road oft trodden is not necessarily the only path to a meaningful and satisfactory life.Drs Reji and Lalitha's wonderful work has been recognized and honored across the nation.Another Johnite who has worked there is Lalit Narayan( Batch of 2001).....Binu