OUR ACTIVITIES
The rural population needs education in nutrition and hygiene as well as quality health care in order to break the vicious cycle of ignorance and disease. We therefore focus on raising the villagers’ awareness about nutrition and water hygiene as much as on providing quality health care.
Holistic health care for the poor
No single discipline of healing is appropriate for all persons and diseases. ASSMCH offers treatment in acupuncture, homeopathy, physiotherapy and allopathy (Western medicine). This holistic approach of combining conventional and alternative treatments allows the therapists to provide the most suitable care for each patient, offered at a nominal charge. We are serving a rural population of approx. 240,000 in 260 villages that have no access to other adequate and affordable medical facilities.
Education in nutrition and hygiene
Approx. 80-90% of the rural population in our area suffer from chronic malnutrition, due to poverty as well as lacking education and awareness about healthy food and water sources.
Our medicinal and nutritional herbs garden is used to demonstrate to the patients which plants they can find in their own villages to help in curing and preventing their nutritional deficiencies and other health problems.
On a weekly basis, a comedy drama about healthy nutrition, vitamins and their natural food sources is being projected as an entertaining video screening in the surrounding villages. Since 2013 a new and similarly entertaining and educating drama on water hygiene is also being screened. Various other educational programs are held regularly. In addition, during the rainy season our team disinfects the drinking water wells in the villages and demonstrates to the villagers how they can do this themselves as well.
Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation Program
Most of the children’s physical and mental development is impaired due to their nutritional deficiencies. Many of them suffer from cerebral palsy: due to lacking development of the brain since before, during or after birth, they have spastic paralysis or various degrees of other physical and/or mental retardation. Many of them can neither walk nor stand when they first come to our clinic. Through regular treatments in acupuncture, physiotherapy and other specialized techniques, the children improve quickly and can often begin to walk again, sometimes for the first time in their lives.
Additional service programs
Other medical services include mobile medical camps in more distant villages and free eye testing programs followed by eye-glass distribution and sponsored cataract operations. In the winter, blanket distribution programs are held and children’s programs are held several times each year.
Future Plans and Needs
Due to our limited resources, we are not yet able to employ a doctor in each medical discipline on a daily basis. Presently homeopathy is offered 5 days a week, acupuncture 4 days, physiotherapy on 3 days and allopathy once a week. The cerebral palsy rehabilitation program takes place once a week and needs to be expanded to help the many handicapped children in our area who are not yet receiving treatment. In the future ayurveda and naturopathy will be added to our regular medical services. For this further rooms and facilities need to be constructed.
The monthly running costs of the clinic are at present approximately US$ 1,143. This amount includes staff salaries, medicines & supplies, utilities as well as general maintenance.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
For more information about Abha Seva Sadan Multitherapy Charitable Health Centre and how you can help and participate in this service project, please contact us by email at rural-health@amurt.net or by phone at +91-99343-06890 (Dada Devashuddhananda).
