You should have been there to witness and feel the difference making Atmanirbhar Project in the real tribal area of Dediapada.
The facts and figures are as follows:
Total No. of patients - 142
Orthetic Aid (Prosthesis, Calipers, Crutches, etc.) - 64
Tricycle cases (non-operable) - 11
No. of Patients where no help could be rendered as they were either Cerebalpalsy or Deformity due to Myelitis, Meningitis or Sickle Cell Disease - 40
No. of patients requiring operation - 17
The expressions that I have heard from Rotarians are as follows:
1. "This is real Rotary."
2. "Each smile is worth a crore of Rupees."
3. "Unbelievable - lets have more projects like this."
4. "This is the need of the hour."
5. "Rotary means to reach out to have nots."
Friends our journey started at 7.00 a.m. from Baroda. Time Management was so good that three cars from different areas gathered after 1 & 1/2 hours drive to have a cup of tea at the road side (Picture 003).
Rtn. Nilesh had planned the camp with the help of Mr. Rajesh Zaveri and Bharat Sevashram Sang, Dediapada (Picture 068).
The scenic beauty that we saw enroute cannot be described in words and hence I am just uploading the pictures of lush green area at Visalkhadi (Pictures 005 & 009). Everyone was so motivated that we decided to keep this in mind as a picnic spot - could be overnight or morning till evening.
The challenges that we saw in the camp cannot be described in words. You can see patients with their relatives (Pictures 015, 020, & 022) come down from long distances and there were long queues.
How difficult life can be of these physically challenged people with various deformities (Pictures 013, 018, 024) ? Look at the size of the legs versus hands due to inability to walk since birth (Picture 031).
Personal touch and involvement of Rotarians was seen at all levels - whether it was prosthesis (Picture 019) or Calipers (Picture 042) or even distribution of food to the beneficiaries (Picture 037), registration, convincing patients' relatives, etc.
I got an opportunity to see some real tricky (more than 42 patients) and challenging cases, not seen in cities (Picture 057).
Each picture is a thousand words and I have got 70 pictures all of which I cannot upload and hence I would conclude by saying that this was the first time that city people visited Dediapada and organized a camp. Picture 061 & 062 shows delivery of caliper and "smile of hope." Picture 064 shows delivery of caliper and 065 shows giving up stick for the first time in life. Satisfied relatives (Picture 063) or innocent smiles or sheer joy.
Friends, time has come to rethink - would you like to make this camp more successful by your commitment of time (10 volunteers out of 43 Rotarians can be improved upon. Isn't it?) and participating in different activities with excellent planning! Cases of operations need your help. those who have never walked can definitely be made to walk with minor operations, provided somebody sponsors their cases. Mr. Zaveri has promised us to bring (using his own vehicle) the patients to my hospital. I will certainly do the operation free of charge but some cost is involved towards anesthesia, drugs, etc. Would you like to be a friend of these "have nots" and make them Atmanirbhar?
Do not forget to see the video that I would upload in the next two days with my Sanjay Drashti Rishriraj.
Dr. Manoj Desai
Bulletin Editor
