We had devastating rains and floods in July 2005 in Gujarat. Some Doctors & Social workers happened to visit micro interior villages of Mahudha and Nadiad taluka of Kheda District to provide food grains and medical treatment. There they found the situation mind boggling and pathetic. They saw thousands of poor illiterate villagers suffering from skin diseases, respiratory, gastrointestinal and infectious diseases in pathetic-helpless situations. Government machinery was doing level best to provide financial aid, improving infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, food supply; establishing communication with remote areas etc. But, it was practically impossible for them to meet health needs of millions of villagers. Primary Health Services seemed to be a herculean task, since it required over and above medicinal supply, help by Qualified Health Professionals-Doctors.
As a result of this visit, 3 doctors and 8 workers with a strong intution set together and coined a team to take up the task under name of Sanjivani Health and Relief Committee (SHRC). More and more weekly camps were arranged every Sunday. In a short span of 3 months their strength rose from 3 to 10 Doctors and from 8 to 16 workers. They catered free medical treatment to over 10,000 patients. Just visiting a village to provide medical aid once wasn't enough. So Sanjivani started follow-up camps in these villages in prescheduled manner in consultation with health and revenue authorities of the district. Sanjivani took help of government field workers to motivate villagers to seek help. At the end of one year Sanjivani had covered 65 villages as primary camps and has covered the same villages under follow-up camps.
This small initiative, eventually gathered a momentum and today Sanjivani is proud to be a NGO, consisting of 40 doctors and 80 volunteers which provided medical treatment in about 102 villages of Kheda and Ahmedabad districts. With the whole-hearted support from public at large, Sanjivani has succeeded in providing basic healthcare facilities to about 430,000 patients in these areas ABSOLUTELY FREE.
Do you want to be a part of the Sanjivani story going forward? Come, join us. Know more about how you can contribute.
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
Mahatma Gandhi
Devastated and helpless people after 2005 floods at Village Ranpur District Ahmedabad
