Rice Fields & Hospitals

About an hour out of Varanasi, there is Christian run hospital and compound that is committed to serving the lowest, poorest caste of India, the Dalit people. These are India’s Untouchables, people considered lower than animals, and treated so too. They would never be able to afford to see a doctor or have any medical treatment. Their education is so limited on healthy living, so you can imagine the illnesses and health issues that arise in their communities.

The Kachhwa hospital is located on a large compound that houses all the workers, both national and international, has centers for sewing and electrical classes and has numerous sports courts – all surrounded by big beautiful green trees and a pond stocked with fish and swans. It is an amazing place!

They have minor and major operating rooms, a general ward and eye and dental services. They do everything from ultrasounds to surgery to snake bite treatment; it is known as “the snake bite hospital”, as they usually receive at least one snake bite victim a day from surrounding villages.

By Western standards, their equipment would seem primitive and outdated, but they make it work. I know my sister and nursing friends will get a kick out of the hospital photos – the operating rooms, the ward, the sterilization equipment and ventilator, as well as the general sanitization of the facility! Enjoy, ladies!

The goals of the compound are amazing. They for holistic community development, not just healthcare related. Here are a couple of them…
6000 Dalit families from 35 villages in Majhawa Block have increased awareness/knowledge about the determinants and methods to prevent diseases, the desire to seek better health, lower illness rates, improved environment/personal hygiene, access to affordable health care.
Steps:
school health training for school teachers
conduct health awareness rallies at schools
conduct village cleaning campaign
conduct hygiene promotion teaching
hand pump and toilet installation

3000 children between 5 – 15yrs from Dalit families have acquired education and 1250 illiterate adults will be functional literates.
Steps:
selecting/training teachers
enrolling students (children & adults)
conducting literacy classes
conducting parents meetings
conducting regular classes/tests/exams

After our tour of the hospital, Uncle Doug and I hopped on the motorcycle to tour the rural areas surrounding the village (call it following our rural upbringings!) After spending the last few weeks in urban, dirty, chaotic Varanasi, the countryside was incredible. Serene rice fields scattered with workers, women thrashing rice in roadside yards, tiny households, some with land, some mere shacks on the side of the road. The road was littered with villagers: women in saris, boys and girls biking home from school, men carrying bundles of rice. Everything seemed to be connected to farming; everyone was working towards the same goal. The air was clear and the land was beautiful. It was awesome to get my first non-urban glimpse of India.

Doug and I continued into the village of Kachhwa where he couldn’t help but embrace being the out of place, white tourist and driving down a very narrow valley with the motorcycle. I am certain these folks weren’t use to seeing white people at all; how exciting we must have been to them! Haha.

Back at the compound we shared dinner with the group of doctors and volunteers – the biggest pot I have ever seen in my life, full of delicious chicken biryani and raita.