The 12th Pindari Health Camp. 30th April to 10th May Partners

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1 The 12th Pindari Health Camp 30th April to 10th May 2016 Partners

BACKGROUND Since 2009, Aarohi and Himjoli have been coming together to take doctors into the remote rural hamlets of the Pindari valley every 6 months (April-May and September- October).

2 BACKGROUND Since 2009, Aarohi and Himjoli have been coming together to take doctors into the remote rural hamlets of the Pindari valley every 6 months (April-May and September- October). This region, which is situated 10,000 feet above sea level in the upper reaches of the Kumaon Himalayas in the northern part of Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand, is renowned among trekkers and adventure sport enthusiasts for its sheer raw natural beauty. However, the absence of roads and infrastructure makes it difficult to access, hence it remains largely cut off from the most basic amenities such as electricity, good quality healthcare and education. Some of these villages are a good 8 to 9 hours of a hard trek from the road head and the nearst medical facility is another 2.5 hours away in Bageshwar. Very often families are unable to go that far for treatment, cost and time being the main deterrent. The Pindari Camps: Aarohi s doctors and medical staff walk from village to village volunteering their services, by providing free consultations and medicines at a nominal charge to government school children and local people. We have been holding biannual camps in Khati Sarni and Wacham (Malagaon), where we have been receiving consistent support from the local communities. Along with healthcare services, we also engage the children in a range of educational and recreational activities to stimulate their creative energies and build awareness about the environment in which they live.

3 OBJECTIVES The main objective of the Pindari Camp is to check the health of local school children, monitor their physical growth and well-being, as well as to make doctors, dentists and optometrists available to the rural adult patients in these hamlets. Over the years, the intellectual development of the children in these villages has assumed a second, but equally important focus. The initiative started with recreational activities such as games, art and craft. Having done several camps at regular intervals, familiarity has been established with the students, thus enabling fruitful discussions and activities around topics such as personal hygiene, cleanliness and the environment. These activities and discussions are now a regular feature in the camps, the eventual aim being to mould youngsters into becoming potential change agents in their community.

4 The 12th Pindari Health Camp (April-May 2016) Aarohi and Himjoli conducted the 12th Biannual Pindari Health Camp from 30th April to 5th May A notable 560 patients 1 (311 school children and 249 general patients) across five villages were examined over the five days of the camp, which is nearly double the number of patients from the previous camp held in September-October This time, we extended our services into two additional villages, Jhuni and Sorag, where we received an encouraging response from the local communities. More than 50% of the patients seen hailed from these two villages. The Team Pankaj Wadhwa (Himjoli, Chief Organiser), Dr. Sushil Sharma, Dr. Chetanya Malik, Dr. Himanshu Upreti, Dr. Tejasvi Bhatt (Dentist), Prakash Pandey (Pharmacist), Abhigyan Bahuguna (Medical Student), Ashutosh (Optometrist), Jamal Mohammed (Cleaning Campaign Lead), Anwar, Jacqueline and Madhuri (Volunteers) The Programme The twelve-member team comprising of eight medical staff and four volunteers/ community workers trekked nearly 150 kilometres over 10 days, extending their services to remote parts of the Pindari valley. Five camps were held from 1st to 5th May in Jhuni, Khati, Sarni, Malagaon and Sorag, following which the team went on a scenic three-day trek to the Pindari glacier. ITINERARY Day 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 to km over 10 days Arrival in Supi Supi to Jhuni Camp at Jhuni Jhuni to Khati Camp at Khati Khati to Sarni Camp at Sarni Sarni to Khati Khati to Mallagaon Camp at Mallagaon Mallagaon to Sorag Camp at Sorag Sorag to Khati Trek to Pindari Glacier and back to base 1 Of the 560 patients that were seen (which included school children), 5 patients were seen by doctors outside of the camp in their leisure time and hence not included in the camp registrations.

Health Check-Ups Children underwent routine growth monitoring, a general systemic examination, an eye check-up and a dental check-up. Vitamin A and deworming doses were also given out the children.

5 Health Check-Ups Children underwent routine growth monitoring, a general systemic examination, an eye check-up and a dental check-up. Vitamin A and deworming doses were also given out the children. The doctors also provided free consultations to general patients, and dispensed medicines at a nominal charge. A record of 40 dental extractions were done over the five days, by Aarohi s resident Dentist, Dr. Tejasvi. A boy from Malagaon after having his wound dressed HEALTH CAMP DATA: 560 PATIENTS SEEN ACROSS 5 VILLAGES 560 PATIENTS SEEN 115 JHUNI 80 KHATI 120 SARNI 66 MALAGAON 179 SORAG % SCHOOL CHILDREN 45% GENERAL PATIENTS 20% 14% 21% 12% 32% DENTAL EXTRACTIONS

Volunteers playing the Circle game with children of Sarni Kids of Sarni painting their rocks Children of Sorag getting

Craft and Sport It was heartening to see that the schools and children had maintained clean surroundings and toilets.

We noticed a visible improvement in their personal hygiene too, perhaps owing to repeated advice they have been receiving

Upon asking children how to handle plastic waste, most of them responded that it must be thrown into a dustbin.

and rock painting, bracelet and jewellery making and sport.

6 Volunteers playing the Circle game with children of Sarni Kids of Sarni painting their rocks Children of Sorag getting their first lesson in waste management Girls of Khati showing off the jewellery they made themselves Cleaning Campaign Art, Craft and Sport It was heartening to see that the schools and children had maintained clean surroundings and toilets. They were using the designated dustbins to discard waste. We noticed a visible improvement in their personal hygiene too, perhaps owing to repeated advice they have been receiving over the years of our visits. Upon asking children how to handle plastic waste, most of them responded that it must be thrown into a dustbin. While patients were being examined, the school children were engaged in a host of co-curricular activities such as pebble and rock painting, bracelet and jewellery making and sport. The aim was to provide simple and constructive avenues for children to explore their creativity, encouraging them to make use of things easily found in their surroundings such as sticks, rocks and pebbles. A football was donated at each school. In Khati, a football match was organised, while in other villages, volunteers played various outdoor games with the children.

From the heart... The trip to Pindari was an experience of a lifetime. Trekking in areas where access to healthcare is a luxury of sorts was enriching and memorable for a lot of reasons.

Interaction with the young and old of the area gave first hand experience of the hardships faced by them for basic education and health and how they deal with it with utmost normalcy.

7 From the heart... The trip to Pindari was an experience of a lifetime. Trekking in areas where access to healthcare is a luxury of sorts was enriching and memorable for a lot of reasons. The five schools where we held our camps were at picturesque locations with students full of life and infectious energy. Interaction with the young and old of the area gave first hand experience of the hardships faced by them for basic education and health and how they deal with it with utmost normalcy. I got to work and heard experiences of other like-minded people regarding camps held previously and life in the mountains, something which will be close to my heart. And lastly as someone who was trekking for the first time I did get tired of walking all day, but something which not only didn t tire me, but rather refreshed me at times was the amazing natural beauty which was there to admire. Whether it was the river or the woods, the fire or the mountains, the snow-clad peaks or the incessant rain, I was totally awestruck by nature at its display in the lap of Himalayas. Breathtaking in more than one ways! Dr. Chetanya Malik, LNJP Hospital, Delhi It was a sort of dream come true for me where in different people from such diverse backgrounds came together. Never before, have I been amongst such a power packed fun loving and enthusiastic bunch. I had always wished that someday I would go to different villages in the hills doing whatever little I could, for the people there along the way. I wake up one day and the universe presents this bunch of CRAZY ONES, from such different spheres of life, who are telling me to have faith and follow the trail. And so I did and what a journey it was! Words fall short to describe my experience, but I would like to summarise it with this one scene, where after doing our bit at the medical camps, we finally reached Dwali. In the evening, we were sitting there, with the green hills in front, clouds flowing across our faces, a waterfall on the opposite side, river bed down to the left and The Himalayas (Nandadevi) up towards our right, the wonderful company of strangers who had become good friends and the Coldplay song PARADISE playing in the background. At that moment, I really thought I m living my dream (Perhaps a reward for the good work we did in the camps, I thought). Dr. Himanshu Upreti, ex-capt, AMC

We gave the soccer ball to the little deaf boy in Sorag, upon which Pankaj exclaimed we could never even begin to quantify the joy that just lit up that kid s face.

8 We gave the soccer ball to the little deaf boy in Sorag, upon which Pankaj exclaimed we could never even begin to quantify the joy that just lit up that kid s face. The biggest thing I m going to take away from Pindari is that beyond the number of patients we saw or the amount of paint sets we gave away, we sincerely touched the lives of the people we encountered. We introduced the kids to new creative outlets that sparked their imaginations and with the routine patients, we presented a willing ear, so that they could voice their concerns about their well being too and provided them with medical attention that they otherwise would not receive. And in return, every person we met touched my heart as well. This was the BEST part of the experience for me I entered Medical school with aspirations of providing health services to villages and to the less privileged. Aarohi, which has been doing similar work in the Kumaon region for the past 27 years provided me my first opportunity. The addition of young doctors and medical students like myself to such camps has had a deep social awakening effect. The steep mountains and starry nights have helped me open up to my own self and be more compassionate. I feel blessed to take home such experience from Aarohi and thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. Abhigyan Bahuguna, Medical Student, SGRR Medical College Dehradun Jacqueline Foley, Volunteer at Aarohi

9 The Pindari Team of April-May 2016 WANT TO GET INVOLVED? You can become a member of Aarohi or make a donation towards any of our projects. You can reach out to your family and friends and talk about our work. You can help spread the word. For more information us at info@aarohi.org JOIN HANDS We welcome doctors, teachers, managers, designers, musicians, theatre persons, IT professionals or anyone with a desire to share his or her skills to volunteer with us. Aarohi encourages creative ideas and provides a unique opportunity to experience a different way of living and working. Village Satoli, P.O Peora, District Nainital, Uttarakhand , INDIA Phone: info@aarohi.org Website: facebook.com/aarohi.ngo Aarohi is a voluntary organisation founded in It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, It is also registered u/s 80 G and 12 A of the IT Act and under the FCRA.

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