Making Healthcare for Women and Children a Reality

 

Maya Devi Hospital

Working to improve the health of women and children

Suppose you lived in A community of 50,000, where there were no health care facilities within a three-hour drive.  Would you dream that “someday” that could change? That was the dream of a woman named Maya Devi – a resident of a village in northern India.

Seeing the health challenges many women faced – particularly during pregnancy – she often spoke about the day there would be a hospital in the community that would save them the long, arduous and expensive trip to the city to seek health care. The Maya Devi hospital is the realization of her dream.

Her children turned that dream into reality, setting up foundations in India (MOTHER Foundation) and Canada (CHILD Foundation) to fund and operate the hospital. With the support of Rotary International, plus corporate and private donors, these organizations constructed a 20-bed charity hospital on the grounds of what had once been Maya Devi’s family home.

Since opening in October 2011, the Maya Devi Hospital has transformed the community of Sarurpur and the lives of the 50,000 people living in the region.  The hospital offers health care and health education to women and children in the community. The hospital now has a reputation for outstanding service, and attracts patients from communities quite a distance away. Although the hospital’s primary focus is to care for women and children, it does not refuse assistance to anyone.

The hospital is now a vital part of the community. We aim to provide the best care possible and deliver it in a cost-effective manner. With the help of Rotary International, we have acquired an x-ray system, which will enable medical staff to make timely diagnoses on site.

Maya Devi Hospital’s health and awareness programs, delivered by the medical staff, are the cornerstone of the service provided at the hospital. It empowers the women to be mindful of the importance of some of the easy steps they can take to be well and to prevent illness.

During the past year, CHILD Foundation, MOTHER Foundation, and Rotary International (with financial assistance from the Alberta Government’s Community Initiatives Program) have installed more than 500 water purification units in the village, providing clean drinking water to some 3,000 people! The service was first installed in the homes of the poorest families; those who could afford to do so paid a small fee. This is reducing water-borne illnesses, thereby contributing to a healthier community.

Achievements to date:

·         We are staffed by nine medical professionals including four part-time doctors, three full-time nurses, a lab technician and a pharmacist;

·         Pre-natal care has reduced anemia among local women from nearly 100 per cent to less than 15 per cent;

·         The hospital’s presence has dramatically reduced risks to women and the unborn during pregnancy;

·         We have installed a 5,000-watt solar power plant to provide reliable electricity to the hospital;

·         The hospital has an on-site laboratory equipment for prompt diagnosis;

·         We Initiated an education program for women – one which addressed such issues as health education and personal hygiene;

·         In collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, we introduced a program to provide low-cost sanitary pads;

·         Working with Rotary and CAWST, we initiated a bio-sand filter project to provide clean drinking water to more than 1,000 households; and

·         We have installed an X-ray system for effective diagnosis.

CHILD Foundation is a CRA-registered charity run by an all-volunteer board. The hospital is run on a shoe-string budget of about $70,000 per year. Administration costs are less than two per cent.

PLEASE JOIN US ON SEPTEMBER 29 TO FURTHER MAYA’S DREAM!

Please contact this blogger at pmbcomm@gmail.com.

(CRA Registration # 83380 7803 RR0001)