Season's greetings

Wish you all a very happy new year 2018!!!

Its been a long journey; starting out as a humble hospital with few staff, to a 50 bedded hospital with more than 64 tribal staff and a well organized community health team working at the grass roots....
The institution would never have grown without the willingness of the tribal people to work for their own community. The team has always stretched its boundaries to achieve the goal of being a better health care provider for the tribal community of the Gudalur valley.
We strongly stand by the vision of being "A hospital FOR the tribals; BY the tribals”
Thank you all for being a part of this journey. With so many hurdles in our way, the journey could only be travelled with your support & encouragement.
We are happy to have a senior Pediatrician, Dr.Sheila, join the team of doctors. Dr. Evelyn joining the Dental team has helped provide dental service at the hospital without any discontinuity. Mr.Sunu joined us as counselor for the Sickle cell programme. Priya & Vinetha, both Paniya girls, have joined the Disability team. Anand completed his computer training and has joined the staff.
It is a matter of pride that Bindu and Sijitha, both Paniya girls have joined for the D. Pharm course at John Enoch College of Pharmacy, Trivandrum. Thanks to the continued support from the Poristes Stiftung, it is possible to send student out for para medical training courses.
And finally we have permission to start Auxillary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM) course. The school was inaugurated on Nov 9th by the District Collector. It comes as a result of 3 years of sincere efforts at various levels to get the necessary approvals.



The inaugural ANM batch of 2017 - a total of 20 students (19 of whom are Adivasi). Pictured here with their families. A proud moment for everyone!!

The fledgling Disability centre has been shuttling from one rented room to the other. They are now functioning out of a room in the hospital. Realizing the need of more space for vocational training & activities for the differently abled children, we are constructing a full floor above the canteen. Angela Harding, a volunteer at the centre from UK has been instrumental in getting the ball rolling to set up the centre with a donation from The Welton Foundation.
Construction at the new site has started and dorms for students and some staff quarters. The PLENTI guest house at the same site has become operational and the first volunteers have started coming in.

Exposure visit

After months of planning and excitement, the Staff exposure visit finally happened. It proved to be a much needed break for all nursing and support staff at the hospital. Health workers, village health nurses and senior animators accompanied the group. Having forgotten their daily chores for a couple of days, they had fun and frolic!! Visits to projects was part of the learning experience; they gained insight into activities of other NGOs like DHAN in Madurai & DAYA in Perambra, Calicut.

Dec 5th Celebration

Dec 5, 1988 was the landmark “land rights rally” in which more than 10000 tribals participated. December 5th has come to be celebrated as the Adivasi day, remembering the struggles, the fight for unity of all the four tribes, keeping alive the Adivasi culture through song and dance.
This year, the celebrations were special. The sheer number of youngsters in the health and education teams made it a fun filled function with tribal music, dances and even a tribal cuisine for dinner cooked by the staff. Faith in the future of the community was very evident… 

A story to share.........

The tribal patients we serve here are among the most downtrodden -pushed to very fringes of society.
Malnutrition and its associated health problems are still prevalent . A prime example of this is Mr.C, a middle aged man weighing 30 Kgs with a haemoglobin of 3.5 gms! who was brought to our hospital complaining of severe abdominal pain. Investigations showed that he had developed a perforation of his stomach and his life was in imminent danger-truly a surgeon’s and anesthesiologist's nightmare. Amazing enough, he was not only alive, but responsive and rather chatty-testament to the resilience of these people.
He was rushed into surgery and his stomach perforation closed.. Days of intensive care and many blood transfusions later, he is doing remarkably well – and ready for dischare at the time of writing.
We cannot possibly over-state the importance of a fully equipped secondary level hospital to serve at the apex of an extensive community health program. A blood bank and a functioning operation theatre have saved many lives .
Providning quality healthcare to a whole community is an expensive proposition and we are very grateful to the large number of generous souls who make regular donations to ensure ASHWINI continues its fine work.
We recently had nursing students from Australia who visited as part of their electives. All here will remember how readily and eagerly they settled into life at Gudalur. Their spontaneous donations were heartwarming.
We are grateful for the contribution from LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES which helped us provide hearing aid and speech therapy for the two siblings; Pushpa& Sathesh of Koyikolli village.
  1. Donations in India -   Are exempt from income tax under section 80G of the income tax act. Money can be transferred directly to our account in SBI, Gudalur as ASHWINI DONATIONS, Current account No: 35765454150 IFSC Code: SBIN 001016 
  2. In USA -  Tax deductible donations can be made by check to Vidyalay.org Foundation Inc and mailed to Ms.Asmita Shendye, 35 Meyer Drive, Clifton, NJ 07012
  3. OR By - online donation through Tribal India Health Foundation http://www.tihf.org.in/ and click the “donate” button on the page “How you can help”

  4. In the UK - Gift aid can be a benefit if donations are sent to Account name: From Here To There, Sort Code: 30-65-92, Account number: 16621468. Email: friendsofgudalur@gmail.com

Address

Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
10/14 G2 G3, Kjotharvayal
P.B.No:-20,
Gudalur, The Nilgiris 


Contacts

Email: ashwinigudalur@gmail.com           
Phone: 91-4262-261645                

Links

Website

Feedback

Please send us your ideas, bug reports, suggestions! Any feedback would be appreciated.