VOLUNTEERS FOR RURAL INDIA

Cataract operations are performed at a small local hospital. The surgeons are dedicated and efficient, though the facilities are very simple.

The patients are cared for by the project while they recover from the operation

After the operation, advice on avoiding hazards is given in careful simple language.

This 80-year-old lady, sitting with the VRI general secretary, has come from a village 18 miles away to attend the eye camp. She told us how happy she was to get sight restored in one eye, and asked when the next camp will be so that she can get the other eye done.

The VRI charity

VRI is a small registered charity that has been supporting rural development work in India since 1982. It has been closely associated with one particular project in north India, which has been working in the village of Amarpurkashi and surrounding villages since 1970.

The problem of cataracts in India

Cataracts account for half of blindness worldwide but they are estimated to be responsible for nearly 80% of blindness in India. Europeans typically develop cataract symptoms in their sixties and seventies. Asians begin to show symptoms more than a decade earlier, many during their working life. While by age 75, 25% of British adults will develop cataracts, 67% of over-70s in the Punjab have cataracts in one or both eyes.

Describing the typical impact of cataracts, the UK Department of Health web site instances the inability to read or drive. The indirect effects of cataracts on a poor family in rural India may be significantly more serious. The sight loss of an adult can rupture the household economy, whether a breadwinner becomes another dependent mouth to feed or a grandmother is no longer able to provide primary care for the children.

Other health care problems

There is also a pressing need for a wider range of free or affordable treatment for villagers. However, qualified doctors are not willing to set up practices in rural areas.

The VRI health care fund

VRI has set up a health care fund to address this issue. The aim is to get enough funds to enable an eye camp to be held every year and to build a new improved clinic in the village of Amarpurkashi.

VRI have also spoken to doctors in the near by towns about the possibility of monthly consultations to examine villagers for blood pressure, heart and diabetes, as well as a range of other common medical conditions.

The VRI eye camps

In 1987 VRI's partner project in India received a donation specifically for a free eye camp. This proved so successful that eye camps are now a regular feature, taking place at least once a year whenever funds are available. They have enabled the examination of over 3,000 villagers for eye problems. Examinations and post-operative care are carried out on the project campus, under the supervision of project staff. During post-operative care, special food is provided, dressings changed and arrangements made for the doctor to visit. Medication to prevent infections is supplied free, and advice on avoiding hazards is given in simple, local language. The eye patients, who include the most deprived and vulnerable members of local rural communities, are impressed by the way the project staff treat them with sympathy and respect and "take care of everything".

The Health Clinic

A new health clinic has been built with funds raised by VRI. Already, several health camps have been held, giving free advice and prescriptions to local villagers. Doctors and dentists came from a large medical and dental college in Moradabad and gave their services free.

Unfortunately, there are currently 12 totally unqualified "quack doctors" operating in and near the village and local people have become used to their services. It will take time for them to understand the advantages of properly qualified doctors. Recently, a qualified gynaecologist from Bilari expressed an interest in coming to the clinic regularly to examine and treat local women. A health assistant has also been appointed to attend the clinic daily and conduct tests for diabetes, blood pressure, asthma, pregnancy and heart problems.

How you can help

Thanks to your generous support so far, over £10,000 has already been raised for the health fund, and the clinic has been built.

See our health fund progress report

Further funds are still required to buy more medical equipment and hold further health camps.

To donate to the health care fund, please send a cheque payable to VRI (Health Care).

Read more about the VRI eye camps

For more background read this detailed account of a VRI eye camp