The previous public health student who was working with Manav Sadhna did a thorough assessment of the Leper community. One of her major findings was that the community had a high need for eye care - many of the residents are blind, have cataracts, need glasses etc. So we decided to setup an eye camp in the community. In these types of camps a few doctors go out to the community and setup base. They bring their equipment and their expertise and do basic check-ups for free. Then any problems they find - people needing surgery, glasses etc they later bring to their facility to get care either for free or at a discounted rate.
So Ramanbhai and I picked a date and wrote a letter talking about Manav Sadhna and the Leper Community and how we wanted an eye camp, and just walked right into the Nagri Hospital and showed it to someone. That's all it took! The lady was actually very impressed that we were with the Gandhi Ashram and it seemed like that's all it took...she first wanted to find out if we could find some Gandhi related materials to bring for her! They changed the date that we set to Sunday, saying it would be easier on a day off for everyone to come out, much to our delight! We had to go back with a new form that had the correct date on it, and then it was a done deal! It was impressive the limited number of hoops we had to jump through - it is humbling to see hospitals that do this type of charity work without needing weeks of board meetings to discuss it's financial implications and feasibility. I'm really excited to see this first-hand - the camp is September 5th!
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