• Visit our archive of past newsletters

Latest News:
Jill And Rick's Visit to IVC

May 1, 2012

 

Dear Friend of IVC,

Last February, Jill and Rick Schubert from Minneapolis, Minnesota visited the IVC project in Marufpur, India. Jill is a member of the Plymouth Congregational Church, which has supported IVC’s project in India and has given us generous grants for the last several years. Jill responded enthusiastically to my request to write their impression of the visit and our work in India. I hope you will enjoy reading their report.

Warm regards.

- Abul Sharah

 

Welcomed with open arms and marigold necklaces:
A Visit to International Village Clinic
By Jill and Rick Schubert

Our visit to the International Village Clinic began with an ambulance ride from the Varanasi airport. Had there been no ambulance, there would have been no ride that day because all roads were closed for vehicles in this region of Uttar Pradesh due to state elections. Government bureaucracy and rules are a constant challenge in India. The ambulance allowed Dr. Abul Sharah to bring us to Marufpur where he has built his clinic.

My husband Rick and I were welcomed with open arms and marigold necklaces by this warm and generous community. We were visiting at Abul's invitation after my email correspondence with him due to my volunteer work at Plymouth Church Community Fund. We visited for 3 days and 2 nights in February 2012 after 4 weeks of tourist travel throughout India.

We stayed in the guest apartment in the clinic complex that was exactly like the one where Abul and his wife Atsuko live for 6 months each year. It is probably comfortable by Indian standards, but very spartan by American ones. No hot water. No heat or air conditioning. Unpredictable electricity. No window screens despite the threat of malaria. The founder of the International Village Clinic lives basically and eats frugally in India where the local people have an inadequate diet.

Our visit allowed us to observe the many aspects of health and wellness care that Abul has developed as a foundation to improving health care, family life and education in the region where he was born.

Basic medical care is a luxury in rural India where most residents have probably never used a flush toilet or taken a hot shower. The clinic provides access to affordable basic medical care, including vaccinations, medicines and hospitalization. This care allows people to survive curable conditions. It treats victims of accidents and other health care emergencies that could otherwise doom the patients. Prevention programs deter avoidable illnesses in children. The International Village Clinic has become a treasure in this poor rural area by serving the local people with skilled health care and health information.

Rick and I felt like celebrities as we toured the Clinic complex and its programs scattered throughout the region. Great care was taken by staff to show us all areas of IVC programs. We were a curiosity to the patients and program participants who welcomed us with smiles and laughter and eagerness to be included in our photographs. We had fun taking pictures of people all through India, but most especially here. The community of people who live and work at the International Village Clinic are a special breed of people who are devoting their lives to making this an effective center for healing and education.

The Clinic is open for doctor visits (OPD) onsite two days a week. On our first morning in Marufpur we visited the outpatient clinic and hospital wards where patients receive diagnosis, treatments, medicines and care from the doctors, dispensary staff and nurse. Mothers with young children, old men and women, young guys with jeans and headscarves all waited their turns patiently and saw the doctors according to their arrival time, not according to their caste status. There is no discrimination in care at IVC based on status. In India, that is a big deal.

In addition, we traveled with Abul by ambulance to nearby communities where IVC programs operate. One stop was at the mobile clinic close to his hometown overlooking the Ganges River. A male patient told us he had traveled 40 kilometers that morning and crossed the river to see a good doctor. Another stop was in a small farming village, where a trained local woman works with families to teach mothers about vaccinations, nutrition and birth control options so children have an opportunity to grow and thrive. Kids are weighed and progress tracked as nutritional supplements are delivered monthly. This regimen is repeated throughout the area in different villages so that these local women have become significant resources to increasing participation in the IVC nutrition and vaccination program. An amazing stop for me was at an education event in the middle of a town square. In the back of the Clinic van a battery powered television showed an educational cartoon teaching folks how to avoid malaria. It's likely the whole town—men, women and children, all sitting or squatting on tarps with their shoes off--sat mesmerized learning from this video presentation. Finally, we visited a local school where nutritional supplements were delivered to the youngest kids. The students entertained us with songs and their cheerful Hello's. The friendliness and hospitality and curiosity of the folks we met are etched in our memories.

Late one afternoon, Rick and Abul took a stroll through the countryside outside the Clinic gates as Rick wanted to take more photos of the local scenery. They met women and families weaving baskets at a nearby encampment, witnessed the local economic development that has occurred just outside the clinic gates, and randomly happened upon a local school where the foundation has started building private toilets. Toilets are not a normal amenity in schools in this area. Consequently, girls have a tendency to drop out of school when they get too old to go out into the fields with the boys to do their "business". Schools with private toilets will encourage girls to stay in school longer and improve their lives. It's amazing how serious and lifelong the consequences can be of children attending schools with inadequate hygiene facilities.

It's hard for an American woman to imagine life in rural India. The lives of men and women are prescribed at birth according to a destiny that was determined centuries ago. One is born into his or her caste and job, and each person's marriage partner is chosen for them. In this area of India these traditions continue. Women's opportunities and choices are very few. For example, Atsuko is not even able to purchase the food she cooks in the nearby market. Government tries to offer security and services to poor people but bureaucracy, corruption and old traditions are constant roadblocks. However, the International Village Clinic and its programs have worked around these limitations to provide hopeful educational programs and health care to improve each person's life prospects.

After our visit to IVC, we returned to Varanasi to see the venerable city and its ancient traditions. Abul had invited us to come back several days later to help celebrate IVC's 10th Anniversary. What an occasion this was! 3-4 hours of song and speech and skits and awards celebrated in a huge multi-hued tent never imagined by an American tent designer. People traveled from near and far to affirm the work started by Abul and carried out by his team. We were so glad were able to bring greetings from Minnesota and the USA to all the wonderful people at the IVC.

Jill Schubert
Minneapolis, Minnesota