An intervention to break the cycle of malnutrition and illiteracy shows promise LIKE many other tribal children, Sibani Wadaka was born prematurely and weighed only 1.4 kgs at birth. Her mother visited several district hospitals in Odisha to improve the infant’s health and increase her chances of survival. She was even kept under observation at…
Driving down to Samerth’s Balmitra in rural, or rather, tribal, Chhatisgarh, all kinds of thoughts plagued my mind. Would the children be able to understand what I was saying? What made the founders set up a school so far off? How did they even learn about the tribals living here and their lifestyles? What made…
Deep in the misty Nilgiri hills, an inspiring revolution has been taking place since 1985. A revolution that’s truly inspiring but not many people are aware of. That revolution is ACCORD or Action for Community Organisation, Rehabilitation and Development – an organisation that helps the adivasi community of the Gudalur Valley in the Nilgiris to…
“It does not matter if you save a life by giving Intravenous fluids or by doing a complicated surgery. The bottom line is that you have saved a life.” These are the words of Dr. Nandakumar Menon, founder member of ASHWINI and director of the Gudalur Adivasi Hospital. It was in the mid-1980s that he…
Native Medicare Charitable Trust (NMCT) is quite a misnomer for this Coimbatore-based organisation. However, its apt for when the organisation was setup – back in 1988, to carry out research and related activities on Alternate Medicines, Bio-diversity Conservation, Environmental Protection, Waste Management, and Forestry Seeds Collection organization of Adivasis in Tribal villages. In 1986-87, Mr.…
Not many things take you to Coimbatore. Located on the banks of the Noyyal River, the city is surrounded by the Western Ghats making its acres of coconut trees quite a sight for sore, city eyes. It was my visit to Native Medicare Charitable Trust (NMCT) that brought me here for the first time. Set…