Provide Preventive Healthcare
Ongoing Projects
Rural communities in Southern Rajasthan encompass a high proportion of tribal populations living in scattered and poorly accessible habitations. The population lives in abject poverty and sees large-scale male migration to major cities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other states in India. In their absence, the entire household responsibility passes on to women who deal with multiple chores like farming, tending to livestock, getting firewood, and cooking to the point where childcare is often compromised and young children are left in the care of older siblings, grandparents, or at times left alone, by themselves.
There are wide gaps in the knowledge and practices with regard to childcare and the diets of children in the region that all contribute to high levels of malnutrition. In order to combat this ongoing issue, our partner, Basic HealthCare Services, began running daycare centers called phulwaris (meaning a bed of flowers) for young children in the Salumbar and Gogunda regions of Udaipur in Southern Rajasthan, India.
The childcare centers operate from 9 am to 5 pm and are housed in the center of the village and managed by two local women trained in childcare and nutrition to provide nutritious food, a safe and caring environment, and early childhood education to children that would otherwise not get the necessary attention and care they need.
This project aims to provide holistic care to young children to promote behavior change to positively impact their health and well-being. As of July 2023, we are committed to supporting the efforts related to this project to ensure the operation of six childcare centers until July 2024. With your help, we can continue to support these centers well into the future for many, many years!
Friends of Mewar began working closely with The Diabesties Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to T1D awareness, advocacy, and access to the right medical care for people from all walks of life, living with T1D. The foundation also caters to caregivers and healthcare providers across the nation, with a mission of creating a well-rounded and inclusive community that makes every person living with T1D seen, heard, loved, and supported.
On August 14th, 2022 we co-hosted our first DiaMeet, a celebration of living with T1D in Udaipur, and plan to host even more celebratory and educational events for healthcare workers and the T1D community soon. DiaMeets are a fun support group session where those with T1D can network with others in the T1D community, learn more about managing their condition from experts, and get inspired by each other’s stories of survival and hope!
This collaboration aims to support awareness and advocacy of T1D through funding and organizing events in Udaipur. Through your support, we hope to continue hosting similar events dedicated to creating awareness and spreading T1D education to Indian society and the underserved T1D community.
If you have T1D and want more information and support, visit www.diabesties.foundation or WhatsApp message their helpline at +91 91577 21309.
Blindness is well known to be a major public health problem in India with Cataracts being the leading cause of blindness responsible for over 60% of all cases. Rajasthan, the largest state of India, has a very high prevalence of blindness i.e. 1.6% more than the national average, which is 1%. Rajasthan has varied geography as well as diversified culture ethnicity, which makes it typical in terms of dealing with such health issues; because of low literacy levels, unawareness, and no priority for health concerns.
It has been globally accepted that if Cataract blindness is controlled, avoidable blindness can be eliminated from regions over a period of time, so we have once again teams up with our long-time partners, Alakh Nayan Mandir Eye Institute, to implement a refraction and Cataract surgeries program. This project will concentrate on the Mavli Block of the Udaipur district with a population of 90,450 where we will be performing a set of activities to deliver eye care programs for those in need including, but not limited to, the following:
- Screening patients for eye ailments in the selected villages of the region
- Cataract operations of selected patients at the base hospital in Udaipur
- Distribution of free glasses to selected patients
- Screening of school children
- Distribution of free spectacles to needy children
We are committed to raising fund to support and provide 775 Cataract surgeries, 350 free glasses to children, and 155 free glasses to adults from now through 2025, and with your help we can continue to support even more!
Preventive healthcare doesn’t stop at physical health. Mental health is just as important, and we are proud to support Harvard Medical School’s Global Mental Health initiative to address disparities and curate an online curriculum to train mental health workers in the development of delivery of psychological therapies.
The Friends of Mewar Fund in Global Mental Health of $100,000 ($20,000 a year for 5 years from 2019 – 2023) is the primary financial support for the initiative.
The fund has supported program activities like:
- Community Events like interdisciplinary workshops, in-person research seminars, virtual webinar series, etc.
- Student Research Assistant Program which provides vital funding and support to emerging young scholars at Harvard interested in pursuing research and academic careers in global mental health.
- A Program Coordinator staff member for the initiative that is responsible for the administrative tasks, personnel management, event programming, multimedia communications, etc.
- A part time Program Assistant to support events, community-building, and communications to echo and amplify global mental health efforts across and beyond Harvard.
- A Program Manager, who will oversee the Program Assistant and work closely with faculty to lead the initiative, including the implementation of a novel postdoctoral fellowship in global mental health offered jointly by Harvard Medical School and Aga Khan University to begin in September 2023.
With your help we can continue to support mental health projects like this for many years to come!
Completed Projects
Rural communities in Rajasthan are comprised of a high proportion of tribal populations living in scattered and poorly accessible habitations. The population lives in abject poverty, and young children are often left in the care of older siblings, grandparents, or even left alone by themselves as their fathers migrate to other cities and states for work, and their mothers deal with a myriad of chores from farming, tending to livestock, cooking, etc. These factors contribute to high levels of malnutrition.
Our partner, Basic HealthCare Services, began running childcare centers called phulwaris (meaning a bed of flowers) for young children to provide them a nurturing environment, nutritious food, engagement, and play for cognitive development housed in the center of villages managed by two local women trained in childcare and nutrition.
The centers operate from 9 am to 5 pm and provide 3 nutritious meals that ensure approximately 100% of the daily protein requirement and 70% of the daily calorie requirement for a child. In addition, outreach workers provide growth monitoring and nutrition education to families and promote kitchen gardens and poultry for household food security.
We successfully accomplished our goal of supporting 3 existing phulwaris while also helping with the start and implementation of 3 additional phulwaris by in early 2023.
Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when a person’s pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin to control blood sugar levels. It affects people of all ages and can be diagnosed at any age. It also requires constant management of maintaining normal blood sugar levels, insulin, therapy, diet, and more.
There are many challenges for individuals with T1D across the globe and we see many similarities with the T1D community in India and Latin America. Accurate information among these populations about T1D isn’t commonly known and our hope is to eliminate the negative stigma and support initiatives that help the needs of the T1D community through education while empowering those with T1D to live healthy and thriving lives despite their diagnosis.
The objective of this project is to support a camp for children with T1D hosted by Diabetes LATAM, a foundation that organizes programs to improve the quality of life of children and adolescents with T1D in Panama and Latin America.
The main objectives of the camp are as follows:
- Contribute to reducing burnout from T1D, depression, and other psychological by-products of T1D
- Increase and improve existing T1D control, knowledge, skills, and positive coping
- Help children and parents gain independence knowing that they can be well, happy, and apart from each other for a few days
- Give parents a break from managing their children’s T1D
- Expose health professionals to the time, energy, and resources that children with T1D have to invest to manage their condition in a daily basis
- Build a network of campers who have fun and support each other both at camp and after camp
- Reduce the feeling of isolation in children with T1D
- Change the perception that T1D-controlled decisions are only made by health professionals
- Change the perception that children and families with T1D are “good” or “bad” depending on their results from the HbA1c (glycosylated hemoglobin) test, generally performed every 12 weeks
- Prevent healthcare professionals from scolding children and families for not having an HbA1c result within their perceived ideal goal when they attend their consultations
- And more!
By supporting the success of this camp, and through your support, we hope to make a positive impact to facilitate similar programs in India and other underserved T1D communities in the future.
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in India and are responsible for over 60% of all cases of blindness in India. The goal of this project is to cover the cost of as many cataract surgeries as we can. This includes the cost of surgery, the transportation to and from the hospital for patients who reside in remote rural and underdeveloped tribal regions, pre and post-operative care, surgical equipment, checkups and follow-ups, food, accommodations, and much more.
This project supports our partner, Alakh Nayan Mandir, a public charitable trust established in 1997 in Rajasthan, India, whose mission is to provide quality eye care to all segments of society and especially those who are deprived of treatment due to lack of funds. Their team has worked tirelessly to provide free and subsidized treatment to thousands of people while also rendering outreach ophthalmic services in remote villages as well.
They have done over 100,000 operations (60% of which were free), over 941,000 sight restoring treatments (40% of which were free), and 3,400 eye check-up camps in and around Udaipur for blindness prevention and sight restoration.
We strongly believe that their inspiring work should not stop so the goal of our project is to cover the cost of as many Cataract surgeries as we can. Sight restoration will benefit these vulnerable populations leading to a significant quality of life improvement for those who receive aid.
As of September 2021 we have donated funds to cover 160 free Cataract surgeries and through your help we can continue to support even more!
Our partner, Basic HealthCare Services (BHS), is a non-for-profit organization which provides a responsive, empathetic primary health ‘circle of care’, that is rooted in the community in Udaipur. Established in 2012 they are driven by the vision of a healthcare ecosystem where the most vulnerable communities can actively access healthcare with dignity.
BHS has been working through a network of 6 primary healthcare clinics, day care and nutrition centers, and a primary health center in partnership with the government of Rajasthan to not only address the issues of healthcare access and quality, but also to recognize and influence the conditions of povery.
Their primary healthcare services specifically focus on maternal and child health services by providing safe childbirth services and care to about 500 women and their newborns. Unfortunately, there is a high risk of hypothermia (a significant and potentially dangerous drop in body temperature due to prolonged exposure to cold) that increases the risk of disease and deaths.
Although the rural clinics did have some a form of heat through blower heaters they were making the environment too dry with an added risk of overheating the newborns in some cases as well. To combat this, we have supported their clinics with the funds to acquire proper heaters to keep the babies safe and warn in the rural primary healthcare clinics thanks to your continued support!
Delivering uninterrupted health care, including COVID-related care, is paramount to the quality of life. Compromised access to healthcare leads to a downward spiral increasing disease in the population, declining livelihoods, and staggering wages causing daily life to be interrupted and dismounted. We have partnered with Basic HealthCare Services, a nonprofit organization, tracking and containing the spread of COVID in high-migration communities across Southern Rajasthan.
Basic HealthCare Services strives to enable marginalized and vulnerable communities lead a healthy life. BHS provides high quality and responsive primary healthcare for those who need it most by upholding the values of commitment, dignity, equity, excellence, and integrity.
By working through a network of primary healthcare clinics, day-care and nutrition centers, and a primary health center in partnership with the government of Rajasthan, BHS has been able to address access and quality issues of healthcare while bringing aid to impoverished communities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted efforts to continue these critical efforts which then adversely affects the patients and communities BHS is trying to help significantly.
Our goal is to vaccinate 5000 people within a year’s timeframe in rural and marginalized communities. Due to the limited resources and communications in rural and remote populations, we are actively working to promote trust and dispel fears that otherwise would have had many avoid vaccination leading to the virus spreading further.
Strengthening health facilities and setting up health and wellness centers will also enable us to provide preventative healthcare to hundreds of patients including women in regards to care during pregnancy and childbirth as well as treating severe acute malnutrition in children, and aid those suffering from tuberculosis.
Through the shared values, passion, and goals of Friends of Mewar and BHS, we will be able to provide care to people who are often overlooked and watered down to a statistic. Making a real change and impact in people’s lives is paramount to not only the livelihood and continued health of these communities, but will serve as an example to all about how we can reach out and be that helping hand.
Providing this crucial aid to those most impacted should be amplified and supported in every facet.
We are committed to supporting BHS through this project from July 2021 – July 2022 with $30,000 and with your help we can continue to better equip the region with more preventive healthcare support!
In a study conducted by Ernst & Young, by the end of 2025, India will need 175 million additional beds. This can overwhelm anyone, but the fact is 80% of patients can avoid suffering if provided with preventive health care. We have taken the first small step and have joined hands with one of India’s most considerate eye institute: Alakh Nayan Mandir in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Alakh Nayan Mandir is a public charitable trust established in 1997 with a mission to provide quality eye care to all segments of society, especially those who are deprived of treatment due to lack of funds. Their team has worked tirelessly to provide free and subsidized treatment to thousands of people and rendering outreach ophthalmic services in remote villages.
They have done almost 100,000 operations (60% of which were free), over 941,000 sight-restoring treatments (40% of which were free), and 3,400 eye check-up camps in and around areas of Udaipur for blindness prevention and sight restoration.
Our aim was to reinforce the trust’s mission and developed a Patient’s Ward in the region to provide world-class eye-care for those in need. Thanks to your donations we were able to do just that by supporting the development of a new patient’s ward spread over 2,500 square feet with 48 beds, a nursing care station, and a patient examination room along with the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (the charitable hand of the House of Mewar).
