HEALTH IS OUR FIRST CONCERN

In order for a society to be able to develop, Anand and Jeevan Deep know very well that basic anemities such as health care need to be taken on first.

After all, there is no sense in education, if your children can hardly survive. Adressing this, Jeevan Deep runs its own mobile clinic and has friendly agreements with a series of local doctors and day hospitals (such as the one at the Root Institute) in the area, taking care of transporting the local sick to the hospital and paying for the medecine bills.

The Jeevan Deep Mobile Clinic is run by the able hands of Janardan. During school hours, he sets up his clinic at the centre of the village and holds free consultations, for villagers coming from the neighbourhood, children as well as adults. Most of the cases presented to him deal with skin diseases, malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, and related issues. When possible, the patient is treated with a hybrid approach of (traditional) ayurvedic and Western medecines, bought with funds gathered by Anand.

Lately, the Janardan clinic has been enforced by an assistant. 

Pushpa, herself a former student at the Anand Jeevan Deep Anaupacarik Shiksha village schools, has realised her dream of becoming a professional in the service of her community herself, and is now proudly assisting doctor Janardan on his field trips, securing the smooth treatment of all the patients. With this, the story of Pushpa is an exemplary success story of the Anand and Jeevan Deep endeavours in the Dalit community of the Bodhgaya district. When education, albeit informal or even haphazard, can bring about someone to devote herself professionally to the further enhancement of the overall community situation, the circle is neatly looped back into itself, and we sense some pride in having collaborated towrds this kind of achievement.

Click on the photo to see the story of Pushpa for yourself, or surf to youtube for the Pushpa video and more videotape on Anand and Jeevan Deep.

When things get out of hand, or Janardan feels that simple treatment at the spot just won't do, Jeevan Deep will do everything in its power to get the patient to a local hospital as soon as possible. In this case, transportation is often the first logistic nightmare. More often than not, the Dalit villages in the Bodhgaya District, hidden in the fields, in barren corners between the paddy fields, are not served by metalled roads, and getting the victim of an accident to Bodhgaya proper is adventure in itself.

When this is overcome, Jeevan Deep keeps friendly agreements with a series of free clinics. Often, these belong to the Buddhist monastic communities dotting the Bodhgaya landscape. Once the patient is registered at the hospital, Jeevan Deep remains at hand with logistic aid for the family, and for the procurement of food and medicines.