Unser Sundarbans-Projekt
Overview
Fight against the forces of nature
The Bengalis call the vast swamps in the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers "Sundarbans" - a beautiful forest. Covering more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Sundarbans is the largest mangrove area in the world. The swamps are located on the territory of both India and Bangladesh. Along with coral reefs and rainforests, mangroves are among the world's most valuable ecosystems. But nature is merciless: violent storms and floods regularly destroy homes and crops. The salt water often renders fields unusable for several years. [Very few people here have a way out of poverty. The low income of the many day workers is barely enough to live from hand to mouth. Discrimination, child marriage, domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction are widespread. In short, there are a lot of problems - and a lot to do!
The Rolling Clinic in the Sundarban Delta
Together with our partner organisation ASHA, we launched a comprehensive aid programme in 2020. True to the motto "Helping people to help themselves", the inhabitants of the Sundarbans are learning to stand up for their own rights - and to demand support from the government. Volunteer doctors from Switzerland and Germany accompany the Rolling Clinic team to remote regions where medical care is extremely poor. They also help train community health workers to provide simple treatments and important health education.
Fight against the forces of nature
The Bengalis call the vast swamps in the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers "Sundarbans" - a beautiful forest. Covering more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Sundarbans is the largest mangrove area in the world. The swamps are located on the territory of both India and Bangladesh. Along with coral reefs and rainforests, mangroves are among the world's most valuable ecosystems. But nature is merciless: violent storms and floods regularly destroy homes and crops. The salt water often renders fields unusable for several years. [Very few people here have a way out of poverty. The low income of the many day workers is barely enough to live from hand to mouth. Discrimination, child marriage, domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction are widespread. In short, there are a lot of problems - and a lot to do!
The Rolling Clinic in the Sundarban Delta
Together with our partner organisation ASHA, we launched a comprehensive aid programme in 2020. True to the motto "Helping people to help themselves", the inhabitants of the Sundarbans are learning to stand up for their own rights - and to demand support from the government. Volunteer doctors from Switzerland and Germany accompany the Rolling Clinic team to remote regions where medical care is extremely poor. They also help train community health workers to provide simple treatments and important health education.
Dates & Facts
Projekt begin: We, together with the local ASHA organization, have provided medical aid in the region since 2020. We sent our first volunteer doctors for a six-week medical mission in fall, 2022.
Number of doctors: There are generally two Swiss Doctors and an Indian doctor available on site.
Partner: Our project partner is the Indian non-governmental organization ASHA with headquarters in Minakhan, North 24 Parganas. The organization’s priorities are: child protection, combating human trafficing, disease prevention, and healthcare provision.
Structure: The Rolling Clinic visits a total of 47 villages in the region in fixed rotations to provide basic medical care. Consultations are generally held at one of the locations in the mornings and afternoons. Aside from medical care, the Swiss Doctors also provide instruction of local health workers in theory and practice.
Mission locations: We work in five regions in the district North 24 Parganas located on the border between India and Bangladesh in the Sundarbans delta regions. Around 20 villages are situated in each region. We regularly drive to 47 villages with our rolling clinic. Our projects are situated in areas pervaded by many rivers, and some are difficult to reach.
Common health problems: chronic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, gastro-intestinal diseases, infectious diseases, and tuberculosis.
Priorities: Besides basic medical care for the poorest population, our priority is health education and training of the local health workers, the so-called ‟Community Health Volunteersˮ (CHVs). Our partner organization, ASHA, complements our work with a broad spectrum of social services.
Patient contacts: About 130 patients attend our consultations every day.
Projekt begin: We, together with the local ASHA organization, have provided medical aid in the region since 2020. We sent our first volunteer doctors for a six-week medical mission in fall, 2022.
Number of doctors: There are generally two Swiss Doctors and an Indian doctor available on site.
Partner: Our project partner is the Indian non-governmental organization ASHA with headquarters in Minakhan, North 24 Parganas. The organization’s priorities are: child protection, combating human trafficing, disease prevention, and healthcare provision.
Structure: The Rolling Clinic visits a total of 47 villages in the region in fixed rotations to provide basic medical care. Consultations are generally held at one of the locations in the mornings and afternoons. Aside from medical care, the Swiss Doctors also provide instruction of local health workers in theory and practice.
Mission locations: We work in five regions in the district North 24 Parganas located on the border between India and Bangladesh in the Sundarbans delta regions. Around 20 villages are situated in each region. We regularly drive to 47 villages with our rolling clinic. Our projects are situated in areas pervaded by many rivers, and some are difficult to reach.
Common health problems: chronic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, gastro-intestinal diseases, infectious diseases, and tuberculosis.
Priorities: Besides basic medical care for the poorest population, our priority is health education and training of the local health workers, the so-called ‟Community Health Volunteersˮ (CHVs). Our partner organization, ASHA, complements our work with a broad spectrum of social services.
Patient contacts: About 130 patients attend our consultations every day.
Rolling Clinic
Finally a doctor!
There existed hardly any medical services in the region before we established the rolling clinic there. Indian doctors do not like to work in such remote areas; therefore, they lack well-trained personnel. Most of the villages are located far from state-run health centers and hospitals. Even when there is a health center nearby, this is often hopelessly overfilled. The way to the next hospital is far and requires losing a day’s salary, which the people can hardly afford. The result is that diseases are often treated incorrectly or too late. The high cost of medicines and false information drives many individuals into the hands of quacks.
The rolling-clinic concept has already been successfully established in various remote regions in the Philippines. The tours with the mobile clinic are also strenuous and demanding in the Sundarbans, but our patients’ gratitude continuously motivates the team. The arrival of the rolling clinic is often longingly awaited!
Consultations in approximately 50 villages
The rolling clinic drives to about 47 locations according to a fixed rotation schedule to provide basic medical care to as many people as possible. Consultations are held in the mornings and afternoons in community rooms, schools, or mosques. The doctors are accompanied by a clinical assistant and a translator. The village health workers are also always present. In general, these are five women who, among other duties, explain how to take medicaments, measure blood pressure, and support the Swiss Doctors. Waiting times are used to provide patient health education.
Finally a doctor!
There existed hardly any medical services in the region before we established the rolling clinic there. Indian doctors do not like to work in such remote areas; therefore, they lack well-trained personnel. Most of the villages are located far from state-run health centers and hospitals. Even when there is a health center nearby, this is often hopelessly overfilled. The way to the next hospital is far and requires losing a day’s salary, which the people can hardly afford. The result is that diseases are often treated incorrectly or too late. The high cost of medicines and false information drives many individuals into the hands of quacks.
The rolling-clinic concept has already been successfully established in various remote regions in the Philippines. The tours with the mobile clinic are also strenuous and demanding in the Sundarbans, but our patients’ gratitude continuously motivates the team. The arrival of the rolling clinic is often longingly awaited!
Consultations in approximately 50 villages
The rolling clinic drives to about 47 locations according to a fixed rotation schedule to provide basic medical care to as many people as possible. Consultations are held in the mornings and afternoons in community rooms, schools, or mosques. The doctors are accompanied by a clinical assistant and a translator. The village health workers are also always present. In general, these are five women who, among other duties, explain how to take medicaments, measure blood pressure, and support the Swiss Doctors. Waiting times are used to provide patient health education.
Education & Training
Investment in the future: training of health workers
We train so-called ‟Community Health Volunteersˮ to guarantee long-term healthcare in the region without discrimination. The health workers, usually women active in the community, receive a 15-day training course over three months. They learn first aid and how to make simple diagnoses, treat common diseases, and refer patients to the nearest hospital when necessary. Practical training is performed during the rolling-clinic consultations, like in the Philippines. The local health workers learn hands-on from our doctors. Ninety-five health workers have already successfully completed their training.
Our goal: help to achieve self-sufficiency
The health workers are not only important multiplicators in the community, they are also primarily responsible for the project’s patient health education. This is essential to improve the inhabitants’ living conditions. For example, insufficient health education is often a reason for early pregnancy. Nearly half the women in the Sundarbans are married before their 18th birthday and forced to leave school when their first child is born. This makes it especially difficult for them to escape poverty. Family planning and pregnancy prevention are important topics in female health education. Further topics include waste management, menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, and a balanced diet.
The goal of our partner, ASHA, is to enable individuals to demand their human rights and their rights to achieve their basic requirements. The state now offers various healthcare and social services, but impoverished people often know too little about them. They also often lack important documents, like identity cards, birth certificates, or a bank account. Applying for these documents is the first step to improving one’s own life situation. The good news is that our program is supported by the local government, whose representatives regularly attend the ̔Help Desks’ to assist people in obtaining their documents.
Investment in the future: training of health workers
We train so-called ‟Community Health Volunteersˮ to guarantee long-term healthcare in the region without discrimination. The health workers, usually women active in the community, receive a 15-day training course over three months. They learn first aid and how to make simple diagnoses, treat common diseases, and refer patients to the nearest hospital when necessary. Practical training is performed during the rolling-clinic consultations, like in the Philippines. The local health workers learn hands-on from our doctors. Ninety-five health workers have already successfully completed their training.
Our goal: help to achieve self-sufficiency
The health workers are not only important multiplicators in the community, they are also primarily responsible for the project’s patient health education. This is essential to improve the inhabitants’ living conditions. For example, insufficient health education is often a reason for early pregnancy. Nearly half the women in the Sundarbans are married before their 18th birthday and forced to leave school when their first child is born. This makes it especially difficult for them to escape poverty. Family planning and pregnancy prevention are important topics in female health education. Further topics include waste management, menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, and a balanced diet.
The goal of our partner, ASHA, is to enable individuals to demand their human rights and their rights to achieve their basic requirements. The state now offers various healthcare and social services, but impoverished people often know too little about them. They also often lack important documents, like identity cards, birth certificates, or a bank account. Applying for these documents is the first step to improving one’s own life situation. The good news is that our program is supported by the local government, whose representatives regularly attend the ̔Help Desks’ to assist people in obtaining their documents.
Living conditions
Child marriage, myths, and migration
Poverty and the need for medical aid is sometimes even greater in the remote rural regions surrounding Calcutta with its millions of inhabitants than in the inner-city slums. This is also true for the Sundarbans delta. Nature in the Mangrove forests is unique, but pitiless. Violent storms regularly sweep across the ocean driving salt water into the rivers pervading the area. As a result, water rises in the entire delta. When the dikes break, innumerable houses – usually adobe huts with straw or corregated metal roofs – are flooded and entire existences destroyed.
Many families are farmers or fishermen and -women; most of them work as day or seasonal laborers. The meager salaries are only enough to barely survive. People from Moslem and traditional Dhalit (`untouchable’) communities, which have poor infrastructure and are often oppressed, are especially hard hit. In the search for ways to earn a living, many people can only migrate. Even children, hardly 15 years old, try to support their families in this way. Only the fewest have completed their schooling.
Environmental catastrophes and low wages are not the only problems by a long shot. Child marriage, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol addiction make families’ day-to-day hardships even worse. Myths contribute to the general poor health of the population. Therefore, we place great importance on extensive health education in this project to sustainably improve the difficult living conditions.
Child marriage, myths, and migration
Poverty and the need for medical aid is sometimes even greater in the remote rural regions surrounding Calcutta with its millions of inhabitants than in the inner-city slums. This is also true for the Sundarbans delta. Nature in the Mangrove forests is unique, but pitiless. Violent storms regularly sweep across the ocean driving salt water into the rivers pervading the area. As a result, water rises in the entire delta. When the dikes break, innumerable houses – usually adobe huts with straw or corregated metal roofs – are flooded and entire existences destroyed.
Many families are farmers or fishermen and -women; most of them work as day or seasonal laborers. The meager salaries are only enough to barely survive. People from Moslem and traditional Dhalit (`untouchable’) communities, which have poor infrastructure and are often oppressed, are especially hard hit. In the search for ways to earn a living, many people can only migrate. Even children, hardly 15 years old, try to support their families in this way. Only the fewest have completed their schooling.
Environmental catastrophes and low wages are not the only problems by a long shot. Child marriage, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol addiction make families’ day-to-day hardships even worse. Myths contribute to the general poor health of the population. Therefore, we place great importance on extensive health education in this project to sustainably improve the difficult living conditions.