Hello everyone! I've made it to the hospital where I'm working and
have settled in over the past few days, so I figured it was about time that I told you a bit about what I'm doing.
Swami
Vivekananda Youth Movement is the organization that runs the hospital
at which I am working. It was founded in the 1980's by a few medical
students from Mysore (a nearby city) who wanted to provide healthcare
and improve the lives of the poor and marginalized. Initially they
provided affordable, basic healthcare to tribal villages in southern
Karnataka. These people had been forced away from their homes for the
building of a dam and national park. As the doctors learned more about
the plight of the tribal villagers, they expanded their services to
include education, water quality projects, community development
initiatives, and youth empowerment programs. The hospital that I am now
in was built over 10 years ago to support the growing needs of the
community. There are still daily mobile clinics going out to some of the
more remote villages to take away the challenges of traveling to the
hospital and meet these communities where it is most convenient for the
people working there. They also have public health outreach programs,
palliative care services, and a special focus on HIV management.
The
umbrella organization of SVYM also oversees education of the tribal
children, leadership training for work in the development sector, and
courses in Indian culture for study abroad programs to take part in.
Throughout all of these activities, SVYM strives to partner with the
communities, rather than imposing projects, and maintains good
relationships with the local government and other similar institutions.
From the first time I heard about SVYM, I was impressed by its
organizational structure, involvement in areas beyond just healthcare,
and its community driven projects, and now that I am here, I continue to
be impressed.
I hope that gives you more of an idea of
why I'm here- I'll discuss the medical aspects of the trip and my daily
life in greater detail in another post (or many- with pictures!).
-Courtney
By the way, this is Swami Vivekananda, whose picture appears in nearly every room in the hospital. He was a Hindu monk credited with bringing Hinduism back into greater prominence within India, and sharing Indian philosophies with the world in the late nineteenth century, making Hinduism one of the major world religions. His teachings focused on human development and nationalism and are embraced in the vision and mission of SVYM, striving:
"To facilitate and develop processes that improve the quality of life of people... [for] A caring and equitable society, free of deprivation and strife"
