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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Kolhapur Healthcare and Medical Camp 2014 - Great learning experience.


I got a golden opportunity to attend the Kolhapur Healthcare and Medical Camp 2014 this year held in Pendakhale village in Shahuwadi taluka 90 minutes away from Kolhapur city. “Massive” is the only word I could think of when I saw the scale of this camp.  The camp site was distributed across 10 acres of farm land which was prepared for the camp by local Kolhapur Shraddawans. Countless people must have worked diligently for 3 to 4 months to make this grand event very successful. Kudos to the planning and management by Shree Anirudha Upasana Foundation, Dilasa medical trust and rehabilitation center and Shree Aniruddha Aadesh Pathak. Of course, this kind of humongous program could not have been successfully executed without the spiritual base of our organization and blessings of Chandikakul and out beloved Sadguru Trayee P.P. Bapu, P.P. Dada & P. P. Nandai.

The day 1 of the camp was free distribution of clothes and utensils to the local villagers. The volunteers in nearby Upasana centers in Kolhapur, Meeraj areas work round the year to survey and identify the families that actually need help and who do come for upasana at local Upasana centers. Hygiene material such as lice combs, bath soaps, tooth powder, washing powder, anti-scabies lotion, water purification liquid and nail cutters were distributed to the families of villagers. Sweaters and godhadi (blanket) were also distributed and were in great demand due to harsh winter in this area. The expected number of beneficiaries was 60 thousand plus which itself indicates the greatness of this camp. 3200+ volunteers contributed to the camp. The camp had General OPD, Student OPD, Dental OPD and Homeopathy OPD. Also there were specialists who were available to the villagers who are not even available to city folks without months of waiting period and prior appointments.  The minor surgeries were done on the spot and there was a medical social work counter for taking help from other hospitals in the area for the major surgeries. Many kinds of medical investigation like X rays, ECG and Pathology tests were conducted on the spot. The camp was supported by 180+ Doctors and 150+ para medical/supporting staff.

It was a life changing experience for me. I realized how we pamper ourselves in our city life and how lucky we are that we do not have to deal with all the hardships. We can never imagine that having warm clothes to wear and sufficient food for 2 meals a day could be a big luxury. I never imagined that our old clothes could bring so much joy on someone’s face.  Nandai showered her love and generosity on all the villagers especially students and old ladies with lots of “Day to day essentials” for them.

It really feels good to see that so many Shraddhawan volunteers are trying to walk on the golden path of Bhakti and Sewa shown to us by out beloved Bapu. There was a handicapped person from Jalgaon who had come to attend the camp and to service others. No words to express that. There was a young girl who had come from Dhule to attend the camp. She was the only person from her family to attend.  In today’s world, I was really astonished to see the kind of faith her parents had shown in P. P. Bapu to send her alone from Dhule to Kolhapur.  Our bus drive was a Muslim person. On our way back, there was some unrest on the road. He immediately asked us to say “Hari Om” to avoid any problems for the bus.  Overall this camp was a fantastic learning experience. Shreeram. I am Ambadnya & We are Ambadnya.

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