Healthcare to 12,000 poor in rural Bangalore

Dear donors,

Greetings from Bangalore Baptist Hospital.

Thank you for healing hearts and minds. The effects of COVID-19 have affected every person and stressed the importance of affordable healthcare like never before. We have focused on strengthening the healthcare infrastructure in the rural villages where we work during the reporting period by increasing the number of e-mobile clinics and home visits by healthcare workers and doctors. There has been a steep increase in the number of patients seeking treatment at our new campus and  Mother Theresa Hospital, both in rural sectors. A hospice for the poor is in the process to give painless days and comfort to those in their end-of-life care.

Thanks to friends and partners like you, those suffering from painful and often-preventable diseases find the healing they desperately need, and many more are waiting.

e-mobile clinics

Now, a fresh brush in his palette 

Narayanaswamy, his wife, grandchildren - Chikku, Ram, and his hen “Rukku” enjoy a lazy afternoon together. Conversations burst forward, memories of good times gush, and the togetherness after Narayanaswamy's almost brush with death due to a heart attack spawns a stream of freshness.

A regular patient to our previous "Smile on Wheels' clinic in his village, even with umpteen caution by us to give up smoking, Narayanaswamy couldn't break his chain-smoking.   "You gave me a second life to me," he says after getting discharged from our hospital. "No more smoking," he assures us. "My husband has found an emotional restoration in the attentive way your doctors and nurses cared for him and in the relationship we have built with you. The concession in the total bill and you guiding us in all the hospital procedures is a blessing," his wife gratifies. Now, he is regular to our e-mobile clinic when run in his village.

Springs of violets

Rising with the sun, Hema begins work in the garden, anticipating a promise of a new day. 

A few months ago, it was a different story. Often feeling exhausted and weary, she kept away from her work in the garden, which meant diluted income for her family.

Visiting our e-mobile clinic solved her health issues. After running a few regular tests, the doctor confirmed that she has diabetes. “Oh, this is no sweet news,” Hema muttered.  

Support to run a simple diabetes test, regular medication, exercises, and follow-up by our healthcare team spring freshness and paves the way for Hema and many others to get back to earn a living.

And you’re part of this transformation. 

From September to December 2021, we ran 1290 e-consultations and made 5890 home visits.

Rural clinics and hospital

From treating people to control diabetes to hypertension,  Mother Theresa Hospital (MTH) stands as a family for the community. They believe in us to take them through their struggles, pain and agony. Read the story of Lakshamma, who has reason to smile.

Smile, fixed

While some might view 75-year old Lakshamma’s loss of teeth as a sign of ageing, her grandchildren refuse to accept that her condition continues. They walked into our clinic at MTH along with their grandmother. Covering her mouth nervously, Lakshamma nudges her grandchildren to do the talking. She’s shy. “Grandma has lost her upper and lower teeth. She cannot eat, so she’s weak. She hardly talks to us,” they explained to Dr Reena.

With minimal access to safe and affordable dental facilities in their village, they were happy that Lakshamma’s treatment was at a reasonable rate.

After the procedure, when Lakshamma reached up to touch her mouth and found her set of teeth, her heart swelled with joy and gratitude. Now, she talks confidently and eats well to stay healthy.

From September to December 202, we treated 2483 patients, including general, dental, eye care, and dermatology and referred 150 patients to our hospitals who received concessions in their total medical bill.

Rural Palliative Care

Delicate threads, woven tightly

When life is too short, what matters is the feeling… experiencing life to the fullest without marring in any way. Our palliative care visiting rural villages helps the poor have painless and dignified lives at end-of-life care and adds an extra layer of support to the family members. Sometimes, the family suffers most from accepting that their loved ones may or may not live long and how they could give the care and treatment within their financial and emotional ability.

During our work with palliative care patients, we have ensured painless days, talked about a better nutritional diet, counselling families and patients, and built friendships and relationships. Consequently, sometimes, we are showered with love as a token of our care. One such example is the petite Mala. She’s the epitome of love; for her, everyone is a neighbour or a friend rather than a stranger.

She loves her husband, whom she knows will not live longer. “I bathe him, cleans his wounds, wash and change his bedsheet and clothes every day. You told me that he would feel comfortable,” she tells our nurses. She sprints to her backyard, plucks some flowers and gently places them in the hands of the nurse. “This is fresh; fresh as my love. I can never repay you. That’s too big. Only God can do,”. Our heartstrings melt, and the thread that holds us together is woven even more tightly.  

From September to December 2021, we visited 715 patients in their homes,

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey, offering so much to those who have so little.

Gratefully

Caroline George