Educate Children Living on Construction Sites

Good health is the foundation of a happy childhood. However, adverse living conditions on construction sites such as continuous exposure to debris, mud, cement make our children especially vulnerable to eye, ear infections. They are constantly exposed to pollutants, loud noise posing huge risks to their sensory development. Many of our parents on construction sites find it difficult to get their children checked due time and resource constraints. Hence we at MMC organise regular dental, ear and eye check-up camps for children at our centres. Here few achievements in MMC’s health programme in the past six months April 2018 to September 2018:

• Total No. of Health Camps: 29
• Total No. of Children Reached through Health Camps: 1376
• No. of Ear Camps: 17
• No. of Children reached through ear camps: 753
• No. of Eye Camps organised: 11
• No. of Children reached through eye camps: 569
• No. of Dental Camps: 1
• No. of Children reached through dental camps:54

 We would like to share two stories of our children who were benefitted from the health camps organised at our centres.

Hansraj a two and half year old child from Beed district of the state of Maharashtra migrated with his family to Mumbai. His father works as a daily wage worker on a construction site while his mother works as a domestic helper in residential areas close by. During an ear check-up camp organised by MMC, the audiologists reported earwax blockage due to which Hansraj was experiencing pain and decreased hearing. He was referred to the hospital nearby. MMC staff accompanied him and his parents to the nearest municipal hospital where he was recommended ear drops and cleaning. His mother also went for follow up visits diligently and got his ear cleaned. His mother says, “He feels much better now and I am happy MMC conducts such camps otherwise it would have been difficult for me to find time and to know what my child is going through. I also am informed regularly about my child’s health and development and I am glad MMC is there to take care of my child while I am at work.”

Rahul is a bright, 11 year old boy from the state of Assam. He attends the local Municipal school in the afternoon and spends his mornings at the MMC centre. But since the last six months Rahul was finding it difficult to reading the writing on the black board at school and also suffered from frequent headaches. During the camp the ophthalmologist diagnosed a refractive error and referred Rahul to the nearest municipal hospital for further treatment. MMC staff accompanied him to hospital. Doctors at the hospital recommended use of eye drops and spectacles. Rahul is wearing these specs regularly since the last one month and has reported that his frequent headaches have reduced considerably. He is also able to see better in school.

We thank our donors for supporting our health programme. If you would like to continue contributing to the programmes of the Mumbai Mobile Creches, you can consider making a monthly recurring donation at the following link: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/mumbaimobilecreches/