Category: Disaster Relief
disaster relief efforts of MAM
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Happy Diwali at Kulhama
Kulhama was another village devastated with floods in the Kasmir valley. As the team of our doctors arrived there, the smile on the people’s faces charged us up. A health sub centre at Kulhama was where we were asked to start the medical camp. Some local people offered their help for patient registrations. Soon the slips were being given out to patients. There were no lights inside the rooms. Some corners were pitch dark. And the space was also quite cramped up. But everyone was so charged up that lack of outer lights and space hardly mattered. Our doctors, paramedics…
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Bringing warmth on a cold night
Amma has sent thousands of blankets to Kashmir. Delayed in the same traffic jam that stopped our medical vehicles, they have just arrived as the weather is turning colder. District Magistrate Shah Faesal is directing us to more remote villages where people have received no aid at all. We pass large areas around Lake Wullar were crops have been severely damaged. After driving several kilometers along the top of a canal (I can’t really call it a road), we reached Zurimanz as the sun was setting. We feared a chaotic rush in the dark, but our local helpers were extremely…
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Our Mother Tounge is Love
While some of our doctors started seeing patients in Sub district hospital, others were directed to Primary Health Center in Ashtangoo. After an hour of drive, the team went through an uphill trek. Our team of doctors started patient diagnosis and disbursing the medicines. Soon we were directed to another area in plains – Ashtangoo ghat. When we arrived in Ashtangoo ghat, we saw a flock of people already waiting. Someone from the village offered their house for our medical camp. Soon the pharmacy table was setup for dispensing the free medicines. None of our doctors except Dr Puneet could…
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Kashmiri Nurses
Throughout Kashmir, we have been assisted by wonderful local volunteers. Few patients speak Hindi, so there is nearly always someone sitting with each doctor, translating to Urdu. They also help speed the flow at the pharmacy, where proper instructions are essential. At Community Health Center Magam, a cadre of nurses took a more active role. They obviously enjoyed working side by side with our lady doctors and took full advantage of the opportunity. Doctor Lipi is showing a group the A.I.M.S. Intensive Care Ambulance. -Scotti
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Mobile Telemedicine Unit
The medical team in Jammu Kashmir with the Tele Medicine unit I have shown you earlier the blood testing that is done in the Mobile TeleMedicine Bus non stop during each Medical Camp. EKG Heart Testing Packed in the same small space are many other diagnostic capabilities including: Ultra Sound scanning for kidney stones. Dr. Maddipati would have technicians to do these tests for him at A.I.M.S., but here he performs his own scan. -Scotti
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Cow whisperers in Kashmir
Although he spends most of his time working in the pharmacy, Dr. Ratish is also our staff veterinarian. Many animals were lost in the floods and far more are severely stressed. A few find their way to our medical camps where expert help is provided. Seva with Amma transports us out of our personal comfort zones into a world of new possibilities. Our General Surgeon, Dr. Yuvaraj, is used to a sterile operating room. But here he gives his first B12 injection to a cow, while being very cautious not to get kicked. -Scotti
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Mobile Pharmacy in Jammu kashmir
Always working in cramped quarters, the pharmacy is our busiest department. Everyone is doing double duty as it is staffed by a dentist, veterinarian, nurse, doctor, and EMT. In addition to allopathic drugs, we are providing a large amount of nutritional support for both children and adults. The clinic shown above was held in a Shia Muslim prayer hall as the local hospital was flood damaged. Jayan (with mask) is our master traffic policeman, maintaining some order in the line. -Scotti
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Traffic jam in the mountains
The main road to Kashmir was closed for flood related repairs for three days creating a huge backup. Our medical convoy got stuck in a 75 km line of trucks. What should have been a five hour journey turned to the next camp turned into thirty hours. Stopped high in a mountain pass, it was 22 hours before our first meal. -Scotti
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Blossoming from the Quagmire
An ill-fated lightening struck in the otherwise peaceful lives of the relatively educated and employed residents of Kedarnath. Huge landslides and floods ravaged everything they had ever possessed. Having experienced such a dreadful nightmare, a question arose in the minds of these hapless victims: “Will life ever be the same again?” However, in the presence of a mother’s care, need a child ever be worried? To the shocked villagers of Kedarnath came a ray of hope from our beloved Amma. She took up the flood relief campaign, which includes building houses, scholarships to poor children etc – a well-structured relief…