Medical Service

Health for the poorest of the poor people.

FFLV Medical Center

Since 1999, FFLV and the Govindji Mulji Foundation medical centre has been serving villagers and Sandipani Muni School children. On an average, Food for Life provides free medical treatment for 1,000 people per month.

Making a Difference

Bhagavati, 14, lives in Gondha Aatas, a small village near Vrindavan. Coming from a very poor family, she has 4 brothers and 4 sisters. At the young age of only 8 months she broke her left leg.

Her parents just tied a cloth around the fracture and that was it. At age two the same leg broke again. At age eight she had a third fracture, yet she was never seen by a doctor nor taken to a hospital.

Six months ago while FFLV’s medical team was doing their weekly visit in Gondha Aatas they heard of Bhagavati and of her fourth fracture just two weeks before, so our doctor visited her and discovered that she had a very serious infection.

If not for immediate treatment it may have led to amputation. FFLV sponsored her surgery and Bhagavati has now almost recovered and able to walk only slightly limping!

Another girl – Lajavati from Alipur had a very bad leg and now, after proper treatment arranged by FFLV, she has recovered and can walk.

Rameshwar is a 15 year old boy from Javat village, near Kosi. A rare problem in his bones causes open, infected sores on his body. Thanks to FFLV’s medical team, he now gets bi-weekly treatment in New Delhi. This orthopedic process has been going on successfully for 2 years. He’s recovering well now.

Dr. Gour at Junay Village

FFLV medical services to the poor villagers of Vrindavan has been going on steadily throughout the year alleviating the plight of many children, women and old people. An average of 200 persons, seven days a week, all year around have benefited from this service.

Rescuing Ramvati

Last October, we found a woman lying beside the gutter outside a restaurant. She was deathly thin and delirious. Almost too weak to speak, she managed to whisper her name, “Ramvati.”

Although Ramvati had a raging fever, she had been unable to get medical attention because she was poor and alone; most hospitals in India will not admit destitute persons, especially those who do not have a family member or friend to care for them once admitted. After FFLV found an attendant to stay with her, Ramvati was finally admitted to a hospital. Rupa Raghunath publicized her case on his blog (www.fflv.blogspot.com) and donors responded immediately, covering the costs of her healthcare and the aide. After her discharge, FFLV was able to obtain a placement for her at Ma Dham, a newly built widows’ ashram in Vrindavan. Although Ramvati has never fully recovered her mental faculties, she is happy at the Ashram and appears to be thriving in the company of other women.

Sandipani Muni school children now regularly visit Ma Dham on Sunday to sing for the elderly ladies and hand out cookies made at our bakery.

Outstanding Results from FFLV Health Guides

FFLV trains villagers to serve as health guides. They provide important health information to villagers who are often illiterate and have little access to information. They also measure the height and weight of pregnant women and infants and transport them to the hospital for check-ups.

The result of the work of our health guides is that among the approximately 720 pregnant women who have been seen by them, there have been no deaths of mothers or infants. According to the Mathura District Administration, there is a mortality rate of 80 infants for every 1000 born in this area. This figure, however, includes the wealthy as well as the poor. For those in the bottom 20% of society, the mortality rate is 97 out 1,000, close to one death in every ten live births. Although the health guides have been active only one year, it is indeed a remarkable achievement that there have been no infant death cases in 2007 in the villages where FFLV is working.

Projection for the future:

As Food for Life Vrindavan is perpetually trying to meet the needs of the community we are planning on bringing in new doctors specializing in pathology, gynecology, and pediatrics.