An Eye Care Pop-Up Clinic:

Our camp was conducted by a team of 10 doctors and optometrists headed by Dr. Debashis Das from Eye Foundation and Research Centre (EFRC) all of whom were incredibly generous with their time and expertise, providing this care on a probono basis.

The Eye Camp provided the local community, specifically the elderly with the opportunity to register with the clinic and get their eyes examined and tested for a fee of Rs. 10/- per person. For those who required spectacles, the same will be provided to the patient for a fee of Rs. 100/- per pair in the coming week. This small fee was aimed to provide a sense of ownership and responsibility to the patients, not only to look after their spectacles but their eyesight as well! This time around, Dr.Das was kind enough to personally sponsor eyedrops which were given to those who needed it free of cost. Another tangent of this program was the provisioning of cataract surgeries to those who need it at a subsidised cost of Rs. 250/-

For this we would like to thank with Lodge Kathmandu of Nepal No. 8194 EC and District Grand Lodge of Bengal, Lodge True Freemasonry, The Rotary Club of Kolkata Conclave, and Nopanians Educational & Services Trust  (NEST).

Dr. Das Examining A Patient

Menstrual Health Workshop:

The workshop focused on menstruation and its process. It also aimed at bursting the myths and taboos surrounding it, talking about body and period positivity, menstrual discharge management, nutrition, hygiene and disposal of products. The session ended with an analysis of all products available (in terms of cost, comfort and sustainability).

The workshop was a massive success! while the women were tentative at first, they slowly started opening up and discussing their concerns, this was possible because Ms Sanjina Gupta – our facilitator for the day- was absolutely incredible in not just the content she delivered but also with how she delivered. She is a member of Paint it Red, a foundation that aims to spread basic knowledge of menstruation & menstrual health amongst young girls, from under privileged and/or minority backgrounds. They hope to minimise disadvantaged conditions and bridge the abeyance in information available to young girls as conversations on menstruation remain elusive. They go about this by organising workshops where they elucidate upon the myths and taboos that girl as and women face and effective methods of subverting them lay emphasis on hygienic and safe menstrual practices within limited resources.

Appropriate and Inappropriate Touch for Children (Good Touch V/s Bad Touch):

While looking at our program schedule, we realised that there was nothing that was aimed specifically at educating children. With the alarming regularity of newspaper articles on child sexual assault, we thought it was pertinent for us to design a workshop whose aim was helping children identify if they are being assaulted or being treated inappropriately in the hope that more children will be able to accurately perceive if they are at risk of such assault and speak up. Ms Chetnaa Karnani was in charge of the workshop and her unique brand of enthusiasm was contagious, with not only the parents of the children vehemently agreeing with everything she said, but the children themselves demonstrating how loudly they could yell for help should the need arise!

For the worships we would like to thank the District Grand Lodge, Lodge Kathmandu of Nepal, Lodge True Freemasonry and Inner Wheel Club of MGM for all the support and encouragement they provided in broaching a subject that most wouldn’t dream of touching.

At the end of the camp, Dr. Das and his team saw 132 patients, and we had a total turnout of over 70 people for the workshops combined. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of a few people, for starters our Director Mr Vasant Subramanyan without whose support and guidance the health camp wouldn’t have been possible. To Dr. Das and his team for the Eye Clinic, as well as Ms Ananya Chhaochharia, Ms Vanshika Goenka and Ms. Gupta from Paint It Red. We would also like to thank Lodge Kathmandu of Nepal No. 8194 EC and District Grand Lodge of Bengal and Lodge True Freemasonry for not only committing their resources to this project, but their time as well. The President of Inner Wheel Madhyamgram Metropolitan, Ms Dola Mallik for partnering with us as well as her team for their dedication and time. Mr. Agarwala from NEST who is sponsoring 30 surgeries alongside the Rotary Club of Kolkata Conclave. A massive shoutout to Ms. Karnani who not only helped plan the event and its particulars but who also took it upon herself to conduct a workshop in an area which is not only dear to her but familiar as well.