Mobile Medical Unit

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

When I first started Wells for Life® in 2001 I thought all God wanted me to do was bring water to needy villages in rural India and yet after traveling through different parts of India it became apparent that He had a bigger plan, after all, India is a needy place. Resultantly, the scope and mission of Wells for Life® was expanded to enable us to address any area of need or assistance such as medical and HIV/AIDS clinics, orphanages, homes for the elderly, or any other area that helps the poor and disenfranchised.

At different points in time I have had the opportunity to get involved in addressing needs outside of water in India, yet not to the extent that I have wanted. Ever since I started Wells for Life® I have wanted to make an impact, and one that had lasting results. After all, why get involved with something that won’t last or that doesn’t make a positive and lasting difference? Being involved in something that doesn’t last seems to me a waste of time, energy, and money; who wants to do that?

Making an impact is what I want to be about. After all, we only have 1 shot at this life so let’s make it count is something I firmly believe in. Plus, I also believe I have to give an account for what I did with my life (those gifts, talents and abilities that God deposited in me) and so I want to be known by God as a good steward and faithful with what was entrusted to me.

Here we are in 2010, fall is almost here and before we know it the year will come to a close; time for me is moving rapidly, maybe it’s my recent birthday which has reminded me of my days or maybe it’s just the fact that my back is sore from yard work and I am realizing I am not a spring chicken any longer, so it’s time to get busy.

Several months ago Vivek and Valerie Kumra approached me about starting a new work in India. These guys traveled with me to India last year along with their 3 kids, great travelers I might add, and Val tacked on another trip which turned out to be a fact finding trip of sorts for her. Swirling in their hearts and minds was this desire to make a huge impact for God in India, and so far their involvement was limited to some degree. They gave their time and money and yet, they wanted to give more. Within them was this idea that they needed to give back and in their giving to have it really make a difference in someone else’s life. Just investing money wasn’t enough and there had to be more, was something in their brain, and so being that Vik is a doctor, he and Val began to logically think of how they might put to use their every day talents and thus was born the idea of going from place to place providing basic medical care. Not a new idea in the least, after all, there are large successful nonprofit organizations out there doing just that in different parts of the world, but none in the rural places of India that we are operating in.

Enter the Mobile Medical Unit.

These 3 simple words in a nutshell is a dream come true for many people and right now Vik and Valerie are consumed with it and how God is bringing them to the forefront with this. Very briefly and simply put, Vik and Val want to invest 6 months of their life along with their 2 young kids in the rural places of India, specifically in the Trichy District, with a Mobile Medical Unit until it is fully operational. Vik’s father passed away a short time back and one of the things he was developing was a lightweight fuel efficient vehicle that could be outfitted for a medical unit and could traverse easily the roads of India.

The plans for this vehicle still reside with Vik’s family and to put this vehicle into production and into India with our DPWA partner Fr. Dhanapragasam will take time and work and yet the thought of finally being able to put in motion a plan to touch the unreached rural and tribal areas with basic medical services is inspiring.

The excitement that this project is generating in me and those who hear about it is incredible, especially those whom Vik and Valerie interact with day in and day out. There is a groundswell of support and yet there is much to be done, specifically logistical issues to work out, finances to raise – after all these guys are going to leave the US for 6 months to serve and aren’t being paid and yet they will have bills to pay back home, schooling for the kids, sabbatical for work, etc., but despite all the specifics to work out the underlying movement is God ordained and I believe will come to pass.

My belief is that the Mobile Medical Unit will be a tremendous vehicle in more ways than one; it will literally be a vehicle that arrives into a place needing medical care and it will be the mechanism for which those who want to serve the poor can utilize their gifts, talents and abilities to make a difference in a region that desperately needs a caring and compassionate touch.

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