Archive for the ‘Current Projects’ Category
Monday, March 26th, 2012
In just a few more days Wells for Life® will be sending its first medical team to India. This is the inauguration of Carrus Orbis which has been several years in the making and is really the dream of Dr. Vik Kumra. It has been exciting to watch this dream unfold and see how readily it was embraced by our DPWA partner in Trichy. Earlier this year we released the funding for our medical initiative which involved several months of mini medical camps culminating in a camp which I can only describe will probably look like an open air rally except that it will be filled with men, women and children without means and thus have lacked access to basic medical care. As a result we are taking health professionals and medicine to them. the
For the past several months our DPWA partner has been laying the groundwork and conducting mobile medical camps in several villages and recently reported the following concerning their success: “We have completed 4 preparatory mini camps and have reached out to 40 villages where the health facilities are nearly absent. Our field health workers have done a commendable work visiting the people door to door, providing health education on primary health care and sanitation, identifying sick people for the camps, and in all 4 mini camps we were able to help over 1000 people. Of these people 98 cataract patients were provided with IOl surgery and post operative hospital care, over 300 people had their eyes refracted and provided with appropriate glasses, 960 people with different ailments were provided with curative medicines, and 62 patients received post camp hospital care at Sahayamatha Hospital.”
In addition to the medical camps our team will dedicate 2 community centers located in villages in which we have taken up our holistic work and also participate in the dedication of 11 water projects which have recently been completed in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
These guys are going to be very busy while in India and are excited about the opportunities that await them. Unfortunately I am not able to make this trip and marks the first time in our 11 years of working on behalf of the poor and needy that I haven’t packed my bags. It does feel weird and I still am not sure if I can make it to July which is when I am next scheduled to go but I do know the value in creating space for others to lead and am confident in Dr. Kumra and his wife Valerie that they will do a superb job.
I end this post with a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who have helped provide the resources for this work; all of it, the community centers, the mobile medical unit, the medicines, and …. the clean water.
God’s blessings rest of each and every one of you.
Tags: Carrus Orbis, DPWA, Mobile Medical Unit, Wells for Life
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Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
In about a month Wells for Life will send out a team of students and health professionals to India to be involved in medical camps in the rural areas along with performing 9 – 10 well dedications and 2 Community Center dedications in the Trichy and Tuni areas of Southern India.
Currently within the Trichy District of Tamil Nadu our partner has already laid the groundwork and conducted some pre-camp meetings which include creating awareness, performing medical exams and dispensing of medicines. These efforts are collaborative in nature and with our funding support DPWA has enlisted the services of medical professionals from Sagayamatha Hospital, AG Eye Hospital, and Thilak ENT Hospital who will work alongside our team members as we seek to make a positive impact amongst the rural poor in these villages. 
Fr. Dhana of DPWA reports that “in most of the rural areas as a result of poor environmental conditions, poor nutrition and lack of literacy, communicable diseases are very common. Apart from the communicable disease, non-communicable and congenital diseases are also very common. Despite the fact that health facilities exist many of the rural poor can’t afford the care or are unable to get the necessary transportation to receive the care. Further compounding the problem is that many of the rural health centers facilities are not sufficient to meet all the health needs of the community. Resultantly, the need for a medical awareness campaign/camp is necessary and is being implemented through the generosity of several supporters of Wells for Life.”
The aim of this initiative is to once again touch the entire person and seek to restore some of the dignity lost due to poverty and discrimination and do so in a manner which reveals the love of God.
Within the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, we plan on undertaking similar programs within 3 rural villages alongside our NASA partner with the full scope of outreach to be shared by Dr. Premdas shortly.
The only regret that I have about this work is that I won’t be participating this time around but no worries; Vik and Val have what it takes to pull off a great trip so as their cheerleader I jump up and down and shout, Go guys, go!
Tags: 2 community centers, Dr. Premdas, Fr. Dhana, holistic work in Trichy, Michael Viser, Mobile Medical Unit, Trichy, Tuni, Val Kumra, Valerie Kumra, Vik and Val, Vik Kumra, water well dedications, Wells for Life
Posted in Current Projects, Donors, Events, Fund/Awareness Raisers, News and Stories, Trip Updates | No Comments »
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
I tweeted and posted on our Facebook Fan page yesterday my slogan for 2012 and it bears repeating in this blog post, are you ready? Here it is, “Send as much cash as you have and I will dig as many wells as I can!”
In reality this is what it boils down to; not making a profit, not supporting huge overhead or infrastructure, just trying to make a difference and save a life, or at least make it more meaningful and manageable.
I leave next week for India with the trip focus being two fold; first much time and energy will be spent with our Tuni partners handling some developmental activities that pertain to their future outreach efforts and our partnership with them in these. After about 4 days of this work and a couple of water dedications in the Tuni area, I will travel to Trichy with 4 close friends and dedicate 10 projects that were originally slated for completion in October but were held up due to some local elections. (Apparently development work comes to a halt when the local political power base changes and nothing starts up again until the dust settles.) Thankfully we were able to get these projects completed and give these villagers the water they have been so patiently waiting for.
Speaking of patiently waiting, I was finally able to put together a Year End Summary for 2011 and thanks to my Mac it doesn’t look to bad, check it out by following this link – https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/3sYWmTreOAPpFi
2012 should prove to be an exciting year for Wells for Life because I believe good things are in store for us. We have proved to be faithful with what we were given and I can’t imagine that expansion and growth won’t be the fruit of that stewardship.
This April we are moving forward in our medical outreach effort and sending a small group to work alongside our DPWA and NASA partners carrying out medical outreach on a village level. In these camps there will be hundreds and hundreds of men, women and children who lack the resources or ability to receive basic medical care and so we’ll go to them with doctors, nurses and medicines. It’s true we won’t be able to treat a cancer patient or take out a gall bladder in a grass hut, but we will be able to examine, bring a diagnosis, provide basic medicines, and educate.
Working in this context gets me excited almost as much as seeing water come up out of the ground for the first time from one of our water projects. It causes me to consider the words of Christ when he talks about caring for those that were sick, hungry, naked, and in prison. His words were something to the effect of when you cared for the “least” then you had actually cared for Him.
When stated in this way, reaching out and caring for these folks who are considered the “least”, the “untouchable”, the “low caste”, or the marginalized of society; well, when we touch them and help them with water, with medical care, then were really touching and caring for Jesus. Is there anything better?
This leads me back to my slogan for 2012 and the impact that we all can make this year; so when you are considering where to give, well don’t look past us and give as much as you can because when you do, a whole lot of good will be done!
And for all of you who have supported us, regardless of the amount of your gift….Thank You!
I can’t say it enough because without you and your gift NONE of what I do would be done. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the rural areas of India would not have the life that they now have because of you and your gifts, so really, what has been accomplished is because you cared enough to give, so again, Thank You!
Tags: 2012 slogan, Just Give, Michael Viser, Wells for Life
Posted in Current Projects, Donors, News and Stories, Trip Updates, Well Reports | No Comments »
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Be sure you check out this link if you didn’t receive our Year End Summary report in the mail or an electronic version – http://createsend.com/t/r-C4C4406B7FD2247A
Tags: 2011 Annual Report, 2011 Wells for Life, 2011 Wells for Life Year End Summary, 2011 Year End Summary
Posted in Current Projects, Donors, Events, News and Stories, Photos/Media, Trip Updates, Uncategorized, Well Reports | No Comments »
Friday, December 9th, 2011
I have finally edited the 3 videos from the well dedications this past month sponsored by Manchester Park Elementary School. This past August they had a Water Palooza event that was fantastic and raised a ton of money for which we were able to drill 3 bore wells and install hand pumps in 3 different rural areas.
I have combined all 3 dedication videos into 1 sort of long video; less than 9 minutes, hopefully you can enjoy the entire thing.
Huge thank you to all those involved with Water Palooza, not only was the event successful but my hope is after you watch the video you realize how important and valuable this event was.
Enjoy – http://vimeo.com/33396038
Tags: 3 village bore wells, Manchester Park Elementary School, Manchester Park water project, Water Palooza 2011
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