Genesis Global School’s Medical Camp
Posted: 17 July 2019
IDEALS
- Leadership
- Service
Discoveries
- Communication skills
- Appreciation for diversity
- Problem solving
- Sense of responsibility
- Commitment to sustainability
- Self-awareness
- Compassion
Overview
Students from Modern School, Daly College, Mody School, The Scindia School, Mayo College, The Millennium School, Maria’s Public School, The Sanskaar Valley School, Dhirubhai Ambani International School and The Punjab Public School joined together at Genesis Global School to explore the theme of “The Greatest wealth is Heath.”
Students listened to a variety of keynote speakers, engaged in ice-breaker sessions, volunteered at a medical camp and visited a local cancer hospital.
Planning
- confirmed keynote speakers relating to the theme of health
- confirmed our visit to the childcare centre
- worked with the doctors to set up the temporary medical camp
- invited delegates to attend the event
- prior to the event a group of Genesis students performed a ‘Nukkad Natak’, or a street play in the local community, this helped raise awareness about the importance of good health but also acted as a promotion for the medical camp.
Activity
Day one:
Opening ceremony and keynote speakers
After an opening ceremony, students kicked off the event by listening to keynote speaker: Dr. Sangeeta Tewari, General Manager at St Jude’s India Child Care Center
Camp briefing and ice breaker sessions
The students broke into groups where they were given an induction to what to expect from the medical camp, what was expected of them and how to behave. They were also briefed on safety measures and trained in their respective activities. After their induction students enjoyed a number of ice breaker games to help them bond as a team and to get to know each other.
Day two and three:
Group Zumba
The delegates kicked off their day by taking part in a group Zumba class. This helped raise heart rates and spirits and energize the group. This fun full body work-out helped to boost the students confidence, created a sense of self-awareness and also got them tuned into listening to instructions and working as a group.
The medical camp
Students spent two days volunteering at a medical camp at two different locations for the underprivileged communities. These medical camps were a temporary set up where Doctors and Consultants volunteered their time and expertise to help the impoverished people in villages and those in need. The students were tasked with administrative activities such as registration, queue management, and assisting various doctors.
At the medical camps doctors offered cancer screening, pap-smears, skin consultations, dental check-ups, hearing tests and eye examinations – all for free to those in need. All medicines, hearing aids, spectacles and follow up tests were given at no cost to the patient. With the support of the students, the doctors were able to see over 1200 patients.
Visit to St. Jude India ChildCare Centre and Sai Sanstha Hospital
Students visited St. Jude India Child Care Centre, a place of hope for children undergoing treatment for cancer. During their visit, students ran games for the patients and there was a lot of dancing, singing and fun to be had.
This heart-felt visit left delegates with a deep sense of compassion and a better understanding of how cancer can affect a young person’s life.
Whilst at Sai Sanstha Hospital, delegates painted murals on the walls of the hospital promoting good physical and mental health messages, such as ‘don’t hesitate, vaccinate!’
De-brief games
The day was topped off with a selection of de-briefing games and activities, including a group treasure hunt and socials.
Day four:
The event concluded with a final keynote by Dr. Jitenra Nagpal erudite psychiatrist with the Moolchand hospital, who spoke about the importance of mental health.
Impact
The delegates were moved by the realization that access to basic health care, something that they themselves take for granted, was denied to such a large segment of the population due to their economic status. It was indeed a humbling experience and a real eye-opener for them.
For our students we hope this experience has given them a deeper sense of compassion and inspired a spirit of service.
This event also helped them to develop their communication skills while working with the members of the public and managing the crowds.
Long term outcomes
Medical camps like this one provide free medical advice, medicine to the unfortunate people and refer them for specialized treatment or surgery whenever it is required. These camps make sure people are getting the healthcare at the right time, and seeing the doctor early enough before a small health problem turns serious and ultimately saves lives. During this medical camp we were able to;
- 200 free spectacles and eye drops were distributed; and free cataract surgery has been booked for those who need it,
- 70 hearing assessment were performed and 15 patients were put on follow up for free hearing aids;
- 800 people were given an oral check up with scaling and 40 people were given fillings;
- Approximately 200 patients were examined by the Gynecologist and were provided with free medicine;
- Approximately 600 patients were examined by the GP and were provided with free medicine;
- 40 female patients received pap-smear cancer screenings and 40 more are scheduled on 12 June 2019 at Dharamshilla Hospital, Delhi. The result of these screenings will take minimum 15 days and the results will be intimated to the patients on follow up.
- Dharamshilla lab staff also conducted sugar level test for approximately 100 patients.
Because we were able to collaborate with other schools on this project, some of our delegate schools have gone away with the idea of setting up their own medical camp to help their own local communities.
Advice
- Try to include activities that develop compassion in the students and include them in tasks where they take charge; and
- Involve students in planning so that they are aware of the camp details and can help implement solutions to any problems;
Author: Leenu Singh, Round Square Rep