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the problem:
We stood outside a padlocked, whitewashed government hospital on the outskirts of Naigaon, a remote village in rural India.
The building, about the size of a three-car garage, was small and box-shaped with barred windows and, by all appearances, abandoned. In an area where these state-run hospitals are plenty in number, they offer little to the people who live there. The building was empty.
"They've never seen a doctor here," said Jayesh, one of the staff members at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP), a nongovernmental organization headquartered in nearby Jamkhed, where we were staying.
That was during a trip my classmates and I made last year to work with the Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed, India. Through the Periclean Scholars program at Elon University, we're creating a feature-length movie that delves into the subject of health care in rural India. This documentary aims to tell the story of India's poor and their struggle to access quality health care.
Many of India's over one billion citizens lack access to basic health care services. Only about 50 million middle-class Indians (that's 5% of the population) can afford private health care, and the rest are dependent on services provided by the government or alternative systems such as nonprofits. Malnutrition, neonatal diseases, diarrhea and pneumonia are the major causes of death for children in India. These health issues can all be prevented though simple health education and prenatal and postnatal care, services that are unavailable to many of Inda's poorest citizens.
The first step toward change is to make people aware of the issue and of alternatives that exist to provide health care to those who fall through the cracks of state systems. Through this documentary we hope to raise awareness about the issue in India and to start a conversation about ensuring access to quality health care for poor communities world wide.
vital stats:
people impacted:
50
people involved:
25
why it's important:
As part of an organization called Periclean Scholars (for more info check out the elevator speech video below) we've spent the last three years studying India, its history and social issues in the country. Several of us from our organization have had the opportunity to travel to India and partner with individuals and organizations there, learning about their experiences and brainstorming pathways for sustainable change. This documentary is an outgrowth of everything we've learned and experienced.
"Health for All" will encompass complicated issues like the rights of health care and role of nonprofits, while centering around one simple point: people in poverty don't have access to basic care. We've seen the burden that sickness or injury can place on a family that has to borrow from a loan shark to afford a doctor's visit or to abandon their livelihood and travel long distances to receive care. We hope that this documentary will raise questions about the access that poor communities have to quality health care world wide, and through education and increased awareness act as a catalyst for positive change.
the plan of action:
As a documentary team, we're making a film that follows three different organizations as they pursue this idea of health for all. One of the organizations is in rural Maharashtra, working with impoverished villagers; another is based in the slums of Bombay; and a third is on the outskirts of Hyderabad. We need some point of comparison for these alternative systems, so we've also highlighted a government hospital in Delhi.
For the month of January we were in India shooting the documentary. We shot in Bombay for 5 days at a social business, Hyderabad for 4 days at a government-supported commission on rural poverty, and a nonprofit in rural Maharashtra for about a week. We also got footage in Pune, and we spent the last 4 days shooting at a government hospital in Delhi.
We returned to North Carolina with hours upon hours of B-roll and interviews and with an even greater understanding of the depth and complexity of the issue. The next few months will be spent writing, editing and producing the film, keeping in mind what we've learned and comparing it with the extensive background research we've done on the topic. The team currently working on making this project a reality includes directors, producers, writers, editors, researchers, editors, audio techs, a composer, artists, fact-checkers, translators and donors. There are dozens of students, professors and professionals involved in this project, each of us with a growing passion to share what we've learned about this issue with others. We plan to screen the documentary publicly both in the US and in India, to submit it to film festivals and to allow it to be used as an educational resource.
how you can get involved:
Join our pursuit of better health for all by informing yourself more about the situation of those who don't have access to quality health care in your community, and around the world. Check out the organizations that we showcased as alternatives and consider supporting their work in India as well:
www.jamkhed.org
www.swasthindia.in
www.serp.ap.gov.in
Let us know as if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for the documentary. We would love to hear from you.
project updates:
