 Isha Foundation aid
 The Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation has launched five mobile health clinics for sustained medical assistance to villages in the tsunami affected regions surrounding Chennai, Cuddalore and Chidambaram. The foundation has joined hands with corporate sponsors including AMM-Chennai, Sanofi-Aventis, HSBC, and the Times Foundation, whose donations, along with that of a private donor, have helped make available five mobile clinics.
The launch was held on June 26 at Pachaiyappa’s College Grounds in Chennai. The mobile health clinics are provided under the auspices of the foundation’s Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR) initiative.
ARR is a unique and well-defined plan to rejuvenate rural India, the core of India's life force and root of the country's rich cultural heritage. The project, developed by Isha's founder, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, concentrates on initiatives to revitalise the human spirit and restore the fundamental.
 An essential part of ARR are the free mobile health clinics which provide timely medical care to people who would otherwise not have access due to financial constraints or the remoteness of the region. ARR also brings free yoga classes and introduces medicinal herb gardens that support the health of villagers through indigenous methods. Another health promoting activity of the project is the community games organised in each village, which offer a healthy alternative to alcohol and drug abuse.
Implemented in 900 villages across the Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu, and in Chamaraj Nagar, in Karnataka, Action for Rural Rejuvenation has reached 750,000 villagers. The launch of these five mobile clinics brings the total number of clinics to 19. Each clinic has the capacity of serving 60 villages on a fortnightly basis.
The mobile health clinics were inaugurated by Alexandre De Carvahlo, MD of the Sanofi Aventis Group, Malini Thadani, senior vice-president of HSBC, C R Rajan of the AMM Foundation and Lakshmi Narayanan, regional head of the Times of India.
N Kumar, vice-chairman of the Sanmar group, addressing the gathering after launching the five mobile health clinics, said when the tsunami struck six months ago, the Isha Foundation did tremendous work in the affected districts. The efforts were mainly due to the passion of the volunteers.
 Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, founder of the Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore, whose vision resulted in the formation of the ARR, said according to the UNICEF, by 2025, 70 per cent of Tamil Nadu would become a desert. But looking at the situation today, it seems it will not take too many years, he said. Referring to the Isha Foundation Green-Hands project, which envisaged planting of five million trees and resurrecting a couple of rivers, he said when people are fired up, things will happen.
The first phase of the ARR was completed in 18 months, much sooner than the projected four-year period. One billion population of the country can be a blessing if the people are focused and inspired. But an unfocused, unhealthy and spiritless population can be a disaster, he said.
Carnatic vocalist Sudha Raghunathan said Isha was the fusion of the most beautiful values life could offer. It is the Sadhguru's solution to life, she said.
The event was open to the public.
For further details, please contact Vinod Hari at 98410 48949.
R Rangaraj
|
