The Rockville, MD, event to feature a slew of speakers.
By Raif Karerat
Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation will host a conference in suburban Washington, DC, area in conjunction with the Health Foundation for Rural India (HFRI) in order to promote healthcare training in India.
The event, which will feature a slew of guest speakers, is slated to take place at the Executive Office Building Cafeteria located in Rockville, Maryland.
HFRI’s vision is to see each and every villager throughout tribal India — where Ekal currently is working to promote educational values — become aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. It is actively seeking to do so by providing knowledge about common diseases and the availability of medicine, resources for referral to tertiary health centers, and my promoting a medical research platform.
Ekal Vidyalaya integrates educational and holistic development throughout its network of villages in rural India, according to the organization. The main activity undertaken by Ekal is to establish and maintain one-teacher schools — known as Ekal Vidyalayas — all over India, in order to give the opportunity of education to as many children as possible.
“The mission of the Health Foundation for Rural India is to support the healthcare activities back home in India where the health-related issues of tribal people need to be addressed,” Shashi Shrivastava, regional vice president of Ekal Vidyalaya Washington D.C., told the American Bazaar.
“Our goal is to do what we can from here in terms of fundraising and in terms of … technical support,” she said. “What we have done is started hosting this health seminar. The function of the health seminar is to bring a group of people together and educate them … about what we are doing in reference to what is happening in India.”
“Our understanding is that Indian doctors or anyone from outside do not like to go and stay in Indian villages for an extended period of time to serve [villagers’] needs,” she continued. “Therefore, we want to provide training to frontline healthcare workers so that they are trained to the extent that they can become liaisons between city doctors and villagers in India. We also want to provide the financial support necessary to conduct these activities.”
According to Shrivastava, her organization has invited Dr. Ahmed Calvo of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to speak about the future and what sort of “knowledge exchange” can be accomplished through the HRSA of Montgomery County, Maryland, and HHS.
Other speakers from Johns Hopkins will discuss biomedical engineering and the “health kiosks” they have established in Kolkata, India.
“We want to get their support in establishing further health kiosks where some health related services can be provided 24 hours a day, so a villager can walk in [at any time] and get their immediate needs addressed,” Shrivastava said.
Following a vegetarian lunch, the second portion of the conference will be dedicated specifically to the Health Foundation for Rural India and will delve into the organization’s bylaws, its strategy for garnering funds, and strategic thinking in the context of its mission.
A complete program outline and contacts for additional information can be found at Ekaldc.org.