Community Summary 

 

Illness, poverty, ignorance: there are a number of chasms separating remote communities in the Himalayas from the goods and services they need to live healthy, productive lives. But there are no isolated problems in the developing world. Lack of health-care promotes illness. Lack of income ensures lack of health-care. Lack of job training, education, and employment opportunities breeds unemployment. Lack of infrastructure hinders solutions to these problems. The problems facing these communities are interwoven, not isolated. Unless solutions are integrated they will never be as strong as the forces which perpetuate adversity.

 

The Dayasagar community works hand-in-hand with these communities, uniting innovation, education, social action, and community health, forging a chain of capability to bridge this gap. The most powerful defense against adverse poverty is compassionate, skilled individuals with the desire to serve their communities. But village health workers unable to provide for their own households are restricted in the help they can give to others. Educators lacking the materials necessary to create quality learning environments are severely limited. Community members desiring to contribute but who are too ill to do so are unable to impact the overall situation. Doctors and nurses without proper equipment and medications are like musicians without instruments. Dayasagar Health Services equips, trains, and empowers these individuals so that they can contribute to the symphony of integrated communal health.

 

The Nepalese living in the Himalayan foothills of northern West Bengal have long been a neglected minority. The state government faces many obstacles in improving the infrastructure and services provided in this far-flung corner of its jurisdiction. As a result, and despite this large area’s high population, local education flounders, health-care services are impotent, and there is little hope of remote communities linking up with the greater world.

 

The centrally located village of Kaffer was chosen as the base of operationsbecause it gives us the ability to reach out in every direction and touch communities in need. Situated along one of the few vehicle-accessible roads in the region, there is access to the cities of Kalimpong and Siliguri, ensuring that medicine and emergency access is always available. Dayasagar works with existing social networks and communities to create sustainable solutions.

 

 

Accomplishments:

 

1: Established the first Emergency Medical Service in a remote corner of the Himalayas which currently operates 3 ambulances.

 

2: Has helped train, equip and support 65 community health workers from remote villages throughout its region of service.

 

3: Provides free services, including medical transport, to all pregnant mothers at the time of birth.

 

4: Founded a Community Health Center in the villages of Daragaon and Kaffer, West Bengal, India.

 

5: Funds an after school feeding program for malnourished children.