For a Healthier Tomorrow - Healing Hands'18

As written by Rtr. Hiranya Nishika,

“Health is wealth” is a famous saying that reveals the importance of well-being. It is not only the physical health that is important, but mental health is important as well. As this is a competitive world, most people give their priority for their jobs. Since, many people forget about their well-being. Due to this reason, so many people suffer from various health problems. Poor nutrition (junk food), stress are some reasons for this. But the most dangerous thing is, most people do not even have an idea that they have a health issue in their bodies. This is due to various reasons. Most people do not give much attention to their well-being because they do not have much time because of their busy lifestyles. But there are some people who lacks facilities to maintain their health status. “Healing Hands” is a medical camp organized by the Rotaract club of University of Moratuwa to help these kind of people in Matara.

The health camp was held on the 24th of March 2018 at Matara Hiththitiya Buddhist monastery temple. The project was mainly focused on the people of Hiththitiya, Issadeen Town, Godagama and Welegoda areas. The fundamental objective of this project was to recognize well-being issues and provide essential solutions for these people. The overall project was manipulated by the doctors of Matara hospital and the staff of Medical Officer of Health Office of Matara. The medical camp was to be started at 9 am. But since many people were already there at the temple at around 7.30 am, it started at 8.30 am by the guidance of Venerable Vijitha Siri Thero.

A large number of patients were already there by that time and diabetes checkups and measuring of height and weight were started from 8.30am onwards. This session was mainly assisted by the staff of Medical Officer of Health Office. Breakfast was provided for the people who came for the diabetes clinic, since they have been fasting for the tests. Activities of the dental clinic and the eye clinic were commenced at 9 am and the patients were conducted to the relevant clinics by the help of university students. Doctors of Matara hospital gave a massive support in normal disease checking from 9.30 am onwards. All the patients with various diseases were given necessary medicine.

It will be a huge mistake if the patients were not given an idea about the diseases they have and how to treat them. Lots of people tend to suffer from various kinds of diseases because they haven’t got a proper education about them. By understanding this situation, Rotaract Mora hosted an awareness session about diabetes and cholesterol and how to treat them. It was a great help for all the patients who came on that day. There were a number of patients who identified that they have diabetes, for the first time. Not only that, eye problems and various health issues were also identified with the help of this camp. Lunch was given to all the patients, doctors, their staff members and club members from 12.30 pm to 1 pm. The medical camp went on until 2 pm.

The villagers of the area gave an enormous support throughout the project. Companies such as Nestomalt, Siddhalepa, Dharshana Optical, and S.P.M.C. were the main sponsors. The project “Healing Hands”, was a massive success with around 350 participants. Helping innocent people, was a great happiness for the Rotaract club members too.