As told by Rtr. Gayathrika Bandara
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
Mahatma Gandhi
With the intention of providing health services to the society and gifting hope and happiness of wellbeing, Rotaract Club of University of Moratuwa conducted Healing Hands 2019 on 2nd of March this year at Kahakurullanpalessa Kanishta Vidyalaya. Under the project, a free medical camp was conducted for the villagers of Kahakurunllanpalassa, a very remote village in Thanamalwila division, with the guidance of MOH office, Thanamalwila. This medical camp solicited the experience of seven doctors from Gampaha District, three pharmacists and support staff from the MOH office to render a professional service to the patients. Our brothers and sisters of the organizing committee were entrusted with the mammoth task of coordinating these resource persons and the activities of the health camp.
To ensure proper diagnosis, sophisticated equipment were used to screen patients for diabetes, blood pressure, vision and kidney failures. A large amount of medicine was donated by many kind hearts and was distributed to the patients who needed them. More than 300 villagers who belonged to a wide variety of age groups from kids to the elderly were screened and the persons who were diagnosed with critical illnesses were referred for further investigation and treatment. We, as enthusiastic Rotaractors, created a supportive and friendly environment to conduct the medical camp. In the meantime, the weary souls were refreshed by the “Kurukkan Kanda” prepared by the villagers.
“This area reports a high rate of child pregnancy. The major cause is the illiteracy of the villagers. Therefore such medical camps will truly uplift the meaning of the lives of the villagers.”, was the opinion of the MOH officer who witnessed and supported these efforts throughout.
After more than five hours of service, the medical camp wound up with content and satisfaction equal in the minds of all the volunteers. The smiles on their faces showed how much this worthy endeavour meant to them. Bidding goodbye to one of the most attractive surroundings was another big challenge. The rustling sound of the leaves left us hope and encouragement to heal many untouched hearts in future.