DISCC

Navjeevan Project

LEPROSY Care Program

Objective

Giving new life to persons with leprosy and their families and creating social awareness regarding leprosy

HOW Do WE TRY to REACH this Objective ?

Medical Help

• Reaching two specific shelter homes of Leprosy in Varanasi (Sankatmochan) and Sarnath (Ashapur) caring for the patients and their families in general.
• Providing medical needs. This includes operations, hospitalisations, Tuberculosis management, testing new leprosy patients and other investigations etc.

Awareness

• Creating awareness regarding leprosy, preventive heath and awareness strategies.

Empowerment

• Interacting with the families of leprosy patients who sometimes stay with them and caring for their various psychological, social and medical needs.
• Empowering the family of the leprosy patients, their children for the regular education and wives for developing skills to support the financial needs of their own families.

In ADDITION, it was decided to help the socially deprived, adults and families of Nagwa and Assi localities, near the bank of Ganges

Staff

There are two persons who are directly working in this project.

Timings

• Sankatmochan - Mon. & Fri. - 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Ashapur - Tue. & Sat. - 7.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.
• Nagwa Area - Thurs.& Tue.-9.00 a.m.to 11 a.m.
• On Sundays clinic remains closed.

The regular beneficiaries

The regular beneficiaries of the project are about 100 leprosy patients, their families living in those two places Sankatmochan and Ashapur and under privileged children and their families from the bank of river Ganges.

We have to be grateful to Dr Graig from U.S.A. who is regularly visiting us. Without him, his moral and financial support, it would not have been possible to get on this project.

Regular on going activities

At present, following activities are going on :

1. Through a small clinic Bandaging of leprosy patients at two shelters :

   SANKATMOCHAN KUSHTH ASHRAM

   Near Sankatmochan Temple
   Lanka, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh,
   India

   ASHAPUR KUSHTH ASHRAM

   Ashapur, Sarnath (a historical place of Bouddha),
   Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh,
   India
2. Treatment of associated diseases such as Tuberculosis, infections, Arthritis pains, visual problems, ENT problems, Psychiatric problems etc.
3. In Nagwa and Assi areas, children and adults suffering from any chronic or acute physical, mental or emotional conditions are helped medically and socially.
4. 4Health and immunization camp for NAGWA AND ASSI children.
5. Camps for prosthetic appliances.

Other activities

Time to time, DISCC, also conducts Awareness camps, Exhibitions, health camps. One of them, which is worth mentioning here is the camp at KUMBHA MELA at ALLAHABAD, IN UTTAR PRADESH. This camp was organized for two months, starting from Jan2001 to Feb.2001. In this camp around 1000 leprosy-affected people were helped.

TV broadcast was produced on this event. Sonia Barbry DEVA-EUROPE representative was presenting it and at the same time our leprosy program. It was programmed by Patrick de Carolis in his French famous broadcasting “des racines et des ailes”.

How the NavJeevan Project started ? (History)

“Navjeevan” is a word in Hindi, which means, “giving a new life”. The project is aimed at catering to different types of needs of “leprosy” patients, their children & their families and to give them a new dimension in their life, so that they can have a place in the society just as any other individual. It was observed in the past that it is this community of individuals and their families, who are the most neglected stream of individuals in the Indian society. Most of such “Leprosy” patients who are either in the active or passive phase of the disease, lead a miserable life.

Navjeevan history

One day Dale an Australian working for an NGO “Back” to life went to Dr Tulsi asking about the DISCC activities .During the course of our conversation, they volunteer themselves for our programmes and we accepted their helping hand. After some time Dale suggested to Dr Tulsi to care for the Leprosy families.

Tara a German girl who was living in Varanasi created at her time an association to help leprosy colony. As she was pregnant she went back to Germany and just left

Dale going on with the association. He needed help to go on that project. DISCC had no funds for helping them.

However, battling with this novel idea, Dr Tulsi personally made a survey of the places, where these people stay and beg. Jean-Max Tassel helped for backing the project just for one year waiting for somebody else to carry on. Some time after Dr Greig from U.S went to visit DISCC and decided to support it.
That is the reason why it’s still going on. Many thanks to him and my friends on the international level, for their generosity who even supported DISCC with their personal money.

DISCC thought that NGOs has also his role to play in bringing Awareness among masses and providing them some Rehabilitative programmes for their living.

Details of these Ashrams and localties Navjeevan

1. ASHAPUR KUSHTH ASHRAM is a hospital cum residential place developed in 1860s by a physician known as Doctor Bholanath. Till his death, he was helping and caring for leprosy patients in this hospital free of cost. However, after his death, funds to this place became less and less and at present, there are very less government funds to support this social cause. Navjeevan project since its inception through its paramedical staff s help 30 leprosy patients by providing them regular medicines, bandaging their wounds and helping them with daily food.
2. SANKATMOCHAN KUSHTH ASHRAM is another leprosy colony, which is situated near a famous temple known as SANKATMOCHAN. This colony, which comprises of 70 leprosy patients and their families, was developed by leprosy patients themselves. They have shelter to stay but dont have any clinic or hospital to care for their diseases or the problems in the family. DISCC through raising its donations built a clinic with all the medical facilities to cater to the medical needs of this community .The paramedical staff and other team members visit this clinic and provide medical, social and psychological support.
3. VARANASI is world famous for its holy river Ganges. From time immortal people come to visit Ganges and have a dip of salvation. On the banks of these rivers, number of settlements and localities have developed where poor and migrant population of other country live. Assi and Nagwa areas have such localities where poorest of the poor stay. Mostly such migrant workers have more number of children and less people to earn. Most of the children are mall nutrition dont go to school and generally become street kids, drug pushers in the adolescents part of their life. DISCC through it limited resources helps these children and families for their any emergency, medial, social and psychological needs.

Funds for Navjeevan

Navjeevan Projet till now was mostly supported by Dr Greig and international donors from different countries. DISCC organization is completely dependent on socially aware people around the world. But, we do need your support in whatever capacity you can.

For any kinds of details regarding Navjeevan Project, please write to us or email.