Oragadam Post medical camp report:

There are 32 families in all. In effect, there are only 5 independent families and they, in turn, bear blood
relationships with the other families.
We have now identified five volunteers from amidst them who shall be the primary point of contacts for us.
They are to co-ordinate for follow ups of referrals and report back to our co-ordinators. They would also
be taking up lead roles in other domains such as education of children and improving the communitys
overall livelihood, in the near future. Communication and synchronization between our co-ordinators and
the identified volunteers are now in place.
Health:
Current scenario:
The people, including children, are, in general, malnutritioned, anemic, and prone to respiratory and skin
infections. By and large they go to Thirukazhugundram Govt hospital for major problems and to the
nurses in the church for minor problems. At times, they go to Chengalpet GH.
Medical Camp Statistics :
45 children have been screened (Complete PBS data available only for 34 children), of which we have
identified 9 referrals (8 to SRM and 1 to Chengalpet GH) of which 8 children have already gone to SRM
for secondary care. The referrals have been for

Cardiac problems (systolic murmur) 3 kids

Stunted growth (deficiency of growth hormone) 1 kid
Ear problems 2 kids
Seizure disorder (fits) 1 kid
adenoids 1 kid
Physiotherapy needs due to weakness of joints 1 kid to Chengalpet GH.

Our local co-ordinators are doing the follow up through the identified volunteers of the community.
Close to 10 children were not present and most of the men of the village were off to work, and hence the
medical camp could not reach out to them. However, the response from the public was very much
overwhelming and their eyes reflected gratitude.
Causes of health issues:
Imbalanced diet, unclean surroundings, low income, lack of awareness on healthy living and addictions to
Hans and liquor.
Suggestions from team:

Frequent and periodic medical screening with the help of local doctors and pediatricians
Arranging smooth secondary and tertiary care
Health education and introducing concepts of kitchen garden
Involving a nutritionist in the area
Training 2 localites through ArogyaBharathi for basic first aid, identification of early referrals, and
emergency treatments.
Introducing Yoga
Checking with Emergency 108 for ambulance services

Education:
Current scenario:
Available facilities in the nearby locality:

Balwadi upto 3 years of age

Christian Church school - upto 5th std.
Corporation school - 8th std.
Thiruporur, Girls Hr. Sec. School & Boys Hr. Sec. School - upto 12th std.

Education is provided free of cost in the above mentioned.

The majority of the population is illiterate but we also met roughly four slightly educated elders who could
read and write. There is no motivation for going to school for the children and the parents are not
motivated towards this either.
There are at least 5 drop out children to have come to our notice and those claiming to be going to
school, lack even the basic standard of education.
Situation attributed to:

Meager income inducing necessity of the child to earn

Family problems and responsibilities single parented, orphaned necessity for baby sitting
Uniforms only one set provided by school which is not being enough

Corporation school charging exam fees upto a maximum of Rs. 50/Lack of awareness on the importance of education
Difficulty in obtaining community certificate hampering 10 th and 12thexams and higher education

Suggestions from team:

Counseling the parents one to one

Organizing non-formal education and attaching drop outs to corporation schools
Interact with school teachers/officials to figure out the exact scenario in school
Make arrangements through Rural Development Trust to ask for levying exam fees
Take guidance from Bhumi and India Sudar, going further
Organize tuition classes through localites
Declare that only school goers are eligible for coverage under PBS
Attach the smallest child in need of baby sitting to the Balwadi center and relieve the elder child
Arrange in private for 10th and 12th completion of interested candidates
Work on upgrading the facilities and teachers in the corporation school
RYA could be approached for a second set of uniforms for children
Explore possibilities for remote classes

Livelihood:
Observations:

No regular income
Predominant Occupation goat rearing, stone cutting, wood cutting and working at construction
sites
Jan to March is the peak period of employment opportunities with respect to agricultural labors
No scope / tendency to save money excepting the cases of two people

Two self help groups are in existence engaged in wired bags and tailoring

Reasons:

Frequent celebrations and addiction to liquor exhaust whatever little money saved
No motivation to earn and save for the future being used to hand to mouth life
Laziness and lack of awareness about the word beyond their close knit community
Early marriages and no family planning
Lack of co-operation and co-ordination
Family problems widowed, whereabouts of spouse unknown
No basic education
Cheated when getting wages
Low wage of Rs. 35/- per day for a woman construction labour

Suggestions from team for our immediate interference:

Arrange for eligible localites (two people) to be paid for taking tuition classes to the all the kids
identification of eligible candidates has been done
Arrange employment opportunities via ICCW, First Source for 10 thpassed candidates resume of
one deserving candidate has been procured
Arrange for job opportunity for specific candidate in the field of Aquaculture job opportunity
identified to be explored for suitability
Explore other possible employment opportunities
Pep Talks to motivate people towards alternate professions
Tap the SHGs and empower women establish co-operation to take up group tasks equip them
with marketing strategies later on

Facilites:
Observations:

Absolutely no toilet facilities and everyone inclusive of women use the open space beside the
surrounding hills.
Not everybody has an area for bathing with cloth screen
Facilities like

Single bulb current connection per house

Ration card
Kalaignar Insurance card
Kalaignar colour TV
are available for a few and not available for a few, even after repeated applications put up to the Govt.

Residing in unauthorized land as of now

No transport facilities 3 buses a day to the area (morning, noon and night)
No issues with water supply

Probable reasons:

No proper representation at the Govt. end

Rejection and ill-treatment owing to the prejudiced opinions on the professions of the community
snake catching
No NGO involvement/visits in the 30 years of their settlement except for RTDs in the last four
months
Lack of proper guidance
Acceptance no urge to fight for rights

Suggestions from team:

Involve RTI activists to help them avail the entitled basic facilities
Co-ordinate with RTD to find out their roles and where our support could be needed
Refer problems to other NGOs working in this regard

General Feedback from community and team:

These tribal people are easy to motivate and inspire

Trust has been gained through the health camp
Ensure effective utilization of highly interested volunteers
Channelize existing facilities and prevalent needs
Everyone enjoyed eating lunch together and children relished the chocolates and biscuits
though it should not be made a habit to crave for freebies
Team willing to act as the volunteer base for further visits/discussions and taking responsibilities
for this community as per the action plan we freeze
A meeting is being scheduled to happen this week amidst the community - on all the action items
we have suggested during the visit

For our discussion and decision:

A concrete action plan - with clearly defined roles, responsibilities and timelines that addresses health,
education and livelihood issues and create a fully replicable model ensuring maximum community
ownership and participation creating no dependencies anywhere.