Medical Clinics - free healthcare to children in need

We aim to provide free, accessible, comprehensive community paediatric health care to children in need.

Our initial partner is Mercy Homes. Mercy Homes provide an excellent model for children who need to be cared for. They provide a loving family environment for very poor and orphaned children. There are currently over 90 homes of up to 10 children in each across South India (July '09) with more children being housed every month. There are also a number of Mercy Homes recently established in Peru, Mexico and Ecuador with more opening all the time.

The children come from very difficult poverty stricken backgrounds. Many arrive malnourished, traumatised and bewildered. Some of the children have been child labourers since an early age and many of the children report that they have been the victims of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Most have never received medical care before and as a result many of the children are in need of medical attention.

In June 2008 we launched our first mobile paediatric clinic, which travels out into the rural villages across South India to provide comprehensive, free, accessible health care to these needy children.

• Each child has an annual thorough paediatric assessment, covering physical, emotional, psychological health, vaccination status and the child’s development.
• We also evaluate their schooling, nutrition and behaviour and assess the conditions of the home they are living in.
• Any children who are acutely unwell are treated by us, free of charge. 
• Every child we see also receives worming tablets for themselves and their family.
• Every opportunity is used to teach basic health education at the homes on the importance of hand washing, brushing teeth, treating and preventing diarrhoea and so on.
• If a child is in need of further hospital care we refer to nearby reputable hospitals and arrange for further investigations and treatment to be given. For each child we act as advocates to ensure they get the correct care they are entitled to. We want to demonstrate to others the value of these children and how to treat each one with the love, compassion and dignity they deserve.

In May 2009, we extended this clinic work into the nearby  slum communities with a population of over 200 children. We now run weekly slum clinics for these children providing them with free health care.

In addition to all this we identify which children need eye tests/glasses and dental care and cover the costs of any treatment they require. It is our hope that in the future we will be able to partner with opticians and dentists to provide this extra care to all the children.

Mary and Cat are both registered with the General Medical Council in the UK and the Medical Council of India. They are licensed to practice as paediatricians in India in a voluntary capacity. They are in regular communication with senior medical consultants in both the UK and India.