Ecumenical Sangam, Nagpur - A Society for Community Health and Development


	The Subcentres in Shedeshwar, Gondwananagar and Narayanpur

	In order to reach the more remote interior villages where nobody else has attempted to do developmental work, the Sangam introduced Sub Centres in the areas where the villages are often cut off for weeks during the rainy season and where the distances and high transport costs limit the amount of work that can be covered by the Sangam Health Team based at Bamhani. In 2005 the first Sub Centre was established in Shedeshwar which is more than 35 km away from the Bamhani Base Centre over mainly unmade roads. Following this successful pilot project at Shedeshwar a second Sub Centre was set up in Gondwananagar which is adjacent to the MIDC Industrial Area and about 18 km away from the Bamhani Base Centre. In January 2008 the Sangam established a third Sub Centre in Narayanpur, 18 km south of the Bamhani Base Centre. Each of the three Sub Centres provide a kindergarten class for the village children, a sewing class for young women and a healthcare clinic base for the surrounding villages run by the Trained Birth Attendant who supports the home based Village Health and Social Workers. Up to now the buildings in which the Sangam's Sub Centres are based have been a rented part of villager's homes but the Sangam now plans to build purpose built premises with a Development Grant from Germany as soon as they can find and purchase suitable building plots. At present the Gondwananagar Sub Centre is split between two buildings and does not even have running tap water, so the Sangam staff have to fetch water from the next well which is about 500 metres away.

	The Kindergarten
	Between 15 to 20 children of 3 to 5 years of age attend the kindergarten classes in Shedeshwar, Gondwananagar and Narayanpur. In the kindergarten they not only play but they also learn songs, poems and the alphabet in Marathi, Hindi and English. In the same way as the Base Centre the children are given two nutritious meals a day with supplements and recieve regular health check-ups from the Sangam Health Team.

	Health Work
	The Trained Birth Attendants (TBAs) run the Health Centre in each Sub Centre. They look after between 5 and 9 neighbouring villages with the help of the home based Vllage Health and Social Workers (VHSWs). Regular Diagnostic Camps in various disciplines (including Eye, Gynaecology, Pediatric, General and Veterinary) are held in the Sub Centres to ensure a minimum basic health service in these otherwise rather forgotten villages.

	Sewing and Tailoring School
	As in the Base Centre, each Sub Centres has a Sewing and Tailoring Class which offers 12 to 15 girls from the surrounding villages the opportunity of a 12 month tailoring training, at the end of which they take either the Government examination or alternatively the Sangam's own tailoring qualification. As with the Base Centre courses the young women are instructed in basic health care and in how to set up and run their own businesses from home.