17^th Rural Eye Camp organised by Shanti Mandir
at Roorkee, Distt. Haridwar

Report by Arun Gupta

In 1998 Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda Saraswatiji Maharaj inspired Shanti Mandir devotees to organize Eye Camps jointly with the Ganga Mata Eye Hospital to treat villagers in and around the districts of Kankhal for eye diseases. The camps are held with the objective of providing complete medical care including indoor surgery for IOL transplant to villagers who are otherwise unable to afford any kind of medical treatment due to their poor economic conditions.

The satisfaction for us has been heart-warming, validating and addictive! On October 3, 2007, the 17^th Eye Camp was held at the Arya Samaj Temple in the town of Roorkee.

The camps are organised within the village so that maximum number of villagers can receive this medical treatment with ease. The treatment itself is free of any charge.  The patients identified by doctors for surgery, are picked up from the village by the Hospital Van and brought to the hospital for the eye surgery after which, they are provided transportation back to their homes.

Since the inception of these camps, Shanti Mandir has mobilized its global community to organize these camps. This year, the camp was fully funded through sponsorship of Qwaruba Seva Foundation, which is founded by Adinath Tambellini a devotee of Baba Muktananda in honor of his wife Dianne Coroneos who passed away on October 7, 2004. As Adinath said, “This financial gift is from Dianne, in her and Baba’s honor.” While a note introducing us to Dianne & Adinath follows later, on behalf of all the patients who benefited from this camp we would like to Thank Dianne & Adinath for their generosity.

The eye camp location was carefully chosen and as expected, witnessed one of the largest turnouts.  Patients started lining up since early morning.  By the time Shanti Mandir devotees reached the campsite, at about 8.50am, the temple was already full with more than 400 patients!  The Ganga Mata volunteers had started the registration process.  Shri Madan Gopal Sharma led the Shanti Mandir team of 15 volunteers from Delhi, Haryana and U.P. Immediately upon arrival, the volunteers took up their assigned positions and soon thereafter the team of doctors/surgeons also reached the site and started the medical examination.  The registration continued upto 2:00 pm in the afternoon while the medical examination continued upto 5:00 pm in the evening.

Sharmaji welcomed Shri S.C.Jain, Hon’ble Member of State Legislative Assembly as the Chief Guest on this occasion.  During the inaugural function, Dr. Rampal from Shanti Mandir educated the villagers on basic hygiene and explained a few normal and simple ways on how to take care of the eyes on a regular basis. 

 A record 790 patients were registered at the camp.  Of these, 153 patients were diagnosed as cataract Blind and identified as in-patients for cataract surgery.  These patients were taken to the hospital in Haridwar in 3 batches.  The outpatients were treated at the campsite and offered free medicines and a meal offered by Shanti Mandir in Kankhal.

With the conclusion of 17^th Eye Camp, so far total 11,155 patients have been treated, of which 1809 patients have been operated upon for Intra Ocular Lens Transplant. With Gurudev’s grace 100% of these patients have regained their eyesight.

As is customary we spoke to many patients during and after the camp, seeking their feedback with a view to further improve the services and quality of these camps.  We bring highlights of this feedback as given by the village folks.

Mehmood is a farmer who owns a small piece of land, which yields crop 3 to 4 times a year.  He has two married sons with 6 children.  In his joint family there are 11 members living together on a disposable monthly income of about Rs.4000 (about USD 95.00).  Sometime back his one eye was injured in an accident while the other eye became cataract blind.  He came to the Eye Camp for IOL transplant and he was extremely happy with the personal attention and overall arrangement in the camp.

Infact he got so emotional with the divine vibrations at the camp that he donated Rs.100 (about USD 2.40) to the Eye hospital.  It was indeed, an overwhelming gesture from this villager who is barely able to survive in his joint family of 11 members with a meager income of Rs.4000 per month and yet, he had the magnanimity to donate Rs.100 and also feel so happy and great.  When we asked him how he could afford to donate Rs.100, he replied that God is kind to everyone and he will surely repay me this amount in some other form.  Such wisdom is difficult to find even amongst highly educated and well-placed individuals and here is a poor, uneducated villager who displayed such large heartedness - an attribute that is worth emulating by many in the society who are privileged with resources.  Mehmood received an IOL transplant on 6^th Oct at the Eye Hospital.  He was discharged on 8^th Oct and is reported to be well on his way to recovery.   

Ramo Devi and her son Radhey Shyam both attended the camp for their eye exam.  Ramo Devi works in the fields and earns Rs.100 (about USD 2.4)per day, while Radhey Shyam worked in a pipe factory as a casual worker earning a paltry sum of Rs.150 (about USD 3.60) per day.

Ramo Devi was diagnosed as cataract Blind and taken to the hospital for surgery while Radhey Shyam was treated as an outpatient at the campsite and provided free medicines.  Ramo Devi felt comfortable at the hospital and there was no complication post surgery.  She enjoyed her two-night stay at the hospital with her son attending on her.  She expressed deep gratitude to beloved Swamiji (Our Gurudev) for making this medical treatment possible for her.

Sadguru Nath Maharaj Ki Jai.