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Rajasthan Asha worker rows boat in tough condition to vaccinate island residents
In a challenging situation, Kamala offered to row the boat on the second attempt by the nursing staff to reach the island to vaccinate people when the rest of the team was apprehensive of taking the boat trip.
No hurdle is too big for Corona warriors such as Kamla Rot, an ASHA (accredited social health activist) know as ‘Sehyoginis’ in Dungarpur district of Rajasthan, who rowed a boat fighting unfavourable conditions to reach a tribal village located on an island in the middle of swollen Mahi river to ensure that the inhabitants were vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus.
33-year-old, Kamla’s official duty was limited to informing and motivating tribal villagers about the need to attend to health and family welfare, but she went beyond to take four nursing staff to the island village by rowing the boat in challenging conditions without any help for about 45 minutes. After about 90 residents of Odaphala village were vaccinated, she rowed the staff back safely.
It was her commitment to the cause that ensured that residents of the two islands - Odaphala and Betphala in Salakhadi village area under Seemalwada block of Dungarpur district, who were finding it difficult to reach the nearest primary health centre due to increased water level in the river and were also a bit hesitant about the vaccination drive, were vaccinated in time. There are 23 houses on Odaphala island and nine on Betphala.
Medical officer at [which] primary health centre Dr Chandraveer Parmar said the medical team’s bid to reach Odaphala island failed in its first attempt due to strong winds upsetting the boat’s balance in the river swollen due to monsoon rains.
In such a challenging situation, Kamala offered to row the boat on the second attempt the following day, when the rest of the team was apprehensive of taking the boat trip. She took them safely to the island after paddling the boat for close to an hour and then played her part in motivating several hesitant villagers to get vaccinated, clearing their misconceptions about Covid vaccines.
Mother of two, Kamla said she too had to overcome fear before taking the trip under the circumstances but she realised that vaccinating people was a big responsibility. “The people on the Island had their misconceptions related to the vaccine, but we also had to overcome increasing water level in the river, which was threatening to derail the vaccination drive. But once the health staff was prepared to take [the trip] then there was no turning back,” she said.
Not much of a smooth talker, Kamla said she learnt to row a boat from her fisherman husband after her marriage in 2006. “Even I have relatives on the island. They were refusing to get vaccinated, so I took the nurses there and they had to get it done.”
“I have never had a bad experience in the river but during the monsoon and when water is released from the dam, few incidents have happened in the past. I know how to swim and we live near water (river bank) and sometimes also go fishing,” she said.
Block chief medical officer, Simalwada, Dr Narendra Prajapat said a total of 137 people live in 32 houses on Odaphala and Bedphala islands that are surrounded by water throughout the year. While people routinely travel by paddle boat, high volume of water and strong winds in the rainy season stops their movement. It was a challenging task to reach the people living on both the islands for vaccination in these conditions but the Corona Warriors were still doing it with full dedication, he claimed.
District collector Suresh Kumar Ola said the spirit shown by Kamla was commendable. Her effort was also lauded by chief medical health officer (CMHO) Dr Rajesh Sharma.
