Building a healthier community

It is encouraging to note Indian community's presence at social events, writes Meeta Chaitanya.

While the Indian community in Atlanta is known for its cultural exuberance, attending with alacrity almost every bonanza organised by local organisations, it is encouraging to note its equally reassuring presence when it comes to being forerunners in educational, social and community initiatives.

Of these, the health fairs pioneered by the Gandhi Foundation (GFUSA),and taken further along with enthusiasm by a community that believes in noble service, are perhaps the most significant.

In an ongoing tradition of community service at its finest, the 11th Sai Health Fair was held at the Hindu Temple, Riverdale, on Saturday, June 17.

The fair, sponsored by the Telugu Association of Metro Atlanta (TAMA) as part of its 25th Silver Jubilee Celebrations, was led by the well-known Atlanta physician and member of GFUSA and TAMA Dr Sujatha Reddy.

Reddy's name is synonymous with such altruistic efforts and she has been associated with this tradition of health fairs since its very inception.

The Gandhi Foundation sponsored this first-of-a-kind endeavor in April 2003 at the Atlanta Christian Assembly Fellowship Hall in Decatur, Georgia.

Thereafter, it did not take them much time or pondering to go ahead with the undertaking for consecutive years.

As a result, the second such fair was held again in April 2004 at the David T Howard Facility in the Martin Luther King Historic Preservation District in Atlanta.

Given the nature of the project and its massive outreach that extends well beyond the Indian community to include the wider Asian and even American people-scope, it has the financial and moral backing of many landmark pharmaceutical firms.

Additionally, and more crucially for its success, the desi community has been overwhelmed by the efforts put in by nearly 50 doctors from various scientific and health disciplines year after year in organising, managing and successfully conducting free consultations, empathetic medical advice and inexpensive vital tests (generally costing no more than $15 per test).

This year, the venue was brimming with enthusiasts, some of who were just curious about the program. As a result, nearly 200 people gathered together to avail of the services of doctors, most of whom are well known in the community and some, who they were pleased to make acquaintance of.

There were people who had experienced the services in the past, including the elderly who arrived in the wee hours of the morning to ensure they were duly enrolled.

Happily, the temple's doors, open as they are to one and all, saw families of diverse nationalities and cultures from all over Atlanta and neighboring Georgia counties.

Encouraged by other contended patrons and happier health care providers, they cheerily partook of the free consultancy and tests offered at a nominal cost.

The fair, succored by 17 physicians and 11 nurses representing 12 specialties, proved to be a success as people gradually garnered courage to seek, question, confer, consult and follow.

Medical technicians and professionals, along with other volunteers, mostly high-schoolers with an unflappable zest, could similarly be seen attending to myriad concerns voiced by attendees who had registered for the blood tests, free EKGs, free glaucoma screenings under the direction of Dr Indira Menon (Eye physicians and Surgeons), Decatur, diabetes education & free osteoporosis detection examinations conducted by Dr Madhusudhana Reddy and his wife, also a doctor.

The complimentary continental breakfast arranged by Forest Pharmaceuticals and the equally appetising lunch provided by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and Satluj Restaurant, deserve mention for their sturdy contribution. So do the fair's media partners, Khabar Magazine and Atlanta Dunia.com.

In times when Diaspora communities are grappling with the tricky immigration issue and its concomitant medical ramifications, a health fair for all steadies many a faith.

Reportedly Dr Reddy, when asked why the fair was called 'SAI' health fair, said that the very name stands for 'selfless service' embodying thus the core philosophy behind the project.

It was heartening to see a quintessential medical camp under the auspices of a religious establishment, manned by competent professionals conducted with such secular, social fervor as to evoke both awe and gratitude.