Getting into Raxaul

So I have been in India for a little over a week now. I arrived to Raxaul late on Monday night, the 3^rd, and got started the morning of the 5^th trying to get acclimated to where I am and what I will be doing. It is interesting how in some ways being here feels like being on the other side of the world, and in others it feels like just another medical school rotation.

I thought I would take a little time to let everyone know a little bit more about EHA and what I’ve been experiencing so far. During the colonial years, there were a number of missionary hospitals set up all around India. Duncan was established in 1930 as one of those hospitals. It is both a huge blessing, and kind of sad, that some things have not changed from a structural standpoint since 1930. In 1947 India gained her independence thanks to the nonviolent revolution led by Gandhi and a number of others. It was strange that I watched the movie Gandhi on the airplane and was left with the sense of this all inclusive, idealist culture that Gandhi sought to create. There is one point in the movie where Gandhi says, “I am a good Muslim, a Hindu, and a Christian.” Despite the horrid theological ramifications of that statement, you are left with the idea that India would have been able to nonviolently overthrow their oppressors and not become oppressors themselves. Disappointingly, as depicted in the movie, with independence came internal violence and impending civil war separated along religious lines. With this and during the time following, missionary visas were no long being given in India and the 2000 missionary hospitals in this vast country dwindled to 500 by 1980. This had a huge impact on the health care system of India. At the time of the revolution, 1 out of every 3 hospital beds was found in a mission hospital. For good reasons, and for bad ones, the Indian government felt they could do it better on their own.

In the late 1960s a group of Indian and international health care leaders met to envision what could become of the former mission hospitals previously established by the US, UK, and Australia. It was in 1970 that the Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA) officially began. It has grown to be a network of 20 hospitals and 30 community health and HIV/AIDS projects providing care to at least 1.5 million people a year. In order to operate from a sustainable and empowering model, they generate 80% of their operating costs internally and do charge those who can afford it while also providing a good amount of charity care. The additional 20% comes from international sources to help found community health and development programs, replace worn out equipment, and conduct research in order to improve health care delivery.

Stay tuned for more information and stories coming soon.