The kutch complete denture camp

Shri Bidada Sarvodaya Trust, is a charitable organisation located in the village Bidada, Taluka-  Mandvi. It has been involved with and conducted hundreds and hundreds of medical treatment camps wherein free treatment is provided to the rural poor and needy people who have been under privileged and haven't had the access to quality medical care.
Since its establishment in the 1970 's there have been always an annual mega camp conducted of all faculties, doctors from mumbai and even abroad come here for a social cause. The volunteers always have their days marked in the calender for this mega event. Its now become a part of life for all of us who have been  visiting this magnificient institue. The Cataract camp and the dental camp have been the hallmark of this camp, where in our doctors and volunteers go door to door, village to village to offer their medical services.
Our source of inspiration, The former chairman of the trust Shri Bachubhai Rambhia, who has been a pioneer in establishment of this hospital and institute, though no more in this world, showers his blessings on us from right up there!
Coming back to the topic of the blog, I have been a part of this humanitarian extravaganza since 2002. In 2014 , we decided to start another project, providing complete dentures to the people who would never themselves can get it done, mostly due to financial restraint or inavailabilty of services in those rural areas. The place selected for this project was village kundrodi in mundra taluka of kutch district. It is approximately 45 kms from the nearest railway station Gandhidham.
Earlier we had done one such project of a smaller magnitude for Jan seva Foundation trust, in their old age home in village Ambi. So, setting up and planning a similar kind was never a mammoth task.. that was what we thought.. untill the day registration of the patients for the camp started. In the first day of registration, we got as many as 110 registered patients.
March 2014.
We had a team of 15 dentists, 2 post graduate residents from karad, 5 technicians, 2 dental assistants, and 5 volunteers. The registration of patients went up to 165. We had 4 working days to complete the try in of the complete denture sets of registered patients.
Day 1.
We began at 9 am. Patient allotment to all the dentists was done. first batch of 18 patients taken for the first step of denture fabrication-  primary impression. It is a time consuming procedure for beginners as well as due to working environment where we did not have a dental set up. So it took a bit longer than usual. After the primary impressions, the patients were made to wait in the makeshift pendal. And second batch of patients calles for the same. We did primary Impressions for 66 patients on day1. By afternoon 3.30 pm, the final impression trays were ready and one by one the patients called for recording their final impressions on the special trays made on the basis of the primary impressions. The technicians had a tough time getting things ready and also because we wanted to complete the third step called Jaw relations of all the 66 patients on day1. For the doctors and patients, the day ended at about 10 pm while the technicians had to work for almost till dawn doing the teeth set up for the patients whose JR was been completed.
Day 2 Another 60 patients were started and similar procedure followed till the thirs step of denture procedure.
Day 3 was a chaos since more and more people started pouring in for getting their dentures made. we took a last batch of some 40 patients and registered another 80 with the assurance of conducting a similar camp very soon.
Day 4 : The remaining work of previous days was done and one by one the patients were called for the trials of their dentures.
For those patients who had lost their teeth long back, and had never dreamt of getting them done, the sight of the denture trails in their mouth, their sparkling smile and the happiness on their faces gave many a emotional moment to all the participants of the camp.
Shall upload the pictures of the Camp in my next post soon.
A few people do need special mention here :
Shri Bachubhai Rambhia,  Chairman of our trust.
Shri Vijay  Chheda, the then Vice chairman
Shri Devchandbhai Furia, Camp Coordinator
Shri Dineshbhai Chheda-  donor of the camp
Shri Sharadbhai Rambhia- Trustee and our supporter as he has always been
The local media.
The doctors who were the soul of our project
Dr Priya Jhala
Dr Vishal Kale
Dr Pinky Mathur
Dr Darshika Gandhi
Dr khyati Shah
Dr Karishma Rohra
Dr Riddhi Shah
Dr Jini Shah
Dr Ritu Shenoy
Dr Charmi Gala
Dr Zarna Gala
Technicians-  Mr Ratnakar Suvarna and his team.
The dentures were delivered to the patient after 10 days. Soon a second camp was planned and it was organised at the same venue in August, And in August we did a staggering 270 complete dentures.
We hope to continue our medical social work for the benefit of the under priviledged sections of the society.
Thank you.
-Dr Rikin Gogri.

Kutch - Spectacular places in the dry paradise

 There has been a lot of curiosity among travellers and tourists about this destination called the great white Rann of Kutch and surrounding important historical or geographical sites. Many of them are heritage sites , listed by UNESCO as well as ASI.                                                                                   In this post , I shall share a few places that shall interest travellers and tourists looking out for more to explore rather than only the white Rann of Kutch. I have been visiting this magnificent spectacular place since the last 14 years as a part of voluntary doctors team that serves poor and needy people in the area. Been there first in 2001 , and since then it has been a part of my schedule.                             1. Lakhpat fort /village.  This village called Lakhpat was once supposed to be the busiest business cities in ancient India, now it's almost in ruins . Though it gives an amazing picturesque view of the rann from the top of the fort. The historicity and the feeling of its ancient riches can be felt when you hear stories from the locals about the place. The presence of a Gurudwara which is a declared heritage site by UNESCO within the village assures us of its historic importance. Then a few lanes away you would find a mazar of a Sufi saint named Gosh Mohammad. It's historicity dates back to the fifteeth century. Stone walls and incredible carvings on the quba as it is locally referred to do drive the interest of travel lovers and archeology enthusiasts. The trail towards the top of the fort would slowly give an incredible picturesque view of the Rann. Indeed an incredible place to visit. For the information of the readers , most part of the movie Refugee has been shot in this village . Can be recollected when you visit.          
   2.Siyot caves. The historicity of these caves date back to the Buddha era or even more ancient. It is believed that  there were underground roads or Suranga in this area which are ow been closed. There is an ancient Step well just ahead to these caves. Siyot is located about 30 kms from Lakhpat. Similar caves are found in a place called Guneri , might as well be the overground extension of the Siyot caves itself. These two sites are rarely visited by the tourists visiting Kutch , probably due to lack of information regarding these places. Many locals in urban Kutch also are still unaware of these places.   3.Haji Peer Dargah   Is located at an hours drive from the Mata na Madh temple. The locals there have a stories too many to tell about the Haji peer and the history of the peer baba. Many Hindus also visit the place as a matter of belief and trust in the haji peer Dargah. It's a very remote place like Lakhpat .         Other places of interest for Kutch travellers , budget places to stay , travel tips and photographs I shall update in my next post which shall have information about  vijay vilas palace , prag mahal , Aaina mahal , Dholavira , Dhordo , Khavda , Nirona , Bhuj , Mandvi and also about delicacies of Kutch , places to treat your taste buds.