Most people in India live in rural areas and access to health and development resources can be poor. CMC Vellore has a peripheral unit, the Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs (RUHSA) which delivers health and social development services to a wide local rural area with a population of over 120,000. This department is situated 25km from Vellore town and serves KV Kuppam and the surrounding area.
RUHSA was initially set up in 1977 as an outreach project by Dr Daleep Mukerji, who went on to become Head of Christian Aid (www.christianaid.org.uk). It began with three objectives, to provide:
- Service to the people of K. V. Kuppam Block
- Training for students in medicine, nursing, health and development
- Research in health and development
RUHSA’s work is based on the belief that: ‘Health is a state of positive well-being and not merely the absence of disease.’ RUHSA’s programmes include all aspects of rural development; agriculture, animal husbandry, adult education, vocational training, and help for the elderly and people with disabilities.
The Vellore Rural Community Trust (VRCT), a subcommittee of Friends of Vellore UK, concentrates solely on projects in the rural outskirts of Vellore. VRCT collaborates closely with the experienced team at RUHSA developing innovative projects and providing start-up funding. We continue to work with the local population and staff at RUHSA to develop the programs further to become at least partially self-sustaining. VRCT reviews all programs on an annual basis, visiting the work directly in India and monitoring the progress to ensure the projects deliver measurable benefits to the local population.
You can read more about individual projects on the pages under this menu. Current projects include elderly care centres, the Pachaikili children’s play centre, and a project to try to address the issue of suicide amongst teenagers by providing an environment for them to discuss issues that they may not feel able to at home. We are also funding a project that is screening for developmental delay in children and training parents and care givers in caring for those children. Friends of Vellore UK are also funding dental care and oral health screening for pregnant women at RUHSA.
The VRCT Committee is chaired by Dr Arabella Onslow. She regularly visits RUHSA. Read her blog here. Other Trustees are: Dr Geoff Levine, Revd Joy Levine, Mr Richard Rajamanickam, Miss Asha Senapati and Mrs Sally Whittingham.
Friends of Vellore UK 