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Continuing To Reach Out to Children
Update May - July , 2008
Mrs. Minerva Fernando, Project Coordinator, Michael Lear, Country Director

Fast approaching is the two-year anniversary for the Real Medicine Clinic in Yayawatta Tsunami Village in Seenimodora. Our staff continues to provide high impact care to its community members, care that now reaches out to three surrounding communities, including Polapotha, Kadurupakona and Moraketi Ara. On average, 200 patients per month visit the clinic where over 3000 impoverished people have weekly access to free medical services. In addition to medical services our staff provides psychological support to those still suffering from post-traumatic stress and models a strong value system for personal accountability for health and establishing and respecting social boundaries of fellow members of the community.
Photos courtesy of Minerva Fernando, Project Coordinator
Our recent progress and accomplishments are listed below: Through cooperation with International Service Partners and part of our community outreach we have initiated and completed the production of Real Medicine staff physician, Dr. Sanjeewa Chamal’s award winning book Jeewithayata Vidya Vidyawa on home health care to be distributed to the 95 families of the Yayawatta Village. We have completed our first series of consultations with physicians of Link Naturals, the leading Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Manufacturer in Asia, to have them supply our clinic with traditional, herbal medicine for the most frequently treated conditions at the clinic. Many elderly patients prefer natural remedies to modern pharmaceuticals and in the absence of these alternatives, forego treatment altogether. We see it as essential to honor indigenous, healing practices so all members of the community may feel welcome at our clinic and can receive the care that they feel is the most appropriate for them. Improvements to the clinic were undertaken by International Service Partners, who manages the village Community center where our clinic is located to assure that visiting patients have access to the best possible facilities in the area Our Health Awareness Programs for mothers and teenagers in the community are nearing completion Remaining Challenges: Outreach - Still there are no regular/affordable transport services to the clinic for the elderly. Many have to walk for care or forego care depending on their condition. Increasing the number of days of operation to meet the demands of the community Funding for more community out reach programs

Continuing To Reach Out to Children
Michael Lear, Country Director
July 20, 2008

Now in its third full year of operation, Real Medicine’s Clinic at Yayawatta Tsunami Village in Seenimodara remains the only free medical clinic in the Hambantota district providing services to the poorest communities. Recently, our staff extended it’s reach to another sector of the community in support of families working hard to make ends meet who often don’t have time or money to take preventive measures to assure the health of their children.

Aware of our success in Seenimodora, the faculty of the Annapitiya Janasuwaya Singithie Pre-School requested a one day clinic to provide check ups for 68 children ages 4-6. Our staff assessed the needs of the school and coordinated an on-site clinic that provided free check- ups, medication if needed and made referrals for some of the children go to the Tangalle base hospital for further care. Additionally, our team had plenty of King Coconuts and bananas on hand for the children to snack on to promote healthy, natural alternatives to sodas and processed sweets to which many have grown accustomed.

This is the second such offsite Real Medicine Clinic. Leveraging the school system is an ideal way to access so many children at one time without burdening the parents with transportation costs and taking time off from work. Our newly implemented Community Clinic Request/Proposal Protocol enabled us to pre-determine the staffing and clinic needs to make this a very cost effective way to reach so many children.

To further enhance the care provided in future off site clinics and to aid in our resource management, we’ve prepared a survey for teachers and parents to complete in advance these special clinics to determine what conditions if any are most prevalent.

As a note, Dr. Chamal was the recipient of the 2007 Science Popularization Award issued by the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science Award for his book on Home Health Care. With the support of International Service Partners we’ll be printing the first 150 copies to distribute to the families in the Yayawatta village. Please click here to read comments from the School staff and some of the parents.

Yayawatta Seenimodora Village Medical Clinic:
Michael Lear, Country Director
May 2008

Inland from the coast, situated quite far from convenient medical care sits the Seenimodora Yayawatta Village, a community of 95 families relocated with the support of International Service Partners. In 2006, Real Medicine Foundation elected to provide a free medical clinic to this very poor village community who lacked the means of transport to seek medical attention when it arose. Today the clinic services an additional four surrounding villages and over 250 people per month. Please click here for March 2008 Report

This medical clinic remains one of the only post tsunami projects in the district and now serves four surrounding villages. It continues to play a significant role in the overall health of the community by providing these free services such as:

• Timely treatment of minor cuts, colds and injuries which prevents serious conditions from developing if unchecked; worm and lice checks for school children
• Education to the families in general hygiene, child care and family planning
• Convenient on going follow up care to patients who have sustained serious injuries and were treated at the hospital
• On going support for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress
• Timely referrals to the hospital for more serious cases.

Here are some of the other patients treated at the clinic

1. A man who broke his leg seven months ago visits the clinic for assessment of the bone setting and healing
2. A young girl and her mother who were in an automobile accident have visited every few days to track their healing process.
3. The variable weather had created patterns of dry dusty conditions to damp moldy conditions throughout the village. Many children have been suffering from wheezing. This young boy is receiving a check up.
4. Just after the New Year and before school started, many children came for check ups and worm medication for the family.

Over the past few months we've accomplished a great deal towards improving the clinic operations to provide better care for the increasing number of patients and meet the requests of the greater community.

* Implementation of a Clinic Data Management Program

The popularity and reputation of the clinic for supporting the community's children has led to requests from area schools for one day Medical Clinics. To better coordinate these off site activities and meet this growing demand we've implemented a Special Project Proposal process that outlines and identifies the requirements for each unique request. At each event will provide healthy natural snacks, such a fruit, nuts, dried fruit, etc to emphasize nutrition as the basis for optimal health and a strong immune system.

The Next Step
To ensure the full empowerment of this community to attain better on going generational health and self-reliance, our future project goals include:

Growth of the clinic is not without it's challenges

Due to village re-organization, the clinic was re-located to its community center that has a partial open air structure. While the treatment office is secure and clean, the waiting area is subject to evening pigeons and the fence surrounding the community center is also not adequate to keep out roaming cattle at night. Frequently the staff has to remove dung from the premises.

The access road is slowly being prepared but still presents a problem. The clinic currently has no running water due to a delay in public installation and a conflict between the village community and the village management. For this reason it is difficult for us to fill the water tank without the possibility of the pipes being cut and the water being stolen. Many of the community now bathe at this damn near the village.