IDUKKI: Every year for the past eight years, Lola Paulose, a paediatrician in Kollam, takes some time off to travel 18 km from Marayur, 15km by road and 3km on foot, with her team of students in tow to the dense forest of the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary.
These are not leisure trips. These annual treks to tribal settlements inside the sanctuary are part of Lola’s mission to provide free medical service to the settlers, especially children aged below 18, who struggle with malnutrition, anaemia and other health issues.
Since 2016, Lola, who is attached to St John’s Mission Hospital at Anchal in Kollam, has been organising free medical camps for residents of as many as 11 tribal settlements inside the sanctuary every year with the support of her husband Josin C Kurian, a zoology professor at St John’s College in Anchal. Students of St John’s College accompany her to assist with the camps.
Her husband, who visited the settlements as part of research work in 2016, was the one who told Lola about the tribal residents.
“When Josin described the plight of the children who were severely malnourished due to change in their food consumption, from ragi to subsidised rice, and having a single meal a day, we jointly decided to hold free medical camps for the children,” Lola said.
Since Chinnar is a reserve forest area that shares the border with Tamil Nadu, the forest department’s permission was mandatory to organise the camps. Hence, they approached the officials.
Upon hearing their request, the officials and then assistant wildlife warden Prabhu P M promised their full support.
“So, every year since 2016, we hold a five-day camp in the settlements, carry out medical examination of the children and provide them with the required vitamin tonics and medicines,” Lola said.
Money for medicines and other medical equipment required for the camps are raised through sponsorships. The couple manage the rest of the expenses through their own salaries.
Recalling her visit in 2016, Lola said when her team went to the Alampetty tribal settlement, a majority of the children there were found to be anaemic.
The finding that the change in food pattern was the major cause of their condition proved a turning point and led to the launch of the forest department’s ‘Punarjeevanam’ project aimed at reviving the tribes’ traditional millet cultivation in 2016.
The children were directed to include protein-rich foods, including eggs, in their meals. Besides, tribal parents were advised to switch from a single-meal system to having three meals a day to ensure better growth and development of the children.
The same instructions were given to pregnant woman and mothers too as only if the mother is healthy will she be able to take care of her children, Lola said.
She also recalled the time when a three-year-old boy from the settlement who was suffering from severe heart issue was referred to the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology and the forest department managed the expenses of his surgery.
Lola said even in 2024, tribal settlers do not have access to better medical facilities. “Lack of accessibility, affordability and availability of modern healthcare has forced the settlers to depend mostly on traditional medicine even for complicated issues like childbirth,” she said.
Better health infrastructure will definitely bring about a change in the health and lifestyle of the tribal people, Lola said.