Ambassador R.P Singh, a retired IFS official, is still on a mission. Coming from a small village of Haryana, he was moved at the plight of rural people belonging to the economically weaker sections of society. At the age of 60, he decided to reach out to them, by providing facilities in the areas of health and education.
Through his initiative, Society for Upliftment of Urban and Rural Health and Education (SUURHAE), Ambassador Singh conducts health and education camps for the weaker sections, the handicapped, orphans... “I come from a village called Bhiwani, where the schools and hospitals do not have access to even some basic facilities. I struggled a lot to crack the Civil Services examination; I don’t want this generation to struggle like me.”
Since its inception in 2007, SUURHAE has conducted health camps for nearly 3,000 children, and provided stationery items and school bags to them. Besides, several awareness programmes and workshops have been held, for teachers and school staff, in the rural areas. The NGO has also honoured meritorious children by distributing awards to them.
Recounting the most heartening success of the NGO, Ambassador Singh says, “In 2008, SUURHAE, along with an NGO - ‘Handicapped Children’s Rehabilitation Association (HCRA)’, raised over Rs. 1.5 lacs for a two-month old baby, Sidra, who was suffering from congenital heart disease. As the monthly income of her parents was less than Rs. 4,000, they had lost all hope. But Sidra was treated at the Escorts Hospital, and successfully operated on. Today, she is enjoying good health.”
Katyani, a volunteer, claims that SUURHAE has saved children from becoming labourers, as the NGO spreads awareness about the benefits of education among the people. “In 2009, we conducted an awareness camp in Bahadurgarh, due to which 16 labourers’ families came to us within a week, and had their children enrolled in government schools. The children were working as child labour in a nearby factory,” smiles Katyani.
“The success rate of our awareness programmes has always been high. We organise Health Camps, based on the health needs of a particular area. These Camps aim at promoting a healthy lifestyle, and also work on spreading awareness of common ailments, family planning methods, nutrition and hygiene, and sanitation. We also provide services free of cost to those suffering from serious ailments. So far, 16 such health camps have been organised in the villages in and around the City, and have benefitted thousands of people,” says Krishna Singh, wife of Ambassador Singh, and also the Treasurer and an active member of SUURHAE.
Recently, the NGO arranged the visit of Dr. Anurag Trivedi and Dr. Nitin Bhatt from Artemis, to a village in Jhajjar. The visit came as a boon for dozens of children who underwent medical check-ups, and were given medicines for different ailments. “We found out that 90 per cent of the children had a deficiency of Calcium and Vitamin A, B and C. After the Camp, we interacted with the patients. Also, the doctors stressed on the importance of healthy living, balanced diet, and yoga,” says one of the volunteers.
Talking about the future plans of the NGO, Ambassador Singh reveals, “We want to spread awareness about the Civil Service examinations in the near future. If you look at the figures, you see that our State doesn’t produce many IAS, IPS and IFS graduates. The reason is that most of the students are not even aware of such examinations.”
Ambassador Singh feels that the lack of volunteers has deterred them from working in the more backward areas – of Basai, Mewat, and Palwal. “In Gurgaon it is very difficult to get dedicated volunteers who will travel to neighbouring villages and help us in conducting the Camps. Most of the people look for an NGO where they can work for a day or two, over the weekend. That, however, hasn’t discouraged us. What we do may just be a drop in the ocean; but I am sure that every drop counts.”
SUURHAE is a good example of how small efforts can make a difference.
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