• To set up a Community Health and Education Center (CHEC) focused on women’s health, maternal care and child care
• To educate the local communities on preventive care, health and hygiene
• To provide immediate care for common ailments
• To create a trusted bridge between the community and specialized health care facilities in nearby towns and cities

Clearly, focused education can make a huge difference to the health status of the community. Therefore, the primary focus of the Akash Neem Medical Center Project will be preventive health education. To ensure that the education programs are successful, project managers will first survey the 5 surrounding villages and map the health issues. Any and all education programs will be designed to target specific local issues in a culturally relative format. While some of these education programs might be centralized at the Akash Neem Medical Center, most of the programs will be conducted in the respective villages.

Although education might prevent a significant number of health issues, it is a long-term strategy. At this time, the community needs access to healthcare for deliveries, neonatal care, injuries, nutritional deficiencies, water-borne diseases, malaria, etc. The Akash Neem Medical Center will stock essential drugs and equipment to enable the Community Health Workers at the Center to provide effective first-contact treatment.

For specialized care, Akash Neem medical staff will refer the cases to reputed hospitals in nearby cities. One of big challenges is transportation to and from these communities, which are connected only by a dirt track. An important strategy will be the effective use of information technology to electronically transmit patient details, test reports, photographs, etc. to specialists in reputed hospitals in New Delhi/Gurgaon. Also, Satya-Jyoti will collaborate with these hospitals to schedule regular visits by specialized doctors to the five villages.

As a part of its activities, Akash Neem strives to provide opportunities for professional women and men as well as mature students to serve as AN volunteers and contribute their talents. We believe in matching volunteers, based on their experiences, abilities, and passions to the role within our organization that allows all parties to benefit.

It is for that reason that all “field” volunteers and students are thoroughly screened before being permitted to work directly on project locations. Additionally, all selected volunteers are required to work side-by-side with our board of directors in our Paris office for a determined period of time before their departure. We think of our volunteers as AN Ambassadors, understanding all aspects of our operation and representing all of the values and cultural understanding we strive to grow in the world.

The AN Ambassador programme recruits a great diversity of talents and offers these opportunities to:

• Skilled volunteers who wish to participate in the development of Akash Neem within it’s Paris office as the association continues to grow, ie, web developers, grant writers, publicity directors, membership coordinators, volunteer coordinators, etc, etc.
• Professionals from various sectors who want to share their time and expertise with counterparts in developing countries
• Mature students from all walks of life and from any country to provide humanitarian assistance and support matching current project needs
• Experts who wish to volunteer within their country of origin and share local knowledge and culture and provide potential translation assistance

Visit our Membership Frequently Asked Questions page for more information. To begin the Akash Neem Ambassador process, please contact our volunteer coordinator with your complete contact details.

Satya-Jyoti Trust is a non-profit organization situated on a small organic farm in the village of Ladpuri in Rajasthan, India. The Trust is home to a small group of women from remote villages in Rajasthan who are victims of rape, physical and sexual abuse at home. These women were assisted in seeking legal aid and then they spent a few years with another NGO under their legal guardianship. On turning 18 they were assisted in finding jobs in city workshops, which was unsuccessful as they had lived thus far in an institution and had not developed social skills or decision making ability to manage matters related to everyday civic issues.

At Satya-Jyoti the women have been assisted in developing their traditional sewing and embroidery skills, a small beginning has been made by selling these products in local markets to help them become self sustaining. They have set up an aid center for the surrounding villages and are now becoming trainers for the village girls. These village girls are part of an informal education programme on literacy that was initiated with the help of another NGO “Pratham” who assisted Satya-Jyoti with their first literacy programme.

Satya-Jyoti is providing an example of sustainable small scale farming, improving bio-diversity, economic freedom through income generation projects and empowerment through education. In order to reach out to a larger number of women in the three villages Satya-Jyoti is now attempting to bring together volunteers and funding to broaden the scale.

Our mission for building an Akash Neem Medical Center in India is to encourage the development of innovative health care delivery and education systems in rural communities surrounding the Satya-Jyoti Trust.

It is to be our pilot medical outreach project.

Satya-Jyoti Trust, a non-profit organization, plans to start a Community Health and Education Project to serve rural communities in Alwar district of Rajasthan. These communities have no access to healthcare services – the closest medical help is 14 km away in the village of Tapukra. However, the health facility in Tapukra itself is minimally functional, does not have a doctor available most often, is unhygienic and does not meet minimum safety standards such as the use of disposable surgical gloves.

This part of Rajasthan is extremely poor and literacy rates are among the lowest in the country. Coupled with strong gender and caste biases in Rajasthan, poverty and illiteracy cause a huge adverse impact of women’s health in these communities. This in turn causes a negative spiral of maternal mortality, infant mortality and child malnutrition.

It is estimated that for every 100,000 live births, 407 pregnant women die every year in India due to causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. The major causes of these deaths are Anaemia, Haemorrhage (both Ante and Post-Partum), Toxaemia during pregnancy, Obstructed Labour, Puerperal Sepsis (Infections after delivery) and unsafe Abortions. Complications associated with pregnancies are not always predictable. Therefore, it is critical to provide emergency obstetric care as close to the community as possible.

In the local communities around Satya-Jyoti, the most common health issues are maternal health, neonatal care, water-borne diseases, skin infections and malaria. Most of these issues can be addressed through community outreach and education. However, there is no community health worker provided from the government (called Anganwadi worker in India) in these communities.