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Care of Elderly Poor & Destitute

    Institute for Integrated Rural Development
    A project from Institute for Integrated Rural Development in Aurangabad District, India
    This project will enable at least 200 elderly destitute persons in Aurangabad distict of Maharashtra (central part of India) to have access to health services and better food.

    Already 34 donations.
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    €2,746collected of €6,500
    42 %funded
    34donations
    The project cannot receive donations anymore.

    About this project

    J. Daniel from Institute for Integrated Rural Development is responsible for this project
    Marathwada is a region in central India where most people rely on sparsely irrigated small farms for their livelihoods. The human development indicators in the region are among the lowest in the country. To make situations worse, the region is going through severe drought-like conditions during this year. The rain fall and water availability in the districts of Marathwada has fallen to the lowest levels in the past two decades. This has great impact in the rural villages where agriculture is the mainstay and most farms are rainfed. The elderly destitute persons who do not own or manage lands and are unable to work due to age or disability are the most affected. They neither can grow their foods or earn incomes to buy food for themselves. As such when shortage of food grains occurs, it is immediately felt among the elderly poor, the destitute, and persons with disabilities. When household incomes reduce, there is also the tendency to reduce spending on the care for the elderly and particularly those outside their immediate family members.

    IIRD has been working in the area of community based care of the elderly persons for more than two decades. During these years, IIRD has been able to facilitate community based grain banks to support the poor and the elderly destitute persons. The grain banks are managed by members of farmers clubs who donate food grains regularly for the benefit of the elderly destitute persons. As far as possible, the elderly persons are encouraged to be included in the farmers clubs and SHGs so that they are able to benefit from the income generation activities promoted by these groups. Incentives are provided by the organization in terms of seed grants and technical support. During the year 2011-12, there has been 123 micro-enterprises established by the elderly poor persons.

    In the case of health, efforts have been taken to mobilize resources and doctors to cater to their health needs. This year, eighty persons were screened for cataract and thirty five (35) cataract surgeries were conducted free of charge by a volunteer doctor. However, there is the need for continuous health care particularly of the elderly destitute persons. In some of the villages, the nearest nurse or a doctor is about 15 Kms away or about 2 hours by public transport (due to waiting time for public transport and bad roads).

    The project is expected to assist at least 550 elderly persons in the selected villages of Aurangabad district with particular focus on 200 elderly destitute persons. They will benefit from a full time doctor, basic health facilities, primary health care, trained village health workers as volunteers in the village, fresh vegetables from newly established kitchen gardens, and better food from farmers clubs and additional grocery supplied.

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