CHACHOKI EYE CAMP – ROTARY IN ACTION
NOVEMBER 2024 UPDATE
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Our club started the Chachoki Eye Camp Project in 2010 in collaboration with Rotarian Gurdip Bahra, and has been supporting it every year along with Bahra family. To date 1,300 people have had free cataract surgery.
The club decided to honour two individuals who have been instrumental in the success of the project. Gurdip Bahra travelled to his ancestral village of Chachoki, Punjab, India and presented Paul Harris Fellowships at the 15th Eye Camp to Mr. Sarup Singh Bansal and Dr. Tushar Aggarwal. 82 year old Mr. Sarup Singh Bansal is the secretary of the Trust managing the hospital in Chachoki and has been closely associated with the hospital for the last 21 years. Dr. Tushar Aggarwal, aged 44, is an ophthalmic surgeon and has been with the hospital for the last 13 years. Dr. Aggarwal has vast experience and has carried out 12,000 cataract surgeries in his career. 60 patients were identified for free cataract surgery at this camp, and were given appointments for the operations over the following two weeks. |
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History
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead has been sponsoring a free Eye Camp at the S.P.S. Bahra Hospital at the Chachoki village in the Punjab, India, since October 2010. During a visit to his ancestral village of Chachoki, Rotarian Gurdip Bahra saw a need to provide free cataract surgeries. His grandfather had put all his life’s savings towards building a charitable hospital in the village for the benefit of the poor. The hospital has a maternity and outpatient wing and had recently installed an eye unit with modern machines and equipment to perform cataract surgeries.
Gurdip was dismayed that the local community was not making full use of the facility, which was standing idle most of the time. He discovered the main reason for this was affordability. Trust members managing the hospital suggested the idea of holding a free eye camp, if donors could be found to pay for the treatment. Gurdip put the proposal to the International Committee of the Club who approved it immediately with a budget of £1000. Gurdip and his family members raised a similar sum at the Maidenhead Boundary Walk.
The Rotary Club of Maidenhead has been sponsoring a free Eye Camp at the S.P.S. Bahra Hospital at the Chachoki village in the Punjab, India, since October 2010. During a visit to his ancestral village of Chachoki, Rotarian Gurdip Bahra saw a need to provide free cataract surgeries. His grandfather had put all his life’s savings towards building a charitable hospital in the village for the benefit of the poor. The hospital has a maternity and outpatient wing and had recently installed an eye unit with modern machines and equipment to perform cataract surgeries.
Gurdip was dismayed that the local community was not making full use of the facility, which was standing idle most of the time. He discovered the main reason for this was affordability. Trust members managing the hospital suggested the idea of holding a free eye camp, if donors could be found to pay for the treatment. Gurdip put the proposal to the International Committee of the Club who approved it immediately with a budget of £1000. Gurdip and his family members raised a similar sum at the Maidenhead Boundary Walk.
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The first camp was a huge success and Maidenhead Rotary Club has been sponsoring this cost effective annual event since 2010. Cataract surgery in the U.K. can cost anything upwards from £500, whereas it costs only £15 at the Hospital in Chachoki.
Patients not needing cataract operations have benefited from eye tests and treatments for minor eye problems including infections, and the vast majority of patients have been fitted with prescription glasses. |
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