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>>Yamunabai
Ghodegaon Village
Through example and empathy,
Yumunabai Kulkarni has embraced the poor, wealthy, and
ostracized in her community to change the face of her village.
At a young age, Yamunabai was
married off to a much older husband. Soon after, she left her
own village to join his. Although she came from a relatively
wealthy family, she was not fed or clothed properly given her
status as a girl. Yamunabai considers herself lucky, “In my
case, I was very fortunate. I got a lot of support from my
husband, my mother-in-law, and other families who supported me.
I was a little bit better off financially.” Many others were
not.
Over thirty years ago,
Yamunabai became a Community Healthcare Worker (“CHW”) with the
Comprehensive Rural Health Project (“CRHP”). During this time,
she has raised four of her own children; delivered eight-hundred
others (she remembers each one); and has contributed to improved
healthcare for thousands more. Her impact extends much
further. She has helped her village overcome superstitions by
using her learning and strong will to change behaviors. Because
of misinformation, those that were sick with Leprosy,
tuberculosis, and AIDS were alienated from the village. She
recounts, “In my village, we had two truck drivers who got
AIDS. I used this as a teaching tool and kept the wife and the
children of those two men in my house. This proved that, even
though the wife and children were positive, it didn’t spread.”
She also advocates for education across disciplines because she
believes that health education must go hand in hand with
economic education. She describes, “I had a very poor farmer.
Through simple farming techniques, last month he sold 100,000
rupees worth of onions. That only took three months to grow.
Now with basic money, he can begin to focus on his health.”
Yamunabai has seen her village transform over the years due to
CRHP’s work. “We started by breaking down the caste system by
getting people to share water sources and food. Then we tackled
gambling and alcoholism. The community itself got rid of local
moonshiners by giving them something else to do. That stopped
the gambling. When families had more money for basics, they
were open to health education and the infant mortality rates
came down. ”
Yamunabai talks about her own
challenges developing empathy as a healthcare worker and of
CRHP’s impact on her life, “The meaning of love was non-existent
in my life. Whether it was love towards another person or even
my own household. The first thing CRHP taught me was to use
their techniques on my own children. Then use my children and
husband as examples for others.” To be effective as a village
health care worker, Yamunabai got to know the village
intimately. During festivals, she goes for walks with women as
they fetch water or talks to them when they go to the bathroom.
“That’s how I would discover women that had leprosy.”
Yamunabai’s years of
dedication and hard work as a healthcare worker under the
guidance and support of CRHP has improved both health and
economic outcomes for her village. The village has gone on to
win a state award for breaking down the caste system.
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