After our mobile medical ministry began, it became clear that a much larger medical ministry was needed. Dr. Haribabu was grieved when he had to leave seriously ill people in their home villages to face certain death. He repeatedly requested a clinic to bring his sickest patients to—so we opened an outpatient clinic in Sode, Jharkhand.
Sode is located about 74 kilometers from Simdega, the village where our hospital stands. Sode is a small village in the Khunti district housing about 2,100 villagers. The Sode Outpatient Clinic opened its doors in 2005. This poor village has three elementary schools, a middle school, and a church, but no medical facilities except for our medical clinic. Once opened, our clinic treated about 2,000 patients per month, as many were traveling from the remote outer villages for care. Brother Innocent and his wife Sunita are from Bursabera, a village near Sode. Both Innocent and Sunita completed their Community Health Training at Shanti Bhavan Medical Center and have offered to take charge of running the Sode clinic.
One summer, a young woman walked to Sode from Bursabera, about 5 kilometers away. Her name is Kiran, and she was nine months pregnant. Sister Angelina and Sunita examined Kiran and advised that the expected due date would be about three weeks.
Late in the evening on June 20, Kiran began laboring. She could not walk to Sode, so she took a rickshaw. It took about one hour for her to make the uncomfortable journey. Angelina and Sunita had received word that she was coming and had already prepared the best they could. There is no electricity or running water in Sode, so they drew water from a nearby well and boiled it over a fire. They also ensured the clinic was free of snakes, as there were already two snakes found and killed in the clinic earlier that day. Angelina and Sunita met Kiran at the entrance and escorted her in. They made her as comfortable as they could and began monitoring her using cell phones lights and torches.
Kiran’s labor lasted throughout the night, with both Angelina and Sunita taking turns caring for her. As the sun began to rise, her contractions moved closer together. Kiran delivered a beautiful baby girl around 11 am. The healthy baby girl, weighing in at just over 5lbs, is doing great. Kiran is also doing very well. Angelina taught Kiran how to nurse her daughter, and she spent the morning resting while Sunita and Angelina cared for her baby.
This was Sunita’s first time delivering a baby. Her Community Health Training had prepared her for what she needed to do, and she was very thankful for the skills she learned to help Kiran during this process. That week, there were two other babies born at the clinic. Brother Innocent and Sunita have been very busy the last couple of weeks meeting the needs of the poor and sick.
You can help Brother Innocent and his wife Sunita manage the clinic and serve the people in and around Sode. Your gift today will help mothers like Kiran deliver their babies safely and anyother patients who come for medical services.
We are so thankful for your support!