After two and a half months at sea, a trip across the plains and 7,000 feet up the ghat, the 20’ container of donated medical equipment finally arrived at Van Allen Hospital on Sunday, September 2, 2018.
The jammed-packed container was unloaded with the help of KIS students; and now the hospital staff has the huge-but-enviable task of unpacking and distributing the supplies and equipment. The packing list is beyond extensive – everything from knee braces to medical reference books to orthopedic screwdrivers to infant warmers/oxygen masks to voltage converters. KIS students, staff, and the entire Kodai community will benefit from this project for years and years to come.
Many thanks to all of those whose vision and hard work made this happen, most notably Dr. Jeetu Nanda, past KIS Council Member and past KFI President; Corey Stixrud, KIS Principal and Interim Chair, Van Allen Hospital; Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach; Kodai Friends International; and Mr. Jayachandran, Dr. Senthil Kumar and Mr. Biju Mathews at Van Allen Hospital. This was truly team-work at its best.
The Van Allen has undergone some rough times recently, but a concerted effort is under way to get it back into shape. New doctors have been hired, but the equipment is sadly out of date. Dr. Jeetu Nanda, Past President of KFI, got in contact with a group called Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, a medical surplus recovery organization which collects, repairs, packages, and distributes medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics around the world. The Van Allen Hospital was not able, however, to cover the cost of shipping in order to receive these supplies and equipment.
A grant request to fund the shipping was made to Kodai Friends International, which was accepted by the KFI Board in May of this year. In mid-June a 20’ shipping container filled with donated medical supplies and equipment was shipped to Chennai, from there making its way up the ghat to the gates of the Van Allen Hospital, thanks to the generous donations of many of you throughout the years to KFI. The ship is scheduled to dock in Chennai on August 19, 2018. Hopefully we will receive some pictures when the container arrives in Kodai, which we will happily post.
The Van Allen Hospital Equipment Donation is supported through KFI’s “Fund a Need” Fund.
