The Partners:
Christine Matthews Health and Development Society (CMHDS) was set up in 2006 as the Society responsible for the running and development of the four clinics in Seduvalai area, near Vellore in South India. Previously, the work was managed by the Christine Matthews Rural Health Clinic. The aim of the Society is:
To serve the people of Seduvalai area and its surroundings and to promote improvements in their health and wellbeing through sustainable primary health care services and community based health and development programmes.
A management committee is responsible for the ongoing development of the Society. The committee comprises a number of professional medical Christian nationals, two church pastors, two members of the local community and one CMS-Britain Mission Partner (Hugh Skeil).
CMHDS are currently in the process of applying for a FCRA registration number, which would enable them to receive funds from overseas donors, such as CMS Ireland. In recent years, CMHDS has been supported by the Development Promotion Group – who act as an agent to receive and allocate funds from international agencies. In March 2008, this arrangement will finish, making it imperative for the society to successfully complete the FCRA process.
CMHDS enjoys the support of the local church in Seduvalai, part of the Evangelical Church of India. The Pastor, Rev David Rajkumar, is a member of the management committee of CMHDS and is very supportive of the work of the clinics. The main clinic is housed in the old church building and the cross at the top of the building is still present; locals still refer to it as the ‘church clinic’.
The People:
Christine Matthews was a medical physicist from Ireland who went to work in India in the late 1960s, taking up a post in one of the hospitals in Vellore, in southern India. Christine was keen to live amongst the rural poor, so she moved in with an Indian family in a village called Seduvalai, 15km from Vellore. Whilst living there, she spent much of her spare time visiting homes in the area and offering basic health and hygiene education and nutrition advice. Sadly, Christine was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1989. It was decided to open a small clinic in her name, and with the help of supporters in Ireland, the Christine Matthews Rural Health Clinic (CMRHC) was established in Seduvalai in 1996. The clinic, along with 3 sub-centres, are now managed by the Christine Matthews Health and Development Society (CMHDS)
Dr Kumudavathi is a doctor from Bangalore who, in much the same way as Christine Matthews, lives and works amongst the impoverished community in the Seduvalai area. In addition to being the sole doctor and Medical Director, Kumuda sits on the management committee of CMHDS and is very much the driving force behind the ongoing work of the clinics. Dr Kumuda attended the mpower conference in 2005 and maintains regular contact with friends and supporters in Ireland. Her family lives in Bangalore.
Augustine Aiyadurai is the chairman of the CMHDS management committee. He is the Administrative Manager at Karigiri Leprosy Hospital, near Vellore, where he lives with his wife, Walsa. Augustine attended the mpower conference in Ireland in 2005.
Hugh Skiel is a CMS Britain Mission Partner, working in the accounts department of the Christian Medical College Hosptial (CMC) in Vellore. He is married to Debbie, a physician working with the Rehabilitation Department at CMC. Together, they have been living and working in India since 1999. Hugh has played a central role on the committee of CMHDS and before it, the CMDG (Christine Matthews Development Group) for much of this time and has been a vital link in our contact with India.
The Programmes:
CMHDS currently employ around twenty staff, who work in the main clinic in Seduvalai and in the sub-centres in the surrounding villages of Vallandramam, Kattukolli and Minnal Nagar.
The main clinic is open twenty-four hours a day and the staff there will treat anything from 1500 to 2600 patients per month. The sub-centres each tend to treat between 350 and 600 patients per month. Even though Vellore, nearby, has a number of large hospitals, the majority of those living in the Seduvalai area cannot afford the cost of treatment there and are often unwilling to travel even such a short distance, particularly when it may mean leaving other family members alone. There is a small delivery room at the main clinic which, whilst basic, provides a much safer alternative to home births.
In addition to treating a range of conditions from snake and spider bites to Chikungunya Fever and Typhoid, the clinics operate a referral system to Vellore and to the leprosy hospital at Karigiri. A small lab operates in the main clinic and the lab technician carries out preliminary HIV testing for the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore.
Community health visits represent a major part of the work of CMHDS and act both as a means of encouraging local people to make use of the clinics and of following-up patients suffering from TB or those living with HIV/AIDS. Basic health training and HIV/AIDS awareness advice are also offered by the community health visitors.
In November 2007, CMHDS launched a new Evening Education Programme, which involves hosting self-help groups (of which there are many thousands in India) and sharing with them some basic information on hygiene, health and nutrition.
