One of the many ways Richard Condorelli Memorial Foundation serves the region is by supporting the school health program for the impoverished tribal communities of the Dang district and surrounding areas of Gujarat, India. Every day, fifteen to twenty children from different primary, middle, and high schools are brought safely in a vehicle for thorough medical, dental, and sickle cell anemia screening.
According to the current government statistics, there are more than 53,000 school children enrolled in different schools of Dang. Unfortunately, most of them have never been seen by a dentist and very few may have been seen by a qualified physician, unless for a previous sickness or emergency. So far in the school health program, more than 10,000 school children have been screened in the last four years. During their visits, the children and young adults are educated and motivated to maintain better personal and oral hygiene. They are also familiarized with optimum health indices and the importance of nutrition. It is with a hope an attempt is made to transform their lifestyle and prevent various diseases in the future.
Our ultimate goal is to transform the entire Dang district to become a community free of preventable diseases with cooperation from the government and other non-profit organizations working in the health sector. The school health program will be vastly influential on not only the students themselves, but the entire community.
“Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime.”
