GPH signs MoU with Rama Foundation
A short film on Ganga Prem Hospice work:
INDIA, Rishikesh, December 9th, 2014
Rama Foundation, a family based foundation in Cambridge, England signed an MOU with Ganga Prem Hospice on Tuesday, 9th December 2014.
Rama Foundation, which was set up in 2006, is based in the university town of Cambridge in the UK. The foundation aims to advance education, health care and relieve poverty throughout the world but particularly in India. The foundation works by helping to develop the skills and capacities of socially and economically disadvantaged communities so that they are able to help themselves and participate more fully in society. To this end Rama Foundation sends professional volunteers from the UK to help such groups develop their potential.
Until now Rama Foundation, which has been predominately working in the Rishikesh and Haridwar area, has given considerable support to a number of local NGOs with the aim of promoting education among disadvantaged members of the local population. This year the foundation became interested in connecting with Ganga Prem Hospice, recognising GPH as an established NGO which cares for cancer patients in the Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dehradun areas.
Nani Ma with Balbir Datta, Dr Priyanka and Dr Caroline
In October 2014, a team including three doctors, was sent by Rama Foundation to scope GPH work. The RF team attended a GPH free cancer clinic in Haridwar on the 19th October and had several meetings with the GPH team. This culminated in a meeting with GPH medical director, Dr AK Dewan, in Delhi on the 24th October.
The Rama Foundation team was satisfied with their findings and a Memorandum of Understanding was drawn up between the two groups and provisionally signed by Mr Balbir Datta of Rama Foundation and Nani Ma from the Ganga Prem Hospice. The signing of the MOU was officially witnessed by Dr Brenda Ward from the UK and Mr Bharat Bushan Bali from Rishikesh. The MOU will be ratified by the two trusts at their next respective board meetings.
The MOU has agreed that the Rama Foundation will provide voluntary manpower to GPH to help train GPH volunteers and personnel. They also hope to help with Hospice twinning possibilities and technical knowledge in various fields connected to GPH work. Rama Foundation will provide UK dieticians to help redress the nutritional deficiencies of GPH patients. The two trusts have also agreed to explore ways of improving the health of underprivileged women.
Ganga Prem Hospice and Rama Foundation are looking forward to a lasting collaboration that will not only benefit underprivileged cancer patients in the region but will also allow a mutually beneficent exchange of ideas between the two parties. As a good will gesture, Rama Foundation have sponsored the employment of a website technician and an office assistant which they saw were the immediate needs of the GPH team in Rishikesh.
Dr Priyanka Patel, Trustee Lead in Health and Community Gynaecologist, along with Dr Caroline Cooper, took an interest in the health care of underprivileged women, and undertook an exploratory session at Mother Miracle during our Medical Scoping Visit. 140 women turned up, and many wanted more one-to-one consultations. It was all too clear that there was great need of this service, so along with MM, we need to set out organisational values and ensure that these are well understood by all potential volunteers from the UK.
To read more about Ganga Prem's work, visit: http://www.gangapremhospice.org/.