International Village Clinic
Mobilizing Healthcare and Education for India’s Poorest
Location: Utter Pradesh, India
Sponsor: Larry Cerf
International Village Clinic (IVC): Grantee in 2011, 2012, 2020 and 2021
The mission of International Village Clinic is to bring health care, education,
IVC was founded in 1999 by Dr. Abul Sharah, once himself a penniless youth in the Uttar Pradesh. While he had overcome these dire circumstances and become a successful engineer, he wanted to give back to his native community. From a humble beginning helping the people in just one village, IVC grew and serves dozens of villages. A small hospital ward treats common and serious illnesses alike while mobile clinics provide vaccinations and education on health, nutrition,
By 2010, IVC had reached more than 52,000 patients, screening for such illnesses as heart, blood, eye, and kidney diseases, along with cancer and orthopedic irregularities. Many patients are also treated for parasites, malaria, tuberculosis, anemia, and other related conditions. Prevention programs provide vaccinations for polio, tetanus, diphtheria, hepatitis, and cholera. Hundreds of health education seminars reach thousands more in dozens of poor rural villages.
IVC continues to expand programs, especially those that address prevention through a growing number of mobile clinics and seminars. In 2018, Dr. Sharah turned his attention to the next urgent need — education. The people in Uttar Pradesh knew that education was the key to their children having opportunities beyond those locally open to them. And Dr. Sharah knew that the ability to speak English well was necessary for entrance to top colleges, better jobs, and higher family income. So he started a new English immersion school under the name of World Class English School. He began with a pre-school and has added a new classroom and new teacher as students advance to the next level. Adding at least one classroom and grade level every year will continue until the school reaches the senior high school level. The school is now running four classes: nursery, low kindergarten, upper kindergarten, and class I.
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GRANT SUMMARY AND PURPOSE
2011: $25,000 for a mobile medical clinic to serve 3,000 people in 12 villages, expanding the reach of IVC prevention programs.
2012: $25,000 to continue to support currently served village and also develop a fundraising program to expand assistance to more villages. Expansion reaches into dozens of villages (60+) and serves more than 150,000 people with preventative programs.
2020: $30,000 funds construction of a fifth classroom, a separate room that serves as a playroom and lunchroom (during lunch hour), and restrooms in a plan to add one classroom every year until the school reaches the senior high school level.
2021: $30,000 in funding adds the sixth classroom so that the school will serve 120 students with 8 employees. The facility will continue to have a classroom for each grade, along with bathrooms and a separate playroom/lunchroom.
IMPACT
