Camp at Pulivendla
The members of SAHI decided to inaugurate the society on 14 th November 2004 and also conduct the 1st camp for the hearing impaired. The date was unanimously agreed upon, as it was the Children’s Day and also a Sunday. It was also decided to inaugurate the society at a simple function at Pulivendla in Kadapa district. The members congregated at Pulivendla on Sunday. The arrangements for their local transport and stay were taken care of by one of our directors, Mr. Y.S. Prakash Reddy.
The camp was publicized through posters and letters distributed by our director, Mr. Y. S. Manohar Reddy to all the schools and hospitals (govt. & private) within Pulivendla mandal. He also collected the lists of the children registered for the camp from the same institutions and handed them over to Dr. E.C. Vinay Kumar. In the week prior to the camp, Mr. Y.S.Prakash Reddy and Mr. Y.S. Manohar Reddy also spread the word through the local T.V. channel and pamphlets were distributed in all the villages.
On 14 th Nov 04 the meeting started as scheduled at 9 AM and was presided over by Mr. Y. S. Prakash Reddy. The Guest of Honour, Mr. S. Purushottam Reddy lit the lamp. Mr. Y.S.Vivekananda Reddy, Member of Parliament kadapa was the Chief Guest, He addressed the gathering and spoke of the need to create awareness about the problems faced by the people suffering from hearing handicap and ways and means to prevent loss of hearing. Dr. P.Souri Reddy, our Advisor explained to the gathering the reasons for starting the society and also its aims, objectives ambitions and its future plans. Dr. Ram Babu , our Medical Director enlightened the lay public about different types of hearing problems and how they could be treated, and the role that SAHI would play in providing quality treatment for various types of hearing impairments through counseling, providing hearing aids, conducting surgeries etc. He spoke of the role that Apollo Hospitals would play in providing their infrastructure at a discount for surgeries and said that the ENT specialists would be conducting all the surgeries free of cost. Ms. Sunita Reddy proposed a vote of thanks at the end of the meeting.
The camp commenced as soon as the meeting came to an end. A total of 110 children had registered themselves for the camp and were examined by the specialists, where after they proceeded for an audiology test conducted our audiologist, Mr. Srinivas and his team. As the day progressed the news spread through word of mouth and several other people with complaints, but who had not registered, also arrived at the venue. By the end of the day 197 persons were examined. Many patients required counseling alone and were counselled and sent back while a few who could be treated through medication was given medicines. 14 persons were selected to be given hearing aids and 15 persons were selected for surgeries.
Dr. E.C. Gangi Reddy, a local pediatrician and philanthropist at a simple ceremony distributed the Hearing Aids in the evening. The patients selected for surgeries were counseled about the procedure involved in conducting the surgeries and the dates that they would have to be available at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad. They were informed that they could bring one attendant and would be provided stay free of cost at the Hospital for one night.
The Dentists Dr. Venkatesh and Dr. Satish Reddy who had accompanied the ENT doctors and paramedics from Hyderabad, meanwhile, conducted a dental camp separately and treated 67 patients.
| No. Patients seen |
197 |
| No. Hearing Aids given |
14 |
| No. Patients with hearing problem selected for surgery |
15 |
