Gender Equity and Empowerment

Director of Development, Gayatri Ganesh, shares her presentation on women’s health in the context of poverty and rights, looking at the status of women in Chhattisgarh. This is an informative and compelling introduction to the issues facing women living in poverty, from literacy and early marriage to bride burnings and widowhood. She also talks about how gender equity and women’s empowerment is at the core of all our initiatives at the Christian Hospital Mungeli.

Patient-Centred Care

Many of our patients come from the neighboring districts and states. Patients are often accompanied by large numbers of relatives who need to be accommodated on campus. In 2005, we completed construction of Dharamshala, Dal Bhat Kendra, and HP RasoiGhar, facilities providing a place for relatives of in-patients to stay, to cook for their hospitalized relatives, and to obtain meals with subsidized help provided by the government.

In 2015, we began a program to offer in-patients and/or their relatives two free meals a day. The meals are nutritious, with rice, lentils and vegetables. While we have provided areas for patients’ relatives to cook their own meals, we found that many do not have the financial resources to provide nutritious food.