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Social service seems to be a tradition in the Amte family. Baba Amte has spent much of his life in the rehabilitation and care of leprosy patients at his Anandwan ashram in one of the poorest tribal areas in Maharashtra. His younger son, Dr Prakash Amte and his wife Dr Mandatai Amte, continued in Baba Amte’s footsteps and today treat more than 40,000 tribal patients a year at their hospital in Hemalkasa in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
Dr Prakash and Dr Mandatai Amte were given The Spirit of Mastek Award for their great work in the uplift of the poor, needy and socially deprived at a function held in Mumbai recently. The awards are given to those who provide inspired leadership and go beyond their call . The aim of the award is not only to recognise their work, but also to inspire others who may follow in their footsteps. Earlier recipients include Dr Arun Ranade of Mumbai for his many activities as a Good Samaritan, and Dr Abhay Bang and Dr Rani Bang of the NGO SEARCH for their work to improve the living conditions of the poor people of Gadchiroli . There have been students , business people and journalist who have been acknowledged with the ‘Mastek Spirit of Making a Difference’ award before.
For Dr Prakash Amte, it all began when his father took him for a picnic to Bhamragad in Gadchiroli district. It was there that he encountered the immense suffering of the Gond tribals, who were in the depths of poverty and deprivation and had no access to any kind of healthcare facility in that remote area.
When they returned from the trip, Baba Amte asked his son how he would like to work among the Gonds. Dr Amte’s answer was an instinctive yes, a decision that changed his life forever. “Turn your back to the world and the world will follow you,” he says.
Initially, things weren’t easy. The first thing the Amtes wanted was some land to build a facility, so they applied to the Maharashtra government for a grant of land. That took a while coming. “It took three years for the grant to come through as all bureaucratic work takes a while in our country,” says Dr Amte.
Meanwhile, Prakash Amte married Mandatai. He left his internship and Mandatai gave up her government job, and the couple set about the uphill task of relieving the tribals of their pain and misery.
They built a small hut for themselves and a larger one for the patients they would be treating. But there were other roadblocks. “It was very difficult initially as we did not know their dialect, making it impossible to communicate. They don’t speak any other language, which made matters worse,” says Dr Amte. The Gonds were suspicious of outsiders and resistant to the idea of visiting the Amtes for treatment. They preferred instead to go to the village medicine man for their ailments.
The turning point came when a boy suffering from epilepsy was brought in for treatment. Under the Amtes’ treatment, the boy recovered completely. There was no looking back after that. Once they gained the confidence of the Gonds, it was a matter of time before the trickle turned into a flood. Today, the Amtes cater to the needs of 40,000 patients a year at their 40-bed hospital in Hemalkasa.
The Amtes haven’t restricted themselves to healthcare. They also set up a school for the tribal children. In fact, their own children studied at the school, and were the only non-tribals to do so. The school has been another success story, and has produced five Gond doctors, who also contribute to the project. “Almost 99 percent of the tribal children who’ve studied in the school and pursued higher studies have come back to work with us,” says Dr Amte.
Dr Prakash Amte’s compassion extends to animals as well. Also at Hemalkasa is a sort of `Amte Animal Ark’ that houses and treats injured wild animals. There’s a story behind this. When the Amtes first settled in Hemalkasa, they realised that the tribals survived on meat and “ate anything that moved”. “Once we saw some tribals carrying three red-faced monkeys that they had hunted. One of the monkeys had its live baby clinging to it and it was a pitiable sight,” says Dr Amte. He convinced the tribals to part with the little monkey, and from thereon started exchanging wild animals for food. Eventually, Hemalkasa had a mini-zoo with an assortment of wild animals.
Dr Amte’s two sons also contribute to the project, which was begun 32 years ago. The Amte tradition continues.
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