I had given up my son for dead”, was what Saraswathi- a resident of Rourkela village in Orissa, had to say about her son Raju who ran away 13 years back.

Raju, the second, amongst his five siblings ran away from his home to save himself from the beatings of his abusive father. He catched a train and arrived in New Delhi.  Raju was alone and scared, he survived off scraps of food for three days until he met Deepalaya social worker-Ram Singh.

Raju was briefed about the Institutional Care project and was convinced to stay there. Since then, Raju has been living in the boys hostel and doing well in his studies. He made friends with his peers and developed interest in cricket. Raju completed his 10th standard with Deepalaya, and then registered with the NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) in 2010 to complete his studies up till 12th Standard.

As, he grew older, Raju’s thoughts of returning to his family grew stronger each passing day. Recently he went along with Achyutanand- counsellor at the Institutional Care, to find his family. Raju only remembered that his house was near a temple on a hill when the auto driver interrupted saying that he knew the place. On arriving they spoke to some locals and enquired about the family, several of them had remembered Raju going missing years ago and directed them to the house. Some of them ran ahead to tell Raju's mother.

It was a sobbing Saraswathi waiting at the door to welcome her son.  Raju's two younger brothers and elder brother were also amazed, shocked and truly happy to meet him.

The family discussed about Raju's education and advised him to finish it first. Raju handled the enormity of the situation with real dignity, maturity and responsibility and has decided to complete his studies first before coming back to his family and support them.
 

“Health is Wealth,” a saying by Ralph Waldo Emerson proves true for 23 year old Ayub Khan a resident of Patuka Village in Mewat district, Haryana. Ayub, a shop owner whose life was not that easy for him as it seems.
 
Ayub was making his ends meet and was supporting his family when 9 months back, he noticed a cavity around his private parts. He didn’t bother to visit a doctor and resorted to home remedies. With continuous pain and pus formation, he visited a local doctor who diagnosed him with Perianal Abscess- an infection of the soft tissues surrounding the anal canal. Ayub took the prescribed medicines and was relieved for some time.
 

 
Little did he know that the relief is short lived and his problem would persist. This is when he came to a camp organised by Deepalaya and was recommended a surgery which he underwent. Today Ayub says “I feel really fortunate to have attended the camp and got relief. I am looking forward to recovering soon and getting back to my daily chores,” says the 23 year old.
 
The Health Camp on December 2, 2011 which benefited 145 people was organized in conjunction with Young Fellows Association American College of Surgeons and Worldwide Adventures. A team of doctors- Dr. Mark T. Savarise, Dr. John Como, DR. Nitin J. Engineer, Dr. Adrienne Fueg, Dr. Jagdish Gill and Dr. Joelle Pierre, diagnosed the villagers who were suffering from various illnesses ranging from headache, body ache to constipation and gynae problems.
 
Many thoughtful solutions in general were proposed by the doctors after identifying the problems of the people; “Most of the cases were simple and could be easily diagnosed with a little care”, said Dr Savarise.
 
Deepalaya thanks to Worldwide Adventures for connecting the medical fraternity which brought in message for healthy living.