Project Mayuri by Calcutta Foundation

Mayuri aims to tackle problems of inadequate access to quality healthcare and medical facilities, lack of education opportunities, improper nourishment, and the scarcity of clean drinking water, faced due to extreme poverty. Women and children living in the villages in extreme poverty are more vulnerable to serious health issues due to their inability to leave their homes and seek quality health care. There is poor medical care in these areas – especially for girls facing puberty, women with gynecological issues, and pregnant women. The distance and the cost of travel to Kolkata and treatment further limit their ability to seek medical care in hospitals in Kolkata. This makes healthcare a secondary concern for women and girls in rural areas, something that is not prioritized given 

While our primary work is suspended, our current efforts are focused on providing relief to those that have been affected by Cyclone Amphan which added to the already devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Many who lost wages due to the lockdown have been rendered homeless by the cyclone. They are in need of urgent support to rebuild homes and to help sustain them during this period of economic uncertainty.

In our effort to reduce the inaccessibility to healthcare in rural areas, our concept it to bring healthcare to the doorstep, especially to improve gynecological and nutritional issues during childhood, puberty, pre and postnatal periods, and menopause and by ensuring that women and children have access to sustained, reliable, and quality care at minimal cost at their doorstep. 

In its first phase, Mayuri has set up monthly rural outreach clinics taking gynecological, pediatric, and general physicians from prominent hospitals in Calcutta. Currently working in 4 areas, we are providing a group of 1685 women and children free monthly medical consultation, medicines, eye checkups with glasses and cataract surgery and blood tests when necessary. 

In our current relief efforts, we have been providing material to several affected families around the state. In the last 73 days, we have provided relief to over 3,000 families (COVID and Amphan), and are working to widen our impact. While we have sent out urgent and temporary measures such as Tarpaulin for victims of Amphan, we hope to send out a new phase of relief to render a more permanent solution for those who's homes have been destroyed. Additionally, we want to continue sending food kits and rations to provide stability in these uncertain times.

Our goal is to provide access to healthcare, nutrition and sanitation for women and children in the outskirts of Kolkata and rural areas of West Bengal. We believe that improving maternal and child health is the key to not only improving the general health and wellbeing but also reducing poverty and creating an empowered population of women. 

Our hope is that intervening at the critical stages of will ensure improved health of the mother during pregnancy, reducing chances of complication during childbirth and thus reducing the rates of maternal mortality and improve the health and nutrition of babies and children under the age of 5 and thereby reduce the chances of future illness and ensure proper development of the child. 

Our impact is to assist the most financially vulnerable populations with basic necessities through these trying times. The fight against COVID is a long one, and with India being far from its peak, these populations continue to live in economic instability and lack of access to food. Our desired impact is 2 fold-- providing physical security and shelter to those who have lost homes due to the cyclone, and to continue support the basic necessities of people.