Society
He was the first General Convener of People’s Development Plan of Mallappuzhassery Panchayat and the Editor of the Development Draft published in nineties. In 2012, with his initiative CSI Church Punnackadu entered into MoU with Mallappuzhasssery Panchayat to make the Panchayat a fully health literate Panchayat. Janamaithry Police, Card Krishi Vinjana Kendra, Thelliyoor, Immanuel Marthoma Church are associating with this project. The main emphasis of the programme is ‘Church for Others’.
Dr Mathew Koshy Punnackadu is the Director of the CSI- Pushpagiri Community Health programme. The main programmes are Meeting members of Grama Sabhas (1-13 Wards of Mallappuzhassery Panchayat), Meeting of the Heads of the Schools of Mallappuzhassery Panchayat, Cancer detection Camps, Rain water harvesting , Visiting Schools -Anti-drug programme Ward representatives meeting (5 members from 13 wards) Waste Management training, Onam Get together Student leaders and Teachers training , Fellowhip of cardiac and BP patients, Food safety and standards, Fellowhip of diabetics patients, Fellowhip of Kidney patients, Christmas Get together.
Every week the women’s fellowship members visit the houses of poor people and check BP and blood sugar. All the medical issues in the colonies are due to uncontrolled Blood Pressure and blood sugar, that lead to stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. How can people be saved? A preventive strategy which empowers the general public to adopt a healthy lifestyle, along with regular medical advice and checkups, can surely prevent all these complications of uncontrolled blood pressure and blood sugar.
When BP and blood sugar show high values, we advise them to meet the doctor in our Clinics and also to change their lifestyle. When we revisit them the next week, if the values are the same, we will recommend them again to meet the doctor and explain the implications of the high values. Then women’s fellowship members spend some time talking with them, and they feel really honoured. We ask them whether they have any objections to praying for them. They bow their heads with us and join in prayer. Our regular visits and counselling helping them to lead a qualitative life. Now the Children know the terrible effects of drugs and they are advising their parents not to use it. Even the fanatic Hindu families are appreciating our visits and asking for prayer. We never prompted any family for religious conversion. The Department of Community medicine of Pushpagiri Medical College is extending the services of the doctors for giving health awareness to the people in the community. Doctors are giving them medicines only when there is an emergency. With counselling and medical advice, the people in the community are changing their outlook. So far, patients are going to the hospital to see the doctor. Now there is a paradigm shift. The doctor is visiting the houses not to treat patients but to help them not to become a patient. The motto of the project is Healthy body, Healthy mind, Healthy environment. The doctors and the Church members are facilitating the members of the community to stand on their own legs, with dignity. The Immanuel Marthoma Church, Mallappuzhassery Grama Panchayat, Janamaitry Police, Grama Vikasana Samithy(a local NGO) and Pushpagiri Medical College are associating with this project. The initiative has expanded to include a free dental clinic and a robust school health programme. The dental clinic has been a blessing to hundreds of poor people in the area who can not afford dental care services due to financial constraints.
While the majority are interested in charity work by giving money to do dialysis, to purchase wheelchairs and to purchase medicines, our Church is helping the people to stand on their legs. Charity work will not help the marginalised people to come up as dignified human beings. We are asking like St.Peter to the marginalised people who demand sympathy, to stand up on their legs.
The uniqueness of the initiative is that it uses volunteers from the community to deliver care to the needy population. Also, the healthcare model shown through the project is something holistic, as it addresses the physical, mental, social and spiritual needs of the patients. It also empowers the volunteers to see the misery around them and see God in every single patient that they serve. The concept of ‘borderless church’ is exemplified here, with the Church being responsible for the overall wellbeing of the society and not just elements of spirituality. The feedback received from the community has been stellar, and this model is being adopted in other sites in the state. The number of patients in Mallappuzhassery Panchayat is decreasing every year because of the Community health orientation programme of the Church.
He is the President of Mallapuzhassery Grama Vikasana Samithy, a registered NGO working at Punnackadu. People from different walks of life are the members of the Samithy. Monthly meetings to discuss various issues, representation to various government departments for the development of the area, honouring people who gets awards and recognitions, political debates etc are the programmes . This is the only association working in Mallapuzhassery Panchayat irrespective of caste and creed.