“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. Live your life and forget your age ” — Henry David Thoreau
“Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.” — Pearl S Buck
Mangaluru: Quoting Dorothea Kent’s witty words” A man ninety years old was asked to what he attributed his longevity. I reckon, he said, with a twinkle in his eye, it because most nights I went to bed and slept when I should have sat up and worried.”, and starting my report on the lighter side of the vein, I think most of the elderly folks that I saw at today’s function might have done the same thing like this 90 year old man. The enthusiasm and joy seen among the seniors present at the Fourth Annual celebrations of Spoorthi Charitable Trust (SCT) held at Vathsalya Dhama-Giridhar Rao Sanjeevi Bai Vridhashram-Kodialbail on 1 February 2015 was enormous, with everyone bubbling with excitement and fun.
Spoorthi Charitable Trust established in the year 2010, is a trust for prevention of ageing and promotion of active ageing. With India currently having over 10 crore Senior citizens of which 37 lakhs suffer from dementia, 4 crores suffer from poor vision, One in 3 has high blood pressure, 1 in 3 has arthritis, 1 in 5 has diabetes.and 1 in 5 has decreased hearing Cancer is 10 times more common in older people .One in 10 falls and sustains a fracture,1 in 4 has depression,1 in 3 has bowel disorder, 1 in 5 has urinary incontinence. To prevent these diseases and disabilities, exercise is the only way you can escape ageing and age related disorders, and Spoorthi Charitable Trust caters to the needs of the elderly people by providing them inspiration, care, love, arrange exercise classes, regular health check-ups and so on.
Spoorthi Charitable Trust having its centre at Kodialguthu in City, where members have been exercising for the past 4 years, also distributes drugs to senior citizens at concessional rate and distributes free samples for organized health camps. Health check camps, memory tests, BP checks, free sugar tests, exercise demonstration are held often. Their Exercise centre will teach simple flexibility exercises for all the joints in the body, exercises to build muscles and strengthen them, and also balance exercises. Health camps will include free sugar testing, Memory testing, Blood Pressure check up, general health check, eye check and orthopedic check. Poor people can avail this service free of cost. In this regard, Spoorthi Charitable Trust has been a helpful organization in catering to the health and ageing needs of the elderly people.
The Fourth Annual Day celebrations began with a prayer song invoking God’s blessings, followed by inauguration of the programme by lighting the lamp by chief guest- Er Jerardin D’Souza-Founder of Mangalore Alzheimer’s Association, along with other dignitaries on the dais namely- Sathyamohan Hebbar- Managing Trustee of SCT, Dr C V Raghuveer and Dr Mohini Bhat- both Trustees of SCT, Kumuda Rao- Founder Trustee of SCT, Dr Prabha Adhikari- secretary of SCT, and Usha Hebbar- Treasurer of SCT. Following the inauguration, the Annual Report was read by Sathyamohan Hebbar. Dr Prabha Adhikari welcomed the crowd and introduced the chief guest, along with few words of wisdom on ‘yours truly’, for giving wide publicity towards projects/programmes related to Seniors.
Chief guest Jerardin D’Souza complimenting Dr Prabha Adhikari and quoting her as the “Spoorthi” (inspiration) of the Trust said, “Although I am given a honour to be a chief guest at this occasion, my contribution towards this Trust is minimum – I am just a small supporting pillar. I am honoured and blessed to be among all these ‘young men and ladies’ who are indeed having more fun than the real youngsters. I am just like a side actor in a mega blockbuster movie, rendering my support and encouragement to the elderly to the best of my ability. It’s nice to see that everyone here is happy and quite healthy. Let’s not fear about death, instead live happily and enjoy life to the fullest when we are still alive and ageing. Long live Spoorthi Charitable Trust for caring towards the Seniors”.
Professor Sethumadhava Rao- retired professor at Karnataka Regional Engineering College (now NITK)-Surathkal was felicitated by the SCT trustees for his dedication and support. Dr C V Raghuveer proposed the vote of thanks, while the entire programme was well compered by Pearl D’Souza and Dr Pracheth (son of Dr CV Raghuveer). The formal programme was followed by a cultural session, where the “young” performers enthralled the audience with their hidden talents, comprising of songs, skit and dances. No doubt, Seniors Rock!
Spoorthi Charitable Trust – a brief history as narrated by Dr Prabha Adhikari, Secretary:
Spoorthi Charitable Trust, Mangalore, India (Regd), is a trust for prevention of ageing and promotion of active ageing.
Aims and Objectives of the Trust:
– To provide health promotive services by setting up multiple centers of physical activity (exercise)
– To provide preventive and promote checkups such as free blood sugar, B.P. ECG checkup for members regularly and to offer free counselling on diet and exercise.
– To provide chronic disease management services for patients with diabetes, hypertension and age related disorders at low cost or no cost including supply of free drugs.
– To provide home care services such as home visits by doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and arrange for home nurses for temporary care.
– To accompany elderly people for regular checkup at centres of their choice.
– To provide palliative care and end of life care for the terminally ill patients in their own residence.
Membership is open to anybody who wants to avail all the above services irrespective of age; and Anybody who wants to contribute to the cause in cash or kind or offer their services. Life membership: Rs 1000/ and Annual membership: Rs 200/-; Total Membership as on 31.12.2014- Donor Members (155) Life Members (126); Annual Members (316 ); Home Care Members (36); Total Membership-627
Activities of the Trust for the year 2014:
Total number of people who come for regular exercise to our centres – Total sessions of exercise conducted -780; Total sessions of yoga -110; Total free camps organized -60- monthly camps in 5 locations; No of free blood sugar tests done –3800; No of free Blood pressure check up done-3800; No of free ECGs done-150; No of free Memory tests done -213; Total Home care visits -1062; Number of package tests done at concessional rate -28
Spoorthi Exercise Centre at Kodialguthu West
– Daily Activities: 30 members come for daily flexibility exercise which starts at 9.30 A.M and lasts for 1 hour. This is followed by Pranayamas. These exercises help people with Spondylosis, Osteoarthritis Knee, Shoulder Joint Pains, low backache and also prevent progression of diabetes. Seven members also exercise on bicycle. There is a circulating library through which good magazines and books are purchased and read. Some members sing melodious Bhajans after exercise. Brain stimulation exercises are also practiced daily. An evening batch of yoga was started which practiced yoga in the centre for 6 months.
– Annual Day: Spoorthi’sthird Anniversary was celebrated on12-01-2014 with all the members and few KMC Navachaithanya and Abhaya Ashram members. V Raghuchandra Hebbar (Rtd Prof. St Aloysious collage) presided over the function. Dr U V Shenoy(Professor of Paediatrics, KMC, Mangalore) was the Guest of Honour. Spoorthi members entertained the audience with songs, and dances and prizes were distributed for winners of various competitions’.
– Independence day was celebrated on 15-08-2014 Patriotic songs were sung and sweets distributed. Rs 5000/- was donated by the daily exercise members towards treatment of poor home care patients of Spoorthi.
– Birthdays of members were celebrated once in 2 months with games, snacks, & sweets.
– Memory games were conducted regularly to improve the cognitive function of the members.
– Free sample drug distributions done for 170 patients and 3355 tablets and 60 bottles of medicines & 4 Accu- Check Glucometers were distributed free of cost.
– New ECG machine was purchased for camp patients & free ECG was done for 150 patients.
– 19 Spoorthi members participated in the Heart Run held by KMC on 28-09-2014 on World Heart Day.
– World Elderly Day was celebrated on 01-10-2014 and all the senior members were honoured by the junior members.
New Branches of Spoorthi Active Ageing Centers:
– On 23rd February 2014 the Urwa Lady Hill Church Branch was inaugurated and exercise was started on 04th March 2014.38 members have enrolled of which 2 are life members. Health check was conducted for 35 members on 20-03-2014, 18 people got health check package at concessional rates.Monthly free sugar testing and B.P checkup camps are held .Daily One hour of exercise programme is going on smoothly
– Other Branches at Kodikal, Urwa Dominic Church and Pandeshwar are active with monthly camps for Free B.P checkup and sugar. Urwa Dominique church group is active and exercising regularly. Some of the members also participated in KMC heart Run on World heart Day
– Bokkapatna branch members are having regular monthly free sugar test and B.P checkups.
– Home care Service: Home care was provided to nearly 152 members through 232 visits by doctors, 55 home nurse visits, 316 social worker visits, and exercise training visits, 612 telephonic visits were conducted.
– Concessional Drug Distribution: We are offering & distributing drugs at 15% discount to members through the trust . Nearly 40 members avail this facility of the trust.
– Free Drug Distribution: Rs 2450/- worth of drugs were purchased and issued to diabetic patients attending at Pandeshwar.In addition free samples were distributed to 170 people .
– Spoorthi members participated in sports organized by “Sahaya” and Mangalore Senior Citizens Association.An amount of Rs.1000/- was donated by the trust towards expenses for the day.
Plans for the Future:
– Free Spoorthi clinic on Fridays for Senior Citizens and people with chronic diseases.
– Brain stimulation games for people with mild memory impairment twice a week.
– Full day care centre / half day care centre for the elderly with Senior Enrichment Centre for learning new skills.
– M.A.R Centre: Mangalore Active Ageing Research & Resource Centre.
