They were all coming back to meet their alma mater. The Christian Fellowship Hospital (CFH) Oddanchathram. Everybody had gratitude in their eyes, every single one of them. That word 'CFH' was repeated thousand times. Almost all of them felt like coming home. Many said it is their 'Mothers place'. Some said they learnt their values there. Some said that place turned their career upside down. Some said their life began there.
Through out the three days of the alumni get together, my mind repeated the same question.What did that man do?
Dr.A.K Tharien came to oddanchathiram in the early 1950's to start a small hospital. That place was then very remote and had little medical help. He wanted to serve the people there. He could have chosen to be some where else. May be the US. May be Cambridge. He did not. He chose the needy and the neglected. He chose oddanchathiram. And the rest is history. HIS story!
From a small haunted house when it was started to the sprawling huge campus, from two doctors to 150 of them now. From a single nurse to a nursing college. From few patients to thousands thronging the place every day.
Not a single paisa of bribe has been paid. Not a single patient sent away for want of money. The focus on the poor has not been deviated from. The founder himself has not taken anything from it except his salaries. The cost for the health care is still affordable to the Indian poor. And the ethics of medicine have been strictly adhered to.
You can see doctors on cycles coming to work! The old man himself drove one till his death. The nurses and the doctors together joke around. The senior most teaches cooking 'sambar' to the Juniors. The ward boy also is found giving speeches. It was one family. One huge loving family!
Again the question comes haunting by! What did he do? How did he do? And more importantly, why did he do?
The answer for the 'why' question was there on everybody's lips. 'For the love of christ!' 'For the love of christ!' Yes, they have stood for the truth and the poor. 'For the love of christ!'
And the rest of the answers, well, go and find out!
Through out the three days of the alumni get together, my mind repeated the same question.What did that man do?
Dr.A.K Tharien came to oddanchathiram in the early 1950's to start a small hospital. That place was then very remote and had little medical help. He wanted to serve the people there. He could have chosen to be some where else. May be the US. May be Cambridge. He did not. He chose the needy and the neglected. He chose oddanchathiram. And the rest is history. HIS story!
From a small haunted house when it was started to the sprawling huge campus, from two doctors to 150 of them now. From a single nurse to a nursing college. From few patients to thousands thronging the place every day.
Not a single paisa of bribe has been paid. Not a single patient sent away for want of money. The focus on the poor has not been deviated from. The founder himself has not taken anything from it except his salaries. The cost for the health care is still affordable to the Indian poor. And the ethics of medicine have been strictly adhered to.
You can see doctors on cycles coming to work! The old man himself drove one till his death. The nurses and the doctors together joke around. The senior most teaches cooking 'sambar' to the Juniors. The ward boy also is found giving speeches. It was one family. One huge loving family!
Again the question comes haunting by! What did he do? How did he do? And more importantly, why did he do?
The answer for the 'why' question was there on everybody's lips. 'For the love of christ!' 'For the love of christ!' Yes, they have stood for the truth and the poor. 'For the love of christ!'
And the rest of the answers, well, go and find out!
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