Raj Arole

It is with great sadness that we learned of Raj Arole passing away this week. The Schwab Foundation will be missing its long-standing community member. While he may no be longer be with us, his legacy will. He has revolutionized the provision of health care for the poor by pioneering a community-based approach in the 1970s in rural India. The approach of training village women in basic health and midwife services drastically improved the health indicators in more than 300 villages in Maharashtra. Infant mortality and maternal mortality decreased by more than 80% in the two decades following the work of the Community Rural Health Project (CRHP), which Raj and his late wife Mabelle founded. Not only did CRHP change the health indicators, they also overcame caste, religious and gender barriers by training primarily low-caste or untouchable women as health care workers.

Raj Arole himself was born in Jamkhed to a Dalit family (Untouchables) that had converted to Christianity.  His parents, who were schoolteachers, sent him to a private English school, where he remained consistently at the top of his class. Against the odds because of his caste, Arole went on to one of the most prestigious medical colleges in India. There, he met his future wife Mabelle. They had every option to work for a private clinic or emigrate to the US, like many of their classmates. Instead, on their wedding day, they took a vow to work together and devote their lives to the marginalized and disenfranchised people living in Indian villages. Their approach went far beyond providing medical assistance. They started farmer's clubs, which addressed the importance of adequate drinking water and sanitation as a root cause for many diseases. The clubs  eventually conducted their own health survey, a crucial step towards overcoming traditional beliefs about the causes of diseases, and identified simple ways to improve health, including draining puddles that attracted mosquitoes. The revolutionary approach of training simple villagers rather than sending nurses and doctors to the remote areas, soon caught the attention of practitioners around the world. CRHP also became a training center for many groups from other parts of India, but also Africa, Asia and Latin America to learn and spread the approach.

I will never forget my own visit to CRHP in September 2001. After a five hour drive from Pune, we finally reached Jamkhed. It was my first time in India. I was overwhelmed by the visual impressions of deep rural poverty and the friendliness of hundreds of children that greeted us where ever we went. During dinner, we suddenly heard from a group of villagers that we should turn on the TV. We witnessed the second plane crashing into the WTC, live. We probably all remember where we were on September 11, but it struck me how fast these news travelled to rural India on the other side of the world. If we could only find a way to spread a model like CRHP in the same speed from Jamkhed to the rest of the world! Our condolences and best wishes of support to Shobha and Ravi, who are continuing their parents work.

 

Mirjam Schöning
Head and Senior Director
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship